Latest Death Cafe News
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Auburn CA
Posted by Cindie Wilding on June 14, 2014, 3:11 p.m.
There was plenty of food for thought - along with cake, cookies and iced-tea – at Death Café Auburn on Tuesday evening. (Special thanks to Sally for the luscious, home-made sheet cakes!) Among our group of about 14, we had several familiar voices and a few new ones added to the mix. We appreciate the consistent number of repeat attendees and hope that this indicates an increasing comfort level with the stimulating topics of conversation. When you come back again, it says that you find these gatherings beneficial, which is GREAT! We can all consider ourselves to be part of the movement to normalize death. If you experience an uplifting ...
Death Cafe write up: Marin Death Cafe
Posted by Nancy Rhine on June 13, 2014, 1:03 p.m.
Last evening we had our second Marin Death Cafe with 28 people RSVPing and 17 people attending. Needless to say, we had way too much cake! :)
Once again, feedback was how struck people were with how immediately everyone moved into talking about very real experiences they had had around death and dying. They shared stories about near death experiences, deaths of longtime spouses, deaths of children, fear of dying, not fear of dying, and existential questions about life's meaning or what I call "What's it all about Alfie?" questions.
A particularly moving conversation was about the meaing and close experiences people had had with wild birds ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe - Frederick, MD
Posted by BunnyODell on June 12, 2014, 10:59 p.m. 1 comment
40 people ranging in ages from their 20s to their 80s gathered at the Canal Bar & Grill at 8:30 AM on Saturday, June 7, to discuss death. Bunny O'Dell and Kriste Kidd co-hosted the event and facilitated along with Chad Harris and Cheryl Parrott. We broke into 4 tables of approximately 10 each. At times, the conversation was so lively we had to listen really closely to hear the comments at our tables . . . there was no shortage of opinions, hopes, and thoughts about death and dying. We served refreshments, including coffin and skull/crossbone- shaped cookies. I don't think Kriste and I realized in advance ...
New Blog post: Shhhhhh don't talk about death....
Posted by torsum on June 12, 2014, 2:03 a.m. 1 comment
Why can't people talk about it?
One thing that is guaranteed in this world is that we are all going to die and we're all going to lose people we love. Why then do we have such an inability to talk about death/grief and all the emotions that go with it? Our ancestors have been dying before us, and at far younger ages than us! Why didn't we learn from them ...
Death Cafe write up: Invito a partecipare al Death Cafe, conversazione aperta sulla morte e sul morire
Posted by Elisabetta Lucchi on June 11, 2014, 4:11 p.m.
The Death Café’ we held on the 12th May at Elisabetta’s house was a “mini” event as there were only three participants. But it was a lively evening with a light, friendly atmosphere.
Also present were Chiara, Giorgio and Bruno from Vice.com who were there to film the meeting.
Lots of interesting issues and key words cropped up during the evening. The word “death” was associated with light, understood as the light we see in pre-death experiences. It is difficult to think about one’s own death even though we know there is an end and we know that our bodies will not live forever ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Bucks County
Posted by buryingyourown on June 11, 2014, 12:44 p.m.
New Blog post: Death Cafe HK
Posted by Columbus Death Cafe/Lizzy Miles on June 11, 2014, 8:14 a.m. 1 comment
Wow... just wow. So neat to see this sign at the ICGB Conference.
Death Cafe write up: Sacramento Death Cafe
Posted by deatheducadvocate on June 10, 2014, 11:10 p.m.
Thanks for the opportunity to host the Sacramento Death Café last night in my home. To everyone's delight we had 3 intergenerational family groups along with several others for a total of ten participants ranging in age from 14 to 80! What open, thoughtful and courageous humans!
New Blog post: Can Death Be Funny?
Posted by Columbus Death Cafe/Lizzy Miles on June 10, 2014, 9:44 p.m. 10 comments
My favorite place to buy souvenirs is the grocery store. It is relatively inexpensive to buy a large number of gift items.
The other day Megan and I came across a Russian Roulette chocolate "game" here in Hong Kong. There are 12 chocolates in the box: 11 are tasty, and one has hot chili peppers and will "blow your head off." Immediately I laughed. Then I started thinking about how I could buy chocolate without ...
New Blog post: The Dragon Boat Festival and Sticky Rice Dumplings
Posted by Death Cafe St. Joe/ Megan Mooney on June 10, 2014, 9:43 p.m. 1 comment
The Dragon Boat Festival is called Duan Wu Jie in Chinese. Jie means festival. The festival is celebrated on the 5th of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The dragon is an ancient Chinese symbol of auspicious power. Just like at a Death Café and other great events, there is also food involved. Here there are sticky rice dumplings or zongzi. The Dragon Boat Festival is a time honored festival that is held ...
New Blog post: My Talk With Raymond
Posted by Death Cafe St. Joe/ Megan Mooney on June 10, 2014, 2:46 p.m.
I went to Starbucks the other morning, my daily ritual, and started talking to a local named Raymond. I had taken some photos and asked him what they meant. We had a wonderful talk about death and dying and I told him all about the Death Café. He was very excited to hear about this movement and that there was one starting in Hong Kong. When we started talking about death, he told me about ...
Practitioners question: Waiting in Richmond
Posted by jpm1111 on June 10, 2014, 2:16 p.m. 2 comments
I hope someone in Central Virginia is interested in hosting a death cafe. I'd love to attend, but don't feel comfortable being a host.
Death Cafe write up: Crete, Illinois Death Cafe
Posted by Sherry Gilles on June 9, 2014, 8:59 p.m.
We expected about a dozen people to come to this Death Cafe but had a number of cancellations due to illness.
Six people came to discuss death topics such as loss of a loved one and what types of funeral or cremation ceremony might suit each person the best. End of Life conversations, having taken place or not, were discussed and how it affected each participant.
One guest arrived later and discussed the effects of radiation on the body and how certain types of radiation caused death..
We served snacks, chicken and noodles, cake and various libations. I received evaluations from all attendees. All said they would be ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe - Gawler
Posted by Abby on June 9, 2014, 5:39 p.m. 2 comments
On a sunny Sunday autumnal afternoon; 12 of us experienced our first Death Café. The aptly named “Conversations Café” in Gawler, South Australia, provided the nurturing space for our group-directed conversation about Death. With warming drinks and a yummy home-made treat from Mignon within reach, we were ready to begin. As the participant-facilitator I opened the discussion with the question: “What brought you here?” The common thread amongst us all was curiosity. We had all been intrigued by the startling name, Death Café.
We were in good company. Since 2010 there have been about 9,000 other dead curious people who have attended one of the 900 Death ...
Death Cafe write up: Nashville's Death Cafe
Posted by lswdeb on June 8, 2014, 1:11 p.m.
"Do you have a death wish?" is not a question normally bandied about in seriousness. But have you ever actually asked whether a parent, partner or friend has a wish, or wishes, concerning their death? Burial or cremation? Where would they like to die? It's not easy to do......but having a safe, comfortable place to start this conversation might help...
This was my fourth death cafe in Nashville TN and it just keeps getting better. I have noticed the attandence has gotten smaller but the conversation is more AMAZING...The numbers do not matter for me. I have a few people who come regularly but most ...