Thursday, March 21, 2019

Reimagining Death

When Lucinda Herring's publicist contacted me about Lucinda being on our podcast, I had no idea who she was or what her book was about.

As I began reading her book I was absolutely blown away by the commonality I felt with her views and her history and her stories. 

Lucinda's writing is delightful as she dances with Death in a variety of manners from the personal to the practical. 

This book comes highly recommended as does this podcast episode. Give it a listen-- I think you will also find her history with death and her stories fascinating.

You can listen here:



LUCINDA HERRING has worked at the cutting edge of the green funeral movement for more than twenty years, beginning with others in the 1990s to quietly care for loved ones after death. Today she is one of the leading voices for more healing and ecological ways to care for our dead. Her book, Reimagining Death: Stories and Practical Wisdom for Home Funerals and Green Burials, has just been published by North Atlantic Books, and is available at your local independent bookstore or online.  Herring is a home funeral/green disposition consultant and guide, an interfaith minister, and a licensed funeral director in the state of Washington. She speaks regularly about her work, and through her company Limina LLC--Thresholds Consulting and Ministry, she offers Advance After-Death Care planning, home funeral/green disposition education and trainings, and celebrant/ministerial services for families and communities who are reclaiming their innate right to care for each other and the earth at the end of life. Lucinda is also a storyteller and festival maker, committed to bringing art, beauty, ritual and celebration to all of life's thresholds. She lives on an island in the Puget Sound, amongst people who love exploring and creating new paradigms and ways of being that can be of service to all. 


Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Where Death has Taken Me


I am so hoping you have the opportunity to listen to Jane Cunningham's interview on The Death Dialogues Project Podcast. You can find the direct link at the end of this post or see all of the available podcast platforms on your right.

When I arrived in Whangarei eight years ago, I was daunted by leaving my friends and family, but felt that, for wellness reasons, it was the appropriate decision.

By attending a workshop Jane conducted I linked into a world I had always wanted and that has continued to grow during my time in Aotearoa. 

Women/people gathering and connecting on a soul level and engaging in creative process was a sacred balm I had craved throughout my lifetime and has been healing and nourishing. 

Now I call Jane a friend and one of "my people"-- the kind of friend that I know could be by my side when The Hard comes to visit.

Give this podcast a listen and you will see a bit more deeply into one of the Northland of New Zealand's gems and her perspective on why having Death out of the closet is so very important.


How Jane describes herself:


I am a woman who is a deep believer in the Numinous –the presence of the Divine.  The Numinous shows up in synchronicity, Love, beauty, kindness and ordinary life in ways that we are not taught to perceive and I want to build that practise in the world.  I understand that the world is hungry for a return to Spirit.  Humans and the land and the waters and all the creatures are literally sick from disconnection and I believe in our obligation to do the work of realigning with the Divine as part of our truth.  So I paint, pray, play and tend to my soul and the souls around me knowing that the Numinous is present everywhere and comes alive each time we tend to it.  I don’t have all the questions let alone all the answers and I skin my knees from stumbling, but I keep turning up to it all as best I can. I am a woman of Pictish/Celtic lineage deeply connected to the land of Aotearoa, New Zealand in which I live. I am a mother of two beautiful girls and live with my family and working one on one and in person using Creativity as a way of exploring the inner landscape.  I look forward to seeing your Numinous soul shine. Jane's resource for planning surrounding death can be seen here: Gentle Conversations. Her website can be found HERE. You can find her on FaceBook and Instagram by searching Numinous Jane.
You can listen to Jane's episode here: