Saturday 24th September

Workshop with Rev, Meghan Don

Evolutionary Mystic and Death & Dying Guide

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Rev. Meghan Don is an Award-winning author, Death Guide (psychopomp), Interfaith Minister and Mentor. She has studied Jungian Psychology, the Mystic Pathway, and is an Initiate of the Sophian Lineage. Meghan has recently returned to New Zealand after spending many years living and teaching in the United States (and most recently Ireland) and brings a wealth of knowledge and wisdom from her own inner experience and her years of mystic training. She is currently writing a book on Death & Dying. It is a comprehensive guide to help you and your loved ones journey through death and into life on both sides of the veil.

www. MeghanDon.Life

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Dying To Each Moment

To let go does not mean to get rid of. To let go means to let be. When we let be with compassion, things come and go on their own.

—Jack Kornfield

Every moment of every day is an opportunity to let be and let go. If you can do this in everyday life, you are also preparing yourself to let be and let go when you are dying.

Many people say they have no problem with dying, yet most struggle with change or letting go of difficulties in their life. Every time change comes into your life, that is death coming to visit. Every time you are asked to let go, you are asked to die in that moment to the life you know. Both of these life occurrences are preparing you for the greatest change and the greatest act of letting go, your death. All, bring new life, if you are open to it.

In this workshop you will learn and explore:

• How you respond to change now and how to prepare for the changes that dying will bring

• The meaning of letting go and what you are letting go into

• The art of letting be

• How to befriend and welcome death through dying to each moment in your life

• A meditation practice to facilitate both the freedom and feeling of safety in letting go

This workshop is suitable for anyone wanting to create greater ease in living and dying.

Date & Time

Saturday Sept 24, 2022

9:30am - 12:30pm

Cost: $75

Email for direct enquiries/bookings: RevMeghan@MeghanDon.Life

Venue: Lotus Heart, 363 St Asaph Street, Central Christchurch

Please arrive 9:15am

Relaxing Sound Bath Experience

Sound Bath Meditation #1

with Eva Mason & Dan Salisbury

Yoga teacher Dan Salisbury and sound healer Eva Mason have been facilitating yoga and sound baths for the last few years in a healing soundscape and in the radiant warmth of a log burner. 

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They are well known for their ability to relax people deeply, and see their work as a tuning fork to call forth a person's own innate healing power. 

The sound bath is for anybody who is looking for an hour of deep relaxation through the sound waves created by different instruments, bringing subtle bodies and chakras into tune though the resonant tones of buffalo drums, singing bowls and the power of a sun gong. 

Date & Time

Saturday Sept 24, 2022

3 - 4pm

Cost: $35 (pay on arrival)

Space is limited to 12 people (almost at capacity)

To book a seat email: evamason@xtra.co.nz

Bring: mat, pillow, blanket, water  

Please arrive 15 minutes early to pay, set up your space and get settled. 

This event is now full. A second one has been added below

Information Session with Annie Meredith & Claire Turnham

Learn About Manaaki Mats

Manaaki Mats are a safe, simple and effective cooling resource for deathcare. Valuable for pregnancy loss, stillbirth and all other deaths including babies, children, teens and adults. Used in hospitals, hospices, funeral homes and community settings. 

The mats are non-toxic and if required reusable. Each mat is filled with dry ice polymers (gel) which expand when activated in warm water. The one-way perforation technology allows water to be absorbed but not leak out. Manaaki Mats freeze at a much colder temperature than regular ice therefore staying colder for longer. 

Using Manaaki Mats slows down the natural changes that occur after death by keeping the body cool. They are a more natural, environmentally friendly and affordable alternative to chemical embalming.

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This workshop is for health and deathcare practitioners, as well as members of the community.

