ANIMAL FUNERALS & HABITAT MEMORIALS:
Creative Ritual Creation for Ministers, Spiritual Directors, Animal Lovers & Earth Warriors
Facilitated by: Rev. Sarah Bowen
Available by: Watch Online Recordings (learn more about videoconference)
Price: General Public: $ 100.00 | One Spirit Graduates: $ 90.00
Elective Credit: 1
70% of homes are interspecies—and 100% of us live on planet Earth. Yet, many of our systems do not effectively address the grief we feel when losing a beloved pet or seeing yet another forest lost to human expansion. Studies show holding this deep sorrow alone can cause trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, loss of motivation, increased stress, anxiety, worry, and depression. Furthermore, animal death tends to resurface our memories of past bereavements and losses.
This workshop will help you companion yourself, and others, through the practical and spiritual questions that arise when companion animals are injured, sick, lost, or die. What’s more, it will prepare you to address the heartbreak felt when seeing a deer lying on the roadside or when hearing about the extinction of species on our interdependent planet.
In this workshop you’ll:
Learn about the spiritual lives of animals
Hear thought-provoking research about the grieving behavior of myriad species, from cats and dogs to the beings of the forests and oceans
Discover how to create compassionate life transition rituals for animals (and how to engage their human companions in the process)
Learn a powerful self-care technique designed specifically for animal lovers and earth warriors to manage heartbreak and increase resilience
Realize new ways to expand your ministry, spiritual companioning, or healing practice to include animal sanctuaries, environmental nonprofits, veterinary clinics, and animal shelters
FACULTY:
Rev. Sarah Bowen
(Rev) Sarah A. Bowen is an award-winning author, animal chaplain, and educator who teaches interspecies mindfulness practices, helps humans survive the pain of animal loss, and advocates for exploited and endangered species. You can often find her huddled over wildlife struck by cars, giving them a sacred sendoff. A columnist on animal/human relationships for Spirituality & Health magazine, Bowen’s work has also appeared in Parabola, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, and Religion Dispatches. She is co-founder of Compassion Consortium―the first interfaith, interspiritual, and interspecies community for people who care about and advocate for animals and the planet―where she leads the Animal Chaplaincy Training program. Bowen is the author of the award-winning "Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice For Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Healing The Planet" (Monkfish Publishing) and other books.
Praise:
“An ardent invitation to multispecies mourning for our more-than-human companions, from our beloved pets, to the deer on the side of the road, to the rapidly increasing extinction of species on our shared planet”
―CODY J. SANDERS, Chaplain at Harvard University & Advisor in the Office of Religious, Spiritual, & Ethical Life, MIT
“Sarah’s workshop on interspecies spiritual practices and rituals opened our hearts to acknowledging buried loss and healing the wounds that often get brushed over in our culture. I am grateful!”
― REV. CAROL SAUNDERS, Unity minister and host of The Spiritual Forum