A New and Expanded Edition of my book, published by North Atlantic Books, is now available!
Dear Reader,
Over the last thirty years, I have worked with grief in my practice as a psychotherapist and workshop leader. Beginning in 1997, I began to offer grief rituals as a way for communities to attend the large and small losses that touch each of our lives. What has become clear to me is how difficult it is for us to attend to our grief in the absence of community. Carried privately, sorrow lingers in the soul, slowly pulling us below the surface of life and into the terrain of death.
I wrote this book to expand the conversation we need to have concerning the place of grief in our lives. Each of us must undertake an apprenticeship with loss. I hope my book can offer support for whatever grief you carry, at whatever gate you find yourself. I welcome any response you may have to my writing. And thank you for visiting this site and for reading my book.
"In The Wild Edge of Sorrow, author and soul activist Francis Weller, offers a new vision of grief and sorrow. He reveals the hidden vitality in grief, uncovered when the heart welcomes the sorrows of our life and those of the world. When the deeper rhythms of grief are allowed to emerge, we become aware of the intimate connection we share with all things. We are ripened in times of loss, made more human by the rites of grief. Through story, poetry and insightful reflections, Francis offers a meditation on the healing power of grief."
You can purchase the book through your local bookstore, or click here and go directly to Amazon.
Praise for The Wild Edge of Sorrow
"The Wild Edge of Sorrow is extraordinary. I'm going to be giving it to a lot of people. So many of the themes explored are things I care deeply about. For example, the betrayal of our Great Expectation that life is supposed to be far more magical, authentic, intimate, and alive than what has been offered to us as normal. The ongoing pain of separation from community and nature that we all feel. And the pain of the earth. Reading Weller’s book, I've realized that we have a lot of unprocessed grief to share. This book will be a gift to many."
- Charles Eisenstein, author of The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible
Francis Weller is the ultimate grief sage of our time. The Wild Edge of Sorrow marries uncommon compassion with clear-eyed discernment in its invitation to the reader to become a soul activist in a soul-devouring culture. It is a comprehensive manual for conscious grieving and opening to the unprecedented joy and passion that results from embracing our sorrow.
- Carolyn Baker, Ph.D., author of Love in the Age of Ecological Apocalypse and Collapsing Consciously.
"Thanks for your book. It's beautiful, clear and says this important thing with great directness and kindness. A fine work." -Tony Hoagland, author of What Narcissism Means to Me: Poems
"This book is a work of beauty: beauty in its language, its poetic sensibility, in its deep insights into the nature of loss and its effect on the human soul. Weller's book is, finally, a healing balm. It shows how our tears may be the redemptive waters we have needed for so long." -Roger Housden, author of Ten Poems to Say Goodbye
"This book rings a shivering bell of hope: that, when lifted by ritual and fellowship, the moist ground of grief actually contains a treasury of gifts that are our ancestral birthright. In other words. we start to become a real human being. We are no longer rigid islands of self sufficiency, but open to the soulful wonders that the animate world offers. Insightfully written, warm and with a wonderful poetic sensibility, the deep experience of Weller shines through. The work has honed something clear and valuable in his own character, and a delightful wisdom shines through every page of Entering the Healing Ground." - Martin Shaw, author A Branch From The Lightning Tree.
