‘Sacred Sendoffs’: Honoring death and managing the emotions that arise when we lose an animal we love
Most religions and philosophical traditions included some version of the Golden Rule. Yet, how those ideals are actualized in each persons’ actions varies widely, especially when it comes to other-than-human animals.
MARC BEKOFF: Sarah A. Bowen’s newest book Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice for Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, and Healing the Planet, a follow up to Spiritual Rebel, is a gem in which she playfully “shares insights for sustaining lives, honoring deaths, and managing the emotions that arise when we lose an animal we love”…
If there is one book you choose to read about how to enjoy and improve your relationships with all nonhuman animals (animals) and fully appreciate who they truly are, this is the one. Here is some of what Sarah had to say about her outstanding and practical manifesto for all beings…
MB: Why did you write Sacred Sendoffs?
SB: I discovered that very few of us know what happens to beloved pets, wildlife, animal astronauts, marine life, farmed animals, and other creatures after they die. And that we have a lot of questions about animal death that we’re often afraid to talk about out of fear of being considered silly in a society that places less value on animal lives than on human ones.
This is a shame, especially since animal death and grief rituals are fascinating. For example, magpies place wreaths of grass alongside roadside corpses. Elephants have been observed covering dead rhinos and lions under foliage―as well as a few sleeping humans… Likewise, how humans deal with the bodies of “pets” is intriguing…
So, Sacred Sendoffs explores the diverse ways we handle animal death as well as our personal responses to loss. The book also gives people practical tools for surviving grief… It looks at pet loss, animal spirituality, planetary ethics, and animal suffering in a way that shows their entanglement and reveals some striking insights…
MB: How does your book relate to your background and general areas of interest?
SB: … As I grew up, I became enthralled by the ways different people spoke about — and often ignored—the sentient beings we share this planet with. When I went through interfaith Seminary, I noticed that most religions and philosophical traditions included some version of the Golden Rule, “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” Yet, how those ideals were actualized in each persons’ actions varied widely, especially when it came to other-than-human animals…
These ethical quandaries led me to specialize in teaching animal chaplaincy and help create Compassion Consortium ― the first spiritual community that is interfaith and interspecies. We do Qi Gong with goats, and we chant with sheep. We offer candle-light memorials for animals suffering in human captivity and provide solace to people who have experienced the loss of an animal companion. Above all, we raise awareness of animal issues. SOURCE…
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