“Wow, watching and listening has hugely reduced my fear of dying and death. You are an amazing powerful woman doing vital work to assist those who want to give their dearly loved ones a totally loving burial. Thank you for what you teach, bless you.”
– Participant of one of Jerrigrace’s talks
As with childbirth, over the past century institutions have taken over the field of after-death care. Because of this, our culture has forgotten the traditional customs and rituals that keep the family involved, and we miss opportunities for healing and connection during this sacred transition.
home funerals have afterwards repeated this statement, “now that I have experienced a home funeral I can’t imagine doing it any other way.” Instead of feeling fear at having their loved one’s body remaining at home for 1-3 days, they felt comforted, and reported that it helped them process and integrate their person’s death.
This talk will inform you of how friends and family can create a personal ceremony/ritual for their loved one at home, from pre-planning consultations to the final destination for disposition. You will learn about the many new choices of disposition arising from cultural, ecological and economical needs and desires. Preparing and filing a death certificate by a family is legal in most states allowing a family autonomy from a funeral home or mortuary.
A wake or vigil to honor our beloved can include preparing the body in a bathing blessing ritual using oils and herbs, an anointing and shrouding ceremony, building and/or decorating a casket, creating
many types of altars, creating memorial or honoring services in the home that could have a priest, rabbi, minister, shaman or family member officiate.
Jerrigrace will discuss the reclaiming of ancient traditions involving life’s most powerful experiences. She will define and explore the meaning of natural death care, home vigils, green cremation and burial options. You will learn the many benefits of these personalized customs: spiritual, emotional, financial and ecological as well as practical aspects to help you make informed choices.
Jerrigrace Lyons: Founding Director of Final Passages, is a Minister, death midwife, author and educator. She has pioneered a new field of “home funeral guidance.” In the past 30 years Jerrigrace has supported hundreds of families with their family-directed home funerals. As a renowned leader she is dedicated to transforming the way our society views death and dying. She has appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, in the NY Times, USA Today, and LA Times. She was interviewed on CNN Headline News and was featured in the acclaimed PBS documentary, A Family Undertaking, which aired nationally and was distributed by Netflix.
Final Passages is a non-profit educational organization since 1995, teaching individuals about conscious dying, their rights and benefits of participating in family-centered home-based funeral arrangements, wakes, vigils, personalized rituals and ceremonies and green burial.
Running Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
