Enso House is a home for end-of-life care on Whidbey Island, in the Pacific Northwest. This book relates the journey of a group of people striving to create a community rooted in spiritual practice and focused on caring for people who are dying. In this setting, patients and caregivers are able to confront the realities of sickness, aging, and death. This is a story about spiritual openness-how seemingly miraculous outcomes spring from letting go of control and knowing. It is a story of community-neighbors who discover that in volunteering their talents, they receive even greater gifts than they give. It is the story of the life-giving power of death.

Somewhere In Between: The Hokey Pokey, Chocolate Cake and The Shared Death Experience contains lighthearted true life stories from the author's firsthand experience at the bedsides of family and friends who were dying. The primary story, "Aunt Jerry and Our Shared Death Experience" contains the most extensively documented Shared Death Experience to date, and details what it was like for Lizzy to receive psychic messages from spirits and her aunt, feel her aunt's physical pain and see parts of her aunt's life review. Throughout the story, Lizzy explores what it was like to have psychic abilities for the first time and the conflicts that arose when her family did not believe her.

"Things You Can do When You're Dead!" by Tricia Robertson is the long awaited book from one of Scotland's foremost psychical researchers. In this book the author shares some of her thirty-year research into mediumship, reincarnation, psychic healing, apparitions, poltergeists, and after death communications. Tricia's refreshing no-nonsense approach to the subject makes for compelling reading and should interest skeptics, believers, and anyone who wants to know what you can do when you're dead!

Dying is a serious and complicated business. Circumstances surrounding the sudden death of the author's husband inspired her to recruit professionals and create a 258-page workbook to use as a guided tour for end-of-life planning and transitioning after the loss of a loved one. It is an all-in-one-place to map out wishes and list legal and financial affairs. The comprehensive step-by-step checklists and fill-in-the-blanks worksheets that are in an easy-to-use format, will help guide you through making decisions, expressing your wishes, encourage conversation, eliminate confusion, ease the transition, and help protect your survivors from injustices and victimization that often occurs upon the death of a loved one. Charlotte invites you to hold her hand as she navigates you through this process.

From a psychiatrist specialized in helping patients who struggle with depression and drug and alcohol abuse, comes the tremendous and heartbreaking memoir of a doctor who must reexamine the meaning of these same psychological diseases when they strike her own daughter. Now, rather than helping her patients learns the tools of coping and survival, Elsa must look inward and discover this kind of strength and courage within herself. As this brave author fights to employ all of her expertise, motherly love, and endless empathy, she is still left with facing the hardest questions a parent can ask. What do I say to reach my daughter? How do I help her? Can I help her?

"Through the Unknowable" is an intimate and fiercely honest look inside a family falling apart and a mother who never stops trying to pick up the pieces. This book is a must-read for anyone who knows how it feels to wander through the unknowable.

Bruno Bitterli-F rst was amazed when Elisabeth K bler-Ross first contacted him from the spiritual world. Initially, he disbelieved her authenticity. However, over the course of communicating with her, it became unequivocally clear that this being from the spiritual world was a profound expert on death and dying. A few days prior to this unexpected encounter, Bruno had already decided to embark on another book project. So Elisabeth and Bruno determined to write a book together across the threshold of this world and the world beyond. Soon thereafter, a profound document emerged that shared deep insights about death, Elisabeth's personal experiences in the nonmaterial world, and the collaborative creative process that is possible between the spiritual world and Earth. Their collaborative process culminated in this book with words that both touch deeply and put death in its rightful place - central to life Bruno Bitterli-F rst initially worked as a woodcraft teacher. At 32, he embarked on an intensive course of study involving collaboration with the spiritual world. He has since been working as a psychic counselor and course leader supporting people to connect to their own inner guidance.

