Author Archives: raine.clara.shakti
Academia: Shamanism and the Near Death Experience
This paper was written as part of my thanatology degreeClass: Afterlife Beliefs Across CulturesSubmission date: April 10, 2023 We live in ordinary reality, a reality we are comfortable with, a mundane reality full of trips to the grocery store, paying … Continue reading
Memorial: God’s Little Acre, Newport
Date Visited: March 26, 2023Address: Farewell Street, Newport, RI 02840 As a Midwesterner, I grew up believing that slavery only happened in the South and that the northern states, especially New England, were all abolitionists at heart. That changed when … Continue reading
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Movie Review: Taking Chance
When a member of the US military dies in battle, their remains are transferred home for burial through a process called a dignified transfer. The body is placed in a metal casket surrounded by ice packs in the theater of … Continue reading
Personal: The Thought of Losing Wendy
Wendy is a mulish, grey, bossy, opininated American Bully who for some strange reason has completely captured my heart. I fell in love with her six years ago when I decided we needed another dog and we went to City … Continue reading
Memorials: Knollwood Mausoleum
Date Visited: June 2, 2024Address: 1678 SOM Center Rd, Mayfield Heights, OH 44124 Knollwood Cemetery is an almost 100 acre rural/garden cemetery established in Mayfield Heights, OH in 1908. The first burials were bodies transferred from the Erie Cemetery in … Continue reading
Movie: The Bucket List
Carter Chambers, a blue collar mechanic who gave up his dreams of being a history professor, and Edward Cole, a four-times divorced billionaire, are an unlikely pair, except for one commonality: terminal cancer. They meet because Edward Cole, who owns … Continue reading
Memorials: Being Buried with Your People
A question was asked at a Death Cafe I participated in earlier this week about whether or not it mattered where you were buried. Should you be buried somewhere you had a plot? Should you be buried near family? Or … Continue reading
Memorial Day 2024
Mermorial Day is an interesting holiday for me. I truly give thanks for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and there is something about the solemnity of national cemeteries like the Ohio Reserve National Cemetery that … Continue reading
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Books: Over My Dead Body
Link: Over My Dead Body There are over 144,000 cemeteries in the United States, according to author Greg Melville, and he’s visited a lot of them and cataloged some of his visits in Over My Dead Body. ALthough some books … Continue reading
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Academia: Letter to Myself
This was an assignment for a class in death and dying. Original Submission date: September 4, 2019 Dearest Raine, As stereotypical as it might sound, I’m staring death in the face but choosing to turn around and look back over … Continue reading