Create Sacred Space for Conscious Transitions is a non-profit educational ministry whose mission is to empower people to act as guides for the dying and their families. The Art of Death Midwifery® is a specific method, created by Joellyn St. Pierre, D. Div., that trains a guide to navigate and match the various levels of consciousness the dying inhabit on their journey to a new existence. In this way, a deep communion and line of communication is established to support the dying even while in what the medical community deems an “unresponsive state.” This groundbreaking method is a vital piece that is missing in the hospice and palliative care models of end of life care and is even beyond what most in the spiritual community currently offer those facing life’s most numinous of transitions.
To that end, an award-winning book on the philosophy and technique for Spiritual Death Midwifery has been published. The Art of Death Midwifery: An Introduction and Beginner’s Guide is the foundational piece for this path of service and offers the serious aspirant years of practice and application.
Additional supporting materials will be added to this web site as they are created. Currently, there is a blog that illuminates concepts from the book and comments on various issues regarding our end of life journey. Eventually we hope to add some video and audio downloads as well. We want this web site to be a resource and support to those called to this path of service.
As important as it is to establish what we are and what we offer, it is important to clarify what we are not and what we do not offer. The Art of Death Midwifery® is not part of the home funeral or green burial industry though our services overlap quite beautifully. In fact, those providing home funeral and green burial services would only benefit from adding The Art of Death Midwifery® to their offerings. The term “death midwife” is not exclusively used by home funeral and green burial providers. It is the correct term as well for those who serve as guides to the actively dying and that is the focus of The Art of Death Midwifery®.
We are pioneers traveling the liminal space the dying inhabit but in time we would like to see the Art of Death Midwifery® available to all who choose it. We envision educated and practiced spiritual death midwives offering their services to the dying and their families at home, in hospices, nursing homes and hospitals so that no one need be alone at this most profound moment in their lives. It is our hope that all people, regardless of their situation, may have the choice to make their transition with great support, deep love and the opportunity for transformation. We hope that this model will be offered worldwide as an alternative and supplemental choice for the end of life experience.
Our purpose is simple: by practicing the Art of Death Midwifery®, we perform a type of Karma Yoga; that of service and pure intention to uplift the life and death of others.