Date & Time

Saturday Sept 24, 2022

4 - 6pm

Cost: $95  

Venue: Rahotu Sanctuary, 83 Gerkins Road, Tai Tapu, Chch

To book a seat please email Annie directly: info@manaakimats.org

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Sunday 25th September

Death Cafe, with Melanie Mayell

Death Cafe for First Timers

This is a chance for first-timers curious about Death Cafe to experience what we do in a safe and friendly setting. Usually a Death Cafe runs for 2 hours; a group of strangers meet at a local cafe to talk about death while drinking coffee and munching on cake.

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Although there is a host, the conversation is group-led. The basic rules are: no agenda, no speakers, no grief support and it's not therapy. Everyone regardless of beginner or expert is welcome to the table and each opinion, experience or question is valid. There's no judgement, though there can be disagreement or debate. We talk about anything death-related. 

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Surprisingly there is often laughter at a Death Cafe. Participants usually leave feeling lighter, less fearful of death talk and more inspired about life.

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Melanie will introduce the process and act as facilitator.

Please note: Death Cafe is not for the recently bereaved.

Date & Time

Sunday Sept 25, 2022

10am - 12pm

Cost: Koha.

Space is limited to 12 people

To book a seat go to: www.meetup.com/ChristchurchDEATHCAFE/events/286193718 

Please arrive 15 minutes early to buy food and/or drinks, and get settled. 

This event is now full. You are welcome to go on the waiting list as there are usually last minute changes.

Home Death Care with Claire Turnham

Home-Based Death Care 

These two workshops build real life skills onto Claire's presentations at Death Matters. For those wishing to become more familiar and comfortable with home-based death care, you will not only come away with the basic skills and techniques needed to do this yourself but with a stronger sense of empowerment at the wider choices for yourself, loved ones and even pets.

Level 1 - Gentle Care in Death

This day is an introduction to home funerals.  We will be learning natural, gentle and practical ways to care for our own when they die. Includes the art of bringing beauty and ritual into 'hands-on' body care, and includes a bamboo shrouding demonstration. 

Date & Time

Sunday Sept 25, 2022

9:30am - 5pm

Cost:  $245

Includes a delicious, nourishing lunch, with all refreshments

Concessions:

- $45 discount available pp on first 7 spaces

- Early bird discount of $25 pp available until Aug 25th

Venue: Rahotu Sanctuary, Tai Tapu, Chch

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To book a place please email Claire directly: clairelouiseturnham@gmail.com

Workshop, with Rev. Meghan Don (see bio above)

Meeting Your Death Guides

We all have guides in the other realms who will assist us as we move from this world to the next. These guides are available to you now, to assist you in your living and to help prepare you for your dying. Most people however, are not conscious of these specific guides either now, or when they die. In fact, many are not even conscious they have died.

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In this workshop you will:

• Be guided into a deeper level of consciousness, where the doorway will be opened to meet your death guides

• Learn how to continue this death guide relationship now in your life so as to more easily access them at your time of death

• Create a personal death prayer to be read as you are dying to help facilitate a conscious journey

• Create a list of people/friends you want to assist you, and how they may assist you, as you are dying

• Learn meditation practices to draw you into your own sacred presence and deep inner peace, now, and at the time of your death

Meghan, who assists souls on the other side, will also bring forward stories to help with this exploration into the greatest human adventure of all.

Date & Time

Sunday Sept 25, 2022

10am - 4pm

Cost: $150

Email for direct enquiries/bookings: RevMeghan@MeghanDon.Life

Venue:  LCM Community Centre, 442 Durham St. North

Please arrive 9:45am and bring your own lunch.

Relaxing Sound Bath Experience

Sound Bath Meditation #2

with Eva Mason & Dan Salisbury

Yoga teacher Dan Salisbury and sound healer Eva Mason have been facilitating yoga and sound baths for the last few years in a healing soundscape and in the radiant warmth of a log burner. 

​

They are well known for their ability to relax people deeply, and see their work as a tuning fork to call forth a person's own innate healing power. 

The sound bath is for anybody who is looking for an hour of deep relaxation through the sound waves created by different instruments, bringing subtle bodies and chakras into tune though the resonant tones of buffalo drums, singing bowls and the power of a sun gong. 