“The Wild Edge of Sorrow takes us into the sacred territory of grief and ritual. Francis sees the importance of ritual as a language that speaks to the deepest layers of being human. He brings a healer’s touch to a terrain often neglected and denied in Western Culture. As such, he guides us into the difficult geography of sorrow and helps us find our way back to our souls. He brings much needed medicine to a culture that relies upon distraction and anesthesia to cope with the daily losses that surround us. This is a bold book, one that does not turn away from the immense territory of loss and suffering. He has kept faith with his indigenous soul and this offering is greatly needed.” - Malidoma Somé, author The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community
“Amidst the plethora of books on the inner life, very rarely do I encounter one that opens my mind and heart to completely new possibilities essential to my deepest humanity. The Wild Edge of Sorrow, however, is brimming with sentences that take me beyond what I already know, much as a great poem can, to utterly new dimensions of what it means to be courageously alive to myself and the world around me. Weller works this magic not only through the wisdom he offers about how to honor our grief — at both personal and planetary levels — but also through the warmth and music of his language, which is in itself a healing medicine for the soul. This book is not only a map to navigate some of the most tender and difficult regions of the psyche, but a work of literary art.” - Kim Rosen, author Saved by a Poem: The Transformative Power of Words
“Francis Weller has courageously gifted us with a sensitive, imaginative, and much-needed enrichment of our Western understanding of grief along with a compact bundle of practical, potent, and ritual tools for falling apart and becoming whole again. Quite possibly the best guidebook ever crafted on the art of grieving, this small volume is also a brilliant and poetic handbook for becoming fully human, more exquisitely alive, and more able to contribute to cultural change. The Wild Edge of Sorrow invites us into the very heart of sorrow, profound healing, and a deepened communion with each other and Earth.” - Bill Plotkin, author Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche and Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World
"Francis Weller’s new book, The Wild Edge of Sorrow is so deeply honest, insightful, and hopeful. His style of writing and speaking is poetic, and yet one feels as though they are in conversation with a neighbor. Should you purchase the book, read it with a pen by your side. You’ll want to underline and remember the rich prose on every page." -Marianna Cacciatore, Director, Bread for the Journey, author Being There for Someone in Grief
"The warmth of Francis’s voice and his beautiful language, will speak directly to your soul, in a way your soul has longed to feel embraced. His words will open your heart to receive your own most tender and vulnerable feelings as a gift to be cherished as they may bring forth a new depth of connection to the soul of the world." - Dr. Risa Kaparo, author of Awakening Somatic Intelligence
"Most of us instinctively turn from what makes us uncomfortable. Yet often the greatest gifts lie hidden in what we avoid. Certainly at this time we have much to grieve both as individuals and as a culture; but our collective amnesia about the traditional practices of grieving keep us from uncovering the buried treasures that could be our salvation. In fact, the accumulated weight of our ungrieved losses may be at the root of what is fragmenting our world.
Francis Weller's lyrical and moving book offers us a way to remember and embrace these practices and, by so doing, renew our lives and restore the soul of the world. The Wild Edge of Sorrow reads like poetry and is both a prayer and an invitation: a prayer of soul healing and an invitation to the mystery of becoming fully human. May it find its way to those who need it (most of us).” - Larry Robinson, poet, former mayor Sebastopol, CA.
“The Wild Edge of Sorrow is a powerful book, tender, vulnerable and beautifully written, with superb examples of the potency of ritual. I look forward to being able to share it with others.” - Geneen Marie Haugen, poet, writer, wilderness guide and teacher
Dear Reader,
Over the last thirty years, I have worked with grief in my practice as a psychotherapist and workshop leader. Beginning in 1997, I began to offer grief rituals as a way for communities to attend the large and small losses that touch each of our lives. What has become clear to me is how difficult it is for us to attend to our grief in the absence of community. Carried privately, sorrow lingers in the soul, slowly pulling us below the surface of life and into the terrain of death.
I wrote this book to expand the conversation we need to have concerning the place of grief in our lives. Each of us must undertake an apprenticeship with loss. I hope my book can offer support for whatever grief you carry, at whatever gate you find yourself. I welcome any response you may have to my writing. And thank you for visiting this site and for reading my book.
"In The Wild Edge of Sorrow, author and soul activist Francis Weller, offers a new vision of grief and sorrow. He reveals the hidden vitality in grief, uncovered when the heart welcomes the sorrows of our life and those of the world. When the deeper rhythms of grief are allowed to emerge, we become aware of the intimate connection we share with all things. We are ripened in times of loss, made more human by the rites of grief. Through story, poetry and insightful reflections, Francis offers a meditation on the healing power of grief."
You can purchase the book through your local bookstore, or click here and go directly to Amazon.
Praise for The Wild Edge of Sorrow
"The Wild Edge of Sorrow is extraordinary. I'm going to be giving it to a lot of people. So many of the themes explored are things I care deeply about. For example, the betrayal of our Great Expectation that life is supposed to be far more magical, authentic, intimate, and alive than what has been offered to us as normal. The ongoing pain of separation from community and nature that we all feel. And the pain of the earth. Reading Weller’s book, I've realized that we have a lot of unprocessed grief to share. This book will be a gift to many."
- Charles Eisenstein, author of The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible
Francis Weller is the ultimate grief sage of our time. The Wild Edge of Sorrow marries uncommon compassion with clear-eyed discernment in its invitation to the reader to become a soul activist in a soul-devouring culture. It is a comprehensive manual for conscious grieving and opening to the unprecedented joy and passion that results from embracing our sorrow.
- Carolyn Baker, Ph.D., author of Love in the Age of Ecological Apocalypse and Collapsing Consciously.
