Produced by the American designers Charles and Ray Eames, this short film offers insight into the Dia de Muertos festival through the medium of folk art. I’m fascinated by the animated diorama shown at 6.50 in the video, but unfortunately I’ve been unable to find any more information about this type of toy. Notably, none … Read more“Day of the Dead” (Eames Brothers, 1957)
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
In the first series of his Old Diary Leaves (1874-’78), Colonel Henry Steel Olcott records the events of a Theosophical funeral ceremony he devised and presided over at the Masonic Temple in New York City. The ritual was to mark the life and death of the Baron de Palm, a member of the then-recently inaugurated … Read moreA Pioneering Theosophical Funeral in 1870s New York City
The School of Life offers insight into the history, meaning and value of ceremonialism, concluding that a sane and kind future will require the creation of new rituals.
This is what really happened; in 1917, and again in 1920, two rural English schoolgirl cousins went into the local woods and took photographs of paper cutouts shaped like fairies. All historical evidence suggests that the girls intended nothing more than a simple, silly prank, which then spiraled out of their control. As one of … Read moreSkepticism, Faith and Compassion in “FairyTale: A True Story” (1997)
Click here to learn all about Mortal, a nine-week, self-directed course in death acceptance co-devised and presented by mortician/author/Death Positivity activist Caitlin Doughty and Death Doula Alua Arthur: