"Death Nesting" is what's missing from your precious life...
About Death Nesting
Death Nesting: Ancient & Modern Death Doula Techniques, Mindfulness Practices and Herbal Care
Death Nesting incorporates ancient and modern death doula techniques, mindfulness practices and herbal support to physically, emotionally and spiritually care for the dying. The focus is on "whole being" caregiving for home deaths but can be implemented into other settings such as acute care to create a more holistic experience. Basic physical care for bedridden individuals, anecdotal vignettes and glimpses into the world of spirit emphasize the poignancy, yet lightheartedness, of the dying process. The mindfulness practices, while profound, are also simple and can be done by anyone new to meditation. Throughout the book, references to nature inspire the understanding that death is part of life—a part which we all experience.
Written by Anne-Marie Keppel
with herbal contributions by Sandra Lory/Lazorcak
Books on Sale Now
Paperback now available through Amazon and soon through other outlets.
The Kindle edition is available through Amazon on November 20, 2019 and is currently available for pre-sale.
... Just in time for holiday gifts!
You Will Learn...
Techniques for moving and bathing a bed ridden individual * What the body physically undergoes during the dying process * Practices for emotional soothing * Ceremony and energetic boundary guidelines * Reiki, timeline and ancestral support for the dying * Supporting the senses through the dying process * Herbal care for nourishing and healing on a spirit level * How to talk with children about dying and death * Self care for moving with grief * Basic mindfulness practices for contemplating your own mortality * Differences between Ancient and Modern Death Doulas.
This book is beneficial on it's own but can be used as a workbook. Look for upcoming retreats and online workshops at the bottom of this website.
Stardust Meadow & Village Deathcare Offerings
Family Directed Funeral Design & Guidance
Anne-Marie writes eulogies, obituaries and ceremonies and offers guidance on Family Directed Home Funerals in Vermont. Please inquire for more details. Anne-Marie has passed the National Home Funeral Alliance Proficiency test and is currently enrolled in a Funeral Director certificate program. Please note: Anne-Marie is not a funeral director, mortician or undertaker.
Bás Cleaning
After a loved one dies, there is so much physical cleaning and packing that needs to be done. Anne-Marie and her team are able to sort through items with sensitivity and efficiency. Please inquire for rates.
Death Midwifery/Death Doula
Anne-Marie is a trained nurse assistant, former Hospice volunteer and active death doula. She offers assistance with bedside care, sitting vigil, open gentle conversation, scheduling, errands, establishing a "flow" in the area of care and other care. Available for temporary respite, the possibility of extended care. Hourly rates are sliding scale. Please inquire about your specific circumstances.
Anne-Marie also assists with planning in advance of your death can save your loved ones much confusion at a time when emotions are heavy and unclear. Assistance with everything from organizing your records to making arrangements for your body. The process is challenging, intriguing and very healing. It can bring great peace of mind and heart.
Home/Green Burial Support
Home burial is possible for you and your family and is a way to continue to feel close to your loved one. This is from a family I worked with in Vermont:
"We buried my dad on the hill behind his home, on the land where all three generations of our family live together. We hay, ski, and walk by his grave through the seasons. It felt peaceful and simple for us to do this at home. A friend built a plain wood coffin, and a few neighbors helped to dig the plot. This is not a weird new idea, nor is it outdated and dangerous; it is normal, and felt right and meaningful for our family."
-R. Hardwick, V
End-Of-Life Celebrations & Bon Voyage Parties
Ever wondered who will come to your funeral? Sometimes, it feels right to have a celebration of your life while you're still alive! Though tears will definitely flow, these gathering are intended to be uplifting and healing. Guidance or full coordination.
Death Salons & Guided Meditation
Talking about death should feel natural- yet, often it feels more like taboo. Death Salons are open conversations or a focused topic about mortality and the preciousness of life.
These can be helpful when a family member or co-worker is dying or after a suicide or sudden death when people really need to talk openly. They can also just be held as a Death Café where there is no specific reason or theme.
Participants leave feeling more alive! Available for businesses, families, or gatherings. Location of your choice.
Candle Making & Ceremonies with Children
There are so many ways to incorporate the sacred into our children's lives. We are greatly lacking ritual and preciousness in our fast paced society. Make time away to create a family ritual which incorporates the entire life cycle. This is an extremely soft way to talk to children about death in a way that is natural and loving.
15 minute conversational guidance available or look for upcoming workshops.
Ceremonial Fire, Labyrinth & Wire
Hand poured 100% pure beeswax candles. Tea lights and votives available only in natural color. Hand rolled candles come in a great variety of colors. Hand made herbal smudge sticks featuring sage, lavender and calendula. Essential oil mists for cleansing, uplifting and transitioning.
Labyrinth and Wire
With a 3.5 foot high tightwire and a 25' round medieval labyrinth, contemplate the many ways of walking through life and death. Practice balance, breathing, patience and kindness toward your self. Watch for upcoming workshops.
