Grief and Praise Ritual
Trevor Mervyn | Co-Steward
In a culture where men are expected to be either stoic or warrior, prince or apologist, many men have learned to keep their wider range of emotions in. Or they let them out in reactive bursts, bringing confusion and damage to those around them—human and otherwise.
A grief and praise ritual is a transformational space where that-which-is-aching-to-be-expressed can be let out and let go. In the offering of your wild expression to the shrines, it becomes food for the otherworld and a direct message to your ancestors. Your willingness breaks a dam within you, so that the water of life may again flow through your being unhindered.
Grief and praise are siblings of a kind. We only grieve that which we love, and deep-rooted love that is alert to consequence has the grief of this will not last in the marrow of its bones.
On this night, we will use our voices to speak to that which matters. The ancestors are old and hard of hearing; we may need to shout.
BIO
Trevor is a father, ritualist, storyteller, and wilderness fast guide whose work lives at the intersection of myth, initiation, grief, and the natural world. Having been broken open by his own mid-life descent, he now helps others navigate the slow work of gathering a deeper, more reverent life.