January 3 - February 7, 2023

Tuesdays 5-7pm EST

The tides are slowly changing, but in our culture-at-large, many people fear death so much that they avoid looking at it directly or planning for it, which makes it more challenging for the dying and those who love them.

Meaningful rituals and rites of passage take considerable ritual preparation. Even when we don’t know when or how we’ll transition, conscious planning and consideration makes for a more sacred and meaningful, even if still painful, passage for all involved.

In the heart of the Northern winter, this 6-week series will offer ritualized planning support in an online community format. In this six-week series, we’ll cover some practical steps like filling out Advance Death Directives, 5 Wishes forms while also engaging in ritualized death meditations and visioning practices. We’ll discuss topics such as Death with Dignity, VSED, memorials, home funerals, dying at home, organ donation, lying-in-state, grief, end-of-life visions, life reviews, rituals to support the dying and dead, obituaries, wills, psychedelics, cultural perspectives on death and more. In this series, there will be an emphasis on natural burial, but we’ll discuss various options for ecologically beneficial body disposition.

Knowing that everyone has their own lived experience of loss and confronting mortality, the format will include a community share process each week. By the end, the intent is to have completed our Advance Directives and to gain a bit more courage to embrace the mystery.

Facilitated by Julia Hartsell

Julia Hartsell is a death positive, inter-faith Ritualist who has spent the past decade focused on ancestral healing and preparing for her death. She has trained as a Death Doula, Home Funeral Guide and is an Ancestral Lineage Healing Practitioner.

$300/Generating

$230/ Sustaining

$150/Supported

Payment plans available as needed

Proceeds support Heartward Sanctuary and the imminent Ancestral Grove