Ancestralizing the Dead

The main job of the Dagara people is forging relationship with the dead--looking them in the face, treating their bodies not as mere remains but as temples of grace and beauty, honoring the continuance of their life as they pass from this side to the other. We grieve for the passing of loved ones, but in this grief we see beauty, we cultivate community, and we remember the continuity of life. The dead are considered reborn in a wider sense of village that spans the visible and the invisible. As members of this village on the visible side, we feel the urge to fulfill the task of escorting the dead to the world they long to reach. They cannot do it alone.

This handing over of the loved ones to the realm of the ancestors is what we call the ancestralization. It allows for a sense of completion in the vast array of duties following the passing of a person. Without this, the relationship between the living and the dead is problematic at best. Sandwiched between here and there, the dead are dislocated and homeless. This in turn threatens our sense of culture and disfigures our nature; it takes away our sense of home. Confused and angry dead translate into human tragedy and dryness of spirit, dysfunctional community and increased isolation.

In this five day event, we will address this issue of fulfilling our duties toward the dead in the interest of transforming restlessness into rest, discontinuity into continuity, and homelessness into homecoming. Though grief is an essential first step which heals the crisis of separation and reconciles the living with the dead, it must lead to the homecoming of the dead. In the Dagara tradition this happens in a ritual process that culminates with the dead coming home to the ancestors’ shrine in the form of a wooden stick for men and a small stool for women. It is this process we are going to learn, with an eye on how to adapt and improve upon it to fit the circumstances of modernity.

I hope you can join us in this vast new initiative so that together we can tackle the daunting job of ancestralizing the numberless loved ones waiting to come home.

Led by
Rowena Pantaleon

Dates
June 30 - July 4, 2004
London, England
Contact: Delroi Williams or Kathryn Edwards
Download the Word pamphlet here

July 7 - 11, 2004
Germany
Contact: Peter Huber

August 25-29, 2004
San Francisco

Fee

For the San Francisco event:
$400.00 plus food
A non-refundable deposit of $100.00 to secure your space is needed. Deadline for deposit is June 25, 2004. Monthly payment is acceptable. Final payment due by August 10, 2004. Checks payable to: Rowena Pantaleon.

For the fees for the England or Germany events, please contact the organizers of those events

Lodging

For the San Francisco event:
Lodging is tent camping. If you are unable to open the attachment, please let me know. Please plan on staying after 12 noon on July 18th for clean-up. Let us leave this place that is generously being provided for us immaculately. There is preparatory work to be done prior to your arrival on July 14th so please register early.

For lodging for the England or Germany events, please contact the organizers of those events

To register, or for more information
Rowena Pantaleon, (530) 343-1883.