"Pathosophy - a living Art" by Azul Thomé. PRE ORDER
Pathosophy - a living Art
“Wisdom born of Grief & Suffering”
by Azul Thomé
(the final image of the cover is still to be decided)
The creation of this book on the Arts of Collective Grief Rituals is a living legacy. After years of apprenticing, teaching and experiencing the alchemy of Grief Composting I am wishing to propose the deep meaning of the word Pathosophy: Wisdom born of suffering.
It is my prayer and a deep longing to offer our world a renewed and empowering framing for the suffering we experience. We can see that suffering will keep increasing as we dive deeply into our collective Initiation through the pandemic, the death of our Earth living systems, millions losing their home, livelihood and lives.
What if we can experience the inevitable suffering as the raw material necessary for the alchemist in us- to transform the grief and suffering into wisdom? Is that preferable and possible?
It is my devoted intention to create a beautiful and honouring book, with soul feeding poetry, eARTh images, strengthening quotes and decolonising rituals - for all who are interested in the sacred work of grief and the wisdom born of suffering. Offering ways of inhabiting our lives more fully in these initiating times.
A book of the gathering of the last 5 years of ceremonial work with Grief Composting since my MA on Collective Grief in 2015 weaving the work of my three main mentors: Joanna Macy, Francis Weller and Sobonfy Some.
This book is intended to become good company for a homecoming to the Soul of our Earth. An honouring of our visible and invisible kins, alive and dead.
It is inspired by the words from the river Dart :
When you create containers of sacred beauty that opens your Heart to what Love truly is then you will realise with a massive sob that you were loved all along, always have and for ever by all of Us who you think You are Saving!
~ the eARTh art of Collective Grie, as if Life and Death really Matter
~ Pathosophy: Wisdom born of suffering
some QUOTES that will INCLUDED and more
"Grief is not a negotiation with Death, it is a Courageous and Generous letter to Life"
Azul Thomé
" Grief is not a feeling, but a skill and the twin to grief in life, is our ability to praise life". Stephen Jenkinson
There are those, however, that are not frightened of grief: dropping deep into the sorrow, they find therein a necessary elixir to the numbness. When they encounter one another, when they press their foreheads against the bark of a centuries-old tree...their eyes well with tears that fall easily to the ground. The soil needs this water. Grief is but a gate, and our tears a kind of key opening a place of wonder thats been locked away. Suddenly we notice a sustaining resonance between the drumming heart within our chest and the pulse rising from the ground.
David Abram ~
I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another other again. Simple, honest, human conversation. No mediation, negotiation, problem-solving, debate, or public meetings. Simple, truthful conversation where we each have a chance to speak, we each feel heard, and we each listen well. Human conversation is the most ancient and easiest way to cultivate the conditions for change.
Margaret J. Wheatley ~ Turning to One Another
You are engaging in madness. I feel obliged to accompany you.
Alejandro Jodorowsky ~
'Grief is felt every time something contradicts our sense of humanity, separating us from our sense of identity; it is a dramatic event creating a crisis of the soul requiring reconciliation. Emotion is the most natural response and grieving has the same profound strength that love holds, in its shadow side. We are, however, conditioned to suppress and repress these powerful emotions and hold a stiff upper lip through adversity and pain. We have been told that time heals all wounds, and yet we carry a heaviness of heart. It is as though the grief holds us back from experiencing the lightness of spirit and our degree of participation in life.Grieving vents the soul – it is not to be confused with weakness or vulnerability. Emotions are collective and affect those within our community, much as a smile can bring warmth to another, grief can bring sadness to another within that community. Grief is released as layers of loss, requiring a lot of energy. One member of your community can trigger suppressed grief within you hence, the community contributes to your process.
In the Dagara community (African indigenous wisdom), grief is seen as the food for the psyche. Just as the body needs food, the psyche needs grief to maintain its own healthy balance. Holding back unexpressed emotion and tears is like a time bomb; both dangerous to ourselves and to the world around us.'
Malidoma Some
"The grief is essential in order to integrate on a deep level the reality of the situation we face. Otherwise it remains, to most people, theoretical. After all, our social infrastructure insulates us pretty well from the tangible effects of climate change (so far). For most people, compared to say their mortgage payment or their teenager's addiction problem, climate change seems quite remote and theoretical -- something that is only happening in the future or on the news. As long as that is the case, they will not take meaningful action either, and it won't change through persuasion. Persuasion does not penetrate deeply enough. No one is ever "persuaded" to make major changes in their life's commitments, unless that persuasion is accompanied by an experience that impacts them on a physical and emotional level.
As long as grief is not fully experienced, then normal still seems normal. Even if one is intellectually persuaded of the reality and gravity of climate change, the felt reality is still, "It isn't real," or "It's gonna be fine."
Charles Eisenstein
The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other: to be stretched large by them. Both of these potent energies flow through the chamber of the heart. How much sorrow can we hold? That's often how much gratitude we can give. If we only welcome gratitude, we remain detached and do not fully develop compassion for other people's suffering. If we only welcome grief, we'll typically bend toward cynicism and bitterness over time. But together they become the prayer of the heart.
Francis Weller ~
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The book will be available for the 2nd Decmber 2021 if all flows!
Thank you very much for your pre order.
It will encourage me and enable the printing to happen
Until we meet again, take good care of all who matter to you.
Azul Thome