THE DEEP END
A course on befriending mortality, in order to more fully inhabit life.
There was a time when death was neither denied nor hidden—it was a presence woven into the fabric of daily life. It shaped our myths, our rituals, our architecture, and our relationships. We lived with it, and we learned from it. But somewhere along the way, we forgot…
This course is an invitation to remember.
Course Content
The Great Forgetting
Traces how Western society lost its intimacy with death. We explore the historical, religious, and cultural shifts—from the Enlightenment to the rise of medicalisation—that severed death from daily life. This foundation helps us understand the context of our current alienation
The Shadow of Mortality
Looks inward. Using insights from Jungian psychology and cultural analysis, we examine what happens when death is pushed into the collective shadow. This module explores how our avoidance of mortality manifests in neurosis, hyper-individualism, and a culture of fear.
The Fractal Nature of Death
Broadens the view. Through ecology, physics, and cosmology, we explore death as a fractal process—one that repeats at every scale of existence, from the micro to the macro. Mortality becomes not an anomaly, but an essential pattern within life.
A Brain Divided and Living Worlds
Examines the epistemological roots of our death denial. Drawing on Iain McGilchrist’s hemispheric theory, colonial history, and Indigenous wisdom, we investigate how Western consciousness became skewed towards control, abstraction, and disconnection from living reality.
The Thin Places
Guides us into sacred and liminal terrain. Drawing on mysticism, spiritual technologies, and the Celtic notion of “thin places,” we learn how to practice presence at thresholds—internal and external. This is where preparation for death becomes preparation for life.
The Art of Conscious Departure
