The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief

(Hardback)

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"It blew me away. I underlined things on nearly every page." -Anderson Cooper, All There Is Hope and healing for a profoundly fractured world-a pathway home to the brightness, pains, and gifts of being alive, now in a beautiful new hardcover edition "It blew me away. I underlined things on nearly every page." -Anderson Cooper, All There Is The Wild Edge of Sorrow offers hope and healing for a profoundly fractured world-and a pathway home to the brightness, pains, and gifts of being alive. Introducing the 5 gates of grief, psychotherapist Francis Weller explores how we move through the waters of grief and loss in a culture so fundamentally detached from the needs of the soul. .The first gate recognizes-and invites us to accept-the painful truth that everything we love, we will lose. With this acceptance comes beauty and responsibility-and an openness into which we can pour the full love of our hearts. At the first gate, we meet the sorrow of losing a loved one; the grief of illness; and the unique and profound pains that accompany loss by suicide. .The second gate helps us uncover and tend to the places that have not known love- the neglected pieces of our soul that need restoration and care. These "places" can be our secret shames, or the parts of us that we feel are undeserving of love. At the second gate, we face our shadows and heal our most tender wounds. .The third gate meets us at the sorrows of the world, inviting us to open to the grave pain of our planet- the destruction of ecosystems, the harms of extractive capitalism, the unfathomable pain of war and occupation. We learn to honor and hold this grief even as we move through it, recommitting ourselves to the actions our souls call upon us to perform in service of healing and renewal. .The fourth gate, what we expected but did not receive, is present in each and every one of our lives. We may need love from a parent or partner unable to give it; we may lack the language to ask for the care we deserve. Each is a loss that must be acknowledged and grieved to move toward wholeness. .The fifth gate opens to our ancestral grief- the traumas, pains, losses, and unrealized dreams of those who came before us. Weller invites us to reconnect to our bodies, our communities, and the ancestral knowledge we hold in our bones...but may have forgotten. Profoundly moving, beautifully written, this book is a balm for the soul and a necessary salve for moving together through difficult times. Grounded in ritual and connection, The Wild Edge of Sorrow welcomes each grief with care and attention, opening us to the feelings, experiences, and sacred knowledge that connect us to each other and ultimately make us whole.

Reviews

InThe Wild Edge of SorrowFrancisWeller offers his readers a breath-taking and dramatic journey of inner discovery into personal pain resolution,planetary healing, and soul development. It is an essential publicationone that offers precious guidance and insight for those who are strong enough,as well as mature enough, to probe and challenge the darkness.
Spirituality Today

The Wild Edge of Sorrow marries uncommon compassion with clear-eyed discernment in its invitation to the reader to become a soul activist in a soul-devouring culture. It is a comprehensive manual for conscious grieving and opening to the unprecedented joy and passion that result from embracing our sorrow.
Carolyn Baker, PhD, author of Love in the Age of Ecological Apocalypse and Collapsing Consciously

The Wild Edge of Sorrow is extraordinary, and explores the ongoing pain of separation from community and nature that we all feel. Reading Wellers book, I've realized that we have a lot of unprocessed grief to share. This book will be a gift to many.
Charles Eisenstein, author of The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible

Weller guides us into the difficult geography of sorrow and helps us find our way backto our souls. He brings much-needed medicine to a culture that relies upondistraction and anesthesia to cope with the daily losses that surround us.
Malidoma Som, author of The Healing Wisdom ofAfrica: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, andCommunity

This book rings a shivering bell of hope: that, when lifted by ritual and fellowship, the moist ground of grief actually contains a treasury of gifts that are our ancestral birthright. A delightful wisdom shines through every page of The Wild Edge of Sorrow.
Martin Shaw, author of A Branch From The Lightning Tree

Thisbook is not only a map to navigate some of the most tender and difficult regionsof the psyche, but a work of literary art.
Kim Rosen, author of Saved by a Poem: The Transformative Power of Words

Quite possibly the best guidebook evercrafted on the art of grieving, this volume is also a brilliant and poetichandbook for becoming fully human, more exquisitely alive, and more able tocontribute to cultural change. The Wild Edge of Sorrow invites us into the very heart of sorrow, profound healing, and adeepened communion with each other and Earth.
Bill Plotkin,author of Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche and Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche

"This book is a work of beauty: beauty in its language, its poetic sensibility, in its deepinsights intothenature of loss and its effect on the human soul.Weller's bookis, finally, ahealing balm. It shows how our tears may be theredemptive waters we have needed for so long."
Roger Housden, author of Ten Poems to Say Goodbye

"Francis Wellers book, The Wild Edge of Sorrow is so deeply honest, insightful, and hopeful. His style of writing and speaking is poetic, and yet one feels as though they are in conversation with a neighbor. Should you purchase the book, read it with a pen by your side. Youll want to underline and remember the rich prose on every page."
Marianna Cacciatore, author of Being There for Someone in Grief

"The warmth of Wellers voice and his beautiful language, will speak directly to your soul, in a way your soul has longed to feel embraced. His words will open your heart to receive your own most tender and vulnerable feelings as a gift to be cherished as they may bring forth a new depth of connection to the soul of the world."
Dr. Risa Kaparo, author of Awakening Somatic Intelligence

Author Bio

FRANCIS WELLER, MFT, is a psychotherapist, writer, and soul activist. A master of synthesizing diverse streams of thought from psychology, anthropology, mythology, alchemy, indigenous cultures, and poetic traditions, he has introduced the healing work of ritual to thousands of people. The core of his work is creating pathways to reclaiming our indigenous soul, what psychologist Carl Jung called the "unforgotten wisdom" that resides in the heart of the psyche. To further his work, he founded and currently directs WisdomBridge, an organization offering educational programs that seek to integrate the wisdom from traditional cultures with the insights and knowledge gathered from western cultures.