Latest Death Cafe News
Practitioners question: Easton Mountain Death Cafe
Posted by Harry Faddis on Aug. 24, 2014, 9:54 a.m.
We are happy to have had our first Death Cafe here are Easton Mountain. We are a retreat center in upstate New York. We had 25 participants and were part of a deeply felt and wide-ranging discussion. We look forward to having the next one during our New Year's ...
Death Cafe write up: 2nd PSG Death Cafe
Posted by Sherry Gilles on Aug. 23, 2014, 1:32 p.m.
Sherry Gilles and Raymond T. Anderson offered Death Cafe to participants at Pagan Spirit Gathering for the second year in a row. Sherry is a Certified Death Midwife and Raymond T. Anderson is a musician and historian.
Topics touched on were end of life care including the work of ministers and death doulas, hospice and personal experiences of the eleven attendees.
This Death Cafe was welomed and well-attended. Because this event took place at a time when two other workshops were scheduled many people also contacted me before and after wishing there were more time slots available and initiated their own conversations with Sherry about death and dying ...
Death Cafe write up: Denver Death Cafe-July
Posted by Anita Larson on Aug. 21, 2014, 2:25 p.m. 2 comments
Denver Death Café Summary
July 20, 2014
Many thanks to Mike and Lee Heflebower with Heflebower Funeral Services (family owned) for hosting the July Denver Death Cafe and providing refreshments.
A film crew from Ivanhoe Productions taped & filmed the entire discussion. They also interviewed selected people before and after the meeting. They were very professional and their presence did not inhibit the open, respectful dialogue. They are independent TV producers who sell their stories to different TV stations and news media, so I will post a link when it airs.
We tried a different format this time. Each attendee wrote a question on a piece of paper and ...
Recently at our Titirangi Death Café some provocative questions were raised. I am still reflecting on them and thought I would share the questions for your reflection also.
What is old? What is too old? What gifts are there in aging and in dying; for me and for those I am connected to? Will I know when it is ‘my time’? How will I know? What if I want quality of life rather than quantity ...
Death Cafe write up: Carmel Death Cafe in Indiana
Posted by evoci on Aug. 20, 2014, 5:01 p.m.
The Aug. 17th Death Cafe was well attended and delicous desserts and beverages were enjoyed by all. Evaluation comments included:
"The discussion and different perspectives reminding us all to be alive and enjoy life!"
"Informative, friendly and safe! Thank you for making these timely events."
"Everyone was engaged in the topics and the atmosphere was accepting, enlightening and lively."
Death Cafe write up: Highcliffe Death Cafe
Posted by Lis Horwich on Aug. 20, 2014, 3:14 p.m.
2nd meeting of Highcliffe Death Cafe with 2 new members, one who travelled from the other side of Dorset, 2 spirits were with us too. We missed several of you, but will hopefully see you at future meetings.
Many topics were discussed; we very much talked about the great connection we all feel in the 4th dimension and exciting changes taken place. Again today we were able to sit outside in the brilliant English summer. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe of Metro Denver
Posted by Death Cafe Metro Denver on Aug. 19, 2014, 9:12 a.m. 1 comment
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe - Sydney
Posted by April Lewis on Aug. 19, 2014, 1:25 a.m.
This was my first visit to a Death Café meeting and,having been recommended by a friend, I had a vague sense of what it would be like—a small social group of people, drinking coffee and talking about death.
Death is a big subject, possibly the BIG subject, and with so many aspects to it—dying, spirituality, home deaths, loss of loved ones and pets, recent celebrity deaths and funerals being just the tip of the iceberg (maybe the sinking of the Titanic would come up)—it seemed we would have no trouble finding something to talk about.
Among the 10 or so people of varying ages ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Des Moines, IA
Posted by Carmen Elliott on Aug. 18, 2014, 10:51 a.m.
Amanda the Panda Family Grief Center hosted Des Moines' first Death Cafe this past Saturday! It had a lot of challenges, but also a lot of rewards.
We sent out the message via Facebook (our page & an event page), Twitter, Pinterest, & Instagram, as well as emails to grief services state-wide, our program committee, word-of-mouth, and using the event button on the Death Cafe Website. We had LOTS of interest, and by Saturday night, we had about 30 RSVPs!
Our challenges were all venue-related. We had reserved the rooftop, but when we arrived, we were locked out, and all of the chairs we stacked & padlocked together. We couldn't ...
Video: Death Cafe's founder Jon Underwood speaking at Social Media Week 2014, London
Posted by Jon Underwood on Aug. 18, 2014, 10:14 a.m. 2 comments
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Seattle - Greenwood
Posted by Seattle Death Guyz on Aug. 17, 2014, 5:59 p.m.
-The Denial of Death. A 1973 work of psychology and philosophy by Ernest Becker. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1974.
-I Thought My Father Was God: And Other True Tales from NPR ...
Death Cafe write up: Montpelier Death Cafe
Posted by MontpelierDeathCafe on Aug. 17, 2014, 5:56 p.m.
We often open our meetings by asking the attendees what brings them to our Death Café. Hearing the broad range of answers is inspiring; some people admit they just don’t know, others share personal stories. But the common thread in all answers is the desire to not hide from death. As a group we feel safe bringing our thoughts about death “into the light”.
As this month’s meeting turned towards a desire not to be afraid of death and how to prepare to die well, we actually talked about how death isn’t the only thing we need to bring into the light. Most of us ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Louisville
Posted by Justin Magnuson on Aug. 17, 2014, 3:45 p.m.
Death Cafe Louisville hosted its third cafe in the community room of Rainbow Blossom. Like the previous cafes there was a large mix of ages, interests, and attendance was between 15-20.
We split into two groups and it seems each group had completely different conversations. The group I facilitated talked about everything from books, to cultural expectations, a group members recent bereavement, and a young man who is a pallbearer at the local potter's field.
The other group talked about personal loss as well, but also spirits and they seemed to laugh more than my group. We are realizing the acoustics of the room make it difficult ...