At one point late in the conference when, good energy notwithstanding, it seemed that we had exhausted the intellectual possibilities of the hospice experience, the stage was taken by Therese Schroeder-Sheker, and in one moment, as she began to intone an 11th century chant, we were taken to a completely different level of understanding . Ms. Schroeder-Sheker heads the Chalice of Repose Project, and School of Music Thanatology at St. Patrick's Hospital in Missoula ,Montana. The Project's mission,(as from their webpage), is as follows: "to lovingly serve the physical and spiritual needs of the dying with prescriptive music; to educate clinicians, health care providers and the public about the possibility of a blessed death, and the gift that conscious dying can bring to the fullness of life; and to integrate and model these contemplative and clinical values in daily practice." The historic inspiration for the Chalice of Repose Project comes from the monastic medicine that was practiced during the 11th century in Cluny, France. As described by Ms. Schroeder-Sheker, the music used is not ambient, "pastoral pluck," but contemplative music, which is very specific in terms of polyphonic structure and rhythm. Upon referral of the nurse or MD., two medically trained musician-clinicians will be called in to deliver the music at the bedside of the person who is in the process of dying, or 'unbinding.' Harps are used as portable polyphonic instruments, and indeed there are two of them stored on every patient floor in the hospital. Therese sees her work and the school she has set up to teach it as grounded in daily contemplative practice with clinical applications. The goal is to really be present at the moment of terminus.
The Great Adventure
The Inner Part of Inner Jourrneys
Editor: Iven Lourie
Contributing Editors: Grant Abrams, Paul Barry, Tamara Murray
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