We at the New Earth Birth and Dying Faculty understand that a civilized world offers the greatest respect to all people at the beginning and at the end of their lives.
If humankind is to fulfill its greatest potential, the conscious welcoming & fare-welling of souls into, and from, our earthly world must become a most urgent and focused art. Indeed, birth and the primal period beginning even before conception are key to human development. The same is true of a dignified, peaceful and fulfilling death.
Both birth and death need to be cradled in an intimate environment akin to a spiritual retreat and in deep resonance with nature. It is paramount for family, friends and professionals to respect the solemnity of such portals, empowering their loved ones to cross these intense thresholds, protecting the privacy and sacredness of their immediate environment.
Science is now proving what ancient Traditions revealed: the lifelong relevance of a pregnant mother’s environment for the baby’s optimal neurophysiology and biology after a vaginal birth. Likewise, modern physics and psychology now support what ancient wisdom has taught about dying and death: the portal known as death is but a transformation. A journey beyond this experience into another dimension.
With the supremacy of patriarchy, birth and death – two most sacred aspects of our human journey – have been trivialized, marginalized and pervaded by fear. Throughout history, we have experienced a dismal, ubiquitous and domineering status quo. Power and domination have led to the suppression of the feminine. We have lost the sense of ourselves as part of a much greater organism. With that loss came the loss of respect, careful observation, deep inquiry, and wonder.
Generation after generation, children have lived in the womb, were born, and grew their brains in fear rather than trust. Child-rearing practices have taught shame and disconnection from our bodies, while the power and beauty of death has long ago fallen into oblivion. Our losses include connection to the earth, to each other, to our soul and to the Cosmos.
Death is a transition as certain, as intense and as beautiful as birth. Long shrouded in fear and conditioning, we have hidden our eyes and those of our loved ones, from death. In doing so, we inadvertently squander the possibility for transformational conversations, for a more gentle walk through bereavement and for experiencing the grace and beauty surrounding the death process.
What is not working must be changed. New Earth Institute is putting forth principles rooted in a radical understanding of earth and spirit that hold the potential to transform humanity. The purpose of the Birth & Dying Faculty is to disseminate information about pregnancy, birth and dying – promoting these as conscious arts.
We invite all to join with us, in a movement to explore, develop and foster best practices and endeavors that ensure 
care, sustenance and respect to each human being, honoring and supporting the instinctual and intuitive intelligence within each of us, to experience these seminal gateways.
As we now begin anew, may we commit to hold in remembrance the lessons we have learned about birth and dying – as sacred gifts, honoring the evolution of our humanity, and embracing ALL of our experiences, while moving forward with the spirit of greater understanding and awareness.
May we collectively adopt the principles held forth within this document with hope, inspiration and a determined resolve for the future.
Originally posted @ New Earth Institute
