A Community, End of Life & Funerary Collaborative
Weekend Training Retreat
July 21-23 2023
Join us for a weekend of education, ritual, and deep spiritual growth as we delve into the realm of death and grief tending
Our Purpose
Death Tending is a calling with many layers. Whether you are drawn to ritual, advocacy, body care, or any combination of these, the skills and knowledge acquired in this realm can be enormously beneficial in serving your community and preparing for/coming to terms with your own mortality.
In the setting of a sacred forest, we will gather together with the elements to learn about the role of an End of Life Doula. This will include trainings on energy work, body tending, shrouding, death rights advocacy, grief processing, and cultural considerations. The weekend will include the sacred ceremony of the green burial experience in which we will collectively dig and dress a grave. It will be within this grave that each in attendance will have the opportunity to spend a few minutes wrapped in a shroud for a moment of deep reflection; ultimately gaining a new perspective on life and death.
Death work is an ancestral skill that has faded in recent decades. We are here to help bring those skills back into focus.
What this weekend will include:
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Exclusive access to a magical private land
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Training as a home funeral guide
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Legal death rights education
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Shrouding
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Grave digging
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Green burial experience
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Grief processing ritual
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Writing a death plan
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An opportunity for deep conversations and connections
One With the Land
This will be an immersive camping experience near Pe Ell, Washington in the Pacific Northwest, so you will need to bring everything you require to be comfortable in the woods for the weekend. If you are joining us from afar and it will not be feasible for you to bring your own supplies, please contact us as we have a limited supply of gear we can lend out.
Dinner and snacks will be provided.
Weekend Itinerary
Friday
Arrival and set up camp
Opening ceremony in the woods
Memorial Planning
Lunch
Body Tending and Shrouding
Dinner
Gather 'round the fire for a discussion about the history of death tending and cultural appropriation
Saturday
Morning Ritual
Dig and Dress Grave
Lunch/Creek Break
Body Prep Practice
Green Burial Experience
Dinner
Grief Processing Ritual
Sunday
Morning Ritual
Fill in Grave
Lunch
Death Plan Workshop
Closing Ritual
Dinner and Pack Up
*schedule subject to change
The cost per person is $700 for 3 online classes and a 3 day retreat. We will have 3 half price scholarships available, so please fill out our scholarship application form if you are in financial need and could not otherwise afford this retreat. Priority will go to folks in our beloved BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities.
To keep this gathering intimate, we will be hosting a maximum of 12 participants, so be sure to sign up early to secure your spot!
