Summary

As an analyst working with the dying, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés has developed seminal methods to help ease the fear that can accompany the dying process. On The Radiant Coat, this bestselling author shares myths and stories first told at the bedsides of the dying to comfort them and their loved ones. For other cultures, Dr. Estés teaches, death holds no terror. It is in fact characterized as an ally, a wise and caring figure, leading departed souls through the starry night into the next day. This application of storytelling as a precious medicine for the terminally ill has attracted worldwide attention to the work of Dr. Estés. Fusing stories with useful psychological analysis, she removes the cloak of fear that surrounds the dying process. The Radiant Coat is a uniquely helpful collection of teaching stories, offered to help all listeners who seek to understand death—not as the end of life—but as another beginning.

Additional contents: Death as a companion; consciously preparing for death; the four tasks in crossing between the worlds; dreams of the dying; medical intervention; the split archetype of the doctor as both life-bringer and escort through the doorway of death.

Stories include: Godfather Death, The Water Glass, The Radiant Coat, and more.