Death Faire: Journey into the Many Layered Meanings of Grief and Death by Lexie Wolf
This time of year, the veil between the living world and the spirit world is said to be at its thinnest. It is traditional to connect with the spirits of loved ones and ancestors to honor their lives, and the paths they paved before us. This time marks the ancient Celtic ritual of Samhain and its Disney version, Halloween. Samhain also gave rise to Day of the Dead, originating in Mexico. We had a beautiful fire ceremony on Sunday for Women’s Circle to remember our ancestors and loved ones.
As one of Yoga Garden’s much loved wisdom keepers, Tom Thompson, used to say during Satsang, “Use death as your advisor.” Contemplating death and truly acknowledging the impermanence of this existence can motivate us to live this life to the fullest. Someday the details of life that we suffer and stew over will mean less than nothing. Can you see this as freeing, rather than scary? Sometimes I can, sometimes not.
In the spiritual teachings of Yoga – as in many traditions- death is not the end but a shedding of the body. Here’s an overly simplistic summary: The Yogic view of the soul is that we are all one connected spirit or soul, called Brahman. We have individualized, localized versions of the soul, called Atman. Atman expresses itself as “Lexie” or “Meadow” but that is not who we really are. It is like an Avatar we use during our embodied time(s). Who we really are, is timeless, formless, and Divine. So shedding the body? Not a tragedy, especially if, during this life, we have come to connect with Brahman in meditation. That does not mean it is ever easy for those left behind, though.
We are a proud sponsor of a unique and beautiful event this weekend called Death Faire, happening this Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2 at the Plant in Pittsboro. Death Faire is an invitation to journey into the many layered meanings of grief and death. There will be wonderful speakers, ritual, music and celebration.
On Friday evening heart2heart opens with their beautiful offering Tending to the Heart - a sacred time to tend to our own grieving hearts. Please join us in the Gazebo at 12:15 as Meadow leads us in chanting the Mahamrityunja Mantra. This is powerful mantra that is sometimes called the “Great Death Conquering” Mantra. In chanting this many-layered mantra we are overcoming the fear of death by the recognition that what we call death is not death at all. It is a deeply empowering and healing ritual. And Miguel Amaru will be here from Asheville! Miguel is offering a talk at 4pm called: The Eternal Cycle: Death, Renewal and Dreaming in Shamanic/Yogic Traditions. Bear Roots takes the stage at 5pm to close out the day with their healing and uplifting music. There are many more great speakers and performers, a beautiful altar to honor our ancestors and loved ones, and more. Take a look at the schedule below and visit this link for all the info.
I hope to see you there as we contemplate the big questions, and love and grieve and dance and celebrate this strange and beautiful life together.
