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Taking place at Rising Moon Meadows in Bellingham WA - on the traditional lands of Coast Salish People and more specifically Lummi territory. Facilitated by Laurence Cole + Alexandra Blakely. Click here to learn more about grief offerings.

This is not a retreat. It is an invitation into rites of grief.

Ceremony asks something different of us than ordinary gatherings. It asks for our presence, our willingness, and at times, our endurance. This is a spiritual undertaking and, at moments, a physical one. During the first night, we remain awake together, moving through ritual for several hours and into the unknown. There is no fixed timeline, only the unfolding of the ceremony itself.

As the hours pass, you may notice your energy rise and fall. You may encounter unexpected emotions, resistance, tenderness, clarity, or places within yourself that ask to be met with greater honesty than you anticipated. This is part of the work. We stay in relationship with one another through these changing inner weather systems, trusting that something becomes possible together that cannot be accomplished alone.

Much of our culture teaches us to carry grief in isolation. This ceremony is an opportunity to remember another way. We enter the work together, holding what was never meant to be held by one person, and emerge changed, not for the sake of getting rid of our grief, but because we have entered into a deeper, ongoing practice of courtship with our sorrow and the sorrows of these times.

If reading this feels unsettling or evokes hesitation, please let that be meaningful information. This ceremony is intentionally demanding, and it may not be the right container for everyone or for every season of life. We trust your discernment as much as we trust the ceremony itself.

To read more about what to expect at the ritual, click here and scroll down. 

Saturday
9:00am: Arrival and settle in
9:30am: Official ceremony opening
lunch - bring your own sack lunch
dinner - bring your own sack dinner (make it a light dinner - our deeper grief/shrine work arrives after dinner)
Please bring snacks for the snack table to share with the community throughout the day

Sunday
9:00am: Arrival and settle in
9:30am: ceremony
lunch - bring your own sack lunch
closing circle by 6pm and then a shared potluck.
Please bring snacks for the snack table to share with the community throughout the day


Covid protocols:
This is an indoor/outdoor event weather depending.

34 participants max

We encourage participants to take an at home test each morning before joining the retreat center. You must provide these for yourself.

Once gathered, each participant will be at choice as to what feels good for them in terms of masking, distancing, contact, etc. Beyond the testing prior to arrival, we will not be making specific requests of individuals, regardless of vaccination status.


Accessibility: 
The studio space at Rising Moon Meadows is ground level access with a gravel parking lot.
One bathroom on ground level. One bathroom accessible via a staircase. Urinating outside encouraged for those that feels accessible to.

Fee:
Retreat fee is sliding scale:
$400-$600

- Invitation to utilize this tool to determine sliding scale eligibility. 
- We are committed to economic class transparency (to increase awareness of class impacts) and redistributing funds to move towards reparations for People of the Global Majority.
As a team of self-employed white facilitators we are holding the complexity of supporting our families with our work and recognizing our economic privilege within the structures of capitalism.
Tithing: The facilitators are fundshifting $800 to the Dagara community through the Sonder Project. We invite you to join us in donating upon registration. 

Scholarships: We are currently offering limited self selected scholarship tier at $300.

Refund Policy: There are no refunds. This policy helps to hold us all accountable and creates some protection for us as facilitators and organizers. If you are not able to attend for whatever reason after registering, you may find someone else to take your spot. You may try to email Rain to see if there is a waitlist. The person that replaces you must also register and needs to be connected with our registration team at least 7 days prior to the retreat. In the 7 days leading up to the retreat our attention shifts away from managerial tasks and screen time to prepping for our in person time.

Lodging: Each person is responsible for their own accommodations. There are airbnbs and hotels near by.

Facilitated by Laurence Cole & Alexandra (ahlay) Blakely
(intergenerational colleagues of European descent)

For inquiries email Rain: [email protected]

This sliding scale framework we use on our registration page is adapted from the green bottle model and developed by Siena Tenisci of Northwest Grief Tending (northwestgrieftending.com), designed to make programs more accessible and support economic justice.