Ways to have a relationship with Death

Death is something most of us do not want to think about; of course everything wants to live. But many years ago I heard a record by Bill Cosby in which he talked about how he was "making an old person." I kept thinking about this and I started paying attention to what kind of old person I was making. This was the beginning of my conscious relationship with Death. Later, in the books of Don Juan by Carlos Castenada I read, "Death is the only friend that never leaves you." For many years I pondered how Death is a friend. I came closer to understanding this when I received a spirit song for my Mother's death which contained the line, "loving comes Death to make us whole."

Shakespeare gave me a great teaching in the quote:

If it be not now, let it come. Readiness is all.

When I find myself in times of stress about Death, I remember these words and they help me feel calm.

One of the ways I have learned to be ready is to greet Death each day in my morning prayers. I say, "If it is so that I die today, thank you for the beauty of this day" and I pay a few moments special attention to something small and precious: raindrops on fern brackets or the graceful sweep of a rhododendron flower. In my evening prayers I acknowledge my joy at being alive by saying, "thank you for this beautiful day of life."

In the Journey Oracle cards, there is no representation of Death, except possibly in the Fate card, the most dramatic of all the oracle cards. This card has a white and a black side showing the seasons of growth and abundance, and showing the seasons of decline and decay. This is the only card in the oracle deck that can stop a reading, because just like Death, there is no further reference, or teaching, or question; no way to continue the story we have been telling ourselves.