WAILS: Songs for Grief

AN EVENING OF GRIEF SONGS

Learn the songs ahead of time!

Come gather with us at the edge of what cannot be named, where the Sea meets the Soul. This evening is an invitation into song and sorrow, into the ancient undercurrents of sound carried by the great ones, Whales, the Depth Singers, the Underworld Song Keepers. Their calls remind us that grief is not a burden to bear alone but a song to be sung together.

Rooted in the sacred teachings of Francis Weller’s The Wild Edge of Sorrow, we will journey through the Five Gates of Grief:

• Everything we love we will lose
• The parts of us that have never known love
• The sorrows of the world
• What we expected and did not receive
• Ancestral grief

Through call and echo singing, where each voice is a lantern, we will move through these gates with tenderness and courage. This is not performance. This is participation. These are songs offered for the healing of the unseen, the unnamed, and the unspoken.

There will be space to feel, to breathe, to rest in one another’s presence.

Because truly...

We were never meant to carry this alone

Please bring something squishy to sit on, a hanky or tissues, and some water—perhaps with electrolytes to support your body. You are also invited to bring an object to place in the center of our collective. Something that connects you to your grief. A small anchor to hold you steady as we move through the tides together.

This event will be facilitated by :

is a descendent of Ashkenazi, Scandinavian and British folk. She is an artist, singer-songwriter (Carry this All), communal grief tender, community organizer, facilitator and ceramicist walking the path of ancestral healing and the reclaiming of lost cultural memories. Her community singing album, Spells from the Unknown encapsulates songs for the community to transform, ask questions, and seek to lead lives in service to the future ones. Her newest community singing album, WAILS: Songs for Grief was recorded with a choir of 200 voices. The album is completely dedicated to grief, inspired by the Whales of the Sea, the wails of our times, and Francis Weller’s book The Wild Edge of Sorrow and more specifically “the five gates of grief.”

For more info, or for any and all questions, feel free to reach out to us at Z2FpYW11c2ljY29sbGVjdGl2ZSB8IGdtYWlsICEgY29t.

PHYSICAL ACCESSIBILITY

-This event is wheelchair accessible

-The space has chairs available to sit on

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LOW-PRESSURE PARTICIPATION

Gaia Music Collective events are participatory, but low-pressure. You'll be invited to sing along and make music with us, but we encourage you to draw your own boundaries and engage at your own pace - we pride ourselves in creating a judgment-free community where you can express yourself however feels right!

LATE ARRIVALS

We ask that you arrive no later than 30 minutes after start time, after which we close the doors (lovingly) in order to preserve the intimacy and trust of the musical container we’re building. Thank you for understanding!

CANCELLATION POLICY

Tickets are refundable up to 24 hours before the event, after which we are no longer able to offer refunds. This policy helps us keep these events financially sustainable for both our community and our team. If you RSVP but are no longer able to come, please let us know so that we may offer your spot to someone else! We want as many people to be able to experience these gatherings as possible, and since capacity is limited, each spot is precious.

For more info, contact us at Z2FpYW11c2ljY29sbGVjdGl2ZSB8IGdtYWlsICEgY29t.

MEDIA CONSENT

Because we want to share what we’re up to with people who can’t join us in person, there may be photographers and videographers present — by attending, you consent to being a part of that media, some of which may be posted online! If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at Z2FpYW11c2ljY29sbGVjdGl2ZSB8IGdtYWlsICEgY29t.

NO ONE TURNED AWAY FOR LACK OF FUNDS

Gaia is funded by sliding scale ticket donations, with a “no one turned away for lack of funds” policy. It is of the utmost importance to us that these events remain affordable and accessible - we never want money to be a barrier to making music together. If a ticket scale is financially prohibitive to you, feel free to donate outside of the scale at whatever amount is sustainable for you, or to email us at Z2FpYW11c2ljY29sbGVjdGl2ZSB8IGdtYWlsICEgY29t for volunteer opportunities or assistance!

OUR MISSION

Gaia Music Collective is an NYC-based creative community seeking to foster a more connected world through collective music-making. Founded in June of 2021 in a living room in Brooklyn, this project was born out of a desire to create accessible, inclusive, playful spaces for people to explore connection, expression, healing, and release through collaborative song - spaces where folks feel empowered to make music free of judgment or expectation, and to make new friends as our full, beautiful, authentic selves.

We believe that communal music-making is a fundamental human practice, and this project seeks to build spaces for folks to nurture their relationship to music, whether they're shower singers, professional musicians, or anything in between.

All are welcome in this community. Gaia seeks to foster spaces of belonging for humans of all ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, classes, religions, abilities, national origins, languages, and musical experiences. All we ask is that you bring an open mind, a desire to connect, and a willingness to leave judgment of self and others at the door.

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