About Us - What brought you here?

[Lizzy, Death Cafe Host]

I usually start Death Cafe meetings by introducing myself. Since I'm starting this group, I suppose I will do the same. My name is Lizzy Miles and I brought the Death Cafe concept to the United States in 2012. I was originally intrigued by the concept because I worked in hospice and I thought I would help people be more comfortable with talking about death. I soon learned that everyone that came to the meetings was already comfortable!

You must be comfortable or otherwise you wouldn't have said you want to join. So what brought you here?

[[deleted user]]

I am fascinated by the idea of the afterlife, especially because of stories I have heard of near death experiences, reported world wide. Regardless of race, religion or culture, they seem to be very similar stories. Although the process of dying could be difficult at first, I believe it's the beginning of a whole new adventure. It's not the end.. It's a new beginning

[Lizzy, Death Cafe Host]

Any favorite authors or books on the subject?

[[deleted user]]

Actually I haven read up on it, though I have heard stories. I hear "Proof of heaven" is a good book though.

[Lizzy, Death Cafe Host]

I haven't read it either but a lot of people talk about that book at Death Cafe events... especially when it first came out.

[[deleted user]]

Lizzy wrote: "I haven't read it either but a lot of people talk about that book at Death Cafe events... especially when it first came out."

Yes I bought it for my dad last year, he said it was very good. I've been meaning to borrow it off him and read it. I don't call him that often but I happened to call him just as he finished reading it. I felt there was some meaning in that, that the timing was more than a coincidence. That maybe it was a message that there really is a spiritual realm out there.

[Lizzy, Death Cafe Host]

Ohhh I am all about synchronicities. You should write them down. What's really amazing is when you see all of them over time. I had a public blog on synchronicities that I started after my mom died and it's amazing for me to look back and read them all.

[[deleted user]]

Lizzy wrote: "Ohhh I am all about synchronicities. You should write them down. What's really amazing is when you see all of them over time. I had a public blog on synchronicities that I started after my mom died..."

I'd be interested to read your blog. I think there is meaning in supposed coincidences, though sometimes when you look a little too hard you can see stuff that's not there. But sometimes the message can come across clear as day.

[Lizzy, Death Cafe Host]

I agree. In my blog I don't claim that anything is meaningful to anyone else - just that it caught my eye. There's two types of synchros - those where two thing mirror each other and those that you feel are sending you down a certain path (or blocking you)
I don't post very much anymore because I only post when there are synchronicities that catch my eye and lately I just haven't been feeling it, but there is some good stuff in the early years. http://followthesigns.blogspot.com/ Talking with you about them though makes me want to go back to trying to record them.

[[deleted user]]

Lizzy wrote: "I agree. In my blog I don't claim that anything is meaningful to anyone else - just that it caught my eye. There's two types of synchros - those where two thing mirror each other and those that you..."

It was interesting reading your blog, thank-you.

[Lizzy, Death Cafe Host]

Have you read any books on synchronicites?

[[deleted user]]

I read a book called "Signs Signals and Clues" I actually met the author once. I'm a little skeptical about the whole synchronicity thing because I used to be a psychic, and I took whatever messages I received as gospel (I hate to use that word in this context). The conclusion I came up with is that there is a collective unconscious which has spirits in it, good and bad, that relay messages to us in various ways, and you can't always tell which spirit is sending you which message. Beyond this cloud of collective unconscious lies
truth ... lies God.

[Kevin]

Carl Jung is the inventor of the term (Acausal nonlocal meaningful coincidences, AKA Synchronicity) - All his theories revolve around the collective unconscious and archetypal symbolism, inherent in the unconscious psyche. He has the same viewpoints as yourself.

[Kevin]

What is Synchronicity?

The term synchronicity is coined by Jung to express a concept that belongs to him. It is about acausal connection of two or more psycho-physic phenomena. This concept was inspired to him by a patient's case that was in situation of impasse in treatment. Her exaggerate rationalism (animus inflation) was holding her back from assimilating unconscious materials. One night, the patient dreamt a golden scarab - cetonia aurata. The next day, during the psychotherapy session, a real insect this time, hit against the Jung's cabinet window. Jung caught it and discovered surprisingly that it was a golden scarab; a very rare presence for that climate.

cetonia aurata
Cetonia Aurata or the Colden Scarab
So, the idea is all about coincidence: in this case, between the scarab dreamt by the patient and its appearance in reality, in the psychotherapy cabinet.

But this coincidence is not senseless, a simple coincidence. By using the amplification method, Jung associates in connection with the scarab and comes to the concept of death and rebirth from the esoteric philosophy of antiquity, a process that, in a symbolic way, the patient should experience for a renewal and vitalization of her unilateral personality, the cause of the neurosis she was suffering from.

Thus, a significant coincidence of physical and psychological phenomena that are acausal connected.
synchronicity
Jung's book on synchronicity
Behind all these phenomena Jung places the archetype or the constellation of an archetype , which, in his view, is a process that engages equally objective manifestations, in the physical world, and subjective ones, in the psychological universe.

[[deleted user]]

Interesting, yes I have read up a little on Jung, though not thoroughly, (maybe I should research him further. )That's where I got the concept of the collective unconscious. I will maybe look up Jung's book on synchronicity.
I do believe that synchronicity happens but it does not always have a message of truth in my opinion. It can be misleading

[Lizzy, Death Cafe Host]

You both are inspiring me. I have some books by Carl Jung on synchronicity that I bought but never read fully. I'm thinking I'm going to get them out again.

Lucy I agree. I think truth comes from within. But if some external stimulus helps you to process, then it's still meaningful. What gets people into trouble is when they ascribe too much meaning to random coincidences and make decisions that go against the gut.

[[deleted user]]

Yes this is true Lizzy

[[deleted user]]

I was inspired to order a book "Signs and Wonders" by Gaulden. I hope this will enlighten me more on the subject. God can speak to us in mysterious ways.

[David]

I have always had an immense fear of death. Some recent health issues have reignited this anxiety. I have intended to do what I could to try to face up to this anxiety headlong. I have read recently of the Death Cafe movement and here I am!...