THE WONDER: Science-Based Paganism · The Wonder Podcast

Death and Mourning

·44 min·2 clips

Grief can feel like a “ranking system,” and Mark describes a deeply strange reaction after his father died.

October sets the frame. Yucca and Mark use that season to talk about death, their own deaths, and the deaths of others, along with grief and mortality in everyday life. They begin with their own deaths. From there they widen the talk to the deaths of loved ones, the shock that follows loss, and the way grief keeps moving long after anyone can prepare for it neatly. The tone stays familiar. It feels like two people thinking out loud together, moving between personal reflection, practical planning, and a pagan sense of cycle and decomposition, recomposition. The logistics matter too. They walk through organizing assets, passwords, email access, and other details that can spare survivors a lot of confusion. Yucca names a template. The blank form from Yucca’s blog is presented as a useful gift for the people who will have to handle what remains. The episode does not pretend this is easy. It acknowledges the urge to avoid the subject while still suggesting that the work can be done in pieces. That keeps it humane. It respects how confronting mortality can be without turning away from it or turning it into a lecture. Grief stays central. The hosts make clear that knowing death belongs to the cycle does not cancel devastation when someone or something beloved is gone. They hold that contradiction gently. The conversation then widens back toward ancestors, remembrance, and the place of seasonal observance in a lived pagan practice. The sky returns. A comet, meteor showers, and possible aurorae leave the ending with a sense that mourning and wonder can share the same October.

As heard by us

A steady October conversation about mortality, grief, and the practical kindness of being prepared.

The Wonder spends October on mortality, with Yucca and Mark talking plainly about death, grief, and the people and animals left behind. Its strongest thread is the mix of spiritual reflection and practical planning: the downloadable template for gathering death-document details…

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Why you'd press play

When you want an October reset around grief, mortality, and getting your affairs in order.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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