Facilitated by Francis Weller

with Holly Truhlar, Erin Geesaman Rabke, Carl Rabke, and Alexandre Jodun

This course emerges from over twenty-five years of experimentation in the territory of ritual process. It is an immersion in the direct application of ritual to the various conditions our communities face. While our focus is on grief rituals, the core elements of this training can extend to wider circumstances.

In a time of cultural and environmental trauma, we must revision practices of communal recalibration. Rituals were the means by which the village would re-regulate itself following any form of traumatic encounter. Recalling the "unforgotten wisdom" that resides at the core of our psychic lives, is central to finding our way through the whitewater of these times. 

Adapted from our live five-month online training, this course offers teachings and experiential work that provide guidance on how to navigate the intense terrain that is ushered in by grief ritual space. Throughout each module we utilize poetry, ritual, somatic practices, and imagination to deepen your learning. 

Course curriculum

    1. Welcome ~ Gratitude & Blessings from our Team

    2. Tour of the Course Platform & Materials

    3. Welcome & Orientation Workbook

    4. Navigating this Course

    1. Module 1 Workbook

    2. Session 1 - Cultural Context Around Grief & Loss, Unedited Video

    3. Session 1 - Cultural Context Around Grief & Loss, Edited Audio

    4. Questions & Reflections #1 - Edited Audio

    5. Session 1 Video Transcript

    6. Session 2 - Integration & Deepening, Unedited Video

    7. Session 2 - Integration & Deepening, Edited Audio

    8. Session 2 Video Transcript

    1. Module 2 Workbook

    2. Session 3 - The Architecture of Ritual, Unedited Video

    3. Session 3 - The Architecture of Ritual, Edited Audio

    4. Session 3 Video Transcript

    5. Questions & Reflections #2 - Unedited Video

    6. Questions & Reflections #2 - Edited Audio

    7. Questions & Reflections #2 - Video Transcript

    8. Session 4 - Integration & Deepening, Unedited Video

    9. Session 4 - Integration & Deepening, Edited Audio

    10. Session 4 Video Transcript

    1. Module 3 Workbook

    2. Session 5 - Building the Container, Unedited Video

    3. Session 5 - Building the Container, Edited Audio

    4. Session 5 Video Transcript

    5. Session 6 - Integration & Deepening, Unedited Video

    6. Session 6 - Integration & Deepening, Edited Audio

    7. Session 6 - Carl's Supplemental Video on Music and Voice

    8. Session 6 Video Transcript

    9. Questions & Reflections #3 - Unedited Video

    10. Questions & Reflections #3 - Edited Audio

    11. Questions & Reflections #3 - Video Transcript

    1. Module 4 Workbook

    2. Session 7 - Dimensions of Leadership, Unedited Video

    3. Session 7 - Dimensions of Leadership, Edited Audio

    4. Questions & Reflections #4 - Edited Audio

    5. Session 7 Video Transcript

    6. Session 8 - Integration & Deepening, Unedited Video

    7. Session 8 - Integration & Deepening, Edited Audio

    8. Session 8 Video Transcript

    9. Bonus Integration Session on Lineage, Reciprocity & Power, Unedited Video

    10. Bonus Integration Session on Lineage, Reciprocity & Power, Edited Audio

    11. Bonus Integration Session Video Transcript

    1. Module 5 Workbook

    2. Session 9 - Grief Ritual Structure, Unedited Video

    3. Session 9 - Grief Ritual Structure, Edited Audio

    4. Session 9 Video Transcript

    5. Questions & Reflections #5 - Unedited Video

    6. Questions & Reflections #5 - Edited Audio

    7. Questions & Reflections #5 - Video Transcript

    8. Session 10 - Integration & Closing, Unedited Video

    9. Session 10 - Integration & Closing, Edited Audio

    10. Session 10 Video Transcript

    11. Bonus Conversation: Grief at the Margins - Unedited Video

    12. Bonus Conversation: Grief at the Margins - Edited Audio

    13. Bonus Conversation: Grief at the Margins - Video Transcript

About this course

  • $750.00
  • 32 hours of video content
  • 15 video/audio recordings
  • 6 workbooks

Lead Instructor

Francis Weller

Psychotherapist, Author, Soul Activist

Francis Weller, MFT, is a psychotherapist, author, and soul activist. He is a master of synthesizing diverse streams of thought from psychology, anthropology, mythology, alchemy, indigenous cultures and poetic traditions. He is the author of 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: Essays in a Time of Uncertainty. For over forty years Francis has worked as a psychotherapist and group facilitator where he's developed a style he calls soul-centered psychotherapy and introduced the healing work of ritual to thousands of people.

Meet Our Team

Participant Testimonials

“This course is the deepest, most soulful training I have encountered. The facilitation team is profoundly skilled and excellent. But more than that they bring a love, a care and attention for people, for the world and the collective that I have never known or experienced before. This is deeply needed for the work of grief. The training goes beyond grief as we have come to know it in our Western world, it will take you on a journey to the deep roots of soul, and it will bring you to the medicine that our world needs. If you care about what's happening around us, if you're curious, even if you're not a practitioner, I would highly recommend this training and working with this extraordinary team.”

