TNP123 Sarah Kerr on Being a Death Doula and Coping With Loss When a Pet or Plant Friend Dies

Sarah Kerr is a death doula and ritual healing practitioner. She work with dying people and their families, as well as families navigating the death of a pet, and also lectures and teaches about death care and the healing power of ritual. Sarah perviously appeared on the podcast in episode 98: Priestess, Shaman, Mystic Scapegoat. The most incredible thing happened during the taping of this episode. Precisely what I was asking Sarah advice around happened...to her. This episode is dedicated to Sarah's deceased cat, Luna, and all those who are suffering grief over the death of a beloved animal, or tree friend, or natural landscape. Sarah generously wrote about her experience on her blog. In this episode, we talk about the nuts and bolts of dying well, (are there things you should or shouldn't say to a dying person?), being a death doula (how do you manage your energy being in such intense environments?), and ways to honour the death of animals and trees.  

TNP98 Priestess Shaman Mystic Scapegoat with Sarah Kerr

Sarah Kerr, PhD, is a death doula and ritual healing practitioner. I've connected with Sarah and her work a number of times and was keen to follow up with her regarding a lecture she gave on the Shamanic Archetype, (part of a series, and just one of many resources she offers on contemporary archetypal shamanism). In this conversation, I ask Sarah to explain the difference between The Priest/ess, The Shaman, and The Psychopomp as archetypes. (We also toss The Mystic in there for good measure). We consider the implications of being white women doing work that is often called "shamanic", and share our different perspectives and comfort levels around that. (It's a site of struggle for each of us in our own way). I also dig a little into a section of Sarah's dissertation, Dreams, Ritual and the Creation of Sacred Objects: An Inquiry Into A Contemporary Western Shamanic Initiation. It's a worthwhile read and this part of our dialogue will appeal to those who've long walked between the worlds but didn't know what to do about it, or have had spontaneous initiation experiences and few places to turn for support. We talk specifically about how the Shamanic Archetype is often scapegoated by society, and how one way to heal through the Journey of the Walkaway is to choose to Return as Teacher/Interpreter. Finally, Sarah shares a bit about her own initiation ritual and some personal parts that felt powerful for her. Some good ideas in there for those of us who adore that sort of thing. If you're in the Calgary area and you'd like to work with Sarah more closely on an on-going basis, you might want to check out the Calgary Community Healers' Council.