Wendy Kaas, MDiv
I'm Wendy Kaas, MDiv, Reiki Master, fire tender,
animist ritualist, griever, artist, rhythmist, land-listener, queer youth champion, auntie, spouse.
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I grew up in the woods on the outskirts of New York City. My father died suddenly in the winter of my 8th grade year, instantly and permanently altering the landscape of my small family. Cast into this new territory of grief, I reluctantly began a decades-long journey that has ultimately been a somatic, shamanic, earth-connected investigation of
grief and loss.
My most influential teachers have been deeply connected to the Other World; they have taught me how to navigate a culture devoid of spirit by guiding me to listen to the voices of the unseen. These teachers include Malidoma Somé, Eliot Cowan, Deanna Jenné, Leslie Grasa, and of course,
the plants and elementals themselves.
(More about this here.)
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I have held community grief rituals since 2015, with the blessing of Dr. Malidoma Somé. I feel privileged to be in the presence of and to help support people who are touched by loss. In addition to holding community grief rituals, I offer one-on-one healing sessions in person or at a distance. I hold a Master of Divinity in Buddhist Studies from Naropa University, as well as a certificate in Grief and Death Studies from the Center for Loss and Life Transitions. I am spearheading the Boulder-based community group known as Grief Tenders, as well as co-creating with the Community Grief and Gratitude Project.
I love calling on the support of my plant friends to assist with balance and healing. I'm often in active conversation with the natural world, finding many eager allies to this very primeval process of healing through grief. I love the role rhythm and song play in healing, as well.
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As a white person in the USA, I recognize and fully acknowledge the advantages I have received solely due to the color of my skin. This unearned privilege comes with a significant level of responsibility, and given this reality, offering African-style ritual is not something I take lightly. I acknowledge the profound legacies of oppression that have created the pain, trauma, and injustices that so many marginalized people have endured for centuries on this continent and beyond. As a queer Jew, I honor the struggles of my ancestors and my LGBTQ+ community and I stand in solidarity beside all who suffer. I respect the living and ancestral lifeways of the Arapahoe, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples, and the 48 contemporary tribal nations who are historically tied to the state of Colorado.
To learn more about my grief ritual work, click here. For explorations with one-on-one healing work,
click here.
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Thank you for visiting,
I look forward to connecting with you.
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I honor the traditions and people buried deep in the Rocky Mountain foothills I have called home for my adult life: Arapahoe, Ute, Cheyenne-- the vast majority of whom have been either displaced or erased from their ancestral homeland here in this region. Collectively honoring the native peoples of this land has thus far been painfully inadequate, as the oppression of indigenous peoples is ongoing. And how does one reconcile holding healing rituals from faraway traditions on land whose native traditions were subject to expulsion? I continue to strive to be in relational integrity with the wounded earth and peoples here, knowing that we have a long way to go towards reparations and reconciliation here on this land, and indeed this whole continent.