Have you seen the film The Old Oak? sounds a bit like a dramatisation of some of the themes you mention re: UK coal mines being closed down without proper ritual, but also the alternative possibilities of collective ritual with neighbors of different backgrounds a la Glasglow's Lament coming together.
Excellent piece Alex, really interesting and important. Brought to mind a CS Lewis quote 'I sat with my anger long enough until she told me that her real name was grief.'
Seeing as many of us are now forced by circumstance to work at the intersection of politics and psychology, which writing(s) by Vamik Volkan would you recommend?
A wonderful piece, trust Ivor to say something so pithily brilliant! You might be interested in the practice of grief tending (rituals for collectively witnessing and metabolising grief) https://grieftending.org/
My grief tending teacher, Sophy Banks, also has a wonderful body of work about what makes human cultures healthy
Thank you for sharing this, it struck me as both deeply realistic and unsettling. The way grief, loss, and dislocation can be diverted into grievance is something I see everywhere at the moment. Not just in the obvious political arenas, but in the everyday ways people carry loss: of people, of meaning, of certainty. When that ache isn’t met with support, it curdles into anger, blame, even extremism.
This piece put words around something I’ve been noticing but hadn’t fully named, and it’s made me think differently about what we do with collective loss, and who steps in to channel it.
This is fascinating and important. Thank you! I've been thinking about how patriarchy and capitalism also both deny our ability to grieve in healthy, communal ways. Grief brings us into our bodies and emotions (associated with the feminine). It's chaotic, as you've noted. We lose control (again, women have traditionally been thought to be less rational). And death itself challenges our notions of upward mobility and a material fix for everything (capitalism).
So good, Alex.
Thanks so much Casper!
Have you seen the film The Old Oak? sounds a bit like a dramatisation of some of the themes you mention re: UK coal mines being closed down without proper ritual, but also the alternative possibilities of collective ritual with neighbors of different backgrounds a la Glasglow's Lament coming together.
Loved this one Alex! Flammable moats 🤦♀️
I mean obviously I’ve ordered one, purely as a contingency plan
🤣
An unmissable piece, Alex - especially now. (ps Cat here, from Green Christian)
Thanks so much Cat!
Excellent piece Alex, really interesting and important. Brought to mind a CS Lewis quote 'I sat with my anger long enough until she told me that her real name was grief.'
Eesh, that is quite the quote - never heard it before!
Excellent piece. Thanks.
Seeing as many of us are now forced by circumstance to work at the intersection of politics and psychology, which writing(s) by Vamik Volkan would you recommend?
Many thanks David! There's a link to one of his papers in the post (I should have highlighted it more clearly) - try this: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323769004_Bosnia-Herzegovina_Ancient_Fuel_of_a_Modern_Inferno
A wonderful piece, trust Ivor to say something so pithily brilliant! You might be interested in the practice of grief tending (rituals for collectively witnessing and metabolising grief) https://grieftending.org/
My grief tending teacher, Sophy Banks, also has a wonderful body of work about what makes human cultures healthy
https://healthyhumanculture.substack.com/
Thank you for sharing this, it struck me as both deeply realistic and unsettling. The way grief, loss, and dislocation can be diverted into grievance is something I see everywhere at the moment. Not just in the obvious political arenas, but in the everyday ways people carry loss: of people, of meaning, of certainty. When that ache isn’t met with support, it curdles into anger, blame, even extremism.
This piece put words around something I’ve been noticing but hadn’t fully named, and it’s made me think differently about what we do with collective loss, and who steps in to channel it.
This is fascinating and important. Thank you! I've been thinking about how patriarchy and capitalism also both deny our ability to grieve in healthy, communal ways. Grief brings us into our bodies and emotions (associated with the feminine). It's chaotic, as you've noted. We lose control (again, women have traditionally been thought to be less rational). And death itself challenges our notions of upward mobility and a material fix for everything (capitalism).