Grief as Sacrament
An Invitation to Gather Our Sorrows
A ceremony for grief, led by Laurence Cole and Nala Walla, where you are invited to touch both the vast depths of cleansing grief and the ever present center of inner light and joy.
November 12th
10:30am PT / 6:30pm GMT
2 Hours
Stay Tuned for Future Online Grief Ceremonies
Come as you are...
There is no need for words or answers here—only a willingness to be present, to honor what is real for you in this moment.
Led by Laurence Cole and Nala Walla, this ceremony for grief invites us to come together and connect deeply within ourselves and with one another.
Through gentle guidance, shared reflections, and song, we create a circle of care and remembrance.
As dawn’s first light softens the edges of night, we gather in the stillness—a sacred ground where grief is tended as a sacrament, received and honored with reverence.
This is a place to slow down, to tend to what may be tender within, and to be reminded that even in grief, we are not alone.
Whether you have European heritage or not, you’re welcome to the nourishment of this ceremony.
You’re invited to an online grief circle with guides:
Laurence Cole
&
Nala Walla
May these songs of lament be an opening
for that which has been hiding
and meant to be forgotten
May they be transformed
into being held holy and remembered
so that we have more access to our aliveness
and the wonder and awe
of this one, wild and precious life
We will enter these healing grounds at your side...
you were never meant to go at it alone.
- Ahlay Blakely
This Workshop Is For You If:
- You feel a longing to honor your grief in a sacred, supportive space
- You seek to connect with the old traditions that once guided our journeys through loss & healing
- You desire tools for expressing sorrow that are deeply rooted in the wisdom of the earth
- You feel called to be present with personal and collective grief in community
- You seek to reclaim the story of your loss through ritual, storytelling, & song in a gathering of kindred souls
Guest Faciliators
Laurence Cole
BELOVED ELDER
Laurence Cole is a song elder and ritualist based in Port Townsend, Washington. An abiding thread throughout his life has been a longing to discover when, where, and how human beings have lived in respectful, sacred, equitable relationships with each other and the rest of Nature, and what arts, ethics, and practices enabled them to do so and pass such attitudes and behaviors on to the coming generations.
Laurence has also been facilitating and offering community grief tending gatherings throughout North America for about 15 years. His primary teachers and influences have been Sobonfu and Malidoma Somé, Angeles Arrien, Michael Meade, James Hillman, Francis Weller, Joanna Macy, and Martín Prechtel. He is an advocate for this work not only for the ways it can bring release and healing for individuals, but also for the ways it can enable a renewed sense of respectful connection and belonging for groups of folks working together for restoration of mutually flourishing community.
Nala Walla, MS, NTP, CGRS
TENDER OF THE OLD MEDICINE WAYS
Nala Walla is director of “The Well, An Oasis for Animist Ritual,” supporting innovative ways of restoring grieving and lamentation culture from around the world. For 25 years, she has been tending the lands and waters of her permaculture homestead, both physically and ritually. Hands in the soil, she is honored to practice a low-tech, ecosomatic lifestyle on an Island beside the Salish Sea, in Washington USA — the traditional lands of the Chimacum and S’Klallam people.
Her work weaves Ancestral Healing with Grief Work, all rooted in deep relationship with the animate world all around us. By working along our own lineages, Nala empowers all people, no matter what our heritage, to restore our birthright of connections to Earth, and our more-than-human kin.
Our Host
FOUNDER, WEAVING REMEMBRANCE
Hanna Leigh
Hi! My name is Hanna Leigh, (IG: @hannaleighsong) and I am a Singer-Songwriter, Voice Doula, Weaver, and Devotee of this precious, living Earth. I was raised in California (Chumash territory) though in recent years have spent extensive time residing on ancestral lands in the Celtic isles. My people migrated to the U.S. several generations ago from England, Scotland, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands.
This organization, Weaving Remembrance, was birthed through my own passion to to reclaim ancestral wisdom and connect with the indigenous spirit of the “Great Sacred Motherland of Europe” – a term I first heard from activist Lyla June.
This longing for reconnection was the impetus to create a program last year called “Songs of Mother Europe”, which features song carriers from all over Europe who still carry the old songs. In the past year we have had over 700 participants in the course, which speaks to me of a collective impulse to remember and preserve ancestral wisdom.
An Invitation
May this bring nourishment and inspiration to you as you walk with the joys and challenges of this precious human life.
We invite you to create an uninterrupted space and join us live for this virtual ceremony. Please reserve up to three hours for this event so that you may have spaciousness after the ceremony to close your offerings at home.
This event will NOT be recorded because of the private and intimate nature of this healing space.
This workshop is a special offering from our 8-week live course, “Keening: A Living Tradition,” which explores the rich traditions of keening in Scotland and Ireland.
Registration is closed.
To hear more about future online grief ceremonies, you can register for our mailing list at the bottom of this webpage.
Frequently Asked Questions
This offering is happening online through Zoom.
The live call will not be recorded because of the nature of this event.
Teachers have been featured in