Death And Anti-Death, Volume 10: Ten Years After John Rawls (1921-2002) is edited by Charles Tandy, Ph.D. and Jack Lee, Ph.D.: ISBN 978-1-934297-15-5 is the Hardback edition and ISBN 978-1-934297-16-2 is the Paperback edition. Volume 10, as indicated by the anthology's subtitle, is in honor of John Rawls (1921-2002). The chapters do not necessarily mention him (but some chapters do). The chapters (by professional philosophers and other professional scholars) are directed to issues related to death, life extension, and anti-death, broadly construed. Most of the contributions consist of scholarship unique to this volume. As was the case with all previous volumes in the Death And Anti-Death Series By Ria University Press, the anthology includes an Index as well as an Abstracts section that serves as an extended table of contents. There are 11 chapters, as follows: ------CHAPTER ONE Autonomy, Contingency, And Mysticism: Three Critical Remarks On Cornelius Castoriadis' Understanding Of Human Mortality (by Giorgio Baruchello) pages 21-30; ------CHAPTER TWO Heidegger And Daoism On Mortality (by Wing-cheuk Chan) pages 31-54; ------CHAPTER THREE Autonomy In Moral And Political Philosophy (by John Christman) pages 55-94; ------CHAPTER FOUR A Fortunate Academic Life (by William Grey) pages 95-100; ------CHAPTER FIVE Who Is The Subject Of The Evil Of Death? (by Jack Lee) pages 101-114; ------CHAPTER SIX Is Death Necessarily Harmful? Some Reflections From A Daoist Perspective (by Shui-Chuen Lee) pages 115-130; ------CHAPTER SEVEN Our Global Problems And What We Need To Do About Them (by Nicholas Maxwell) pages 131-174; ------CHAPTER EIGHT Optimizing One's Immortality: Biostasis And The Philosophy Of Universal Immortalism (by R. Michael Perry) pages 175-212; ------CHAPTER NINE A Brief Inquiry Into Rawls' Religion: Providence, Individuals, And Redemption (by Charles Taliaferro) pages 213-224; ------CHAPTER TEN John Rawls, Albert Camus, And Our Common Task Of Intergenerational Justice (by Charles Tandy) pages 225-254; ------CHAPTER ELEVEN John Rawls (by Leif Wenar) pages 255-300; ------The INDEX begins on page 301.

"Not only a fascinating travelogue but also a personal meditation on loss and fate...There is a wealth to discover within these pages."--The EconomistJournalist Sarah Murray never gave much thought to what might ultimately happen to her remains--until her father died. Puzzled by the choices he made about the disposal of his "organic matter," she embarks on a series of journeys to discover how death is commemorated in different cultures. Her travels lead her to discover everything from a Czech chandelier of human bones and a weeping ceremony in Iran to a Philippine village where the casketed dead hang in caves.Fascinating, poignant, and often funny, "Making an Exit" is Murray's exploration of the ways in which we seek to dignify the dead--and a deeply personal quest for a final send-off of her own.

This collection of over 1100 epitaphs is not only the largest collection of epitaphs extant, it's the only one devoted to the epitaphs of ordinary people. Arranged by categories such as humor, eulogies, romantic, or borrowed quotes, it's an enlightening and sometime emotional window onto the final thoughts covering more than a thousand people. Sources of quotes have been annotated for relevance. Aside from being arranged by categories, each epitaph is indexed by first line and name(s) of the interred, as well as by cemetery. The majority of the entries are modern though some date as far back as the 1840s. All-in-all, an extraordinary glimpse into the lives of ordinary people and a reference book unlike any that have come before. It opens a new world in the study of folklore and anthropology. It mines untouched veins of gold. In many ways, epitaphs are haiku for the dead. They should be read with patience, discretion, and a glass of wine. Do not hurry through them.

Mommy's Reflections is the true account of one mother's journey following the death of her child. The journey begins on September 18, 2009. It has been almost two months since the passing of nine year old Zumante, and the reader is immediately drawn into the soul searching of his brokenhearted mother. She examines her emotions, details her despair, and struggles with her very survival. In the midst of the grief, though, there is something even greater. There are several recurring themes in these reflections. The love that this mother has for her son is apparent on every page. Apparent also, is the overwhelming pain caused by his death. Although this story is one that chronicles the devastation of losing a child, it is also a testament of faith and courage. This is a powerful narrative that will move many to tears. It is also a complex collection of journal entries that will encourage reflections and evoke conversations. No one will read it and remain untouched. Mommy's Reflections is an honest read. Lucero-Mills endures a parent's worst nightmare and allows the reader the unique opportunity to gain insight and understanding. From the first hurtful holiday season through the first anniversary of Zumante's death, this story speaks of tears and toil, healing and hope. This is a grieving mother's memoir. It is a book that gives voice to the violation of a soul. It is a book not only for mothers, but a book for anyone who has ever loved or lost, or wondered about either. It is a book not only about grief, but about life and death, and relationships and perspectives. Mommy's Reflections is not about getting over it. It is about getting through it. This book shines a spotlight on that process. In the end, it's not about giving in to grief. It's about facing loss and finding the mustard seed.

