Let's Chat... How Covid-19 changed death rituals (with Natasha Mikles)

The Silent Why: finding hope in grief and loss

#122. Let's Chat... about how the Covid pandemic reshaped important death rituals.
These 'Let’s Chat' episodes are conversations with guests who have experience/expertise in a particular area of loss.
In this episode, I (Claire Sandys) chat to Natasha Mikles who is an assistant professor at Texas State University.
Natasha is a scholar of stories about death and what happens next, and researches traditions related to death and grief around the world (especially in Tibet and the Americas). Her most recent book, ‘Shattered Grief: How the Pandemic Transformed the Spirituality of Death in America’, examines how Covid-19 affected the spirituality of death and the grieving rituals surrounding it.

Grief is not just a personal experience, it is a community journey shaped by rituals that connect us to the dead and each other. This conversation reveals how Covid-19 drastically altered the rituals we rely on during loss, redefining our understanding of mourning.
We explore the fascinating world of death rituals across different cultures, including the Tibetan sky burial ceremony. Natasha and I reflect on how the pandemic forced religious communities to innovate, balancing tradition with contemporary needs, often using technology as a bridge to maintain connection in times of isolation.
This episode discusses the vital role of community in mourning, the psychological impact of Covid-related deaths, the importance of ritual, how other cultures and religions honour and recognise death, and how Covid-grief can differ from other forms of grief.

Plus, how you can have your body eaten by vultures in the US ...legally!

For more about Natasha: www.hellscholar.com

For her book:
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/shattered-grief/9780231558921
Amazon: https://gogl.to/3Mzd

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Chapters

1. COVID-19's Impact on Death Rituals (00:00:00)

2. Traditional Tibetan Sky Burial Ceremony (00:12:46)

3. Death Rituals and COVID-19 Research (00:16:16)

4. Religious Communities and Virtual Rituals (00:19:29)

5. Impact of COVID-19 on Death Rituals (00:23:15)

6. Rituals and Grief in Modern Society (00:31:43)

7. Cultural and Religious Perspectives on Death (00:39:02)