On this page

	Introduction
	General Membership
	Navigating this site
	Upcoming Events and News
	General Information
	Mission and Vision Statements
	Mailing list — CINDEA updates

Brand New!

We have just completed our first Post-death Directive.   This document is a 23-page fillable PDF, and includes fields to write out your choices/directives for what will happen to your body and possessions (those not included in your will) after your death — from deathcare by a funeral home to in a home funeral, from what you want to wear for 'lying in honour' to what kind of final disposition you want, from who you want to vigil with your body to who you don't want, from what items you want in your casket to where you want your ungifted posessions to go.   The Table of Contents is below.

The PDF can be filled out online, but more of the functions are available in Adobe Reader and other similar readers (such as adding a digital signature).   This was created by Canadians: however, because it is not a legal document and doesn't address the legalities of will and estate, it is equally useful to people across the world.

The PDf booklet is $22 (Canadian).  If you are interested, send an e-transfer to contact@cindea.ca and we will send you a copy.  This is a great companion to My Personal Comfort Plan or other pre-death personal (non-medical) directives; and like other directives, clarifies your choices so that your family and friends know how to honour them.

Introduction to CINDEA

CINDEA is a Canadian-based organization, which respects the wisdom of ancient death traditions and encourages the renewal of older death practices that are appropriate to our modern-day life.   In the past, communities cared for their own dying folk; and creatively adapted, that approach to death is still an option available to us.   CINDEA 's perspective is one of a wide range of initiatives that are drawing our culture into a deeper relationship with nature and the cycles of life and death — the modern version of "a good death" for all involved in it.

We are committed to the unfolding development of the wholistic pan-death movement, including the roles and practices of alternative deathcare.   Clarification of these roles, and what they are called, is in its infancy — therefore, we have offered definitions of several alternative deathcare roles, and we support the networking of various kinds of end-of-life practitioners.   Our site also provides comprehensive dying and death resources — some conventional, though mostly focused on those that are less well-known.

Throughout the site, you will see the word "pan-death" frequently used: it is our way of simply saying "across the whole of the spectrum of dying and death care" (before, during and after death).   The acronym DWENA (Death-care, Wholistic, Ecological, and/or Natural Alternatives) is the umbrella term we use for all practitioners offering services at any part of the pan-death journey: it is relatively synonymous with 'community deathcare'.

We invite you to read through this site and hope that you will find what you are looking for.   We welcome your questions, feedback and participation in refining and promoting this significant mission — contact us.

Clarification of new terms: After winning the right to continue to use the term 'death midwife' in the lower Supreme Court (CMBC vs MaryMoon), it was lost in the appeal (CMBC/AGBC vs MaryMoon).

Although we are continuing to explore ways to reclaim the term 'death midwife', we are legally bound (in BC) to use new terms for the time being.  The terms we are currently using are:

Death midwifery practitioner (DMP): someone who is practicing the philosophy of midwifery applied to deathcare, through the pan-death continuum.

Pan-death guide: someone who offers death midwifery support in a continuum of pre-death (EOL/death doula role), immediately after death (home funeral guide role), and funeral/memorial ceremonies (celebrant role).

For the most part on this site, 'death midwifery practitioner ' and 'pan-death guide' will be used interchangeably.  We realize that this may be a little confusing.  However, we felt it was important to retain the connection to 'death midwifery' (philosophy), as well as have a term that describes 'what they do' (approach in practice) — as 'death midwife' did both.

Disclaimer: death midwifery practitioners/pan-death guides are not conventional (birth) midwives or health professionals, nor are they members of any of the Colleges of Midwives in Canada   

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Be safe, CINDEA is open for all calls or emails
All blessings!

The Greening Death page is finally finished -- hurrah!

The By My Own Heart and Hand home funeral training program is being re-structured.   
We hope to have it available again early in 2024.

General Membership in CINDEA and CAN-ADWEN FB

Changes to the Society Act now allows us to accept general members of CINDEA, and we welcome you to contact us about becoming a general member.   Membership is $20 per year.   We welcome those who are generally interested, as well as DWENA practitioners.

Also all interested folks are welcome to join the CAN-ADWEN Facebook group — articles, events, news, etc. focused on the Canadian development of DWENA/community deathcare, but including significant articles and information from elsewhere.

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Navigating this Site

Further clarification of the CINDEA site as a whole can be found at our site map, which includes full headings of each page's sections.   A further page on Greening Death is planned for the near future.

A quick summary of the CINDEA site is always available on the left menu or through the site map,
or you can search this site for any word or phrase.

