Duende
Controversy as San Francisco Bank of America Branch Attempts to Discourage Longstanding LGBTQ Memorial Practice
“This has been a tradition for many decades, a place where we came together to mark the passing of people who mattered to us. It’s where we remembers the victims of the Pulse massacre. It was a place to remember everyone, from our favorite bartenders to the most famous celebrities among us. For anyone to … Read moreControversy as San Francisco Bank of America Branch Attempts to Discourage Longstanding LGBTQ Memorial Practice
Autumnal Equinox Vanitas Shrine 2021
During the Autumnal Equinox period I replaced the skull’s floral caplet with a wreath of fallen oak leaves. Most of them were left over from last year and I added a few new leaves gathered during recent walks. Another “new” item is the bowl of dried flower petals, mostly gathered from fallen flowers found over … Read moreAutumnal Equinox Vanitas Shrine 2021
Post-Doom Conversations
Click here to access over eighty in-depth conversations facilitated by Michael Dowd on what it means to live meaningful, fulfilling lives in the face of climate chaos, societal breakdown, and economic and ecological “doom”: Those with a post-doom mind and heart haven’t given up; they’ve stood up. Empathy follows naturally in the wake of realizing … Read morePost-Doom Conversations
“To Be a Field of Poppies”
Here’s author Lisa Wells’ new essay on the ethos and practice of human composting at Recompose: As a matter of convenience, one might be deluded into thinking their ecological sins in life could be absolved in death. Recompose claims that each person who chooses composting over conventional burial or cremation will prevent an average of … Read more“To Be a Field of Poppies”
A Design for a Non-Sectarian Memorial Site in Seattle
Click here to read Queena Yi’s 2013 Master of Architecture thesis, proposing a design for a non-sectarian public memorial site in Seattle: This thesis proposes a reinsertion of memorial spaces into the Seattle city core to re-establish the connection between the dead and living, replacing the rarely visited cemetery landscape with spaces woven into the … Read moreA Design for a Non-Sectarian Memorial Site in Seattle
The Goodbye Box
The DAG-Box (‘Goodbye-box’) is the creation of Dutch play therapist and primary school teacher Bonnie Jansen. Celebrant Rosalie Kuyvenhoven writes: What is the Goodbye-box? “The box helps young children to play out emotional and distressing situations. Unlike adults, children don’t tend to express themselves verbally. They rather convey messages and share feelings through play. The Goodbye-box … Read moreThe Goodbye Box
“In the Tradition: Memento Exstingui”
Follow this link to artist Michelle Turriani’s online exhibit featuring vanitas assemblies with the skulls of endangered species: The human skull of the Vanitas or Memento Mori painting is substituted by an animal one. The viewers are invited to review their existential questioning beyond the confines of their own individual destiny and to embrace their … Read more“In the Tradition: Memento Exstingui”
“Death by Design”
Freelance writer and philosopher Daniel Callcut speculates for Aeon on the notion of bespoke, curated deaths: The word ‘euthanasia’ comes from the Greek for a ‘good death’. However, this idea of a positively good death can easily be lost in contemporary debates over euthanasia where the emphasis is typically on the rights of a person … Read more“Death by Design”