Volume 3 | May 15 2020
A new way to stay in touch with Death Doulas --
Perseid Shower
We all fall from the sky, us little fireballs. We crash and burn into these simple lives of ours.

Yearn to eat faces. Melt flesh with only bitter breath.

And what might we see underneath all that we destroy? Not bones. Not skull. But dead birds. Snails
and stingrays. Strangers sharing a table.

Coal and tears could be one and the same. They fall to our feet in droves, salt in the wound. Salt on the dirt. Salt in the bones, under everything else we pummeled out of our way.

Submitted by Carrie RedwayThedna Arts
Gifts from the ground
Please enjoy an herbal recipe for these times.
Submitted by: Kristi Krein of Liaison Healing Arts
Community Care Guide





A Sacred Passing created a death and dying pocket guide for those caring for folx at home during the pandemic.

Informing Your Care
How to Learn From a Plague
Podcast by Still Processing (34min)
"Activists stood up against the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s, but the tools they used to make themselves heard are unavailable during our coronavirus pandemic. Still, many of that era’s strategies and warning signs seem alarmingly relevant now.Discussed this week:
“How to Survive a Plague” (directed by David France, 2012)ACT UP New York “How ACT UP Remade Political Organizing in America” (David France, The New York Times, April, 2020)“‘A Tragedy Is Unfolding’: Inside New York’s Virus Epicenter” (Annie Correal, Andrew Jacobs and Ryan Christopher Jones, The New York Times, April, 2020)“America’s Hidden H.I.V. Epidemic” (Linda Villarosa, The New York Times, June, 2017)“Amazon’s Whole Foods to Cut Medical Benefits for Part-Timers” (Spencer Soper, Bloomberg, September, 2019) " 

Medical Apartheid
The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present is a 2007 book by Harriet A. Washington

 . . . Washington is a great storyteller, and in addition to giving us an abundance of information on ‘scientific racism,’ the book, even at its most disturbing, is compulsively readable. It covers a wide range of topics—the history of hospitals not charging black patients so that, after death, their bodies could be used for anatomy classes; the exhaustive research done on black prisoners throughout the 20th century—and paints a powerful and disturbing portrait of medicine, race, sex, and the abuse of power.”
— Publishers Weekly  (starred review) 
Do you have your Healthcare Agent picked and your Durable Power of Attorney Completed?
Yes
No
A visual and audible lullaby. We created this together holding space for people alone and dying or at home and their dying are far from them. Our work as death doulas is rooted in standing with the dying, and right now... we can't. We hope to continue to share ways for families to connect when they are unable to physically. We are sending you copious amounts of thick warm love, tenderness and grace. ( Click the photo or follow this link )

Images by Lashanna Williams of Antares Wellness
Audio by Meghan Heather Ford of Reclaim Doula Services
Online Doula Classes Now Available
A Sacred Passing has reformatted their curriculum to work in an online model. It was a tough decision to make, but it will not only increase access, it will allow for our educational model to continue though these times of non-gathering. Here's to growing into our new normal, together.


Compassionate Listening:  Healing our World from the Inside Out
Here is a chance to enjoy deep social connection while developing skills and   cultivating   compassion for yourself, your family and your community. We especially need these skills and the circle of brave fellow learners to gather in a supportive space in these challenging times.
Come learn to be a bridge builder.


Four Saturday sessions May 23, 30, June 6, 13
10 am to 12:30 pm PST (1 to 3:30 pm EST)

We   will meet on Zoom so we can interact and break out into smaller groups for more intimate connection and experiential activities. Enrollment is limited to keep this to an intimate circle of co-learners.   Register Here

We offer a pay what you can afford structure. No one will be turned away. The standard course fee is $150 ($95 to $185 ) for those who can afford the cost, which supports the ongoing offering for all to participate. Contact  susanpartnow@gmail.com  to arrange scholarship.
To submit content or events
Please email pearlcollective2018@gmail.com