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Midwifing the Dying and Dead
The journey into form and the journey back to the world of formlessness are those each of us will take. They are the brackets that frame our earthly life. While there is much celebration and ritual surrounding birth, we are not as comfortable with the dying process. We slip beyond the realm of senses and are no longer easily accessible to our loved ones. Perhaps we fear death because don't what happens to us after we leave our body. We wonder, "Will I be OK?"
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross once said,
"It is important to know that every single human being, from the moment of birth until the moment when we make the transition and end this physical existence, is in the presence of guides or guardian angels who will wait for us and help us in the transition from life to life after death."
Many spiritual traditions include spirits and deities whose responsibility is to escort newly-deceased souls to an afterlife. This "guider of souls" is what is know as a psychopomp which comes to us from the Greek word, ψυχοπομπός (psychopompos). Psychopomps have also been associated at different times and in different cultures with various animals such as horses, whippoorwills, ravens, dogs, crows, owls, sparrows, cuckoos, deer, and dolphins. (Wikipedia)
I find the animal association interesting as the role of psychopomp may also be assumed by a shaman.As a shamanic practitioner, I also know that all souls have these guardians and can be helped though death and into final rest. Unfortunately, not all dying people recognize or accept the help that is standing ready to assist them.
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, prayers are chanted to keep the soul "on track" and able to make the complete journey from leaving the body to leaving this world. Unfortunately, not all cultures have such a complete container for the dying in place. Without such a container, some of the dying do not make a complete transition.
For instance, if a person's death is sudden, violent, or happens while the person is unconscious, he or she may not be able to recognize the help that is available or even realize the simple fact that they have died. This may cause a person's spirit to linger here on Earth. The same situation may occur when a person holds the belief that they are unworthy of a good afterlife. This is common for people who have been raised in spiritual or cultural traditions that hold such high standards for living that many fear falling short of the expectations. In those cases, while the spirit knows that they have died they are afraid to accompany their guide "into the light" and so linger here as ghosts, as well.
In these cases, a person functioning as a psychopomp can often assist the spirit to leave this realm and go to a place of peace. This work is quite important as the spirits of the unquiet dead can trouble the living.
Among the Daoists, priests conduct regular ceremonies to help these wandering spirits. The priest feeds and soothes them so that they will travel through a spiritual gate the priest has prepared. Ceremonies like these are still carried out in Daoist temples today.
While many of the lingering dead cause us little or no harm, according to Daoist all ghosts are hazardous. In their belief, ghosts wandering our existence are perpetually hungry and feed off our chi or life-force to sustain themselves. They are particularly attracted to the negative, intense emotions of fear and anger as these feelings cause those of us that are living to expend our life force.
In extreme situations, these ghosts - whom we call suffering souls - may cause a person to feel weak, have disturbed sleep or even cause the living to become ill. In the recent past, we have had to assist spirits who have been able to affect machinery, scare children, cause accidents and even prevent houses from selling. However disturbing they may be, these are souls who have not been able to "make it across the finish line" and so need our help.
In performing psychopomp work, the shaman travels into the spirit realm to interact with the wandering spirit. They shaman must remain compassionate and nonjudgmental. While being supported by their helping and healing spirits, they may have to change their appearance to match the setting and the times the deceased person will recognize. We may be called upon to facilitate a healing of the soul or help the spirit to understand that they are dead. A shaman may have to employ trickery to support the suffering soul to go into the light. Each situation can provide a new and unexpected possibility, but in each case the focus remains on helping the suffering soul.
Once out of this realm and safely into the light, a spirit is supported by loving beings. All of which is done in an atmosphere of loving compassion. The spirits who cross over are not judged, but rather supported to realize whatever misdeeds they may have done and encouraged to make better choices should they choose to return. Based on this personal reckoning, some choose to remain formless for a while in the light of All That Is or jump right back into a body to try again.
The spirit part of us is timeless and eternal. We may pass in and around this realm many times or only a few. Since dying is one aspect of a soul's existence, it is my hope that more people will learn how guide souls through their transition. To gentle the passage of a dying person and guide a soul into a peaceful rest is holy work. It gives a soul a new chance and a new choice. Furthermore, in assisting the dead, we lighten the world for the living.
© 2009 Evelyn C. Rysdyk
The author's Two-Year Apprenticeship Program in Advanced Shamanism and Shamanic Healing teaches participants how to perform psychopomp work. Go to: www.spiritpassages.org and click on the "Training" section for details and application information. - Editors.
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Evelyn C. Rysdyk, author of Modern Shamanic Living is a nationally recognized presenter. Included in the book Traveling Between the Worlds she is among the world’s most influential writers and teachers of shamanism.
Originally trained in core shamanism, she has integrated practices taught to her by elders from North and South America, Central Asia, Nepal and Siberia. She is also a Medicine for the Earth Teacher--teaching ways that transfigured human energy can heal our planet.
With her partner C. Allie Knowlton, MSW, LCSW, DCSW she presents
eco-spiritually focused training programs--which include advanced shamanism and shamanic healing---across the USA and Canada. In addition, as a founding member of True North, a unique, integrated medical center in Falmouth, Maine--she collaborates with physicians, nurses, a psychiatrist, a naturopath and several other complementary healthcare practitioners to provide a new model of health care that includes Spirit.
www.spiritpassages.org
www.spiritliving.org
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