Date & Time

Sunday Sept 25, 2022

3 - 4pm

Cost: $35 (pay on arrival)

Space is limited to 12 people

To book a seat email: evamason@xtra.co.nz

Bring: mat, pillow, blanket, water  

Please arrive 15 minutes early to pay, set up your space and get settled. 

NB. If for any reason you cant come after booking please get back in touch to release your seat for the next person on the waiting list

Home Death Care with Claire Turnham

Home-Based Death Care 

These two workshops build real life skills onto Claire's presentations at Death Matters. For those wishing to become more familiar and comfortable with home-based death care, you will not only come away with the basic skills and techniques needed to do this yourself but with a stronger sense of empowerment at the wider choices for yourself, loved ones and even pets.

Level 2 - Home Funerals, Made Only With Love
 

An in-depth day of OWL home funeral guidance which covers the options and value of arranging a family-led funeral in New Zealand. We will be exploring more complex situations and sensitively sharing lived experiences including baby loss, suicide and sudden death.

Designed to give you advanced knowledge, practical skills and confidence to complete all legal obligations and paperwork required when death happens, saving thousands of dollars in the process.

Date & Time

Monday Sept 26, 2022

9:30am - 5pm

Cost:  $245

Includes a delicious, nourishing lunch, with all refreshments

Concessions:

- $45 discount available pp on first 7 spaces

- Early bird discount of $25 pp available until Aug 25th

Venue: Rahotu Sanctuary, Tai Tapu, Chch

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To book a place please email Claire directly: clairelouiseturnham@gmail.com

Workshop with Marla Hughes

Proof Of A Benevolent Afterlife

Marla will share true stories of near-death experiences and the research behind them that are leading scientists to rethink the relationship between our brain and our mind, the nature of consciousness, and our understanding of life and death.

Plus learn about Marla’s experiences in expanded consciousness and how she stays connected with her son since his passing.

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This is a Q&A workshop with Death Matters 3 conference presenter Marla Hughes. The workshop is a live online event with Marla, (with Melanie managing the chat).

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Marla will open with stories from three favourite areas of her research:

1. Transformation after an NDE and what the science has to say. She will share some profound stories from her interviews with Dr. Bruce Greyson*, Peter Panagore, and David Maginley and the results of their research into this subject.

2. How messages from mediums as well as communications from her son, Dean (who transitioned in 2017, aged 19 yrs), changed her life and continue to comfort her daily. 

3. Personal experiences with ayahuasca, psilocybin, and MDMA and what she has learned

*'Bruce Greyson is the towering figure in the research on death, the brain, and consciousness. His book (‘After’) represents the best of scientific exploration. It will change the way we live our lives.’ — Barbara Bradley Hagerty, M.L.S

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You are welcome to ask questions and explore these subjects further.

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NB. This is a stand-alone workshop; it is not necessary for you to have attended the conference to participate.

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Date & Time

Tuesday 27th September

Time: TBC

Length: 60 minutes

Cost:  TBC  

To book a seat email:  marlahughes116@gmail.com

Please arrive 5 minutes early to log in, check your sound, say hello and get settled. 

Workshop with Psychic Medium Jacqueline Mitchell

Touching Heaven

For over 20 years Jacqueline has been facilitating workshops to guide people into greater self-awareness of our innate connection to spirit. 

This workshop will give you tools and techniques so you can communicate with Spirit yourself. It will also include helpful meditations, discussion and further explanations of how things work in the spirit realms.

Date & Time

Wednesday Sept 28, 2022

10am - 4pm

Cost:  $150

Space is limited to 18 people

To book a seat please email Jacqueline directly: 4spiritualsouls@gmail.com

Venue: Rahotu Sanctuary, Tai Tapu, Chch

Please bring your own lunch

This event is nearly full 

Workshop with Animal Communicator

& Healer Faye Rogers

The Human & Animal Soul Connection

Faye is a gifted Animal Communicator with a loyal following and many endorsements, media articles and happy clients both 2-legged and 4-leggged. Since 2006, her work has grown steadily from her base in NZ to a high level of international recognition and clients around the world.

