From a SAND Community Gathering (December 2025), Francis Weller joins SAND co-founders Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo for a wide-ranging conversation on grief, initiation, and the sacred thresholds of a changing world.
They speak of rough passages and necessary descents—of what must burn away, and what endures. With Francis’s steady guidance, sorrow, longing, beauty, and vulnerability are reclaimed not as weaknesses, but as profound sources of strength, orientation, and soul knowledge.
Rooted in the soulcraft teachings of his book In the Absence of the Ordinary, the dialogue unfolds in a spirit of reverence and remembrance. Together, they explore the unraveling of the familiar as an invitation into deeper belonging—grief as a living portal, and beauty as a practice of staying close to what is sacred, even in times of descent.
Topics
- 00:00 Introduction and Acknowledgements
- 01:09 Guest Introduction: Francis Weller
- 02:02 Opening Reflections on Soul and Rhythm
- 03:17 The Modern Frenzy vs. Soul's Rhythm
- 05:32 Therapy and the Soul's Healing Process
- 12:09 The Role of Wounds in Soul Work
- 16:35 Confession and Community Healing
- 23:17 Collective Psyche and Modern Challenges
- 28:39 Historical Roots of Disconnection
- 31:25 Grief and Ancestral Memory
- 33:47 Understanding Grief in a Shallow Culture
- 35:06 The Three Layers of Experience
- 35:18 The Role of Ritual in Processing Grief
- 36:00 Fear and Control in Grief Expression
- 36:22 The Importance of Containment Fields
- 36:48 Cultural Rituals and Their Significance
- 40:21 Creating Personal Rituals
- 50:32 The Long Dark: Embracing Uncertainty
- 56:13 The Sacred in Everyday Life
- 59:13 The Role of Elders in a Fragmented World
- 01:03:12 Concluding Thoughts and Reflections
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