London Month of the Dead

PSYCHOPOMPS AND LANDS OF THE DEAD - The Personages and Geographies of Death A Live, Illustrated Zoom Talk with Cultural Commentator Joanna Ebenstein Tuesday 19th October 2021 at 7:00 pm Death always was—and continues to be—a great mystery. Today, many of us approach this mystery through a scientific, rationalistic lens. The majority of our ancestors, on the other hand, experienced death as part of a rich, invisible world with its own personalities and terrains, and myths explaining the origin of mortality and what happens when the body dies. These world views were replete with their own dedicated gods and goddesses; psychopomps who oversaw the journey through a liminal space from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead; rites of passage to contain and define the journey; and detailed descriptions of the places where the souls of the dead traveled to when the stage of embodiment came to an end. In this richly illustrated talk, writer and founder of Morbid Anatomy, Joanna Ebenstein will take us on a tour of some of the fascinating ways our ancestors understood and imagined death and its personages and terrains, with an eye towards how these ideas live on today in our religion, our psychology, and a renewed interest in the occult and the invisible realms. Tickets £5 including a 20% donation toward a host of restoration projects at Kensal Green Cemetery. Please click here to purchase. Joanna Ebenstein Joanna Ebenstein is a Brooklyn-based writer, curator, photographer and graphic designer. She is the creator of the Morbid Anatomy blog, library and event series, and was cofounder and creative director of the recently shuttered Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn. Her books include Death: 'A Graveside Companion', 'The Anatomical Venus' and 'The Morbid Anatomy Anthology' (with Colin Dickey). Her work explores the intersections of art and medicine, death and culture, and the objective and subjective. PLEASE NOTE - This talk will take place virtually via Zoom. Ticket sales will end at 5:00 pm BST on the day of the lecture. A link to the conference will be sent to the email used at checkout at 3:00 pm BST on the day of the event. Please email suzette@acuriousinvitation.com in the event your link fails to arrive. Please note this talk will be recorded and can be sent free of charge to ticket holders by request. Image Credit - Anubis, the Egyptian Guardian of the Dead, preparing a mummy; located in the tomb of Sennedjem, Thebes, Egypt. Public Domain courtesy of Joanna Ebenstein.

PSYCHOPOMPS AND LANDS OF THE DEAD - The Personages and Geographies of Death
A Live, Illustrated Zoom Talk with Cultural Commentator Joanna Ebenstein
Tuesday 19th October 2021 at 7:00 pm

Death always was—and continues to be—a great mystery. Today, many of us approach this mystery through a scientific, rationalistic lens. The majority of our ancestors, on the other hand, experienced death as part of a rich, invisible world with its own personalities and terrains, and myths explaining the origin of mortality and what happens when the body dies. These world views were replete with their own dedicated gods and goddesses; psychopomps who oversaw the journey through a liminal space from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead; rites of passage to contain and define the journey; and detailed descriptions of the places where the souls of the dead traveled to when the stage of embodiment came to an end.

In this richly illustrated talk, writer and founder of Morbid Anatomy, Joanna Ebenstein will take us on a tour of some of the fascinating ways our ancestors understood and imagined death and its personages and terrains, with an eye towards how these ideas live on today in our religion, our psychology, and a renewed interest in the occult and the invisible realms.

Tickets £5 including a 20% donation toward a host of restoration projects at Kensal Green Cemetery. Please click here to purchase.

Joanna Ebenstein
Joanna Ebenstein is a Brooklyn-based writer, curator, photographer and graphic designer. She is the creator of the Morbid Anatomy blog, library and event series, and was cofounder and creative director of the recently shuttered Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn. Her books include Death: 'A Graveside Companion', 'The Anatomical Venus' and 'The Morbid Anatomy Anthology' (with Colin Dickey). Her work explores the intersections of art and medicine, death and culture, and the objective and subjective.

PLEASE NOTE - This talk will take place virtually via Zoom. Ticket sales will end at 5:00 pm BST on the day of the lecture. A link to the conference will be sent to the email used at checkout at 3:00 pm BST on the day of the event. Please email suzette@acuriousinvitation.com in the event your link fails to arrive. Please note this talk will be recorded and can be sent free of charge to ticket holders by request.

Image Credit - Anubis, the Egyptian Guardian of the Dead, preparing a mummy; located in the tomb of Sennedjem, Thebes, Egypt. Public Domain courtesy of Joanna Ebenstein.

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