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• Could it be possible that humans & animals have soul contracts with each other?  

• Do you live with a special heart animal, or have had a special heart connection with an animal companion? Or know that you are highly connected to the Animal Kingdom?

• Did your animal/s reincarnate to support you in this life?  And if so, the reason for this?

• Would you like to become more aware of the reasons for the relationship that you have with your animal/s?

• Animals in spirit, are they still supporting us from the other side?

Date & Time

Wednesday Sept 28, 2022

6pm - 8pm

Cost:  $55

Limited spaces

To book a seat please and get access, please email Faye directly: faye.animalcommunicator@gmail.com

Online event

Workshop with Valerie Wycoff & Majida Jean McElhaney

Finding Life Within Death

Valerie and Majida Jean love to connect with people through dialogue.  Coincidentally, they are both Nebraskan by birth. Both are Certified Trainers through the Centre for Nonviolent Communication.  They each offer coaching, counselling and workshops to enhance connection, freedom, and new possibilities. They offered this workshop to glowing reviews in Christchurch in 2019.

Valerie lives in Christchurch, where she directs Reflections Threshold Singers, a group which provides trios to “make kindness audible,” at the bedsides of people in the last stages of life. 

Majida Jean completed the residential death doula training through Doorway into Light (Maui, Hawaii, USA). She is also an ordained interspiritual minister and a psychosynthesis guide, with experience in the field of trauma, mediation, and transforming difficult emotions.

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We warmly invite you to explore what death means for our lives, through facilitated conversation, interactive exercises, and self-reflection.

It is our hope that you will leave with:

• an expanded view of your beliefs about death and their impact

• a deeper appreciation for life and living

• an uplifted sense that you are not alone with your questions

Date & Time

Thursday Sept 29, 2022

10am - 5pm

Cost:  $150. Includes morning and afternoon tea

Early price until August 31, $120

To book a seat please email Valerie directly: valerie@bodyvoicealive.nz

Venue: Valerie's home teaching space, Bodyvoice Alive, Ilam, Christchurch

Please bring your own lunch

Workshop with Kirsty Salisbury

Exploring Extra-Ordinary Death Experiences

This session offers a safe interactive place to learn, share and discuss spiritual experiences and ask questions relating to:

• Near Death Experiences (NDE's)

• Shared Death Experiences (SDE's)

• After Death Communication (ADC)

• End of Life Experiences (ELE's)

• The role of consciousness after death

• Reincarnation, past lives, and soul purpose

• What might take place in the dying process

Kirsty Salisbury is a speaker, podcaster and coach exploring the topics of life, death and experiences in between. Following a Near-Death Experience at 12 years of age, Kirsty is passionate about widening the conversation around death and the afterlife. Through her podcast ‘Let’s Talk Near Death’ Kirsty shares personal stories of life after near death, and events of significant spiritual transformation.  

Kirsty is an Advisory Board Member of Spiritual Awakenings International (SAI), an IANDS (International Association of Near Death Studies) certified Facilitator, and host of the Auckland Death Cafe. Outside of her podcast, Kirsty is a certified Funeral Celebrant End of Life Doula and author. Her books ‘A Life by Design’ and ‘Dying Well’ help to empower others to delve deeper into the topics of resilience, regrets, and how we can take a holistic approach to both life and death.

Date & Time

Thursday Sept 29, 2022

7:30pm - 9pm

Cost:  koha

Limited to 8 participants

To book a seat please email Kirsty directly: kirsty@kirstysalisbury.com

Live Zoom

Please arrive 5 minutes early to log in, check your sound, say hello and get settled. 

