Role of Ritual from SIG Spiritual Care Toolkit

Role of Ritual

Developing an appreciation of the rituals associated with various religious belief systems aids spiritual care-giving for oncology patients. As spiritual needs such as meaning, purpose, hope, love, forgiveness and gratitude, or spiritual issues such as fear, anger, guilt, shame, or sadness are identified, patients may find hope and comfort in the practices and rituals of their religious beliefs. Although religion and spirituality are different, the rituals of religion may be an avenue to the spiritual connectedness with self, others, and God and help with questions of suffering or an afterlife. Rituals alone can become mechanical but with faith they can give shape to the more abstract beliefs one holds. The practice of a particular ritual can be the means that we outwardly express an inner belief or prepare our hearts and minds to inwardly accept a divine intervention. Rituals can point to the sacred, the holy, the transcendent.

Rituals belong to the social life of society. They can remind us of who we are or to whom we belong. They place a present circumstance into the traditions of history and those who have gone before us. For someone that has long been alienated from their religion, a cancer diagnosis may the catalyst for a return to the practice of one’s faith. A life review may remind a patient of times of religious support or meaning. Oncology nurses can assist in mobilizing spiritual resources as they are familiar with the rituals of one’s religion. An awareness and respect of the rituals at the end of life are essential in compassionate caregiving and will have continual effects as they may help to meet the spiritual needs of loved ones who are left to grieve, mourn and find meaning in their loss.

This article goes on to detail rituals of different religions and traditions at the end of life. Highly recommended! See the complete article at http://wwwnew.towson.edu/sct/ritual.htm

National Spiritual Care Summit

National Spiritual Care Summit

A joint project by City of Hope and the George Washington Institute of Spirituality and Health, sponsored by the Archstone Foundation

We are pleased to announce a new project, described in this press release. GWish is partnering with City of Hope to hold a Spirituality Summit to develop tools and resources in spiritual care. This project is sponsored by the Archstone Foundation.

A key component of this project is a white paper or policy paper that will be used to help frame future research and projects in Spirituality and Health. If you are interested in this project, and/or interested in contributing clinical or educational resources in spiritual care, please let me know by email at hcscmp@gwumc.edu.

I look forward to hearing from you.
-- Christina Puchalski

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day - India

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day - India
Wednesday October 8, 2008
To celebrate World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on October 11, 2008, CanSupport will hold a full day workshop together with the Foundation of Universal Responsibility of HH The Dalai Lama in New Delhi, India

The title of the workshop is "Finding Meaning from Life in the Face of Death'. Speakers will range from the religious to the secular and will include practitioners of hospice and palliative care. The purpose is to start a dialogue that will begin the process of evolving toolkits, rooted in different religious and secular traditions, so as to help people deal with the spiritual and existential crises that they experience at the end of life.

The workshop will be followed by an evening outdoor concert at the India International Centre which will be open to the public and will include healing music from diverese religious traditions in India.

http://www.cansupport.org (from about.com)

Working with Transition w/ Patricia Elizabeth

Working with Transition: How to use the energy around crisis to solve the problems associated with change
This workshop is the latest offering by Paticia Elizabeth – Minister, terminal midwife, and author. Patricia has worked for over 30 years in midwifery and death & dying, having associated with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Reb Zalman Schacter, EJ Gold and Claudio Naranjo. She is a cancer survivor and is now working with the crisis management of transition. Her workshop will offer a hands-on, practical, approach. Patricia has done extensive work with the Tibetan, the Egyptian, and the American Book of the Dead. Co-director of the Labyrinth Readers Society, Patricia has given scores of workshops - spiritual midwifery, ministering to the dying, dream circle, art as healing, establishing sacred space and many others.

Movie Lovers take Heart

This is a nice page of quotes from the movies, not only for the quotes themselves but for the list of movies they evoke. And if you are a movie lover you are definitely going to want to know about this site...
http://www.reellifewisdom.com/taxonomy/term/death_and_dying

PAL 2008

The 17^th International Congress on Palliative Care is gearing up to go on September 23-26, 2008 in Montréal, Canada. See http://www.pal2008.com/ for details!

Sivananda on Prayers for the Dead

The prayers, good thoughts or good wishes and Kirtan become helpful to the departed souls. They can be of invaluable assistance to the dead. Prayers for the dead form an integral part of most of the religions. The Catholic Church conducts prayers for the dead.

Prayer acts on the principle of a radio station and broadcasts the waves of good thoughts just as the radio station broadcasts waves of sound.

Prayer or Kirtan is a mighty force which helps the departed souls in their progress towards heaven and their quiet passage through the intermediate state.

The departed souls remain in a state of swoon or unconsciousness immediately after death. They cannot feel that they are detached from their previous gross material bodies. Prayers, Kirtan and good thoughts from the relatives and friends can give real solace to the departed souls. They create a potent vibration and an awakening in their stupefied condition of mind and bring back their veiled consciousness. The souls begin to realise that they are not really in their gross material bodies.


Then they endeavour to cross the borderland, a narrow river of ether, which is known as Vaitarani by the Hindus, Chinavat bridge by the Parsis and Sirat by the Muslims.

The weeping and mourning and the uncontrolled grief of their relatives give them pains and drag them down from their astral planes. This may seriously retard them on their way to the heaven-world. This produces serious injury to them. When they are sinking peacefully and when they are ready to have glorious awakening in heaven, they are aroused into vivid remembrance of the mundane life by the weeping and wailing of their friends and relatives. Their thoughts produce similar vibrations in their minds and produce acute pain and discomfort.


Therefore, relatives and friends should do Kirtan and prayers for the peace of the departed souls. Then only they can really help and comfort them. If ten or twelve persons sit together and do Kirtan and prayer, it will be decidedly more powerful and effective. Collective prayer and Kirtan exercise a tremendous influence.


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From http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Sraaddha/id/9828