Instead of hosting another wedding party on the night of Nov. 1, the Montague Retreat Center plans to host the ancestors of its visitors at the Dance with Our Ancestors & Dumb Supper Ritual.
Visitors will gather in the tent of the historic venue for Dumb Supper at 7 p.m. Unlike typical meals around the dinner table, Dumb Supper will not erupt into loud conversation. Instead, diners will eat in silence, clearing space for their ancestors.
“You’re making space inside to connect with them, because they are inside through our bloodlines, through our DNA, through our mitochondria,” said Jason Cohen, director of the Montague Retreat Center. “We eat in silence and just enjoy the tastes.”
Cohen expects visitors to bring photographs of ancestors they hope to reach.
“I also like saying where they’re from, because it makes it thicker and richer in a space,” he said.
In quiet bites, diners will sink their forks into dishes rich in fall flavors by Chef Caelum Massicotte and Assistant Chef Andi Blinn. The first course of the meal is an apple galette.
Although beginning with dessert may sound strange, Cohen said this sweet start is typical for Dumb Suppers, a Pagan tradition for honoring the dead, “because that’s what your ancestors remember.”
“The sweetness maybe would bring them in,” Cohen said with a grin.
For a second course, the chefs will serve beef heart mole ragu and stuffed acorn squash and, the vegetarian option, acorn squash stuffed with wild rice kidney bean mushroom stew, both with a polenta croquette. For the third course, beet salad with blood orange vinaigrette and goat cheese will close the dinner.
A bell will signal the end of the silent period of dinner, and the diners will discuss their experience dining with their ancestors.
At 8:30 p.m., visitors will migrate to the retreat center’s Great Hall for a Death and Chocolate ritual offering. Artists Kaitlyn Cronin and Marie “Murray” Echo will serve truffles with handmade ceremonial grade cacao, rich in theobromine, a stimulant Cohen said helps channel oxygen to the heart; a pathway for ancestors to reach the attendees.
“It’s about the preciousness and deliciousness of life and exploring death, because we don’t do that enough,” Cohen said. “It just brings us to a deeper place where we’re ready to experience more and feel more and have a better life.”
For Cohen, who plays keyboard and accordion in his band, Incus, grief unlocks a specific creativity.
“When I experience grief, I find myself wildly creative, I’m able to access my vocal range way easier,” he said. “It really is like reclaiming parts of ourselves that we’ve lost.”
After Death and Chocolate, attendees will listen and sing along to Incus — which, according to Cohen, plays “contemporary world medicine folk” — and watch a live theater performance of “All Hallows’ Eve.” In the play, a grieving widower desperately attempts to connect with the ghost of his late wife. Dancers will embody the widower and ghost as they sing together but physically apart, separated by the veil of life and death.
After the performance, attendees will dance along to DJ Father Otter’s “ecstatic dance set,” as Cohen described it, a collection of music “from the different nooks and crannies of the world” aimed to connect attendees with their ancestors on the dance floor.
Marie “Murray” Echo will close the night with a group song.
According to Cohen, performers will engage the crowd throughout the night, a priority for the event.
“It’s all about connecting,” he said.
Each event aims to welcome ancestors from the other side of the veil into shared spaces of food, art, music and celebration. Cohen believes processing death helps individuals see past its frightening “Boogeyman” guise and diminish its power to scare and control them.
“By starting to have a relationship with death and explore it as much as possible … you can take some of the edge off,” he said, adding that this exploration “is reclaiming your power.”
Dance with Our Ancestors & Dumb Super Ritual falls the day after Halloween for a reason.
“The belief is that the veil between the living and dead is the thinnest,” Cohen said.
Dinner costs $75 with a wine pairing. Those interested must purchase tickets ahead of time. Advance tickets for the show “All Hallows’ Eve” are $30 and $35 at the door. Participating in both the dinner and the show costs $85 in advance.
Visit montagueretreatcenter.com for more information or to purchase tickets.