The five stages of grief are so deeply imbedded in our culture that no American can escape them. Every time we experience loss--a personal or national one--we hear them recited: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The stages are invoked to explain everything from how we will recover from the death of a loved one to a sudden environmental catastrophe or to the trading away of a basketball star. But the stunning fact is that there is no validity to the stages that were proposed by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross more than forty years ago.
In "The Truth About Grief, "Ruth Davis Konigsberg shows how the five stages were based on no science but nonetheless became national myth. She explains that current research paints a completely different picture of how we actually grieve. It turns out people are pretty well programmed to get over loss. Grieving should not be a strictly regimented process, she argues; nor is the best remedy for pain always to examine it or express it at great length. The strength of Konigsberg's message is its liberating force: there is no manual to grieving; you can do it freestyle.
In the course of clarifying our picture of grief, Konigsberg tells its history, revealing how social and cultural forces have shaped our approach to loss from the Gettysburg Address through 9/11. She examines how the American version of grief has spread to the rest of the world and contrasts it with the interpretations of other cultures--like the Chinese, who focus more on their bond with the deceased than on the emotional impact of bereavement. Konigsberg also offers a close look at Kubler-Ross herself: who she borrowed from to come up with her theory, and how she went from being a pioneering psychiatrist to a New Age healer who sought the guidance of two spirits named Salem and Pedro and declared that death did not exist.
Deeply researched and provocative, "The Truth About Grief "draws on history, culture, and science to upend our country's most entrenched beliefs about its most common experience.

Conscious Acts of Grace are those words, actions, and touches that let our loved ones know we are there for them at the end of their physical life. They are born in unselfishness, forgiveness, kindness, and compassion. They are the acts of highest love that allow us to release our loved ones from their pain and suffering with ease and caring. These true stories are valuable models that encourage and inspire. Read for personal inspiration, to share and facilitate conversation with family, friends, and medical personnel, to form a discussion or sharing group for encouragement and support, and to learn how to create Celebration Circles.

""It is so nice to be happy. It always gives me a good feeling to see other people happy...It is so easy to achieve." "--Kim's journal entry, May 3, 1988
On the night of April 15, 1990, Jill Bialosky's twenty-one-year-old sister Kim came home from a bar in downtown Cleveland. She argued with her boyfriend on the phone. Then she took her mother's car keys, went into the garage, closed the garage door. She climbed into the car, turned on the ignition, and fell asleep. Her body was found the next morning by the neighborhood boy her mother hired to cut the grass.
Those are the simple facts, but the act of suicide is anything but simple. For twenty years, Bialosky has lived with the grief, guilt, questions, and confusion unleashed by Kim's suicide. Now, in a remarkable work of literary nonfiction, she re-creates with unsparing honesty her sister's inner life, the events and emotions that led her to take her life on this particular night. In doing so, she opens a window on the nature of suicide itself, our own reactions and responses to it--especially the impact a suicide has on those who remain behind.
Combining Kim's diaries with family history and memoir, drawing on the works of doctors and psychologists as well as writers from Melville and Dickinson to Sylvia Plath and Wallace Stevens, Bialosky gives us a stunning exploration of human fragility and strength. She juxtaposes the story of Kim's death with the challenges of becoming a mother and her own exuberant experience of raising a son. This is a book that explores all aspects of our familial relationships--between mothers and sons, fathers and daughters--but particularly the tender and enduring bonds between sisters.
"History of a Suicide "brings a crucial and all too rarely discussed subject out of the shadows, and in doing so gives readers the courage to face their own losses, no matter what those may be. This searing and compassionate work reminds us of the preciousness of life and of the ways in which those we love are inextricably bound to us.

