Death Cafe profile for mknight
With Michele Knight
Oct. 26, 2024, 10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (GMT - Sydney, Australia)
Accepts donations
I ran my first Death Cafe in Sydney, Australia in September 2014 and since then have done so on a regular basis. Since childhood, I have experienced diverse spiritual and ...
With Michele Knight
Sept. 26, 2024, 10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (GMT - Sydney, Australia)
Accepts donations
I ran my first Death Cafe in Sydney, Australia in September 2014 and since then have done so on a regular basis. Since childhood, I have experienced diverse spiritual and ...
Death Cafe write up: Manly NSW Death Cafe
Posted by mknight on Sept. 4, 2024, 10:50 p.m.
Our August Death Café took place on the eve of Spring, with locals and tourists alike thronging the surrounds of the library. Above them, a small group of people were gathering together to talk about a shared interest and curiosity; death.
Our conversation was spirited, especially when the work of Carl Jung and theoretical quantum physicist Wolfgang Pauli was discussed. From the lofty realms of the archetypal unconscious to Ray Martin’s TV series, The Last Goodbye, Death Café did not disappoint. Other topics discussed included the role that black humour and death jokes play as a coping mechanism when grieving, and, thinking about our end of life ...
With Michele Knight
Aug. 31, 2024, 10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (GMT - Sydney, Australia)
Accepts donations
I ran my first Death Cafe in Sydney, Australia in September 2014 and since then have done so on a regular basis. Since childhood, I have experienced diverse spiritual and ...
Death Cafe write up: Manly NSW Death Cafe
Posted by mknight on Aug. 20, 2024, 11:33 p.m.
Each time Death Café convenes, and because attendees bring different life experiences with them and different questions, the overall ‘tone’ has a distinctive ‘note’. Not only that, but it never ceases to astound me at Death Café, at how generously people share in such a frank way, intimate and very personal aspects of their life, their knowledge and understanding of end-of-life matters, and their spiritual belief systems. And our July Death Café was no exception.
In addition to chatting about ‘all things death’, a focus of discussion was death education and associated extracurricular activities, which was embraced with great enthusiasm. A recent online post (https://www.abc.net ...
With Michele Knight
July 20, 2024, 10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (GMT - Sydney, Australia)
Accepts donations
I ran my first Death Cafe in Sydney, Australia in September 2014 and since then have done so on a regular basis. Since childhood, I have experienced diverse spiritual and ...
Death Cafe write up: Manly NSW Death Cafe
Posted by mknight on July 7, 2024, 12:13 a.m. 1 comment
Our June Death Café welcomed both regular and new attendees to our familiar locale, the Creative Space in Manly Library, and as usual, death was a hot topic. The conversation flowed from the moment people settled themselves into their chairs until it came time to leave, with all of us wondering where the time had gone, and wishing we could keep chatting.
It never ceases to amaze me why people come to the Death Café, meaning the journey they have taken in life and the experiences that have shaped their world view and their personal belief systems. “It bothers me, that we can’t use the word ‘death ...
With Michele Knight
June 29, 2024, 10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (GMT - Sydney, Australia)
Accepts donations
I ran my first Death Cafe in Sydney, Australia in September 2014 and since then have done so on a regular basis. Since childhood, I have experienced diverse spiritual and ...
Death Cafe write up: Manly NSW Death Cafe
Posted by mknight on May 26, 2024, 3 a.m.
Our May Death Café was an intimate affair which took place in our regular cosy nook in the Creative Library. Sitting in our usual assortment of chairs, our conversation and presence was overseen by an exhibition of photographs lining the walls, of long-dead Anzacs, locals who served in World War 1.
As usual the time flew by with free-flowing discussion moving along at a rapid pace. Topics ranged from death and the afterlife, terminal lucidity, transcendental phenomena and such things as UAP (Unidentified Arial Phenomena). And as always, I was struck by the generosity of spirit, openness, and willingness of attendees to share very personal thoughts, feelings and ...
With Michele Knight
May 25, 2024, 10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (GMT - Sydney, Australia)
Accepts donations
I ran my first Death Cafe in Sydney, Australia in September 2014 and since then have done so on a regular basis. Since childhood, I have experienced diverse spiritual and ...
Death Cafe write up: Manly NSW Death Cafe
Posted by mknight on April 27, 2024, 6:40 p.m.
Our April Death Café kicked off in fabulous style in the Creative Library, described by one attendee as a “brilliant space for sharing!” and as usual, those who were meant to be there, were.
