What’s your Death Plan? Mine used to be wolves and vultures, but it has evolved a bit since then.
Death is a consistent presence in my Shamanic practice. In fact, we spend the first 4 months of the year-long Alchemy apprenticeship in the Death Phase, working with practices for letting go, surrendering and allowing those old, no-longer-needed parts of ourselves to die. I also support a lot of animals through their final crossing in my animal communication practice.
In the year-long program I’m participating in (Rewilding Leadership and Community Resilience), we’ve also been working with Death. One of the assignments is to write a Death Plan — directives for loved ones to follow, including closing bank accounts, celebration of life and final care for the Earthsuit.
I can’t help but remember a conversation I had with my mom when I was around 12 years old. This is how I remember the conversation (as a non-sequitur, completely out of nowhere):
Me: “When I die, I’d like my body to be left out in the woods so animals can eat me.”
Mom: “I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.”
I remember even then the desire for my body to return to Earth, knowing that I belong in this gorgeous cycle of life nourishing life. The desire to become part of the forest and the animals that I love so much.
I vividly remember a part in one of my favorite books I read around that age (maybe this is where I got the idea). One human character died, and his friend, an enormous bear, did him the honor of receiving this final gift, and ate his body.
There are some cultures that observe adjacent practices. In Tibetan Buddhism “sky burials,” bodies are brought into the mountains, dissected and joyfully fed to the vultures so that the spirit may be fully liberated from the Earth plane.
Here is a poem I love by Jarod K. Anderson (The CryptoNaturalist):
Vultures are holy creatures.
Tending the dead.
Bowing low.
Bared head.
Whispers to cold flesh,
“Your old name is not your king.
I rename you ‘Everything.’”
This concept of joyfully returning the body to Earth has appeared in my own songwriting. To me, it is so beautiful and harmonious and humbling and ecstatic — giving the miraculous gift of the bioform back to the Great Mother, to compost and become part of new life.
So to me, the idea of the modern funeral industry and practices is so fucked up.
Having strangers inject your body full of preservative chemicals, cover you with makeup and bury you in a box with plastic and metal in a cemetery full of fertilizer sounds like the plot of a horror movie.
But practices like that can only possibly come from a society that is disconnected from Earth and true participation in the full cycle of Life.
Being stuffed full of chemicals and buried in a fancy box only sounds good if you are under the spell of fear and illusion that we are not part of Earth — that we are somehow separate from nature.
Modern funeral practices only sound like a comforting option to those who have not taken their place of belonging to Earth and to Life.
We belong to Earth. We belong to Life, and Life loves us.
This is the Shamanic worldview. This is the original view of humanity in cultures all over the world. This is the belief that all things are alive, and connected through that universal aliveness. And also connected through our Death.
My Death plan has evolved in the past 25 years from my body being left in the woods. Now my plan is to have a “green burial” where my body composts with the help of mushrooms and turns into soil. I would like to be planted with some young trees, especially cedar.
But until I’m ready to make my final offering in this life, I’ll continue to make offerings every day — offerings of songs, prayers, water, flowers, dancing, food and tears.
Offerings of gratitude to Earth. Gratitude for my belonging in this wild and gorgeous web of Life. Gratitude for the cycles of Death and Rebirth and nourishment and radiant aliveness. Gratitude for this ecstatic miracle that we all get to participate in, and become part of Everything.
Are you called to Shamanic practice?
Do you want to learn how to make offerings and prayers to connect with spirit guides and Shamanic allies, and build your connection with these guides?
Are you ready to learn how to communicate with the spirit realm so that you may receive their messages, signs and teachings?
Are you drawn to Earth-based spiritual practice and want to take your place of belonging with Life?
Are you ready to answer your Shamanic calling?
I am delighted to invite you to:
The Foundations of Shamanism
11 week online course, November 17 - February 2, 2026
Classes are live, on Zoom, Monday evenings, 5 - 6:30pm PT. (No class on December 22.) All classes will be recorded. No prior experience is necessary for this course.
Through this course, you will:
Practice Shamanic journeys to connect with spirit allies and learn how to integrate their medicine into your life and spiritual practice.
Anchor your healing, ceremonial or spiritual work into the powerful foundation of your local Earth grid and energetic ecosystem, for the purpose of grounding, protection and amplification.
Learn how to clear, ground and protect your energy so you can confidently and safely navigating the unseen realms.
Make offerings and prayers to connect with spirit guides and Shamanic allies, and build your connection with these guides.
Learn how to communicate with the spirit realm so that you may receive their messages, signs and teachings.
Master basic concepts of ecology so that your Earth-based spiritual practice is informed by a practical understanding of your local ecosystem.
Take steps to heal and reclaim your own indigeneity as you connect to Gaia in a new way.