"Thanks for your book. It's beautiful, clear and says this important thing with great directness and kindness. A fine work." -Tony Hoagland, author of What Narcissism Means to Me: Poems
"This book is a work of beauty: beauty in its language, its poetic sensibility, in its deep insights into the nature of loss and its effect on the human soul. Weller's book is, finally, a healing balm. It shows how our tears may be the redemptive waters we have needed for so long." -Roger Housden, author of Ten Poems to Say Goodbye
"This book rings a shivering bell of hope: that, when lifted by ritual and fellowship, the moist ground of grief actually contains a treasury of gifts that are our ancestral birthright. In other words. we start to become a real human being. We are no longer rigid islands of self sufficiency, but open to the soulful wonders that the animate world offers. Insightfully written, warm and with a wonderful poetic sensibility, the deep experience of Weller shines through. The work has honed something clear and valuable in his own character, and a delightful wisdom shines through every page of Entering the Healing Ground." - Martin Shaw, author A Branch From The Lightning Tree.
“The Wild Edge of Sorrow takes us into the sacred territory of grief and ritual. Francis sees the importance of ritual as a language that speaks to the deepest layers of being human. He brings a healer’s touch to a terrain often neglected and denied in Western Culture. As such, he guides us into the difficult geography of sorrow and helps us find our way back to our souls. He brings much needed medicine to a culture that relies upon distraction and anesthesia to cope with the daily losses that surround us. This is a bold book, one that does not turn away from the immense territory of loss and suffering. He has kept faith with his indigenous soul and this offering is greatly needed.” - Malidoma Somé, author The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community
“Amidst the plethora of books on the inner life, very rarely do I encounter one that opens my mind and heart to completely new possibilities essential to my deepest humanity. The Wild Edge of Sorrow, however, is brimming with sentences that take me beyond what I already know, much as a great poem can, to utterly new dimensions of what it means to be courageously alive to myself and the world around me. Weller works this magic not only through the wisdom he offers about how to honor our grief — at both personal and planetary levels — but also through the warmth and music of his language, which is in itself a healing medicine for the soul. This book is not only a map to navigate some of the most tender and difficult regions of the psyche, but a work of literary art.” - Kim Rosen, author Saved by a Poem: The Transformative Power of Words
“Francis Weller has courageously gifted us with a sensitive, imaginative, and much-needed enrichment of our Western understanding of grief along with a compact bundle of practical, potent, and ritual tools for falling apart and becoming whole again. Quite possibly the best guidebook ever crafted on the art of grieving, this small volume is also a brilliant and poetic handbook for becoming fully human, more exquisitely alive, and more able to contribute to cultural change. The Wild Edge of Sorrow invites us into the very heart of sorrow, profound healing, and a deepened communion with each other and Earth.” - Bill Plotkin, author Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche and Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World
"Francis Weller’s new book, The Wild Edge of Sorrow is so deeply honest, insightful, and hopeful. His style of writing and speaking is poetic, and yet one feels as though they are in conversation with a neighbor. Should you purchase the book, read it with a pen by your side. You’ll want to underline and remember the rich prose on every page." -Marianna Cacciatore, Director, Bread for the Journey, author Being There for Someone in Grief
"The warmth of Francis’s voice and his beautiful language, will speak directly to your soul, in a way your soul has longed to feel embraced. His words will open your heart to receive your own most tender and vulnerable feelings as a gift to be cherished as they may bring forth a new depth of connection to the soul of the world." - Dr. Risa Kaparo, author of Awakening Somatic Intelligence
"Most of us instinctively turn from what makes us uncomfortable. Yet often the greatest gifts lie hidden in what we avoid. Certainly at this time we have much to grieve both as individuals and as a culture; but our collective amnesia about the traditional practices of grieving keep us from uncovering the buried treasures that could be our salvation. In fact, the accumulated weight of our ungrieved losses may be at the root of what is fragmenting our world.
Francis Weller's lyrical and moving book offers us a way to remember and embrace these practices and, by so doing, renew our lives and restore the soul of the world. The Wild Edge of Sorrow reads like poetry and is both a prayer and an invitation: a prayer of soul healing and an invitation to the mystery of becoming fully human. May it find its way to those who need it (most of us).” - Larry Robinson, poet, former mayor Sebastopol, CA.
“The Wild Edge of Sorrow is a powerful book, tender, vulnerable and beautifully written, with superb examples of the potency of ritual. I look forward to being able to share it with others.” - Geneen Marie Haugen, poet, writer, wilderness guide and teacher