	CINDEA itself		Home      Organization of CINDEA      Site Map      Search this Site      Contact us
	Pan-Death and Alternatives		Pan-death Movement      Death Midwifery
	Preparation for End-of-Life (EOL)		Advance Care Planning      Post-death Care and Home Funerals      Greening Death
	Resource Information and Links (including required legal paperwork for each province/territory)		Resources in Canada — Pre-death      Resources in Canada — Post-death      Resources Elsewhere (U.S.A, U.K, etc.)      Resources — Books, Movies, & Documentaries
	To contact us or be added to our mailing list		Contact us

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Testimonials from Deathing Circles groups
(let us know if you are interested -- we are likely to have more in the future)

Thank you to Pashta and Tricia for creating and holding a safe place for us to think about, question, and discuss death and dying. I particularly liked the grounding meditation at the start of every session. Getting a group of strangers to talk about this subject on ZOOM was only successful because of your flawless Co-facilitation, your gentleness at making sure everyone had a chance to share and respecting start and end times at each session.  I would highly recommend this experience to anyone ready to lean in to discussing and preparing for their own mortality or someone they love.
Sandi E (now a co-facilitator of Deathing Circles)

I had heard of Death Doulas and in recent years thought to explore this for preparation of my own death.   Pashta and Tricia were wonderfully knowledgeable about this in the Deathing Circle sessions I recently attended.   I learned about a game of questions (I have no previous knowledge of this) from them in a safe, caring, compassionate, Zoom, environment.   The questions were at times very surprising for me to consider to my feeling of relief in pondering an important and respectful question. For example I've never thought of who would I be comfortable with helping me to the toilet or who Not.   I experienced much grace, compassion, and respect full caring during the Deathing Circles. M Jan Lehde Sointula, BC

Testimonies for By My Own Heart and Hand (home funeral training) workshop

I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to take CINDEA's one of a kind home funeral workshop, By My Own Heart and Hand.  It was extremely well organized with a pace and flow fit for learning.  The resources found and offered, relevant to each participant's province, were so generous.  I have immensely grown to admire those providing home funeral support and respect the relevance and importance to have home funeral knowledge brought back into our families and communities.  Jenn Chalifoux, Tree Rings Death Doula Home Support

I recently attended Pashta MaryMoon’s By My Own Heart and Hand home funeral training.  Pashta and co-pilot Tricia Keith were so generous with their knowledge, and I learned so much more than I had anticipated.  One of the highlights was the wonderful group of peers attending the course.  By the end of the weekend, we felt a whole lot like community, and I am very moved by the experience.  I highly recommend the course for anyone looking to care for their loved ones at home or for End of Life Doulas, like myself, who would like to learn more about empowering and supporting families in home death care. Brandi Bailey, Honour End of Life Care

I appreciated both Pashta and Madeline's openness to engage in story and answering questions in a very caring way.   They both exude a deep knowing and passion for this important work.   Not only did I remember in my bones what a sacred gift this is, this knowing to care for our dead, I also felt a deep sense of community.   I am grateful for your wisdom and sharing.   Evamarie Padmanabhan Little Origin Doula Services

General Information

CINDEA 's "Post-death Care At Home" video series

CINDEA has a series of 5 short separate "Post-death Care At Home" videos on our Post-Death Care and Home Funerals page — including Moving the body; Washing the hair, face and mouth; Washing the body; Dressing the body, and Closing the eyes and mouth; and Moving the body into casket, or Shrouding the body.    We also have an updated PDF on Post-death Physical Care (available for download just below the video thumbnails) — which includes detailed step-by-step instructions on 'how to', as well as a list of supplies required.

These videos and instructions — as well as the General Timeline PDF (including legal paperwork required) — are intended to support families/friends in caring for their own loved ones at home after death.

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Mission Statement

CINDEA (Canadian Integrative Network for Death Education and Alternatives) has been created to:

		provide information and educational resources, focused on a broad spectrum of options throughout the pan-death process (before, during and after death),
		promote pan-death options that are more natural, personalized and/or ecologically-responsible,
		support the networking of those who offer related services in Canada, and
		encourage the acceptance of death as a natural part of the cycle of life,

in order to integrate all of the facets of the pan-death process.

Vision Statement

CINDEA's purpose is to:

		support the modern movement to re-integrate death into the 'cycle of life' in a healthy way within our culture
		inform the public of existing options for the pan-death process that they may not be aware of
		encourage the expansion of pan-death options which are less institutionalized and more personalized to the values of the death journeyer and their family
		support all the required elements of 'dying at home' (including at-home after-death care), as well as encourage care facilities to make more personalized options available within their facility
		encourage the integration of services available before, during and after death
		support the developing movement of death midwives, and establish a process to recognize death midwives who offer pan-death services in Canada — as well as other alternative service providers who offer more specialized services within the pan-death process
		encourage the networking of pan-death service providers, and public accessibility to them
		support options for natural death, green burials, and other ecologically-conscious 'end of life' practices.

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Mailing List for CINDEA  Updates

If you wish to be put on our mailing list for occasional updates on CINDEA' s development, or notification of workshops and presentations, please contact us.   Updates go out once per season.

If you no longer wish to receive these updates, please let us know and we will remove you from the list.
Be assured that we will not share your contact information with anyone without your permission.

CINDEA is now on Facebook — with updates as they happen.

Our thanks to Skeena web services for hosting this site.

We also acknowledge the use of (now defunct) GRsites programs and backgrounds.