Our conversation was stimulating, uplifting, confronting, joyful, reflective and warm, and covered such topics as the meaning of death and the afterlife, continuity of consciousness and notions of an afterlife, death anxiety, how death impacts us.
Some observations on how attending the Death Café affected their feelings about death and life included people realising they need to remember to enjoy life and to not ‘sweat the small stuff’, realising that other people are actually ...
With Michele Knight
April 20, 2024, 10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (GMT - Sydney, Australia)
Accepts donations
I ran my first Death Cafe in Sydney, Australia in September 2014 and since then have done so on a regular basis. Since childhood, I have experienced diverse spiritual and ...
Death Cafe write up: Manly NSW Death Cafe
Posted by mknight on March 24, 2024, 3:28 p.m.
Our first Death Café of the year took place in our regular space, the Creative Library, a fabulous community room in our local Manly Library. After a holiday break of some months, it was wonderful to once again engage in spirited conversation about all things death and dying, welcome back regulars, and meet folk new to the Death Café movement.
I’ve been facilitating Death Café’s since 2014, and have found that while the conversation will cover a diverse range of death and dying areas of interest and importance, there is always one topic which is discussed in every Death Café I have run; the afterlife. And ...
With Michele Knight
March 16, 2024, 10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (GMT - Sydney, Australia)
Accepts donations
I ran my first Death Cafe in Sydney, Australia in September 2014 and since then on a regular basis, until the pandemic hit. I'm thrilled to be finally in ...
With Michele Knight
Nov. 18, 2023, 10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (GMT - Sydney, Australia)
Accepts donations
I ran my first Death Cafe in Sydney, Australia in September 2014 and since then on a regular basis, until the pandemic hit. I'm thrilled to be finally in ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Marrickville
Posted by mknight on Oct. 21, 2023, 11:06 p.m.
Our October Death Cafe was described by attendees as ‘eye-opening’, ‘comforting’, ‘beautiful’ ‘relaxed’ and ‘peaceful’. Held in an airy creative space in our new local library location, not even the odd library goer wandering into the room could overly disrupt or disturb the conversation.
It always amazes me, how complete strangers can not only be drawn together by a common goal and interest, but how they can share so courageously and sincerely stories which are incredibly intimate and personal. And again, I’m struck by how death-positive conversations are not only profoundly powerful and transformative for all concerned, but how much they are needed in the community.
My ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Marrickville
Posted by mknight on Oct. 10, 2023, 3:46 a.m.
Our September Death Cafe was the first after a long hiatus, and although it fell on a holiday weekend here in Sydney with few attending, the conversation was lively, warm and inclusive.
As usual, topics included the afterlife and spirituality as well as people talking about what brought them to Death Cafe. Some were questioning the existence of God and the loss of their faith, others wanted to be in the company of like-minded souls, free to discuss death and dying in a supportive and understanding environment.
Although it has been a long time since I held a Death Cafe one thing has definitely not changed, how fast ...
With Michele Knight
Oct. 21, 2023, 10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (GMT - Sydney, Australia)
Accepts donations
I ran my first Death Cafe in Sydney, Australia in September 2014 and since then on a regular basis, until the pandemic hit. I'm thrilled to be finally in ...
With Dr Michele Knight
June 30, 2018, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
Free event, but donations welcome. The cafe will open just for us.
Now taking place in Newtown
Death, that final processof transition which we all ultimately engage with, is an event in our lives frequently feared and often misunderstood.
A Death Caf ...
With Dr Michele Knight
Feb. 24, 2018, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
Free event, but donations welcome. The cafe will open just for us.
Now taking place in Newtown
Death, that final processof transition which we all ultimately engage with, is an event in our lives frequently feared and often misunderstood.
A Death Caf ...
With Dr Michele Knight
July 15, 2017, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
Free event, but donations welcome. The cafe will open just for us.
Now taking place in Newtown
Death, that final processof transition which we all ultimately engage with, is an event in our lives frequently feared and often misunderstood.
A Death Caf ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Marrickville
Posted by mknight on Nov. 5, 2016, 4 p.m. 2 comments
Prior to every Death Café I find myself observing the same thoughts going through my mind. Who will turn up? What will the topics of discussion be? How will people feel afterward? Will they experience a sense of resonance with the conversation? Will they like the ‘flow’ of the Death Café? Will it be of use?
