Francis Weller is a psychotherapist, author, and ritual elder who examines connections between grief, ecological crisis, and community healing. Trained in depth psychology and influenced by indigenous wisdom traditions, he bridges Western therapeutic approaches with ritual practices of community healing.

Weller’s work on “ecological grief” proposes that sorrow for environmental destruction represents natural response rather than pathology. He suggests that capacity to feel this grief relates to ability to act on behalf of ecological systems. Through development of grief rituals, men’s initiation work, and community healing practices, he has created supportive containers where people can process both personal and collective trauma.

His concept of “the village” refers to community structures that hold space for authentic feeling and collective healing. Weller’s approach proposes that individual healing and planetary healing are connected. His integration of Western psychology with ritual practices examines how ancient wisdom can address modern disconnection.

Weller articulates five sources of grief, including grief for the state of the world. He proposes that contemporary culture lacks “grief literacy” - the capacity to recognize and work with sorrow as life skill. His teaching connects grief work with environmental activism, proposing that authentic feeling can inform authentic action.

His work includes collaboration with the Wilderness Guides Council and various grief support communities. He has written on connections between grief avoidance and ecological crisis.

Key Concepts

• Ecological Grief: Sorrow for environmental destruction as natural response requiring communal support
• The Five Gates of Grief: Framework identifying multiple sources of human sorrow
• The Village: Community container holding space for collective healing
• Grief Literacy: Cultural capacity to recognize and work with grief
• Sacred Activism: Environmental action from place of love and grief

Essential Works

1. “The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief” (North Atlantic Books, 2015) - ISBN 978-1-62317-016-2
2. “In the Absence of the Sacred: Meeting the Emptiness in a Grief-Avoidant Culture” (2020)

Selected Quotes

Grief is not a feeling but a skill - the skill that allows us to love fully in the face of loss. — The Wild Edge of Sorrow (2015)

The Earth is grieving, and our grief for the Earth is one way we can be in relationship with her pain. — The Wild Edge of Sorrow (2015)

We live in a grief-illiterate culture, and this illiteracy is killing us and the planet. — The Wild Edge of Sorrow (2015)

Grief is praise. It is the way the heart acknowledges the beauty of what we have lost. — The Wild Edge of Sorrow (2015)

When we allow ourselves to feel the full impact of what we’re losing, we find the energy to protect what remains. — Various writings

The village is where we learn to feel together, and feeling together is how we heal the world. — Workshop teachings

Every symptom in our culture can be traced back to our inability to grieve well. — In the Absence of the Sacred (2020)

Further Reading

Biographical Sources

• Francis Weller workshops and retreats

Key Books

• The Wild Edge of Sorrow (North Atlantic Books, 2015) - ISBN 978-1-62317-016-2
• In the Absence of the Sacred (2020)

Related Resources

• Wilderness Guides Council
• Grief support and ritual communities