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Event Series Event Series: The Grief Series

The Grief Series

A Series of  7 online (or physical meeting if regulation allow) to explore Grief together in community and talk about the many facets of loss.

Each session will stand alone and offer a safe, inclusive space to be together and talk about something rarely talked about.

Each session will take a slightly different approach and will be hosted  by different experienced facilitators. There will be no obligation to share.

SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS ON EACH SESSION

 

The Grief Series

 

DONATION :

These events will be free of charge, however a suggested donation of £5-10 is encouraged if you can afford, as to support the  Salisbury Centre and the various facilitators.

To donate please go to: www.SalisburyCentre.org/Donate

And please specify what events you are donating for.


 

ATTENDANCE & BOOKING

Below you can find some more information about each Session and how to book / attend

For any information please get in touch with Events@SalisburyCentre.org

 


 

Tuesday 23rd February ( 7pm to 930pm)

“GRIEF TENDING ” – Exploring Grief in Community

Hosted by the Edinburgh Men Community 

BOOKING: click here to register

“Grief is solitary work that can’t be done alone”.
We ran the online Absent Friends Grief Tending circle on 4th November last year on the healing benefits of Grief Work. As a consequence of the feedback we intend to offer another online circle on Tuesday 23rd February between 7 and 9.30 pm.
To sign up to this event please click here to register, it will only take you a minute to complete.
The intention of this ‘Grief Tending Circle’ will be to share our stories of loss and grief and have them witnessed and released in the healing love of a virtual Community.  

At this meeting we will be using the Five Gates of Grief from author and Soul Activist Francis Weller’s book ‘The Wild Edge of Sorrow’

  • Gate One:  ‘Everything We Love We Will Lose’:   ‘Tis a fearful thing to love what death can touch’
  • Gate Two: ‘The Places That Have Not Known Love’  ‘There are places in us that that have been wrapped in shame and banished to the farthest shores of our lives’
  • Gate Three: ‘The Sorrows of the World’  ‘The cumulative grief of the world is overwhelming’
  • Gate Four:  ‘What We Expected and Did Not Receive’  – Deep in our bones lies an old intuition that we arrived here carrying a bundle of gifts to offer to the community’
  • Five:  ‘Ancestral Grief’  ‘This is the grief we carry in our bodies from sorrows experienced by our ancestors’

In preparation between now and then we invite you to take time to reflect on the five Gates of Grief above and to consider which of them you are most drawn to at this time. And in stillness to reflect on how grief had moved through your life.   Please remember to register here.

Grief tending team, Diarmaid, Douglas, Mena & Thomas.
See here for more info: Grief Tending
BOOKING: click here to register

Tuesday 2nd March ( 18:00pm to 20:00pm)

“REMEMBRANCE OF LOVED ONES ”  

(Limited number of participant allowed –Booking required)

Hosted by Cathie Wright, Salisbury Centre trustee

TO BOOK A PLACE  CLICK HERE ((Max 10 participants)

There is a definite comfort in coming together with others to remember someone. This event will offer a safe space for a maximum number of 10 participants
to have a safe space to be heard and share memories of a loved one who passed away.   Cathie will host and facilitate the space by enabling time for individual sharing as well as an open space for reflections and more general discussion about Death and relative emotions and realisations”
To book a place email: Events@Salisburycentre.org  (Max 10 participants)
Join via this  Zoom Meeting link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81252319899 

(for this event you will need to book a place as there is a maximum capacity of 10 participants)

 

MORE ABOUT Cathie

 

Cathie Wright loves the Salisbury Centre and the way it offers life giving and energising experiences. As a retired psychotherapist she sees the opportunity to begin to look at grief, in the company of others, as inherently spiritual and life giving, and welcomes you to this small group experience.

TO BOOK A PLACE  CLICK HERE (Max 10 participants)

 


Tuesday 9nd March ( 18:00pm to 20:00pm)

“CREATIVE PRACTICES TO HONOUR DEATH

Hosted by Francesco Benvenuti

Book a place : Click here 

In this session participants will:
  • Be guided through some gentle creative exercises to drop into a contemplative space and explore a free flow of meaning they associate to Death  (including creative writing exercises and visualisations)
  • Have an opportunity to explore what is their relationship with Death, in general or in relation to their own experience
  • Be invited, if they wish, to share their creative output as well as experience of Loss, Death, emotional responses and tools that helped to integrate
  • Have a space to hear and share stories of grief as well as being held by the group in any emotions which might want to be expressed

This will be a safe space and will include the sharing of some live music and poem readings

Zoom Link will be provided upon booking on Eventbrite : Click here 
MORE ABOUT Francesco 
Francesco Benvenuti is Shiatsu bodywork healer and Movement Instructor, Singing voice facilitator, Ceremonial space holder and a Carrier of the Sacred Fire. Passionate about Spiritual Activism Francesco dedicates most of his life to supporting spiritual and socially oriented community projects around the world.
Bringing the wisdom accumulated over his training, travels and adventure across Central & South America, and Australasia, and spending time with Indigenous tribes, numerous teachers and mentors, Francesco’s is passionate about holding safe ritual spaces for community healing and community building.
When COVID regulations allows, Francesco holds forthrightly community Fireside Prayer Circles in The Salisbury Centre’s garden (see here)
He  also composes his own songs which he loves sharing in a variety of ceremonial settings, workshops and festival

Book a place : Click here 


Tuesday 16th March (18:00pm to 20:00pm)

HOLDING GRIEF CEREMONIES IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Hosted by  Em Burns

Book a place : Click here

 

Have you been thinking about holding spaces for others to explore grief but don’t know where to start?

