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Sarah Chavez

@sarahcalavera.bsky.social

1.5K followers 180 following 280 posts

Chicana. Author of WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT DEATH 📚 Helping people live & die better at orderofthegooddeath.com, Ask a Mortician, & radicaldeathstudies.com 💀 Death + food, ritual, folklore, horror, film, culture & society 🔸 https://msha.ke/sarahcalavera

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Mar 5

📚 My book WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT DEATH is out today!

While death & grief is something kids will inevitably experience, as a society we haven’t done a very good job preparing them for it.

The book cover of We Need to Talk About Death. It shows an illustration of a young boy holding a photograph. An adult (in a faded outline) is hugging him. The background of the book cover is white. There is a green border around it.

Author Sarah Chavez seated in an orange chair holding a copy of WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT DEATH

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · 17m

It’s Halloween season and people want to talk about death, so I’m booked and busy like Lizzie

www.eventbrite.com/e/inviting-d...

Flyer for Inviting Death to Dinner event featuring image of the cover of Rosie Grant’s book To Die For

Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · 5d

Don't You Be Afraid Of Ghosts! They're Your Best Friends, Says Woman

Freeport Journal-Standard, Illinois, 1923

Newspaper headline reads Don't You Be Afraid Of Ghosts! They're Your Best Friends, Says Woman

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Jul 2

The high, sustained heat levels naturally generated during the body composting process inactivates chemo, pharmaceuticals, antibiotics to well below safe levels—so yes, still an option!

Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Jun 8

The terror is not new. These events are connected to a longer and wider global agenda of power and oppression. But LA also has a long history of resistance, of taking care of & protecting each other—we’re determined to continue that legacy now.

Resources: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Immigration Resources/Recursos Migratoria

docs.google.com

Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Jun 8

Over the next several days, members of the U.S. military & police terrorized LA communities, & hunted Chicano, Black, & Filipino men lataco.com/renunciation...

After 80 Years, L.A. Formally Denounces The Racism of The "Zoot Suit Riots" ~ L.A. TACO

A motion brought by Supervisor Hilda Solis was unanimously approved to rebuke "the devastation of the Zoot Suit Riots, recognize [it] as a dark chapter in Los Angeles County's history, and recommit to...

lataco.com

Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Jun 8

The following day over 200 sailors descended on dtla & predominantly Chicano neighborhoods on the east side. Their 1st victims were children-12 & 13 year old boys who the sailors beat with clubs, stripped, & burned their clothing.

Photo of 2 young boys who were stripped in front of the Orpheum theatre

Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Jun 8

This is a part of my family’s history, LA history & our legacy of resilience & resistance.

If you aren’t familiar, on June 3, 1943 eleven sailors got off of a bus in dtla & claimed they were attacked by Chicanos wearing Zoot Suits, a style of clothing that originated within Black communities.

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Jun 8

With all eyes on LA the past few days I can’t help but note the eerie similarities in events that played out here over 80 years ago from June 3rd to 8th—the Zoot Suit Riots. A time when Chicanos & other poc were targeted, their communities terrorized & subjected to violent attacks.

Black and white photograph from the zoot suit riots in La in 1943. A large group of white men some wearing sailor suits and other military uniforms, many of them holding clubs in the streets of dtla

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Jun 3

Ghost bike memorials make a site of death visible, but they can also reveal the social and economic vulnerabilities of those who died

#WorldBicycleDay

www.bicycling.com/culture/a347...

I Build Ghost Bikes — Here’s What It’s Taught Me About Who Dies on a Bike

Here’s what these white-painted tributes can tell us about who dies on a bike

www.bicycling.com

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · May 28

🫶🏼

Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · May 28

Here you go!

www.orderofthegooddeath.com/resources/gr...

Green Death Technology | The Order of the Good Death

Building a meaningful, eco-friendly, and equitable end of life.

www.orderofthegooddeath.com

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · May 9

In today’s What the Helly?

An AI generated video of a man killed in a road rage incident was allowed to “talk” to the courtroom & provide the victim’s own impact statement at killer’s sentencing hearing.

Family said judge was “moved” by video & gave max sentence

www.10news.com/science-and-...

Road rage victim in Arizona resurrected through AI to deliver his own impact statement

A man who was killed in a road rage incident in Chandler, Arizona was brought back to life through artificial intelligence to deliver his own victim impact statement during his killer’s sentencing.

www.10news.com

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · May 8

Craterellus cornucopioides were referred to as "The Trumpet of the Dead," as it was believed the dead buried beneath played them
*doot doot* #FolkloreThursday

Vintage illustration of a trio of brown toned mushrooms that resemble trumpets

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

And finally, here’s a playlist for your Walpurgisnacht revelries! open.spotify.com/playlist/1gZ...

#WyrdWednesday #Witch #Walpurgisnacht #Folklore

Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

To this day you can attend Walpurgisnacht festivities in German towns in the the Hartz mountain region.

Vintage photo of train decorated for walpurgisnacht. Many people stand nearby

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

Brooms and children were hidden away on Walpurgisnacht to prevent witches from taking them up to the Brocken to possibly be eaten (the children, not the brooms)

1932 photo black and white of people standing in two rows holding up broomsticks for people to walk under. There seems to be smoke and a bonfire in the background

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

Bonfires were built with the hope that the flames would rise high enough to burn any witches who were flying overhead

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

Noisemaking, such as ringing bells, (especially church bells) was often employed to scare away evil spirits

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

Doorways & livestock were painted with crosses & adorned with bouquets of herbs in hopes of repelling mischievous beings & witches who would often enchant the beasts & fly on their backs to the Brocken

Photo of cow wearing a flower crown and side eyeing the photographer

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

Extra care and precautions were necessary for mortals on Walpurgisnacht. There were numerous rules and rituals that were believed to safeguard people from supernatural harm.

Image of a devil or evil spirit by William Mortenson

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

You may remember the Night on Bald Mountain segment from #Disney ‘s 1940 film Fantasia, which depicted a witches’ night in progress (watch here: youtu.be/b756FPiLlp8)

Art from Disney’s Fantasia depicting a tall mountain with a village at the foot. The scene is awash in dark blues and greens to depict night

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

Witches celebrated Walpurgisnacht with lavish feasting, orgies, and general merrymaking, with the Devil himself presiding over the festivities

Image of a witch flying on a broom by William Mortenson

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

Many of them will be on their way to the Brocken, the highest peak in Germany’s Harz Mountain range, surrounded by a deep forest which is often shrouded in thick mists, and believed to be inhabited by strange, supernatural beings.

Vintage postcard illustration of walpurgisnacht at the Brocken. The devil stands with a pitchfork looking out over the many witches and spirits arriving

Illustration of spirits emerging from graves in a cemetery at night

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

It’s believed that on these two nights the veil between the worlds separating the living and the dead, the seen and the unseen thins; allowing otherworldly beings to mingle openly among us

Gif of a cloud of smoke with a cat head flying across the screen

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Sarah Chavez @sarahcalavera.bsky.social · Apr 30

Walpurgisnacht falls exactly 6 months after Samhain/Halloween, which means we’re halfway to Halloween!

Gif from Over the Garden Wall of a Jack o lantern carving a Jack o lantern

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