Nine Keys
Introduction Letter
Dear Nine Keys Death Midwifery apprentice,
It is with so much honor that I welcome you to the Nine Keys Death Midwifery Apprenticeship. I am so glad you are here!
You and I are simply merging our paths for a good long walk, some good long talks about radical and holistic death care and talks about what your death care practice looks like in a time like this - for our society that needs your death and grief work.
I am so grateful, humbled and happy to get to guide you for a while and to support you as you learn your own way of death midwifery.
The Nine Keys call their apprentices in.
They know who needs to turn them.
Let’s open the doors to what it means to be truly alive while living in death awareness.
with care,
Narinder
There are a few things to gather before we begin:
REQUIRED READING: Please purchase these books before the course start date:
-Die Wise by Stephen Jenkinson
-The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Frances Weller
Die Wise: You will be reading this book throughout Nine Keys. Please wait to begin reading this book once we have started the apprenticeship.
The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Please read at your convenience. You can begin reading it before the start of Nine Keys or throughout Nine Keys. You will be using this book for assignments that are in your Seventh Key.
-Exhuming Women’s Premarket Duties in the Care of the Dead by Georganne Rundblad Please download this article before course start date: (you will need it for the 2nd key. You may have to create a library member account to receive access to this article.
Please purchase a Five Wishes Form.
*Here are some other really great books to purchase to further your studies: (they are not required reading) If the link takes you to Amazon…please find another path to getting this book if you can. Avoid using Amazon if possible.
On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Reimagining Death by Lucinda Herring
The Art of Death Midwifery by Joellyn St. Pierre
Passed On: African American Mourning Stories by Karla Holloway
Final Rights by Joshua Slocum
To Serve the Living: Funeral Directors and the African American Way of Life by Suzanne E Smith
The Soul Midwives Handbook by Felicity Warner
Lgbtq-Inclusive Hospice and Palliative Care by Kimberly D Acquaviva
The Devil’s Death by Shiva Honey
Death Nesting by Anne-Marie Keppel
The Grieving Brain by Mary Francis O’Connor (highly recommended)
Briefly Perfectly Human by Alua Arthur (one of Narinder’s favorite books)
Final Gifts Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying
Being With Dying by Sarayu Kimberley Johnson
Your Guidebook
Please prepare a three-ring binder to serve as your Guidebook.
Your Guidebook will evolve over the course of our time together.
Within your Guidebook you will keep your homework assignments and your personal reflections.
It will also be a place for you to keep your death midwifery resources organized and ready.
You may want to separate your Guidebook into sections. For example: Homework, Contacts, Poetry and Art for clients, Advance Directive forms, Home Funeral laws, Quick Resources for Grief Support, etc etc.
Some apprentices have activated their Guidebooks with affirmations and art!
Keys 1-9 (Assignments)
You will receive an email from me each month with your Key. The Keys usually arrive in your inbox around the 27th of each month.
For example: Your First Key will be sent to you a few days before our First Key Class. The Second Key will be sent a few days before our Second Key class. And so on…
The link for our class times together is always at the top the Keys.
ALL assignments for each Key must be completed in 4 weeks. They are due by the last day of each month. I can not budge on this. Homework in on time, okay?
The Keys hold alchemy and must be done in order.
The assignments inside of the Keys may be done in any order that you find flows best for you.
Unique You
If you have a learning uniqueness, please speak up about it.
We will find a way for whole-success for everyone in this journey. Authenticity is highly suggested. Perfectionism is not required.
*I have the gifts of dyslexia and neurodivergence. I am always so grateful when Nine Keys apprentices are understanding.
Required:
Print out a copy of your completed assignments, and add them to your Guidebook. I suggest printing out the Key assignment lists so that you can refer back to them at a later date. The Keys change often. Your Keys will be unique to your pod!
I will explain more about assignments and answer any questions you may have during our first Introductory Zoom Meet-up. Don’t forget, the link for our classes is at the top of your Keys.
Connection with Your Classmates
Your Nine Keys pod will consist of 4 or 5 death workers. How cool is that?
I ask that once a month your group meet for an informal Zoom meeting together. I will explain this more in our first class together.
You can use it as your sacred circle time (pulling oracle cards, exchanging witchy recipes etc), Die Wise book club time, supportive time, being witnessed time, practicing reciprocity time, making art together time, etc!!!
Talk it out with Narinder
Once a month you will schedule a one-on-one call with me! This is a very important part of Nine Keys - if we don’t have these calls, we aren’t getting the full benefit from the alchemy of the Keys. Your death work will look very unique, it is through these calls that we help your death care practice take shape - if that’s what your desire is.
On my website www.narinderbazen.com - at the bottom of the ‘Contact’ page, there is a link to schedule these phone sessions.
The link to schedule our one-on-one is also included in each Key.
See link here: Apprentices’ Call Scheduler
Monthly Zoom Meetings
Our monthly Zoom classes are required attendance.
Please be in a quiet, cozy place for classes. This is very important. If you are in your car, sitting at a coffee shop, or in a noisy place during class, this will affect the flow of the class.
Please be prompt to class. We have so much to cover in two hours and we utilize every minute!
We will finish each class with meditation. You may want to have a cozy shawl, cup of tea, candles, or incense with you there…whatever you desire to help you drop into a meditative space is welcomed!
Privacy and Copyright
Reminder, this course is copyrighted. Please do not share the course material publicly. We are in right relations here in the Keys and respect each other’s privacy.
You may share what you are learning, how you are growing, and how you are inspired with whomever you please! Spreading the word about Nine Keys is helpful. Thank you.
As far as the details of what Narinder Bazen writes, that is copyrighted and for your eyes only. The same applies to your homework. Narinder will not share your homework with anyone else. Your homework is for YOU.
To close…
My heart is so wide open around this work. I am so excited for you! If I have left anything out, just let me know.
You must know this, the most revolutionary thing we can do on this planet is to bring awareness to the sacredness of death and to bring grief literacy to our communities. Death touches everything. The Holy Mother of Death shows us how to bring death home.
Are you ready?