For a couple of years Em Burns has been co-holding grief ceremonies as a kind of action inquiry.  As part of that you are invited to join us for a  discussion around what is grief to you and to hear from the Em about  the practice of grief ceremony and the lessons learnt over the years.

This session is intended as a  practical inspiration, introduction, induction and discussion on how to hold Grief spaces in ceremony.

A place to explore “what grief means to you” and for whatever came up, whether it is pain, rage, sorrow or just numbness.  A place where to (re)invent,  rekindle and reconnect with practices that are now absent.

When we realised that we had no place for us to tend to what we carry, for example in relation to what is happening in our world, we were curious to explore.   We longed to be more deeply in  touch with our unmet needs and we decided to experiment with creating a safe space in which to experience and explore our grief in the  companionship of others. 

We are not  (yet) connected to the tradition of keening, and we recognise that for  us, grief is wider than funerals. We are inspired by the work of Francis  Weller, Joanna Macy and we wondered, ‘what would grief tending in community look like?’

Book a place : Click here

 

MORE ABOUT Em Burns

I am a postgraduate student, an occasional lecturer in Mad Studies, and  Neurodiversity. I have been practising NVC for a few years.


 

Tuesday 23rd March ( 18:00pm to 20:00pm)

DEATH CAFE’  ” 

Hosted by the Edinburgh Men’s Community 

Book a place : Click here

At a Death Cafe people, often strangers, gather to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death.

“the objective is ‘to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives’.

A Death Cafe is a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counselling session.
Death Cafes are always offered:
– On a not for profit basis
– In an accessible, respectful and confidential space
– With no intention of leading people to any conclusion, product or course of action
– Alongside refreshing drinks and nourishing food – and cake!  (BYO!)

Zoom Link released upon booking a free space 

Book a place : Click here


 

Tuesday 31st March ( 18:00pm to 20:00pm)

“TOUCHING GRIEF ” 

Hosted by Tamsin Grainger – Author of Working with Death and Loss in Shiatsu Practice  

Tamsin Grief Blog and Website here

Book a place : Click here

Grief is a natural reaction to change, whether that is a relationship ending, a child leaving home, or someone dying. Sometimes grief can take a long time to integrate into life, and it is not uncommon to forget about our body in this process. However, being in touch with our body does give us more of a chance to process our feelings, it makes them more manageable and gives us back a sense of control.

In this session, you will learn supportive and appropriate movements and self-touch skills to help you connect with your body and feelings, to provide a sense of solidity and relief. These simple to learn techniques can then be adapted or practised on others, with their permission. Instead of not knowing how we can help, we will have something, literally, at our fingertips.

There is a fuller explanation here on Tamsin blog: https://www.tamsingrainger.com/blog-all-posts/2020/10/13/touch-for-grief

Zoom Link to be released upon booking : Click here

 

MORE ABOUT  Tamsin Grainger

Tamsin Grainger is a writer, bodyworker and walking artist living in Edinburgh. She holds online workshops and events, including On Death and Life, Death Cafes, and Walking and Chinese medicine.

Book a place : Click here

 

 

Tuesday 6th April ( 18:00pm to 20:00pm)

DEATH WISDOM FROM MESO-AMERICAN TRADITIONS”

With guest wisdom keeper Emmanuel Kakalot from Mexico (Part in Spanish with live English translation)

Book a place : Click here

In currently western culture Death is often solely  associated with something to Fear and to something that is “intrinsically bad” or unpleasant to look at.  This, besides nurturing an even more difficult relationship and acceptance of something that is unavailable and part of life, have detached most of us from some of the most healthy and nurturing way to look at Death and the process of Death.

In the midst of great cultural and regional diversity throughout Mesoamerican history, which is kept alive by many traditions and wisdom keepers, one clear notion was shared by many if not all peoples:  Death was more than an occasion for fear, mourning and ritual response; rather, death was perceived as a vital, generative, and creative moment in a cosmic process.

In this vision of the world, the cosmos and the human body were perceived in a very particular manner: everything in the universe, in one way or another, had supernatural implications and Death occupies a vital place in the universe, an element that, far from fatal, possesses a renewing quality.

In this session we welcome guest speaker Emmanuel Kakalot, a Wisdom Keeper from the Messica/Mayan tradition joining us directly from Mexico City. Emmanuel will share his incredible and exciting wisdom surrounding the rich Messica and Mayan cultural tradition in relation to death from the Meso-America ancestral Cosmovisions. This will touch on topic such as :

  • Death as the Seed of Life
  • Mayan Cosmovision and Sacred Songs
  • Sacred Elements of Death ceremonies
  • The process of Dying and the descent of the “9 Steps”  leading transitioning souls to the Land of the Dead
  • The return to wholeness with Mother Earth

Emmanuel will share some ceremony songs from his tradition as well as be open to answer to any question you might have

IMPORTANT NOTE: This session will be partly in Spanish with live English translation. 

Book a place : Click here

Zoom Link will be released upon booking : Click here

 


 

 

Some extra resources and events NOT PART of this series

(yet still related to grief tending):