In a grief gathering or keening retreat we open to channel and give voice to our own grief and that of our ancestors. In particular the women in our lineage whose cries were left unheard and whose voices were silenced. We cry what could never be spoken.

We breathe, we move, we chant, we sing, we cry, we roar, we shriek.

We go there….This is The Caoin Method .

A modern day keen for personal grief .

It is a most sacred, beautiful & poignant yet liberating ceremony connecting in with ourselves and each other as women

It is an invitation to go beyond the mind and the stories through movement, breath and dance to the spaces in the body where our grief and trauma is stored. It is an opportunity to meet our grief, our hurt, our shame, our rage so as to allow it safe passage out of the body through the medium of breath ,sound and tears so we may feel the ecstasy on the other side. It is a remembrance of what our great great grandmothers did before us and opportunity to awaken the Sacred Art of Keening which is re-emerging in our society today reformed in the modern day to assist in the integration of the collective unconscious grief also. It is an invitation to awaken the Keening Woman or Keener within .It is a space to surrender in the arms and presence of other women but also a space to witness and to hold.

It is a process and a ceremony every woman needs at least once in her life….it is essential to her being.

The Caoin Method is a process of welcoming the grief within our body, our own heart & womb through embodiment & somatic practices using breathwork and other methods to awaken & invoke crying (The Caoin/Cry) .This is a Grief ceremony for Women ,a Grief Ritual .It is Primal.

We can carry grief for so much from the death of a loved one to the loss of a relationship or job. Maybe we grieve old parts of ourselves or old parts of our lives.

The Caoin is derived from and adapted from my own very first Keen with my beautiful teacher Katie Blackwell. A very very special keen where my partners son passed over during my own keen.I hold this practice very close to my heart & am honoured & humbled to be one of the many women bringing it back into society today. Over the years of facilitating keening circles, retreats & trainings Ive weaved my own version so to speak and changed the name as to not dishonour the original lineage of Keening in any way as it was originally a song ,a chant over a deceased body where as in my work is focused on the crying (Caoineadh from where the word keening has been derived).Beneath the crying anything can come from rage to ecstasy and from here the deepest of grief & trauma can be met with love and compassion within a community of embodied women who also carry the frequency of your pain within them. It is not a practice of the mind so its necessary to enter liminal spaces .And a song may very well come through too. When we meet here, just ordinary women, as we have once met ourselves ,we open up a portal of sorts for you to go there too and Rebirth yourself in the process. This is a space where you will be held bravely & fiercely with so much compassion and love & also a space where you maybe called to hold another in their grief too.

(Retreats throughout the year -not recommended if you are currently experiencing new grief or are recently bereaved. This work is not recommended for your nervous system & sacred process as it is too soon .This work is only recommended for those who have already experienced somatic work & were able to integrate it afterwards .A lot can come up ,because by attending you are saying yes & inviting what’s ready to come up but you must also discern if you are ready to meet it & can hold yourself in what ever arises during & after the retreat. For more info on the original keen I highly recommend researching Mary McLaughlin's wonderful work )

Next Retreat is February 7th in Westcove Estate , Castlecove in Kerry

The Veiled One -Lilith’s Lament Feb 7,8,9 2025