Column: the Impact of Collective Grief

In last month’s column we explored the topic of grief and some of the ways that people experience grief within our community. Such a vast topic cannot be exhausted in one article, nor should it be. With a topic like grief, one that is so very complex, there are many different aspects and approaches to unpacking its impact. Individual grief will always be a part of the process of life just as loss will continue to be a process of life. The past month we have seen several high profile celebrity deaths that have promoted a lot of sharing around the sadness that death leaves behind.

Pagan Community Notes: Darrin Barnett, Piedmont Pagan Pride, Gaea Goddess Gathering, and more

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Bay Area Pagan community lost one of its beloved members over the weekend. Darrin Barnett was rushed to the hospital Thursday, June 7 for “exacerbated asthma,” as explained by his wife, Kaerla. While this became routine since his heart attack in July 2017 as she goes on, this recent event was not ordinary. Barnett’s heart stopped several times on the way to the hospital and he had suffered damage to his brain. The emergency room doctors reportedly told his wife that, while he could come back from his condition but “the chances are better of him not coming back than they are that he will.”