Heartward Sanctuary Blog
Ghosts and Gu: the Other Side of Ancestor Season
Yesterday while tidying up the ancestral shrine, an outdoor area consecrated to the departed, we noticed a diminutive, all-but-desiccated plant growing right under the shrine's entry arch. Perilla decided to take up residence precisely here. Coincidence? Perhaps not, when you consider that Perilla...
Living with Contradiction: Fall Equinox, Capitalism and Healing the Dead
(Fall Equinox '21 newsletter) Last week, I read adrienne marie brown's "We will not cancel us." I highly recommend the book as well as her (and her IG page) in general. In one of the opening sections that preface the essay first published online in 2020, brown offers the concept of living with...
Lessons from the Trail: The Practice of Pilgrimage
In April '22, Heartward Sanctuary co-founders Julia Hartsell and Jonathan Edwards went on pilgrimage to the valley of Rieti, the "umbilicus" of Italy, seeking nourishment, healing and inspiration. Jonathan's personal account of the trip, which unfolded on foot over 100km and two weeks, can be...
Becoming what we love
As we enjoyed our first wild blackberry feast on the Solstice, I smiled remembering how our beloved Pablo loved eating them with me, straight off the vines. Never mind those briars: dig your face right on in. A huge heart housed in sheer force, Pablo had resonance with the wounded warrior...
Reflections on Dying: Part 1
By Julia Hartsell Back in April, I got the J & J shot. Two days later, they pulled this particular vaccine because of potential blood clots in women. For a day or two, I was a bit shaken and fearful. With no undo button, I had to find a path to acceptance. I figured if I were to be...
Grief Tending: The start of my apprenticeship with grief
By Julia Hartsell nWhen I was five, my first cousin Kimberly died. She was just a few weeks old. While I didn't have much time to bond with her, I was very close with my aunt and uncle whose lives were forever altered. Thus the energetic impacts on the entire family system were palpable and they...
Body Disposition: Part 1
By Julia Hartsell In death planning talk, body disposition refers to what people choose to do with their bodies after death. In recent years, I've had the fortune of talking to a lot of people about their disposition wishes. Sometimes (like 50% of the time) conversations lead to someone sharing,...
Relating with the Dead
As Jaroslav Róna's sculpture above suggests, having the ancestors at our backs can be quite a weight to bear. Acknowledge them or not, they impact us nonetheless. Whether this image represents burden or support, there's a gravitas here worthy of humility. The human figure bows in a reverent...
Reflections on The Flowjo’s Death (Summer Newsletter)
Death is not an aberration. Death is a sacred passage and the ultimate destination of every life. It is with sadness, gratitude and faith that I, Julia, aka Flowjo Mama close our Carrboro studio's doors permanently. After eleven years of conceiving, nurturing, tending, of mothering The Flowjo and...