For me, it is a joy being part of the Death Café movement, primarily because it provides an alternative forum for people to talk about all things death, dying and the afterlife.
It is difficult to have these conversations in an environment which is open and inviting, which is one of the ...
With Dr Michele Knight
Oct. 22, 2016, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
Free event, but donations welcome. The cafe will open just for us.
Now taking place in Mascot
Death, that final process of
transition which we all ultimately
engage with, is an event in our
lives frequently feared and often
misunderstood.
A Death ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Marrickville
Posted by mknight on Oct. 7, 2016, 6:57 p.m.
Our September Death Café saw us meeting in our new venue, Platform-62, a wonderfully eclectic café, and only relatively new itself, situated right in the hustle and bustle of up and coming Mascot.
Although you wouldn’t know that once you’d joined the Death Café, where discussion ranged from the board game Rebirth: The Tibetan game of liberation (available online from Amazon) to Sufi teaching stories of death and its timing in our lives, to the wonderfully entertaining Caitlin Doughty with her tales from the crematorium.
As we went around the group introducing ourselves, I was struck, as I always am, by the diversity of people who ...
With Dr Michele Knight
Sept. 24, 2016, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
Free event, but donations welcome. The cafe will open just for us.
About Death Cafe Marrickville:
Death, that final process of
transition which we all ultimately
engage with, is an event in our
lives frequently feared and often
misunderstood.
A Death Caf ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Marrickville
Posted by mknight on July 31, 2016, 12:33 a.m.
It was a small but eclectic group of people who attended our July Death Café, and as usual conversation was lively and energetic and spread across a range of death-related topics. This included viewings, whether or not to have a funeral, the afterlife and, rather than normalising death, that notion that death-literacy is about re-normalising death. Although people either left early or came late, which was somewhat disruptive, conversation still flowed freely with lots of laughter in-between.
In reflecting on the event later, I recalled some of the things Death Café is not. It is not a method of community engagement, research or consultation and it is not ...
With Dr Michele Knight
July 30, 2016, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
Gold coin entry donation in support of local charity.
About Death Cafe Marrickville:
Death, that final process of
transition which we all ultimately
engage with, is an event in our
lives frequently feared and often
misunderstood.
A Death Caf ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Marrickville
Posted by mknight on July 9, 2016, 9:07 p.m.
It seemed that the date for our June Death Café came around so fast this month that I couldn’t help feeling that it was only yesterday when we had last met for Death Café Marrickville, and this time as then, conversation was rich and meaningful, at times painful as tender spots were touched, open, frank and thoughtful.
As is often the case, people brought all manner of life experience/s with them. Some were recently bereaved and grieving, some worked in varying professional capacities with the aged or the bereaved and their families, and some were curious about death and wanted to explore their thoughts and feelings ...
With Dr Michele Knight
June 25, 2016, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
Gold coin entry donation in support of local charity.
About Death Cafe Marrickville:
Death, that final process of
transition which we all ultimately
engage with, is an event in our
lives frequently feared and often
misunderstood.
A Death Caf ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Marrickville
Posted by mknight on June 12, 2016, 4:02 p.m.
Our May Death Café found us in our new home, Parliament on King in Newtown. After a short break while looking for our new locale, it was a delight to once again welcome Death Café devotees to Death Café Marrickville.
As always, death-related interests and life experiences were diverse, at times challenging, and always conversational. One of the impressions I consistently take away with me from Death Café, is how innately respectful people are toward one another. This is something I personally find reassuring, especially in a society where disrespect toward others, which manifests in all manner of ways and situations, seems to be becoming more commonplace.
Although ...
With Dr Michele Knight
May 28, 2016, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
Gold coin entry donation in support of local charity.
About Death Cafe Marrickville:
Death, that final process of
transition which we all ultimately
engage with, is an event in our
lives frequently feared and often
misunderstood.
A Death Caf ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Marrickville
Posted by mknight on April 27, 2015, 4:17 a.m.
A write-up for Marrickville Death Cafe - April.
Our Death Café this month took place on Anzac Day. It was the 100th year celebration, and the ensuing week of media coverage and related conversation was rivaled by that of the attendees at Death Café Marrickville!
Discussion included news of Australia’s first body farm, the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, which is to be located on a 48-hectare bush site in the lower Blue Mountains, an upcoming public lecture, Naming the Dead, featuring forensic scientists reporting on recent research, and the coming to Australia of the irrepressible Caitlin Doughty, mortician extraordinaire who will be speaking at a ...