Deathwalker Training with Zenith Virago

Deathwalker Training

The in person non-residential Trainings are over 3 days and cover the whole spectrum including illness, dying & death, sudden death, body care, ceremony, disposal and on into bereavement and loss. They culminate in a small ceremony for those who have died. A hybrid of old and new ways of being present, real and beneficial at a challenging time.

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Available and appropriate for everyone – for your own personal journey, a family member or friend, to increase professional skills or if you feel you have a calling to some or all aspects of this work.

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Everyone has the capacity and courage to do death well. Each of us bring our own rich life experience and this training honours and builds on the awareness and strength that we are all intrinsically have to do this work for ourselves and others.

By nurturing, enhancing and strengthening your inherent capacity and gaining legal and practical knowledge and skills, any concerns or fears can be transformed. This allows you and others to make preferred and informed choices during the various stages of the death and dying process.

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Zenith Virago is a leader in this field and has pioneered the concept of empowered continual care at end of life. As a professional Deathwalker for over 25 years she brings integrity, experience and wisdom. The NDCC is a registered charity and works for education, authenticity and empowerment in death, dying and loss.

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The in person Deathwalker Training includes:

• Exploring & Embracing Death

• Preparation & Advocacy

• Caring for & being with the Dying (Doula work)

• Funeral Arrangements & D.I.Y

• Ceremony, structure & content

• Ritual & Rite of Passage,

• Bereavement, Loss & Growth

Deathwalker NZ#1 - Date & Time

Friday Sept 30 - Sunday October 2, 2022

9:30am - 4:30pm, daily over 3 days

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To book please email Zenith directly: zenithvirago@gmail.com

Location: Rahotu Sanctuary, Tai Tapu, Christchurch

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This class is now full - due to high demand a second event has been added below

Workshop with Valerie Wycoff and Reflections Singers

Experience Threshold Singing

We invite you to meet us, and experience our songs. We 'make kindness audible' as we sing at the invitation of people in palliative care settings. 

As part of the Threshold Choir International movement we sing voluntarily in hospitals, homes and hospice by request. We sing mostly original songs about love, peace, grace and gratitude - themes which fit comfortably within many traditions. 

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For this particular experience we're requesting $20 pp to support our practice venue expenses.  We thank you for your interest and support!

Further details about us:  www.bodyvoicealive.nz/experience-threshold-singing/

Date & Time

Sunday Oct 2, 2022

7:30 - 8:30pm

Cost: $20

To book a seat please email: reflectionsthreshold@thresholdchoir.org

Venue: The Quaker Centre, 217 Ferry Road, Chch

Transforming Death Art Exhibition

Opening Night

Bubbles + Art + DJ Rubik + short performance piece

= Support the Artists While Feeding Your Soul 

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Transforming Death is an exciting art exhibition coming to the Arts Centre this October. 

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Ten NZ artists explore their relationship with death through a variety of mediums including steel, stone, paint, acrylic and clay.

Date & Time

Tuesday Oct 11, 2022

5pm - 6:30pm

Venue: Pumanawa Gallery, 2 Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch Arts Centre

Free entry, all welcome

Exhibition runs from October 11 - 16th

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Meet the artists

Book in for opening night

Transforming Death Art Exhibition

Transforming Death is an exciting art exhibition coming to the Arts Centre this October. 

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Ten NZ artists explore their relationship with death through a variety of mediums including steel, stone, paint, acrylic and clay.

Meet the artists

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Date & Time

Tuesday - Sunday, Oct 11 - 16th

10 - 4pm DAILY

Venue: Pumanawa Gallery

2 Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch Arts Centre

Free entry, all welcome

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Storyteller Performance with Nilguen Yalay

La Calavera, ‘Grandmother Death’ 

Nilguen Yalay is a passionate and naturally talented storyteller. She brings the old Mexican Folktale of 'La Calavera, Grandmother Death' to life amidst the Transforming Death Art Exhibition. 

Her dramatic performing and the transformative power of this amazing story of 'Life, Death and Rebirth' never fails to reach deep into the soul of those who come and watch.

