Overview

How to care for the dying for their healing, ours, and the world’s • Explores how to carry our loved ones through death, how to honor their bodies and spirits, and how to awaken to the ever-present help of our ancestors • Reveals the healing and closure that can be brought about through the process of washing and preparing a body for a home vigil or funeral • Offers guidance on advance care planning, grieving, and forgiveness as well as green burial Having become disconnected from the natural cycles of life, we have lost the fundamental knowing of what death looks like, and fear fills the void. How can we transform our fears surrounding death and be with the dying more fully and more consciously? Through her work with the dying, Nancy MacMillan reveals the very real imaginal world where nature, myth, dreams, ancestors, and those yet to be born whisper from the far shore, a place beyond our last breath. She reminds us that caring for our dying consciously is a transformative act, radical even, in restoring meaning to our place and purpose in the universe. She explores how to carry our loved ones through death, how to honor their bodies and spirits, and how to awaken to the ever-present help of our ancestors. She shows how the practice of caring for the dead can help both those grieving and the newly dead, and she reveals how healing and closure can be brought about through the process of washing and preparing a body for a home vigil or funeral—a ritual she provided for her own mother. Sharing personal stories, Nancy offers guidance on advance care planning, grieving, and forgiveness as well as green burial. Through her own close encounters with the specter of death, the author shows how to follow the ancient wisdom of ""learning to die before you die"" and find a seaworthy passage to the far shore.

Full Product Details

Author:   Nancy MacMillan ,  Robert Sardello
Publisher:   Inner Traditions Bear and Company
Imprint:   Destiny Books,U.S.
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.308kg
ISBN:  

9798888501092

Pages:   256
Publication Date:   22 May 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Foreword by Robert Sardello Preface: Reimagining Death 1 Mum’s Breathing Has Changed I do not see my mum suffering; I see her dying—The tension between prolonged living and prolonged dying 2 Scenes from Frontline Health Care Listening as medicine—Become a safe container for your child—The morgue visit—The geriatric unit—What death looks like 3 Maybe Even Joyous Dying with awareness—Finding the balance between pain and consciousness—Other ways to work with pain and fear—Talking to Mum about bringing her body home after death—Giving my mother space to die 4 The Long Decline and the Hard Conversation My mum’s many moves—Decline into dementia—Become a nonanxious presence—Advance care planning for the elderly—The transition to long-term care—Siblings 5 It’s a Multigenerational Story Gathering the stories of our elders—We are all matryoshka dolls 6 The Deepest Dive My close encounters with death—Cancer as a force in the world—Fear—Medical treatment, complementary treatments— You are never alone—What do you want to be alive for? 7 A Different Kind of Medicine: The Mythopoetic Story of Inanna Playing chess with the devil—Inanna, our guide through the dark unknown—Descent, death, feeding the corpse, resurrection—To die before you die—Greek mysteries of Eleusis and psychotropic plant medicine 8 Becoming an Ancestor Tracing back our roots—Who are your people?—A Celtic past—Awakeningm to our ancestors, descendants, and the unborn—Intergenerational trauma 9 Continuing Our Connection beyond the Last Breath Dad’s story—The angel of death—Building a bridge to the dead 10 Grief, Communion, and a New Conversation Speaking intimately in our dying days—The continuing bond—Complex grief—Building a big-enough story—A distilled essence—Animal death—World grief and a new conversation with Earth 11 The Spiritual Road to Ars Moriendi Heart and soul—Searching for more than a trickle of spirit—A short story of Christianity and Gnosticism—We all pray to something—Buddhist instructions for dying—Ars moriendi: Learn to die and you shall live—Rudolf Steiner: The dead are always with us 12 The Dying Time Back to Mum—When stars collide—Letting go of control— Mum’s dying days—Behind our dreams 13 Look, the Sun Just Came Out Keening as lament and grief as praise—Why am I still here?— Mother Mary and the divine feminine—The sun just came out— Excavating childhood and building a fuller story 14 A Ripe Completion Shedding layers to die—The measure of building character—All is forgiven—A reckoning conversation with Dad—Purpose in being old 15 A Good Death? Allison’s story—No one way for a good death—Caring presence at a distance—Taking our cue from elephants—Indigenous children and unmarked graves—Down into the womb to be born again 16 Building a Little Ship for Your Dead Principles of green burial—Becoming earth—Closing Time death group—Day of the Dead—Hungry ghosts—Singing for the dying 17 Bringing Mum Home Jittery nerves—Get the casket now—Letting slow prevail—Developing a relationship with the local funeral home—Caring for a loved one’s body at home—My death care team 18 Practicalities and Mysteries Excarnating as a process—The life review—Keeping Mum’s body cool—Navigating sisterly differences—Vigiling and visitations— Ragged moments—Should the grandchildren come all that way? 19 To Carry Our Dead Ritual—Funeral service and celebration—The last goodbye Postscript: There’s Always Grace Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Resources

