Death Work: a new beginning
I have stepped onto the path of the Death Worker.
For years, death work has whispered at the edges of my consciousness. My ancestors have continually nudged me toward this path in dreams, and yet I’ve found so many reasons not to heed the call. My inner critic, who loves to keep me safe and small, would chime in to tell me the timing wasn’t right, it wasn’t feasible financially, and, “what even is death work anyhow - don’t you have to be a hospice nurse to really care for the dying?” And, my favorite, “if you tell people you’re thinking about becoming a death worker, they’ll think there’s something really wrong with you.”
But humans have been death workers since we first appeared on this land. Death is as integral to life as breathing. And running from the inevitability of death is, I believe, part of what’s landed us in this position on this planet. I will never romanticize death - but I do recognize and honor the role of death (whether we’re speaking in literal or metaphorical terms), as well as the need for people who can offer support to those who are transitioning and to their loved ones.
This world needs people who are death and grief literate, who can midwife the dying - whether we’re talking about people or empires.
And so, I quieted my inner critic with some love and care, and in January I took the leap - a la the Fool in the Tarot - and became an apprentice with the Nine Keys School of Death Arts. The journey officially began at the beginning of March and I can already feel my spirit awakening to the magic and medicine of this calling.
Friends, I am deep in the chrysalis, the cocoon of Becoming - and I am truly in awe of how the cycles of death and birth are so intimately connected. In 9 months, I will complete this apprenticeship and birth myself into the world as a death worker - artist - hedge witch, hands deep in the bowels of the earth, reaching, pulling, covered in dirt, sweat, and blood, to help birth the new world as the old world lies dying.
Death and Birth breathe life into each other.
To honor this threshold and to help cover the costs of the training, I’m creating a very special Edgewalker doll. My intention is to hold a raffle for the doll, and all funds will be used to support my death work journey. You can read more about the doll here - and I’ll share more about the raffle itself in an upcoming post.
Thank you for following me on this journey.
I’m looking forward to finding ways to incorporate death and grief work even deeper into my fiber art offerings, my doll-making, and my spiritual practice - and to sharing more of my story with you here.
Many blessings,
geraldine