Nicola Duffel, United Kingdom

“This is beyond a course, it is a living breathing grief portal that will shift your center, your heart and the way you show up for yourself, your grief and others. The facilitation, the flow, the content is so deeply medicinal and life changing. Whether you say yes because you are or want to be a grief tender or for your own growth and connection with grief work, you'll be blessed and held in the deepening of this journey from the first word to the last poem shared. An exquisite experience.”

Jess Kilbourn, Ypsilanti, Michigan land of the Council of the Three Fires Ojibwe, Odawa and Potowatomi

“Francis is a living treasure and elder in the space of grief tending and the rest of the team are incredible too! This course is an invitation to turn the multiple levels of grief we are all experiencing right now during this time of social, environmental, economic and personal unraveling into something that is like rain for the ground of our lives. The teachings, practices and rituals offered in ETHG are based on ancient, universal technologies designed to renew our connection to life and each other and to prevent grief from hardening into grievance by moistening our humanity. ”

Scott Blossom, California

“This course is a deep and soulful journey into grief tending and ritual. The depth and breadth of the course is profound-there are practical tools, rituals to guide you throughout the course, and the immense wisdom of the facilitators. It's hard to articulate how deeply this training impacted my personal grief journey, the way I facilitate and hold spaces for others and the greater sense of belonging that was cultivated within me through the teachings, practices and community. ”

Shandra Bauer, Wisconsin

“Grief work is imperative for all of us in every country. Entering the Healing Ground brings all the necessary teaching and tools for doing this work. The gates of grief were most impactful for me, inviting me into my own depths of sorrow and pain while offering a safe container to do the work. The competency of the course leadership is the highest quality possible and I cannot recommend it more!”

Barbie Larson, Thun, Switzerland

“I walk more gently with Grief now. I have more space in me for recognizing what may be alive in someone I meet when there is conflict. I hear the grief - I see the grief and I can meet it with love more often - even when I feel challenged beyond my typical limits/boundaries. And - I have new skills and tools for working in Community. Profoundly grateful for all that I experienced and learned in this course. You all rock!”

Patti Shaffner, Gary, Indiana

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is your refund policy?

    All sales are final for this course. Once the course is purchased we do not offer refunds or extensions on the one-year course availability; as such, please review the landing page and each of these FAQs before purchasing.

  • How long will I have access to these materials? Can I download the recordings? Can I download the workbooks?

    This course will be available to you for one-year after your initial payment. The audio and video recordings are not downloadable. Unedited transcripts and workbooks with the supplementary material, such as readings, rituals, resources, and practices, are downloadable.

  • How is the course material delivered? What formats and platforms are used?

    We are using the Thinkific platform to deliver this course. Sessions are available as both audio and video recordings. The audio recordings have been professionally edited for ease of listening, the video recordings are unedited and posted directly from our live Zoom sessions. Most of our videos include closed captions. Each module contains a downloadable PDF workbook.

  • Does taking this course authorize me to say I’ve been trained by Francis Weller and his team?

    No, because we cannot monitor completion of the learning materials and readiness for ritual facilitation, we do not consider learners of this course to have trained with Francis Weller or any of the facilitation team. Once you’ve completed the materials, you’re welcome to denote completion of the online course in your credentials.

  • Is there a certification available? Are CEUs available?

    No. We do not offer a certification or CEUs for taking this course.

  • Can I use the practices and resources shared in this training personally, communally and professionally?

    Yes. You are welcome to use the practices and resources shared in the training personally, communally, and professionally. We ask that you credit us appropriately when sharing our work. This means you’re welcome to bring concepts, practices, and resources we share with you to your work and community in your own style. Please do not directly reproduce or disseminate any part of this course.

  • What is the time commitment for taking this course?

    We originally offered this material live over the course of five months and believe this is a fitted amount of time with the material. There are five main modules, each has 5+ hours of recordings plus workbook material. We recommend scheduling 12 hours for each of the five modules.

  • How many sessions and practices are included with this course?

    There is a short welcome module and five main modules. Each main module contains a three-hour+ teaching session led by Francis Weller and a two-hour integration session led by the co-facilitation team. In addition, most modules contain a one-hour question and reflection recording and/or bonus session. Each module contains a workbook with readings, rituals, resources, and practices.

  • How much live support and contact will I have with the facilitators? How much contact will I have with other course participants?

    This course is self directed and there is no live contact with the facilitators or other course participants. We do provide support for technical questions at [email protected].

Payment Plans

This course will be available to you for one-year after your initial payment.

Join us in Entering the Healing Ground

Grief Ritual Leadership Training

From all observable indicators, the season ahead will be challenging. We have entered what could be called The Long Dark, a time of endings, decay, and dissolution. It will be a prolonged season—a generation or two—during which the earth community will undergo tremendous challenges and the cumulative losses will touch everything and everyone. Grief will be the keynote for the foreseeable future. After many years of offering grief rituals, there is a clear need to share this work with others. The requests are too many. The need too urgent. It is essential that we generate a robust community of skilled grief tenders. Come learn with us.
Enroll Today