Songs of reparation is a workshop using stories and songs to open a space and connect with our feelings around death and dying, and what we can do to ‘repair’ with those who have already died, or with parts of ourselves that have died – stages of life, relationships, old ways of being.

In this held space, I use traditional stories – especially wondertales with their broad archetypal themes - to help connect with and explore personal stories of loss, and provide a framework for healing and repair, for (re)-voicing the parts of ourselves that have been unvoiced through loss, death, shame or fear, and for giving voice (back) to those we need to repair with through a tender invocation and appreciation of their lives.

Many traditional stories address cultural understandings and meanings around death directly: why do we die, what happens after we die. confronting fear of death, dealing with grief, loss and bereavement; others involve meeting Death as an embodied character (the archetypal scythe-bearing ‘Grim Reaper’) face to face, tricking, bargaining, or negotiating with Death, and sometimes meeting Death as a friend or equal. And many myths and wondertales deal metaphorically with the cycles of life and death echoed in the cycles of nature as we journey through the year, in each day-night-day, and in the cycle of our own breath.

Befriending Death workshop sessions use stories (traditional and personal) and conversation to open up a space to connect with and explore our ideas, attitudes and beliefs around death and dying. The workshops are stand-alone sessions of 3 hours followed by a bring-and-share lunch. Each session explores a different theme on aspects of the journey towards death and dying, including consideration of our own mortality and our relationship with Death; transitioning from life to death - crossing the threshold; grieving; and, ageing and elderhood, especially in a culture which reifies youth. See home page for forthcoming sessions.

In these lightly held group wellbeing sessions I use folktales and wondertales to open a space to connect with and share what’s present for us in our daily life and how we are feeling. What images or feelings does a story invoke? What’s left with us at the end of a story? What – if anything – do these images or themes connect with in our day-to-day life? How can a traditional tale help us look at aspects of our lives differently, come to terms with change, or bring an elusive problem into the light?