Reviews

“Nancy MacMillan is an expert observer of dying. The Call to the Far Shore is both remarkable and personal. Her Celtic colors shine through this book with wisdom and insight. For her and hers, death is a homecoming.” * Diana Beresford-Kroeger, Ph.D., author of To Speak for the Trees and Our Green Heart and creator of * “The Call to the Far Shore is well written, deeply personal, level-headed, thoughtful, and fueled by compelling stories—the author’s own and those of others. Nancy MacMillan proves to be a most knowledgeable and compassionate guide on the journey we all eventually will make to the other side.” * Lawrence Scanlan, author of A Year of Living Generously * “You must read this book, and you must make sure that those you love read it, because it offers profound spiritual wisdom and practical, empathic guidance for navigating the inevitabilities of death. Beautifully written, this is as essential a resource for helping the dying as Spiritual Midwifery was for assisting birth. Sure to be a classic.” * Perdita Finn, author of Take Back the Magic and The Way of the Rose * “Nancy walks us through the deeply sacred journey of her mother’s death, capturing the essence of home funerals while inspiring the reader to imagine caring for the dead in a slow and loving way. Her stories are artfully woven together while poignantly painting a picture of the incredible healing and feeling of completeness when grace prevails. I highly recommend this book for both those unfamiliar and those experienced with death; it is a loving guide to assist all who want to connect with the rituals that can be created at this portal.” * Jerrigrace Lyons, founder of Final Passages: Institute of Conscious Dying, Home Funeral & Green Buri * “This book brings a great lesson and healing to the world. One can feel the impact of what it will bring to so many people who are suffering because of disconnection from life itself, hence a fear of dying. When we realize that we are one and that we are connected deeply through the breath we take in, life is inevitable and death is the transformation of it. Nancy describes this phenomenon very beautifully in this inspiring book.” * Efu Nyaki, author of Healing Trauma through Family Constellations and Somatic Experiencing * “The Call to the Far Shore invites us to share Nancy’s experiences and the hard-won insights about the transformative aspects we can have around death and dying. If you choose to walk with her on the journey we all take, you will find fresh perspectives and resources that can strengthen you in your own encounters with the richness and restrictions of this mortal coil. You can begin to experience the wisdom of the deep embrace life holds us in as we struggle with fear, pain, and loss. She navigates and interweaves the physical challenges with the emotional and spiritual dimensions as one who has gone through the fire herself and found the light and warmth that is generated as the old, stiff wood is consumed.” * Kenneth McAlister, M.D., founding member of the Canadian Anthroposophic Medical Association * “What a weight in gold the pages of this book The Call to the Far Shore offer us! In this new gospel of the natural response to death, we witnesses of MacMillan’s soul experiences are invited to walk beside her as she shows us the mansions of grace to be experienced in following her call to us to be present and awake in the mysteries of life, death, and transition. This book must be available to all who walk the earth and will depart from it.” * Phyllida Anam-Aire, Irish poet, psychotherapist, and author of A Celtic Book of Dying, The Last Ecst * “I enjoyed this reflection on life and dying. It is an interesting mix of narrative and contemplation. I have worked in geriatric medicine and palliative care for thirty years and got new perspectives on aging and death from the book.” * Chris Frank, M.D., professor of medicine at Queen’s University and clinical lead of specialize *

Author Information

Nancy MacMillan is a registered psychotherapist and retired certified spiritual care practitioner with master’s degrees in education and theology and experience working in palliative care, intensive care, geriatrics, and bereavement. She lives outside of Kingston, Ontario.

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