EMBRACING ENDINGS
In Fall of 2025, we are offering two simultaneous cycles of this course, one in-person for QTBIPOC and one online for BIPOC. Please see below for details & dates!
WHEN:
- IN PERSON FOR QTBIPOC* on Tuesdays @ 5:30-8:30 pm PT
- Sept 30, Oct 7, Oct 14, Oct 28, Nov 4, and Nov 11
- ONLINE FOR BIPOC* on Wednesdays @ 4:00-7:00 pm PT
- Oct 1, Oct 8, Oct 15, Oct 29, Nov 5, and Nov 12
WHERE: The in-person course will be on Huichin Ohlone Land/Oakland, CA. Location to be shared upon final registration.
Access Info: Masks will be required & we will have an air filter running. The meeting room is ADA accessible though the bathroom is not. This is not a fragrance free space. Location has ample parking & a close bus line.
The online course will be offered via zoom. Log in details to be shared upon final registration. Because this is a ceremonial space, we will not be recording our sessions.
We strongly encourage folks to attend these classes weekly. Your attendance will allow you to get the most out of the content, experience the process of building this sacred container, and be least disruptive to the community.
COURSE OVERVIEW
In this 6-week course, we will support folks in facing and embracing endings. Each week we will take time to remember traditional, nature-based ways of relating to the end. Together, we will explore what it means to live, love, grieve, and let go. With the assistance of the ancestors, plants, ceremony, and each other, we will be in the practice of facing, feeling, and integrating the inevitable outcome of death. This class is for death workers, healers, and/or grievers looking to make a relationship with death.
Please note: Though grief is welcome in this course, it is not a grief support group or therapy. Because of the nature of the content of this program, we encourage everyone to be self-reflective about whether this is the time and space for them to do this work.
What to expect:
- Weekly exploration of different death-related topics (including prompts and meditations for looking at our own relationship to loss and endings, remembering nature-based ways of relating to grief, and delving deeper into subjects such as sudden death and the many types of grief, etc)
- Weaving in of the foundations of Curanderismo (a holistic earth-based health care system that works to keep all elements of our being in balance) as support in the process of facing loss
- Weekly medicine-making demo of herbal & floral remedies and rituals that help while we face and feel our way through life and death
- Foundations for connecting and building relationship with ancestors
- Weekly at home heartwork assignments that support in making relationship with death
- Personal check-in & closing time each session
- Final class presentations and reflections
CONTRIBUTION: $450 (There are payment plans available and two full scholarships for Palestinian and Black folks.)
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the classes are full. Scholarships will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis to people accepted into the course. We encourage you to apply today!
*BIPOC is an acronym for 'Black, Indigenous, People of Color.' QTBIPOC is an acronym for 'Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color'. QTBIPOC means that someone identifies as Queer or Trans AND as a Black, Indigenous Person of Color. Though we use these acronyms throughout our work, we recognize their limitations. We also appreciate and use the collective term 'People of the Global Majority' (PGM). PGM reminds us that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color represent over 80% of this world’s living population. Additionally, we recognize that there is a wide range of identities and vocabulary that people use to describe their sexualities and genders. We honor and center people who identify as LQBTQIA2S+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or gender expansive, queer and/or questioning, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, and more).
HERBS FOR ENDINGS
WHEN: Fall Dates Coming Soon
WHERE: This in-person course is offered on Huchiun/Oakland, CA.
COURSE OVERVIEW
In this 3-week in-person course for QTBIPOC*, we will gather with our grief and get to know 9 specific herbs and flowers that can assist in times of sorrow, loss and death.
Utilizing prompting questions plus peer and plantita support, each week we will acknowledge the grief we are carrying, honor it, and go deep into 3 herbs/flowers that can help with facing, feeling, and integrating our experiences. Each week we will also co-create a go-to herbal remedy that can help when tending to ourselves or others.
This circle is for death workers, healers, feelers, and grievers who are Queer, Trans, AND Black, Indigenous, People of Color and are looking for support in facing grief, loss, and death.
What to expect:
• A deeper knowledge and relationship with 9 different herbs/flowers that can support our bodies, minds, and hearts during times of loss, death and endings
• Weekly death-related prompts for looking at your own relationship to loss
• Insights on life, death and loss from lifelong death workers Melissa and Batul, as well as from other experienced folks in the group
• Weaving in of the foundations of Curanderismo (a holistic earth-based health care system that works to keep all elements of our being in balance) as spiritual & practical support when in the process of facing life and death
• Weekly medicine making demo of herb & flower remedies that can help out in the end
• Pair and group sharing to encourage connection and community building
• Opening and closing prayers
Payment Information: This course is offered at a sliding scale exchange of $225-$300. In the spirit of mutual aid, folks who are currently able to pay at the higher end of the scale will create access for others who may not otherwise be able to attend at this time. Death care is community care and your generosity is appreciated. Your contribution also supports us, Batul & Melissa, both two spirit, Indigenous death workers and full-time traditional medicine practitioners.
There are payment plan options if needed. There are two full scholarships available, for Palestinian, Black, and California native folks.
We are requesting at least your first payment installment at the time of registration. This will confirm your space in the course. Payments will then be due in full by Wednesday May 28th. If you are interested in requesting a scholarship, please note that they will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.
A final logistics email with the exact location and preparation information will be sent out on Monday June 2nd to everyone who has completed their payments and/or received a scholarship.
*Please Note: QTBIPOC is an acronym for 'Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color'. QTBIPOC means that someone identifies as Queer or Trans AND as a Black, Indigenous Person of Color. Though we use this acronym throughout our work, we recognize its limitations. We also appreciate and use the collective term 'People of the Global Majority' (PGM). PGM reminds us that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color represent over 80% of this world’s living population. Additionally, we recognize that there is a wide range of identities and vocabulary that people use to describe their sexualities and genders. We honor and center people who identify as LQBTQIA2S+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or gender expansive, queer and/or questioning, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, and more).