The Pagan Book of Living and Dying

Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over

Starhawk, M. Macha NightMare

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780062515162
• eBook ISBN:
  9780062125217
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

An accessible guide to rituals and resources for honoring death in the circle of life.
Birth, growth, death, and rebirth are a cycle that forms the underlying order of the universe. This is the core of Pagan belief—and the heart of this unique resource guide to death and the process of dying. Filled with encouragement, strength, and inspiration, The Pagan Book of Living and Dying is an invaluable source of both spiritual counsel and very practical tools and techniques for:

• Honoring and caring for a dying person
• Grieving a beloved relative, partner, or friend
• Planning a funeral or memorial service
• Distributing personal possessions and making room in the home for a loved one's memory
• Understanding and mourning specific types of death, including miscarriage and terminal illness
• Providing instructions for one's own death
• And much more

Bestselling author Starhawk and other Pagan writers have combined practical rituals with prayers, chants, blessings, meditations, essays, and insightful personal stories to offer a new understanding of death and a powerful new approach to the various stages of dying and grieving.
A beautifully crafted and deeply spiritual guidebook, The Pagan Book of Living and Dying teaches that death, like birth, is a doorway—another stage in the cycle of life. It will enhance the spiritual beliefs of readers of any faith and help each of us learn to welcome the change and renewal that awaits us on the other side of life.
"Far more than another how-to ritual book. I found the reflections to be very moving. Rituals are easily accessible and well-grounded in the core Pagan understanding of the cycle of Birth/Death/Rebirth. . . . I recommend it for Pagans and others who might be facing dying or grieving." — SageWoman

Table of contents

• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Rituals, Prayers, Songs, Chants, Poems, and Meditations
• How This Book Came to Be: Reflections on My Mother’s Death
• How to Use This Book
• Introduction
• Part One—Pagan Tradition
• Part Two—The Pagan View Of Death
• Part Three—The Dying Process
• Part Four—Death Has Many Faces
• Part Five—Carrying On
• Appendix A: How to Make a Mask
• Appendix B: Books on Death and Dying for Adults and Children
• Appendix C: Example of a Living Will Declaration
• Appendix D: Example of a Health Care Proxy/Durable Power of Attorney
• Glossary
• Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Copyright
• About the Publisher