In "The Already Dead," Eric Cazdyn examines the ways that contemporary medicine, globalization, politics, and culture intersect to produce a condition and concept that he names "the new chronic." Cazdyn argues that just as contemporary medicine uses targeted drug therapies and biotechnology to manage rather than cure diseases, global capitalism aims not for resolution but rather for a continual state of crisis management that perpetuates the iniquities of the status quo. Engaging critical theory, philosophy, and psychoanalysis, he explores the ways that crisis affects perceptions of time and denies alternative ways of being and thinking.

To resist the exploitative crisis state, which Cazdyn terms "the global abyss," he posits the concept of "the already dead," a condition in which the subject (medical, political, psychological) has been killed but has yet to die. Embracing this condition, he argues, allows for a revolutionary consciousness open to a utopian future. Woven into Cazdyn's analysis are personal anecdotes about his battle with leukemia and his struggle to obtain Canadian citizenship during his illness. These narratives help to illustrate his systemic critique, one that reconfigures the relationship between politics, capitalism, revolution, and the body.

From earliest times, people have speculated about what happens when they and their loved ones die. Their views vary from certainty about life after death to utter disbelief. Today, many continue to believe in the survival of consciousness after physical death with some claiming actual experiences of the departed and contact with them of some kind. In an era which we think of as the enlightened era of science, education and widespread secularism, many people report contact with dead. In a survey at the end of the 20th century, 31% of people in the USA , reperted they had felt that they had been in contact with some one who had died (Greeley 1975), and in Europe the number was 25% (Haraldsson and Houtkooper 1991). Scientist, Erlendur Haraldsson, a native of Iceland, sought an answer to his question, "Have you ever been aware of the presence of a deceased person?" In the modern and educated society of Iceland, one of the Scandinavian countries; he conducted an extensive survey. During the following years, detailed personal interviews were conducted with over 450 people who responded with a yes to questions about personal experiences of the deceased while in a waking state. These accounts form the basis for this book. The results are fascinating and make compelling reading.

In "Never Say Die," Susan Jacoby delivers a brave, impassioned, and exceptionally important wake-up call to Americans who have long been deluded by the dangerous myth that a radically new old age awaits the huge baby boom generation.
Combining historical, social, and economic analysis with personal experiences of love and loss, Jacoby unmasks the fallacies promoted by twenty-first-century hucksters of longevity, and reveals the hazards of the magical thinking that prevents us from facing the genuine battles of growing old. "Never Say Die" speaks to Americans, whatever their age, who draw courage and hope from facing reality instead of embracing platitudes and delusions, and who want to grow old with dignity and purpose. It is a life-affirming and powerful message that has never been more relevant.

This book is a guide to the afterlife. It's for those that want to know the truth about death.It will teach you what to do, where to go after your physical passing, making the transition from life to death easier. It is not meant for entertainment but more as a learning tool. The author, whom has empathic and sensitive qualities since the age of five years old, has decided to share what she has learned from souls on the other-side. Her teachings came from visitations, empathic feelings from those who have passed and Evps (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) of the dead speaking with the use of professional audio recording equipment. It became apparent to the author, from years of visitations, and many numerous cries for "Help," that there needed to be a guide written to help us move on after death. Even the most innocent of souls can be lost after death from lack of knowledge as to where to go. I hope that this book will alleviate that confusion and prepare us all for that journey. This book will hopefully will teach you there is NO end to us. For more information on author and to check out her Cd of spirit voices captured, visit her website at; http: //www.spookmanor.com

In our contemporary Western society, death has become taboo. Despite its inevitability, we focus on maintaining youthfulness and well-being, while fearing death's intrusion in our daily activities. In contrast, observes Maria Serena Mirto, the ancient Greeks embraced death more openly and effectively, developing a variety of rituals to help them grieve the dead and, in the process, alleviate anxiety and suffering. In this fascinating book, Mirto examines conceptions of death and the afterlife in the ancient Greek world, revealing few similarities--and many differences--between ancient and modern ways of approaching death.