With Dr Michele Knight
April 25, 2015, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Gold coin entry donation (to charity) requested, incl cake, tea/coffee for minimal cost.
Death, that final process of transition which we must all engage with is an event in our lives frequently feared and often misunderstood. A Death Café provides an opportunity for ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe in Marrickville
Posted by mknight on April 5, 2015, 7:28 p.m.
A write up of Marrickville Death Café – March, by Michele Knight
Our March Death Café dovetailed with the NSW State Election. It was a busy day in the community at large as it was in Lazy Bones Lounge, with animated and varied discussion between people coming from all walks of life and experience.
As usual, people talked about what had brought them to Death Café, and how they had found out about the event either through word of mouth, social media, Meet Up, or one of the other on-line avenues I utilise. People also talked about different events their lives, and one of the things that has become ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe in Marrickville
Posted by mknight on April 5, 2015, 7:27 p.m.
A write up of Marrickville Death Café – February, by Michele Knight
Our first Death Café for 2015 welcomed the year in its usual location, Lazy Bones Lounge, in Marrickville, Sydney. A combination of “old” and “new” faces escaping the heat of the supposed last day of Summer sat together in the now familiar overstuffed couches and eclectic surroundings to discourse on death, and of course to eat cake! As the Death Café commenced, I couldn’t help but notice the contrast between what was taking place inside Lazy Bones Lounge with what was taking place outside; a vibrant community street festival.
It seemed to me that it was ...
With Dr Michele Knight
Feb. 28, 2015, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Suggested gold coin entry donation in support of local charity.
Death, that final process of transition which we must all engage with is an event in our lives frequently feared and often misunderstood. A Death Café provides an opportunity for ...
With Dr Michele Knight
March 28, 2015, 2.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Suggested gold coin entry donation in support of local charity.
Death, that final process of transition which we must all engage with is an event in our lives frequently feared and often misunderstood. A Death Café provides an opportunity for ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe in Marrickville
Posted by mknight on Dec. 6, 2014, 11:19 p.m.
Our December Death Café, the final for this year, once again drew people from diverse backgrounds, interests, life experience and profession. Sitting in our usual assortment of overstuffed couches and armchairs around a low table laden with cake, we were looked down upon by freshly painted vividly rendered Japanese erotic art which boldly decorated the ceiling. “It is the procreation of life; the perfect complement to death” my host of Lazy Bones Lounge had said.
As always, the time flew by and as always discussion was free-flowing and moved along at a rapid pace. What has become consistently evident across each Death Café is that people are deeply ...
With Dr Michele Knight
Dec. 6, 2014, 2.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Suggested gold coin entry donation in support of local charity.
Death, that final process of transition which we must all engage with is an event in our lives frequently feared and often misunderstood. A Death Café provides an opportunity for ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe in Marrickville
Posted by mknight on Nov. 7, 2014, 4:45 a.m.
Death Café Marrickville has come and gone again, yet echoes of the conversation that took place still resound in my mind.
Hosted by Lazy Bones Lounge, old and new faces met and exchanged thoughts, feelings and attitudes about all things death.
My impression of the afternoon was that it was almost a relief to be able to talk about death and to explore not only our feelings but the reactions of others toward our perceptions of death and our ease at its inevitability.
As previously, discussion was free-flowing, agenda-free and non-structured and although the group was smaller in number this time, conversation ripped along at a furious pace ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe in Marrickville
Posted by mknight on Sept. 22, 2014, 3:44 p.m.
Our first Death Café in Marrickville was launched in spectacular style. Hosted by Lazy Bones Lounge, by night a Jazz club but by day open for Death Café, we met as a group of strangers sitting together in overstuffed couches, dim lighting and eclectic décor all of which was perfect for our conversation.
It had taken some time to find the right location, but I knew I had when after speaking with Craig the owner about the possibility of holding a Death Café he had said to me, “what a great idea”. And the rest is history.
I had woken at 4:00am that morning to bake ...
With Dr Michele Knight
Oct. 25, 2014, 2.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Suggested gold coin entry donation in support of local charity.
Death, that final process of transition which we must all engage with is an event in our lives frequently feared and often misunderstood. A Death Café provides an opportunity for ...
With Dr Michele Knight
Sept. 20, 2014, 2.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Suggested gold coin entry donation in support of local charity.
Death, that final process of transition which we must all engage with is an event in our lives frequently feared and often misunderstood. A Death Café provides an opportunity for ...