Date: Thursday 15th October at 19:30 UK time
About: This talk explores afterlife beliefs, a bit about funerals and death ritual, and a bit on my own research into landscape, memory and death and grief theory.
Speaker Bio: Jennifer Uzzell is a PhD student at Durham University working under the auspices of the Centre for Death and Life Studies and based in the department of Theology and Religion. She is conducting research into death rites among contemporary Druids in the UK including funeral ritual and natural burial. In addition to her PhD research, which she is conducting on a part time basis, she is also co-owner and director of a progressive funeral home that forms part of a growing movement in the UK towards greater openness, honesty and authenticity in the way funerals are arranged and conducted In this capacity she has helped to re-imagine and design funeral rituals that are relevant to those involved and has provided help and advice with ‘home funerals’. She is also a Religious Education Consultant, who has worked in a number of capacities for the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, and a senior examiner in Religious Studies. As well as Druidry, her academic interests include Hinduism, Buddhism, the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics.
Contact: Jennifer Uzzell. J.s.uzzell@durham.ac.uk
Resources for this talk – see below
What is Remembered Lives
15/10/2020
Who I am and Why I am Giving this Talk?
- Who am I?
- My relationship with Death
- Funeral Directing and Pagan Ethics
- Academic research and Death Studies
- A great amount of resources from here https://www.saintandforster.co.uk/
Pagan Beliefs about Death, Dying and the Afterlife
- Huge variety
- Variations between Traditions
- Reincarnation
- Summerlands and the Otherworld
- Survey results
Funerals and Memorialisation
- Natural Burial
- The Law
- Celebrants
- Home Funerals
- Samhain
My Research
- Grief Theory and Continuing Bonds
- Continuing Bonds into the Past
- Landscape and Constructed Memory
- Barrows
Further Reading
Continuing Bonds in Bereavement, Klass, D. and Steffan. E.M (Eds.) (2017) Routeledge.
Continuing Bonds: New Understandings of Grief. Klass, D. (1996) Routeledge.
Druids and Ancestors: Finding our Place in our own History. Brown, N. (2012) Moon Books.
Grief, Ritual and Experiential Knowledge: A Philosophical Perspective. Scrutton, T in Continuing Bonds in Bereavement, Klass, D. and Steffan. E.M (Eds.) (2017) Routeledge. pp 214-226.
The Journey into Spirit: A Pagan’s Perspective on Death, Dying and Bereavement. Hughes, K (2014) Llewellyn.
The Pagan Book of Living and Dying. Starhawk and Nightmare, N. (2005) HarperOne.
Useful Resources
Pagan Transitions Website. Offers advice on Pagan Funerals and a list of celebrants
http://www.pagan-transitions.org.uk
The Natural Death Centre. Offers advice on Natural Burial and Home Funerals. Keeps a list of recommended funeral directors and natural burial grounds.
http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk
The Good Funeral Guide. Offers advice on all things relating to funerals and a list of recommended funeral directors.
Home Funeral Network. Offers advice and support on all aspects of home funerals and ceremony.