The Pagan Book of Living and Dying

Growing from the smaller, self-published Reclaiming book, Crossing Over, The Pagan Book of Living and Dying (HarperSanFrancisco, 1997) is a compendium of information on coping with death and dying. It provides valuable and compassionate guidance for dealing with such varying situations as deaths of small children, of parents, and deaths in battle or by violence.

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
• providing final instructions for one’s own death, and much more

Starhawk, Macha, 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 await us on the other side of life.