Six days before leaving her body, Cari Leversee and her husband Richard spoke with me about their journey together unto death. Cari died the way she had lived- with curiosity and grace, exploring, learning, and teaching every day. Our conversation is both profound and beautiful, and I am honored to have been a conduit through which Cari's wisdom, in her time of dying, can reach a wider audience.
In the intro:
In the interview:
Dying out loud + creating a living funeral
Approaching death with wonder, & finding love in the face of terror
Mushrooms & microbes as honored elders / Cari’s experience microdosing on psilocybin during the dying process / Mushrooms teach us to lead with soul consciousness, show us how to die, and greatly reduce fear in terminal patients
Bringing together the love and life and grief and pain and agony of death is where the healing happens
Grief and love are not different emotions- the depth of love equals the depth of grief
Home funerals: ecstasy, healing, and community / Alternative options for body disposal- deep sea burial, alkaline hydrolosis (or water cremation), green burial / Casket art
“I want to go into my death with my arms open”
What it is like to watch your beloved life partner die, “I have no intention of getting over my grief.”
How our culture gets grief wrong
I ask Cari if she's afraid
In death, you recognize the true source of self
In the Outro:
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