The Lost Art of Grieving: Grief as Ritual, Resistance, and Resilience with Francis Weller
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Nate Hagens
4.8 • 551 Ratings
🗓️ 12 March 2025
⏱️ 98 minutes
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Summary
Western culture, particularly in the United States, is often characterized by a profound discomfort and suppression of grief. Without healthy outlets to process loss and pain – especially in communal settings – many of us end up caught in cycles of loneliness and emotional distress. How might incorporating intentional spaces and rituals to process our grief regularly help us navigate the more systemic challenges we face?
In this conversation, Nate is joined by psychotherapist Francis Weller to discuss the essential human need for grief. Among many poignant topics, they delve into how modern individualism impacts our ability to grieve and form deep connections with others, and how that can keep us feeling stuck individually and as whole societies. Francis also explains his concept of 'the five gates of grief' and explores the cultural variations in grieving practices, physiological aspects of loss, and the vital role of community in healing.
How can intentional rituals help us process grief – including for the loss and destruction of biodiversity and healthy ecosystems? In what way could expanding the role of grief in our life paradoxically lead to greater room for love and joy? Ultimately, how can facilitating rituals and deeper social connections strengthen the bonds of community, leading to more emotionally resilient people and societies?
(Conversation recorded on January 24th, 2025)
About Francis Weller:
Francis Weller, MFT, is a psychotherapist, writer, and soul activist. For over forty years, he has worked as a psychotherapist and developed a style he calls soul-centered psychotherapy, synthesizing diverse streams of thought from psychology, anthropology, mythology, alchemy, indigenous cultures and poetic traditions.
Francis is the author of the bestselling, 'The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief,' 'The Threshold Between Loss and Revelation' (with Rashani Réa), and 'In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty.' He founded and directs WisdomBridge, an organization that offers educational programs that seek to integrate the wisdom from indigenous cultures with the insights and knowledge gathered from western poetic, psychological, and spiritual traditions.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Earth grief has no resolution because it will be ongoing and multiplying. |
| 0:05.0 | And so the idea of us facing that privately, there's no goddamn way. |
| 0:10.0 | Your heart can stay open to the world fully without being crushed by the weight of what's happening. |
| 0:17.0 | So this is why we need circles. We need ritual to at least allow us to not shut down in defense, because what we're expected to do is just too damn much. |
| 0:31.9 | You're listening to The Great Simplification. I'm Nate Higgins. On this show, we describe how energy, the economy, |
| 0:39.8 | the environment, and human behavior all fit together and what it might mean for our future. |
| 0:44.7 | By sharing insights from global thinkers, we hope to inform and inspire more humans to play |
| 0:51.2 | emergent roles in the coming great simplification. |
| 0:59.5 | Joining me today is psychotherapist Francis Weller for discussion on the human need for |
| 1:06.8 | grief, ritual, and community. As the author of multiple best- books, including the Wild Edge of Sorrow, Rituals of Renewal |
| 1:17.0 | and the Sacred Work of Grief, Francis Weller has introduced the healing work of ritual |
| 1:23.4 | to thousands of people. For over 40 years, he has worked as a psychotherapist, during which he |
| 1:29.0 | developed what he calls soul-centered psychotherapy. Francis also founded and directs |
| 1:35.0 | Wisdom Bridge, an organization that offers educational programs that seek to integrate |
| 1:40.3 | the wisdom from indigenous cultures with the insights and knowledge gathered from Western, poetic, psychological, and spiritual traditions. |
| 1:50.9 | Francis' work on grief and community is, in my opinion, at the core of what is needed ahead of and during the Great Simplification. |
| 1:59.7 | The topics covered on this platform are often heavy and full of devastating implications |
| 2:06.0 | for the human and the non-human world. |
| 2:09.2 | Perhaps through the work of people like Francis, we can learn to hold space for grief |
| 2:14.1 | with each other in the middle of this chaos in order to more effectively respond |
| 2:19.5 | to the crises the world faces. |
| 2:23.8 | For those of you who are questioning the gradual departure from Dennis Meadows' limits |
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