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| SoulCards(c) Deborah Koff-Chapin |
Yet in Death is transformation and renewal--Birth.
Imagine Death, see it lying beside me, calm, at peace, bare bones laid open and free from outer judgment, stripped of the covering that separates to show underneath we are all the same.
Beautiful structure, the base, the foundation, available to be reborn as disintegration begins, yet, for a while, a testament to the life before, a remembrance of that which housed the personality and ego.
Look through the gleaming colors, through the shadows that linger ever so slight, and see the face of who has gone before, the Being that once was but is still here and is always.
Remembering . . . the words of a tale . . . "I'll grind your bones to make my bread" . . . words that seemed so scary but truly our bones are miraculous minerals given for our use in the manifest world to live but when we are done, they return to the earth, without the animating Vital Force, the Soul, the Spirit--without the animation of living a purpose we all return to the earth, to Gaia, to be transformed and reborn.
Once having faced Death--full frontal view--the bones and skeleton seem beautiful, fragile yet strong, solid yet filled with space! The rigidity an illusion we cling to as justification until realization comes that our bones are living tissue of change, and if that is real then, in the world of form, how much more potential is found in the rest of our bodies and lives?! We can move and shape and create!
Death is a Friend. Bones are Beautiful.
How does it feel to be laid bare?
How does it feel to be stripped of all the coverings accumulated as so-called protection?
How is this different if I shed the armor myself?
To Die before Death?
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I was struck by some of these thoughts and images last year, recalled now by the SoulCard(c) I drew, when I was able to be personally involved in the process of cremation for my beloved animal companions. Why does society--why do we--try to distance ourselves from Death and Dying? The kind couple who started this special crematorium allow the cremains to be returned to the animal's human companion 'as is' . . . bone fragments . . . instead of requiring "processing" through a grinder to make the powder usually seen after a cremation. I found this incredibly and deeply honoring of form. To be witness to how each form returns from the fires of transformation is very moving. The bone fragments are the last residual visual representation of the once-animated being who wore flesh and walked the earth with me for a short while. To see the innermost form revealed in all its beauty is a wonder . . . physically or spiritually.
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| Demeter - beloved feline companion |
beautiful insights my friend...our bones support us in so many ways, nourish our blood, the very beating of our hearts even as they allow us to walk through this world, sit and hold those we love. Death is not to be feared, it is yet another transition, same as birth...but it can make those of us living on very sad indeed when we can no longer touch a beloved or see them embodied...still though they are with us always...their energetic residue remains a part of our cells, our muscles, our bones, our memories.
ReplyDeleteDearest Laura, yes indeed . . .
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