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New publication now available! From North Atlantic Books: We are at a threshold. As we face uncertain futures, the familiar is falling away. This book invites us to embody new ways of being and connecting so we can navigate troubled times together From the bestselling author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow, a beautifully packaged collection of 17 essays on meeting this moment with clarity, care, and skill In his singular and inimitable voice, psychotherapist and author, Francis Weller offers 17 soulful essays to help us move together through the anxieties, difficulties, and sacred transitions of 21st-century life. In the Absence of the Ordinary frames our current era as a rough initiation—an upending experience of profound trauma and transformation that demands we reorient our ways of thinking, being, and relating. Through essays like “Some People Wake Up…,” “The Gift of Restraint,” and “Gratitude for All That Is,” Weller offers clarity and wisdom on how to face the sobering stakes of our time—while offering the nourishment and support we need to embody the new roles this initiation requires. |
Weller guides us in naming our collective traumas and peeling back the false armor of modernity. Here, we’re called to the depths—to understand the power of descent, cultivate the necessary skills of initiation, and distinguish between the self and the soul. This book
invites us back into collective alignment with the wider world of belonging: It gives shape to the emptiness we carry, teaches us to welcome our experiences with reverence, and calls upon us to face the myriad ways that modern life severs us from our inherent interdependence with
the living earth.
In each essay, Weller fortifies us to become immense—to meet these unpredictable times with presence and faith, to restore our souls’ place in the soul of the world, and to hold steady, amid and for it all.
Advance Praise:
“In partnership with poets, places and practice, Francis teaches us that it is time to know nothing, time to become immense, time to become seasoned adults through ritual and initiation, time to do our soul work, time to apprentice slowness and listen to trees, and time to, in the words of Rilke, let the future speak ruthlessly through us.”
—adrienne maree brown, author of Emergent Strategy and Loving Corrections
“A soul-provoking read that invokes a powerful message: Even in the face of challenges, there exists a "medicine" to guide us through the evolving landscape of our lives. Francis Weller's missive serves as a beacon of hope, encouraging us to nurture a wild, rich existence despite the looming uncertainties ahead. A numinous and compelling read.”
—Joanne Cacciatore, PhD, author of Bearing the Unbearable
Read this book. Better still, pray it silently. Or aloud. As you do, I suspect the world around you will begin to churn and curdle, and you might find yourself surrounded by a murmuring parliament of the rest of us welcoming you into the rough creases of our common descent.”
—Bayo Akomolafe, PhD, author of These Wilds Beyond our Fences
“The honesty that these essays ask of us is their greatest gift. What Francis Weller invites us to embrace in the “Long Dark “is not our valor and virtues so much as our colossal loss and grief.”
—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self
“… treasures of insight from the heart of a wise, poetic, and fearless guide for exploring the shadowy terrain of the soul. Weller reaches deep into the holy ground of our awakening—both individual and collective—and with fierce kindness, invites us to become purposeful apprentices of fear, sorrow, and loss. An inspired, uplifting, and unique voice for moving into our deeply uncertain future. I highly recommend this book.”
—Duane Elgin, author of Choosing Earth
“For decades Francis Weller has been one of our most trustworthy, creative, and beloved guides to the often-boggy depths of our human souls and to the more-than-human mysteries and miracles of our achingly beautiful and imperiled planet. Pierced by the multiple crises now roiling all earthbound lives, he offers sober and elegant guidelines for facing the long dark rapids looming on our collective horizon. Come on down to the river. Pull up a log. Lean into the fire. Francis is here, casting spells and opening a hidden door to the animate underworld and to the unremembered sacred. We must change our lives.
—Bill Plotkin, author of Soulcraft
“Francis Weller reminds us that descending into shadowy times is an entry into sacred grounds. With poetic and penetrating insight, he invites us on a journey of the soul, one that reveals —in the dark passages of loss and grief--our collective immensity, belonging and luminosity.”
—Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance
“The more turbulent our lives become, the more we need Weller’s inspiration and compassion. Here is an invitation to the troubled and grieving to embrace the glory and grace of the world.”
—Kathleen Dean Moore, author of Wild Comfort
“This book is an extraordinary gift to the world, a breathing prayer, a sacred vessel for alchemical transformation. Francis Weller reminds us, ‘The future is speaking ruthlessly through us.’ I weep with the searing depth and beauty of his poetic prose as he expresses the painful truths of our ailing planet and simultaneously offers a glimmer of optimism. Francis is a luminous dharma lamp of wisdom in these turbulent times and a skilled, competent, much needed sherpa of the underworld, here to guide us through the unknown. Buy this book, send it to everyone you love!”
