Journey with Death... with us!
Journey with Death, Death and Grief Doula Preparation, is a long, slow, gentle experience and is all the more integral for it. We are not a quick weekend online tick box CPD offering a meaningless certification... we are about deep, honest, rooted personal and community development that actually prepares us, all of us, ever more deeply to meet Death and meet Death well.
Forget about the ideas of a "good death" and volunteering in hospices. That is not what being a death doula is actually about. If you care about the dying, dead and bereaved then you care about all deaths, all losses... across the wide spectrum of human and more-than-human experience. We are living through dying times, what does it mean to sit with "Death as our Teacher" through dying times?
It means we must not be alone. And so, let me (AG Derwen) introduce you to this circle of death and grief doulas, lamenters and experienced facilitators that are holding the two retreats this autumn. Ireland has now sold out and a waiting list is forming; Wales (20th - 25th September, Trefacwn in Pembrokeshire) has only 4 places left... might one of them be meant for you?
From top left to right in rows... we have Gaia Devine (they / them), Beth Rabjohns (they / them) and Luke Roberts (he / him), these 3 will be supporting Wales retreat.
Second row is Stefanie Blech (she / her) and Sarah Ryan (she / her) who will be supporting in Ireland with me, AG Derwen.
Third row is Tuomas Rounakari (he / him), Jana Gorst (she / her) and myself AG Derwen (they / them) and we are also holding the Wales retreat.
I cannot begin to express my delight and excitement at this holding circle, circles within circles.
On a personal note, after 10 years now of delivering this course often by myself last year I was in seventh heaven co-facilitating with Jana; she was like a great solid mama bear alongside me and I could feel the personal shift away from holding more than I was being held, to being deeply and most lovingly held myself. It makes for a deeper, safer, more integral circle when your facilitators are really well held themselves.
It has been a bit of a facilitation fantasy of mine to be sandwiched in a hug between Tuomas and Jana! Genuinely a dream team of kindred spirits; each of us in our own way a voice and a name in our field of work; humble (I hope) but also really experienced and upright in our capacity to hold what comes. I am SO excited to be alongside these two; THEN with the joyous, gorgeous, hilarious, but deeply considered support of Gaia, Beth and Luke... WOW.
The Wales retreat is often wild and wonderful! We are a large group with 30 in the circle, in the most beautiful roundhouse Ty Sanctaidd at Trefacwn. When I venture back to Ireland in October there will be a smaller group, more intimate; still in a beautiful place with its own sunset beach and beautiful group room. And to be joined by Stefanie again, who is our community co-ordinator and has support facilitated like 5 retreats now... and Sarah, who is new to the support team but has this wonderful, no nonsense, Irish way about her - full of sparkle at the same time as taking no shit. I love them both so much.
So... I wanted to share this if only to convey my delight at being in such company. But also because for all the information we put out, the instagrams and the newsletters... these are all words... it is just so good to see the people, the humans, that are going to be co-creating the space for our retreats and I wanted you to meet us, see their faces!
If you feel called to join the welsh retreat 20-25th September all the details are on the website www.journeywithdeath.com but I do just encourage you to drop us an email at sacredcirclecic@gmail.com to register your interest because, as we get close to filling all the places, the sign up links will come off the website and we will release those places on a first come, first registered interest basis. Drop us a note today!
With Love
Derwen xxx
sacredcirclecic@gmail.com