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Date & Time

Saturday Oct 15, 2022

3pm - 3:45pm

Cost: koha

Venue: Within the Transforming Death Exhibition

Pumanawa Gallery, 2 Worcestor Blvd

Christchurch Arts Centre

Bookings under Events at: www.facebook.com/DeathMattersNZ

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Suicide Awareness & Education with Michael Hempseed

Preventing Suicide in your Community

Some people believe that there is nothing they can do to stop someone dying from suicide, they think 'If we stop them doing it one way, they will do it another way.' This is not correct at all; research suggests that if you can stop someone in the moment of crisis then there is an exceptionally high chance they will live. We all need to play an active role in suicide prevention. This talk will look at the warning signs of suicide and how to respond to someone who may be suicidal and find them help.

Michael is the author of the book, Being A True Hero: Understanding and Preventing Suicide in Your Community and the Director of Frontiers of Hope, www.foh.co.nz

Date & Time

Tuesday Oct 18, 2022

9am - 12pm

Cost:  $75

Venue: Boardroom, Fendalton Library

4 Jeffreys Rd, Fendalton (cnr Jeffreys and Clyde Roads)

To book a seat please email Michael directly: michael@ess.org.nz

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Suicide Awareness & Education with Michael Hempseed

Suicide Grief

Death by suicide often leaves a deep and heart wrenching hole for the people left behind. All forms of grief are difficult, but often suicide is more complex as it adds a pervasive why. This workshop will look at some of the ways to help a person who has experienced a death by suicide. It will also look at the cluster and contagion effect, where one suicide influences another person to take their life. This workshop is suitable for those who have lost someone to suicide and those who want to support others who have. 

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Michael is the author of the book, Being A True Hero: Understanding and Preventing Suicide in Your Community and the Director of Frontiers of Hope, www.foh.co.nz

Date & Time

Tuesday Oct 18, 2022

1pm - 4pm

Cost:  $75

Venue: Boardroom, Fendalton Library

4 Jeffreys Road, Fendalton (cnr Jeffreys and Clyde Roads)

To book a seat please email Michael directly: michael@ess.org.nz

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Workshop with David Garb and Melanie Mayell

Date With Death

Our relationship with death our ‘ultimate ending’ has an impact on how we relate to all the endings in our lives; from how we handle relationship endings, aging, loss of health, loss of jobs, empty-nesting, menopause, miscarriage to simply how we end each day or a even a phone call.

A healthier relationship with death is where we come to allow, and then accept death as a natural (and sad) part of life. Death acceptance filters into our lives loosening blocks and resistance and creating flow in unexpected places.

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Come and contemplate your mortality in a fun and thought-provoking way.

Date & Time

Friday 21st October

Time: 3:30 - 5pm

Length: 90 minutes

Cost:  $20   

Venue: Boardroom, Fendalton Library

4 Jeffreys Rd, Fendalton (cnr Jeffreys and Clyde Roads)

To book a seat email: melanie@thecreatrix.co.nz

Deathwalker NZ#2 - Date & Time

Friday Oct 21 - Sunday October 23, 2022

9:30am - 4:30pm, daily over 3 days

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Due to overwhelming demand Zenith is coming back to Christchurch at the end of October to run this second and final Death Walker Training Cohort. 

Zenith Virago is a leader in this field and has pioneered the concept of empowered continual care at end of life. As a professional Deathwalker for over 25 years she brings integrity, experience and wisdom. The NDCC is a registered charity and works for education, authenticity and empowerment in death, dying and loss.

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The in person Deathwalker Training includes:

• Exploring & Embracing Death

• Preparation & Advocacy

• Caring for & being with the Dying (Doula work)

• Funeral Arrangements & D.I.Y

• Ceremony, structure & content

• Ritual & Rite of Passage,

• Bereavement, Loss & Growth

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To book please email Zenith directly: zenithvirago@gmail.com

Location: Rahotu Sanctuary, Tai Tapu, Christchurch

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