—Rashani Réa, earth steward, farmer, artist, and creatrix of Beyond Brokenness, Beneath All Appearances
“Recognizing that ‘soul-shattering’ loss and grief must overtake us all, Francis Weller guides us to our own capacity to plod through the difficult territory of sorrow, while opening up to the beauty that is both part of that terrain and awaiting our sharpened, softened presence upon emergence from it. ‘We are meant to feed life in an ongoing way,’ Weller writes. This book is both an initiation ceremony and a refuge for feeding life, even at the most difficult times.”
—Trebbe Johnson, author of Radical Joy for Hard Times
“More than reading this book, I want to internalize it—infuse its messages into my breath and tattoo its invitations into my actions. I want to live into the potential it envisions and share it with everyone I love. Francis Weller bids us embrace the journey into the realm of soul, dreams, mystery, imagination, and darkness, offering practical ways to weave the threads of medicine found there into our daily lives. In a muddled world, Weller brings clarity, wisdom, intimacy, reverence, and fluency with what the wild soul most wants. ‘You are necessary,’ he writes. ‘It is time to become immense.’
—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, author of The Unfolding and host of The Poetic Path
invites us back into collective alignment with the wider world of belonging: It gives shape to the emptiness we carry, teaches us to welcome our experiences with reverence, and calls upon us to face the myriad ways that modern life severs us from our inherent interdependence with
the living earth.
In each essay, Weller fortifies us to become immense—to meet these unpredictable times with presence and faith, to restore our souls’ place in the soul of the world, and to hold steady, amid and for it all.
Advance Praise:
“In partnership with poets, places and practice, Francis teaches us that it is time to know nothing, time to become immense, time to become seasoned adults through ritual and initiation, time to do our soul work, time to apprentice slowness and listen to trees, and time to, in the words of Rilke, let the future speak ruthlessly through us.”
—adrienne maree brown, author of Emergent Strategy and Loving Corrections
“A soul-provoking read that invokes a powerful message: Even in the face of challenges, there exists a "medicine" to guide us through the evolving landscape of our lives. Francis Weller's missive serves as a beacon of hope, encouraging us to nurture a wild, rich existence despite the looming uncertainties ahead. A numinous and compelling read.”
—Joanne Cacciatore, PhD, author of Bearing the Unbearable
Read this book. Better still, pray it silently. Or aloud. As you do, I suspect the world around you will begin to churn and curdle, and you might find yourself surrounded by a murmuring parliament of the rest of us welcoming you into the rough creases of our common descent.”
—Bayo Akomolafe, PhD, author of These Wilds Beyond our Fences
“The honesty that these essays ask of us is their greatest gift. What Francis Weller invites us to embrace in the “Long Dark “is not our valor and virtues so much as our colossal loss and grief.”
—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self
“… treasures of insight from the heart of a wise, poetic, and fearless guide for exploring the shadowy terrain of the soul. Weller reaches deep into the holy ground of our awakening—both individual and collective—and with fierce kindness, invites us to become purposeful apprentices of fear, sorrow, and loss. An inspired, uplifting, and unique voice for moving into our deeply uncertain future. I highly recommend this book.”
—Duane Elgin, author of Choosing Earth
“For decades Francis Weller has been one of our most trustworthy, creative, and beloved guides to the often-boggy depths of our human souls and to the more-than-human mysteries and miracles of our achingly beautiful and imperiled planet. Pierced by the multiple crises now roiling all earthbound lives, he offers sober and elegant guidelines for facing the long dark rapids looming on our collective horizon. Come on down to the river. Pull up a log. Lean into the fire. Francis is here, casting spells and opening a hidden door to the animate underworld and to the unremembered sacred. We must change our lives.
—Bill Plotkin, author of Soulcraft
“Francis Weller reminds us that descending into shadowy times is an entry into sacred grounds. With poetic and penetrating insight, he invites us on a journey of the soul, one that reveals —in the dark passages of loss and grief--our collective immensity, belonging and luminosity.”
—Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance
“The more turbulent our lives become, the more we need Weller’s inspiration and compassion. Here is an invitation to the troubled and grieving to embrace the glory and grace of the world.”
—Kathleen Dean Moore, author of Wild Comfort
“This book is an extraordinary gift to the world, a breathing prayer, a sacred vessel for alchemical transformation. Francis Weller reminds us, ‘The future is speaking ruthlessly through us.’ I weep with the searing depth and beauty of his poetic prose as he expresses the painful truths of our ailing planet and simultaneously offers a glimmer of optimism. Francis is a luminous dharma lamp of wisdom in these turbulent times and a skilled, competent, much needed sherpa of the underworld, here to guide us through the unknown. Buy this book, send it to everyone you love!”
