Descent: A Grief & Gratitude Journey

Samhain to Mid-Winter with Tanya Forgan and Catherine Holt

Winter calls us inward.
To descend is to remember what is unbroken, to feel what has been silenced, and to weave grief and gratitude into one living cloth.
This is a tender season of turning toward the dark and finding that it is full of quiet light.
Together we discover that grief, when witnessed, becomes a river back to life.

This journey is a sanctuary for all that lives unspoken in the heart. It is an invitation to sit with what has been lost, to honour love in its many forms, and to let sorrow and beauty walk side by side. Through gentle rituals and community presence, we allow what has been held inside to move and be met.

Who This Is For

Descent welcomes anyone carrying grief, whether personal or collective, who longs for a space of deep witness and gentle companionship.
You do not need previous experience with grief, ritual or circle work. You only need a willingness to arrive as you are.

The Five Gates of Grief

(adapted from the teachings of Francis Weller and infused with our own ritual magic)

Week 1: The First Gate – Everything We Love We Will Lose
We begin with the truth that everything we hold dear is impermanent. Here we remember that love and loss are two sides of the same sacred coin. As stories are spoken and hearts are heard, a deeper tenderness and courage begin to unfold.

Week 2: The Second Gate – The Places That Have Not Known Love
This week we turn inward toward the rooms of the heart that were never met with tenderness. With breath and gentle inquiry we welcome these exiled places back into belonging and offer them the care they have always deserved. Many participants find that long-guarded parts of themselves begin to soften and rejoin the whole.

Week 3: The Third Gate – The Sorrows of the World
Here we grieve together for the collective wounds of our time: the suffering of the Earth, the violence of war, the ache of injustice. Sharing these sorrows in community transforms isolation into solidarity and restores a sense of shared humanity.

Week 4: The Fourth Gate – What We Expected and Did Not Receive
We tend the quiet ache of unfulfilled dreams and the invisible losses that shaped our lives. By naming these long-held sorrows we open a doorway to unexpected peace and a renewed intimacy with life as it is.

Week 5: The Fifth Gate – Ancestral Grief
We honour the lineage of sorrow and resilience behind us, inviting the wisdom of our ancestors to walk with us into renewal. In this closing circle we feel the blessing of those who came before and the strength of those who stand beside us now.

The Descent Journey

Each gathering includes guided embodiment, sound healing, breathwork,  poetry, and space for reflection. 
You will be invited to bring a candle and a small altar piece each week, weaving a personal ritual of remembrance and gratitude.
It is our wish that this offers you a deeper connection to your own heart, a softer relationship with loss, and a quiet confidence in the life that continues to flow beneath grief.