The Deathcare Tradition¶

The care of the dead and the practice of magic have been intertwined for as long as either has existed. The same person in a village who knew which herbs could heal was often the one who prepared the body when healing failed. The wise woman, the cunning man, the witch -- these were the community's first morticians.

This section traces that overlap, from the village laying-out woman to the alchemical roots of embalming, to the Victorian collision of spiritualism and the emerging funeral industry, to the modern death-positive movement that is quietly reclaiming some of these older ways.

Pages in this section:

• The Village Wise Woman
• Alchemy & Embalming
• Victorian Spiritualism & the Death-Positive Movement