Message for prices. and availability
Reiki Workshops for Teens & Children
The training and work of level one Reiki is about getting to know how you use and share energy, yourself and with others. At a time when we are so incredibly disconnected from the earth, it's a really great time to talk about the root chakra. This teen tailored empowerment, chakra and boundaries training teaches children to heal themselves and each other and to understand that this is available to them at all times. They do not need to wait until they are adults to love themselves enough to heal. Look for upcoming workshops.
Other Ceremonial Offerings
Life-Cycle Ceremony Creation & Officiating
Baby Naming/Welcoming
Celebrations of Life
Memorials
Weddings
Adoption Welcoming
Important birthdays (double digits, teens, or any age!)
Casa Luna Events
Casa Luna is located on Craftsbury Common in Vermont and welcomes ceremonies for up to 50 people. The ceremony grounds opened in July 2018.
Village Deathcare
Family Directed Funeral information, ceremony, obituaries and eulogies. Message for more information
Previous Events & Photo Gallery
Aerial View of Memorial Lantern Labyrinth Walk
Anne-Marie Keppel
An advocate for those whose voices are unheard, weak or forgotten, Anne-Marie believes Community Deathcare and open conversation about life and death is crucial for the health of individuals and the planet. With gentle timing, and an uplifted manner, she believes conversation about death makes our own lives and the lives of those around us more precious
A childhood of magical play in faery forests, a barn full of animals, and teenage years in the circus formed an independent and reflective spirit. At the age of 19 Anne-Marie gave birth to her first child which only deepened her inner love and patience for herself and her wee one. Today, Anne-Marie has three children ages 22, 18 and 4 and has held fast to her circus days by teaching tight wire as a form of body/mind awareness practice.
Experience and Training
After a decade of professional event coordination for weddings, fashion shows, concerts, festivals and conferences, Anne-Marie halted everything to work with the elderly. Propelled by her work with the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers and her love of an elderly homeless man, she became a Hospice volunteer in 2013. She continued her path of care as a licensed nurse assistant from 2013-2016 and worked with the elderly in residential care and as a private duty nurse. She was the only full time over-night "nurse" and cared for a home of 12 elderly residents. During this time she also studied herbal healing and received a certificate from Mandala Botanicals' 9 month training in Community Herbalism.
When working as the Director of Meals on Wheels in Montpelier her understanding of how often the elderly struggle living on their own with loneliness, physical ailments, embarrassment and confusion only deepened her desire to engage the able bodied in assisting the elderly. She believes that the more conversations about death and dying that spring forth in communities, the more empathy will be generated, and the better the chance the elderly, sick and dying will have companionship and a feeling of value at the end of life; this is the core of Community Deathcare.
Anne-Marie's work with people is not just generational, as she is the Head Teacher at Karmê Chöling's Family Camp in Barnet Vermont and teaches Teen Retreats year round. The newest program that she offers is called Line and Labyrinth: Walking Through Life and Death. This program has been adapted to fit the interests of teenagers but will be offered to adults as well.
Anne-Marie is a Master level Reiki practitioner, meditation and basic goodness instructor and has 12 years training in Shambhala Buddhist teachings. She has completed Level I Dying With Confidence training in Phowa with Anyen Rinpoche and completed "This Sacred Journey: Living Purposefully and Dying Fearlessly" with Pema Chodron. Anne-Marie has passed the National Home Funeral Alliance Proficiency test. She currently leads Death Cafés in Craftsbury, Greensboro and Hardwick Vermont is a former board member of Green Burial Vermont and leads an end-of-life discussion group at the Craftsbury Community Care Center. Casa Luna on Craftsbury Common is both her home, office and center for retreats.
Death Midwifery/Death Doula/Community Deathcare
A Death Midwife or Doula is an individual who assists those in end of life considerations, through the dying process and possibly with post-mortem care as well. Anne-Marie is a graduate of the BEyond Yonder Virtual School of Death Midwifery (Community Deathcare). This four month course of intensive death care training (6 days per week with an average of 20 hours of work per week) covered pre-death needs to post mortem care and disposition. She is qualified to guide families in home funerals and encourages individuals to consider this as a possibility. Understanding the sudden fog that gathers when a loved one dies, Anne-Marie hopes to offer options and assistance with proceedings in a time of great pain and confusion. She currently is available to her community for consultations.
*Trainings for Death Midwives and Death Doulas (all the same thing) vary greatly. Be aware that some trainings are more thorough than others. Research the school your Death Midwife and/or Death Doula has a certificate from and always check credentials.
Life-Cycle Celebrant Certification
After an 8 month training in the fundamentals of celebrancy, ceremonies and ritual, Anne-Marie received her certification as a Life- Cycle Celebrant with a certificate in funerals and memorials. She is a graduate of the Celebrant Foundation and Institute.
*Trainings to become a Certified Celebrant vary greatly. Be aware that some schools have better reputations and more thorough training than others.