Exploring the cultural and religious foundations underlying Greek burial rites and customs, Mirto traces the evolution of these practices during the archaic and classical periods. She explains the relationship between the living and the dead as reflected in grave markers, epitaphs, and burial offerings and discusses the social and political dimensions of burial and lamentation. She also describes shifting beliefs about life after death, showing how concepts of immortality, depicted so memorably in Homer's epics, began to change during the classical period.
"Death in the Greek World "straddles the boundary between literary and religious imagination and synthesizes observations from archaeology, visual art, philosophy, politics, and law. The author places particular emphasis on Homer's epics, the first
literary testimony of an understanding of death in ancient Greece. And because these stories are still so central to Western culture, her discussion casts new light on elements we thought we had already understood.
Originally written and published in Italian, this English-language translation of "Death in the Greek World" includes the most recent scholarship on newly discovered texts and objects, and engages the latest theoretical perspectives on the gendered roles of men and women as agents of mourning. The volume also features a new section dealing with hero cults and a new appendix outlining fundamental developments in modern studies of death in the ancient Greek world.

Death And Anti-Death, Volume 9: One Hundred Years After Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) is edited by Charles Tandy, Ph.D.: ISBN 978-1-934297-13-1 is the Hardback edition and ISBN 978-1-934297-14-8 is the Paperback edition. Volume 9, as indicated by the anthology's subtitle, is in honor of Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911). The chapters do not necessarily mention him (but some chapters do). The chapters (by professional philosophers and other professional scholars) are directed to issues related to death, life extension, and anti-death, broadly construed. Most of the contributions consist of scholarship unique to this volume. As was the case with all previous volumes in the Death And Anti-Death Series By Ria University Press, the anthology includes an Index as well as an Abstracts section that serves as an extended table of contents. (Volume 9 also includes a BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS section.) Volume 9 includes chapters by some of the world's leading living thinkers and doers. There are 13 chapters, as follows: ------CHAPTER ONE Contingency, Autonomy And Inanity: Cornelius Castoriadis On Human Mortality (by Giorgio Baruchello) pages 27-54; ------CHAPTER TWO Cryonics: Introduction And Technical Challenges (by Ben Best) pages 55-74; ------CHAPTER THREE Technological Revolutions: Ethics And Policy In The Dark (by Nick Bostrom) pages 75-108; ------CHAPTER FOUR Is Personalism Dead At Boston University? (by Thomas O. Buford) pages 109-136; ------CHAPTER FIVE Practical Lessons In Preparing For Cryonic Suspension: The Example Of Robert Ettinger, Patient 106 (by David Ettinger and Connie Ettinger) pages 137-146; ------CHAPTER SIX Bad Metaphysics Does Not Make For Good Science (by Gary L. Herstein) pages 147-164; ------CHAPTER SEVEN Open Theism (by J. R. Lucas) pages 165-174; ------CHAPTER EIGHT Fostering Death In A Culture Of Life: The Ambiguous Legacy Of The Marketing Of Cryonics (by David Pascal) pages 175-198; ------CHAPTER NINE Agony As Entrancement: Dying Out Of Too Much Life: Emil Cioran And The Metaphysical Experience Of Death (by Horia Patrascu) pages 199-226; ------CHAPTER TEN Options For Proactive Cryopreservation (by R. Michael Perry) pages 227-236; ------CHAPTER ELEVEN The Many Worlds Of Dilthey: A Modest Defense Of The Irreducibility Of Meaning (by Charles Taliaferro) pages 237-248; ------CHAPTER TWELVE John Rawls And The Death Of Scarcity: A "Force Of Nature" Original Position (by Charles Tandy) pages 249-280; ------CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Convergence Of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology And Information Technology - The Potential Unlimited Renewable Resource Generation For The Extension Of Sustainability (by Sinclair T. Wang) pages 281-328. ------The INDEX begins on page 329.

