Event

Day of the Dead Grief Ritual

Barry and Maya Spector
With Bruce Silverman and Marcia Rayenne
invite you to our 21st annual Day of the Dead Grief Ritual

Hillside Community Church, El Cerrito
9:AM to 6:00 PM

Whether or not we have recently lost loved ones, all of us -- especially if we are social activists -- carry a heavy load of unacknowledged grief and stress, simply by being alive in these times.

If we can't find ways to drop the weight of this emotional burden, we can become hopeless, bitter or numb, and this condition can subvert our work, our activism, our art or our relationships. Letting some of it go makes room for a new kind of imagination to enter.

But releasing these emotions requires a safe space and a caring community. We will take a full day to help each other remember our ancestors and grieve our personal and collective losses. It will be a day of mourning and remembrance, but also of great beauty and celebration. There will be poetry, storytelling, drumming, altar building and chanting from African, Celtic, Mexican and other traditions.

No one will be refused entrance for inability to pay. Work scholarships are available, and we will need some volunteers.