We have unlearned Death
People die in Hospitals or nursing homes. They don’t die at
home any longer. We rarely have the time to take care of a sick or dying person
hence we pay people to do it. And we pay people to take care of death. We are
trying to stay as far away from the process of dying let alone exposing ourselves
to deal with dead bodies. We don’t sit
beside a dead body, we don’t wash and dress the corpse. We show up when this
whole process is finished and maybe we leave the coffin open to get one last look
at the body that has been dressed up and prepared for us in a manner that we
are able to bare.
We pay people to kill animals and process their meat into
products that haven’t the slightest resemblance of dead flesh any longer. We
keep death in a safe, bearable distance.
Death is sanitized.
We can’t respect, cherish and appreciate
life if we try to shield ourselves from dealing with death. This is no “back to
the roots” appeal. I just want to point out that we learn and understand things
by touching them. That’s how Babies explore the world around them, touching,
tasting, feeling. We can’t shield ourselves from the pain that is immanent in
death however we can allow ourselves to get a better and more respectful
understanding of life and we can give our grief an appropriate space by letting
death closer to us.
What is gross about touching a dead body? We “dress” dead
Turkeys at least once a year. We touch our steaks and roasts, we even eat that
stuff. What is so terrible about having a corpse in the house until we are
ready to say our final goodbye?
Understanding death is fairly impossible if we try to stay
away from seeing the last breath, from feeling how all the sudden all life
leaves the body. It not only detaches us from dealing with our pain and grief
more important it takes a huge junk away from understanding and respecting
life.
In theory we do understand that without death there is no
new life. In praxis we have wandered far of the track. And by trying to avoid inevitable
pain we have deprived ourselves of a precious experience.
Understanding does not take any pain nor does it make the
grief any more bearable however going through the entire process fearless, with
open eyes and an open mind will shed an entire new, beautiful light on living
as well as dealing with the living souls on this planet.
(c) Britta Goetz - Tiphareth Tarot&Astro