"Is there any hope that we may ever know what death is? Since it is a problem of knowing, we need to find the epistemological devices that will lead us to coming closer to it. I think this paper has something to tell on the matter something useful and perhaps significant. My own way of being convinced of this is to be found in the liberation my theory brought me, I was freed from having to carry the tension the problem had generated in me."-Caleb Gattegno

Few philosophers have devoted such sustained, almost obsessive attention to the topic of death as Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard and Death brings together new work on Kierkegaard's multifaceted discussions of death and provides a thorough guide to the development, in various texts and contexts, of Kierkegaard s ideas concerning death. Essays by an international group of scholars take up essential topics such as dying to the world, living death, immortality, suicide, mortality and subjectivity, death and the meaning of life, remembrance of the dead, and the question of the afterlife. While bringing Kierkegaard's philosophy of death into focus, this volume connects Kierkegaard with important debates in contemporary philosophy."

Suicide is the third major killer of young people in the Western world, and in the closing decades of the twentieth century it reached epidemic proportions: around the world there has been a frightening surge in suicides committed by children, adolescents and young adults. Kay Redfield Jamison is herself a survivor of a nearly lethal suicide attempt which came after years of battling manic depression. Her survival marked the beginning of a life's work to investigate mental illness and self-inflicted death, and she is now an internationally recognized authority on the depressive illnesses. In Night Falls Fast Dr. Jamison dispels the silence and shame that surround the subject of suicide and provides a better understanding of the suicidal mind and a chance to recognize the person at risk. She brings to the book not only wide scientific knowledge and clinical experience but also great compassion. In tracing the network of reasons underlying the phenomenon, she gives us astonishing examples and a startling look at the journals, drawings and farewell notes of people who have chosen to kill themselves. She also provides vivid insight into the most recent findings from hospitals and laboratories across the world; the critical biological and psychological factors that interact to cause suicide; and the new strategies being evolved to combat them. Night Falls Fast is a sensitive and penetrating analysis that helps us to comprehend the profound and disturbing sense of loss created in those left behind. It is the first major book on the subject in a quarter of a century and stands to become a classic account of one of the most devastating and destructive causes of death of our time.

"The word death is not pronounced in New York, in Paris, in London, because it burns the lips. The Mexican, in contrast, is familiar with death, jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it, it is one of his favorite toys and his most steadfast love."Thus Octavio Paz describes a cultural phenomenon that has for centuries fascinated scholars and aficionados of virtually every field of Mexican studies, "el culto a la muerte," the cult of death, a term that readily calls to the mind of anyone familiar with Mexico and her culture the unusually constant place of death in the minds and lives of the Mexican people. In this volume, author Brodman examines the Mexican cult of death from a variety of disciplinary perspectives to provide the most comprehensive analysis yet of the origins and nature of the Mexican cult of death and its relationship to Mexican arts, literature and culture.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Jonathan Weiner comes a fast-paced and astonishing scientific adventure story: has the long-sought secret of eternal youth at last been found?

In recent years, the dream of eternal youth has started to look like more than just a dream. In the twentieth century alone, life expectancy increased by more than thirty years--almost as much time as humans have gained in the whole span of human existence. Today a motley array of scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs believe that another, bigger leap is at hand--that human immortality is not only possible, but attainable in our own time. Is there genius or folly in the dreams of these charismatic but eccentric thinkers?

In Long for This World, Jonathan Weiner, a natural storyteller and an intrepid reporter with a gift for making cutting-edge science understandable, takes the reader on a whirlwind intellectual quest to find out. From Berkeley to the Bronx, from Cambridge University to Dante's tomb in Ravenna, Weiner meets the leading intellectuals in the field and delves into the mind-blowing science behind the latest research. He traces the centuries-old, fascinating history of the quest for longevity in art, science, and literature, from Gilgamesh to Shakespeare, Doctor Faustus to "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

And he tells the dramatic story of how aging could be conquered once and for all, focusing on the ideas of those who believe aging is a curable disease. Chief among them is the extraordinary Aubrey de Grey, a garrulous Englishman who bears more than a passing resemblance to Methuselah (at 969 years, the oldest man in the Bible) and who is perhaps immortality's most radical and engaging true believer.

A rollicking scientific adventure story in the grand manner of Oliver Sacks, Long for This World is science writing of the highest order and with the highest stakes. Could we live forever? And if we could...would we want to?