—Rashani Réa, earth steward, farmer, artist, and creatrix of Beyond Brokenness, Beneath All Appearances
“Recognizing that ‘soul-shattering’ loss and grief must overtake us all, Francis Weller guides us to our own capacity to plod through the difficult territory of sorrow, while opening up to the beauty that is both part of that terrain and awaiting our sharpened, softened presence upon emergence from it. ‘We are meant to feed life in an ongoing way,’ Weller writes. This book is both an initiation ceremony and a refuge for feeding life, even at the most difficult times.”
—Trebbe Johnson, author of Radical Joy for Hard Times
“More than reading this book, I want to internalize it—infuse its messages into my breath and tattoo its invitations into my actions. I want to live into the potential it envisions and share it with everyone I love. Francis Weller bids us embrace the journey into the realm of soul, dreams, mystery, imagination, and darkness, offering practical ways to weave the threads of medicine found there into our daily lives. In a muddled world, Weller brings clarity, wisdom, intimacy, reverence, and fluency with what the wild soul most wants. ‘You are necessary,’ he writes. ‘It is time to become immense.’
—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, author of The Unfolding and host of The Poetic Path
"(The Wild Edge of Sorrow) blew me away. I underlined things on nearly every page."
— Anderson Cooper, All There Is
Translated into Ten Languages. The Official Workbook for
Over 300,000 copies sold! The Wild Edge of Sorrow
"In The Wild Edge of Sorrow, Francis Weller offers his readers a breath-taking and dramatic journey of inner discovery into personal pain resolution, plane-tary healing and Soul development. It is an essential publication - one that offers precious guidance and insight for those who are strong enough, as well as mature enough, to probe and challenge the darkness."
- Spirituality Today. “Quite possibly the best guidebook ever crafted on the art of grieving, this 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 of Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche From North Atlantic Books: "Noted psychotherapist Francis Weller provides an essential guide for navigating the deep waters of sorrow and loss in this lyrical yet practical handbook for mastering the art of grieving. Describing how Western patterns of amnesia and anesthesia affect our capacity to cope with personal and collective sorrows, Weller reveals the new vitality we may encounter when we welcome, rather than fear, the pain of loss. Through moving personal stories, poetry, and insightful reflections he leads us into the central energy of sorrow, and to the profound healing and heightened communion with each other and our planet that reside alongside it. The Wild Edge of Sorrow explains that grief has always been communal and illustrates how we need the healing touch of others, an atmosphere of compassion, and the comfort of ritual in order to fully metabolize our grief. Weller describes how we often hide our pain from the world, wrapping it in a secret mantle of shame. This causes sorrow to linger unexpressed in our bodies, weighing us down and pulling us into the territory of depression and death. We have come to fear grief and feel too alone to face an encounter with the powerful energies of sorrow. Those who work with people in grief, who have experienced the loss of a loved one, who mourn the ongoing destruction of our planet, or who suffer the accumulated traumas of a lifetime will appreciate the discussion of obstacles to successful grief work such as privatized pain, lack of communal rituals, a pervasive feeling of fear, and a culturally restrictive range of emotion. Weller highlights the intimate bond between grief and gratitude, sorrow and intimacy. In addition to showing us that the greatest gifts are often hidden in the things we avoid, he offers powerful tools and rituals and a list of resources to help us transform grief into a force that allows us to live and love more fully." ________________________________________________ Order directly from your local bookstore. Click here and find it on Amazon. Click here and find it at Barnes and Noble Praise for The Wild Edge of Sorrow "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 The Wild Edge of Sorrow." - 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: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief, 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 "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 |
Inspired by Francis Weller’s revelatory bestseller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow Workbook offers a guided pathway through the sacred depths, unexpected turns, and soul-restoring work of grief.
Chapter by chapter, Weller walks readers through writing exercises, embodied practices, guided reflections, and rituals from The Wild Edge of Sorrow. The workbook is designed to be flexible: you can work section by section as you read the book or dip into standalone chapters that resonate with your own specific experiences. Weller invites you to cultivate a conversation with your grief, to understand your pains and losses in new and poignant ways—and he welcomes you into a deepened relationship with the anima mundi, the soul of the world. New exercises include:
In a profoundly fractured world, Weller’s gentle and compassionate voice calls us back into ourselves—our griefs, joys, pains, and the ineffable qualities that make us human…and opens us up, once again, to the interdependence and healing connections that make us whole. Available February 24th! |