Death & Dying: Rituals and Cosmovision
One of the greatest tasks the shaman undertakes is to journey to the lands of the death. The need to map the territories of the afterlife through direct experience is an essential tool. As a midwife between states, the shaman assists the dying to cross the great bridge into the land of the ancestors. They say the journey sometimes might be perilous and fearful, but she knows how to awaken the soul’s “Mallki” (Ancestorship) memory and direct the dying into the territory of beginnings and endings. Through training and Death Rites ceremonies, the shaman ignites the knowingness and dimensions of her temporal and trans temporal nature. Journeying to the afterlife to befriend with death mythically promotes keen awareness of her own life’s journey.
Our cultural cosmovision of the predatory nature of death puts us in an antagonistic and fearful position in the exercise of life. This primordial fear, harnesses our daily lives through a plethora of masks distancing us from the fullness of life. Learning the shamanic cosmovision of death and dying rituals awakens primal awareness and elicits deeper understanding on the purpose of our life’s journey. Most importantly, we awaken to the spiritual dimension of the inherent animating force and memory the soul provides.
We’ll explore the different ancient rich views of shamans of the journey into the afterlife. In the mountains, the departed soul is accompanied by a dog to cross the great river in the skies into the land of the dead. Or, Chokechinchay -the hail jaguar- has a mighty rainbow body that spans into many hierarchies of the heavens. Or in Lake Titikaka, the soul needs to return to the place of all origins by submerging into the depths of the lake to find the island of Upamarka. However, the shaman strives to become an ancestor in the afterlife. Apus and Wakas (holy places) are repositories for the lineage of individuals of power and legacy.
The workshop will explore practical and compassionate ways to help the dying move beyond fear and approach the last stages of life as an opportunity for growth and learning. Here are other areas of exploration:
Understanding death in our own lives through the view of Pachas. View of death and grieving as a courageous and elegant process. Journeying and communing with the ones that passed before us. Shamanic journeying to the lands beyond to gain perspective with the assistance of spirit guides
Death Rites Ceremony and assisting the dying and their families Rituals that bring wholeness and balance to our own “little deaths”
Cost $595 . Please if interested send me a text at 831-206-9291 or an email to sternlorraine@gmail.com and I’ll send you a Paypal link.
We will have an optional Zoom class simultaneously for those of you who would like to come, but can’t travel at this time. Due to CoVid we will be working outside for the majority of the time, so that we can maintain 6’ away distance.