Walking Between Worlds - The Nurse, The Psychopomp - The Ritual Nurse

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:10):
Hey there, welcome back to the Ritual Nurse
Podcast.
I'm Rita, the Ritual Nurse, andI am so excited about today's
episode.
Because this one is reallyspecial to me.
We're diving deep into somethingthat has been on my mind for a

while now (00:24):
the ancient concept of the psychopom and how it
connects to who we are today asmodern nurses.
If you've never heard the wordpsychopom before, don't worry.
By the end of this episode,you'll understand why this
ancient Egyptian concept is theperfect, albeit unexpected lens,
for understanding the sacredwork we do every single day at

(00:46):
the bedside.
We're going to explore thejackal-headed god Anubis, the
protector and guide of souls inancient Egypt.
We'll look at the incrediblerituals and roles of the healers
in the houses of life.
And then, and this is where itgets really powerful, we're
going to bring it all back tothe present and talk about how
nurses today stand in that exactsame liminal space, that

(01:08):
threshold between life anddeath, as guides, protectors,
and witnesses.
Along the way, we'll have ourusual story time, dive into some
fascinating science, and ofcourse, close out with coffee,
crystals, and divination.
So grab your favorite drink, getcomfortable, and let's talk
about what it means to be aguardian of the threshold.

(01:41):
So let's start with the basics.
What is a psychopomp?
Well, the word comes from theGreek psyche meaning soul and
pompos meaning guide orconductor.
So a psychopomp is essentially abeing, a deity, a spirit, or
figure, whose job it is toescort souls from the land of
the living to the afterlife.

(02:02):
They're not judges and they'renot there to cause death.
They're just simply guides,protectors, and companions on
one of the most importantjourneys a soul will ever take.
Every culture has them.
The Greeks had some like Hermes,the Norse had the Valkyries, in
ancient Egypt, they had Anubis.

(02:24):
And he's who we're going tofocus on today.
Anubis is the jackal-headedguardian.
Anubis is one of the most iconicfigures in Egyptian mythology.

Picture this (02:34):
a tall figure with the body of a man and the head
of a black jackal, standingwatch over tombs and guiding
souls through the treacherouslandscape of the Duat, which is
the Egyptian underworld.
Why a jackal?
Because jackals were often seenlurking around cemeteries in
ancient Egypt.
Instead of seeing them asscavengers or threats, the

(02:56):
Egyptians elevated the jackal toa sacred protector.
Anubis became the divineembalmer, the guardian of
graves, and most importantly,the psychopomp who led souls
through their journey afterdeath.
Here's what's fascinating.
Anubis wasn't just a passiveguide.
He had very specific, activeroles.

(03:17):
He presided over themummification process, the
preservation of the body so thesoul could return to it.
He protected tombs fromdesecration, and he escorted the
deceased through the 12 gates ofthe Duat, each one presenting
its own trial, its own test ofworthiness.
The Duat wasn't simply adestination, it was a

(03:38):
transformative journey through12 different stages, each
representing a different trialor challenge.
The deceased couldn't simplyarrive in the afterlife.
They had to undergo a process ofpurification, judgment, and
transformation.
Similarly, modern dying is notan instantaneous event, but a

(03:59):
process that unfolds over time,requiring guidance and support.
The most famous moment in thatjourney is the weighing of the
heart ceremony.
In the hall of Maat, the goddessof truth and justice, Anubis
would take the heart of thedeceased and place it on a
golden scale.
On the other side, a singlefeather, which is the feather of

(04:21):
Ma'at, representing truth,balance, and cosmic order.
If your heart was lighter thanthe feather you passed, you
could proceed to the field ofreeds, which is the Egyptian
version of paradise after death.
But if your heart was heavy withlies, cruelty, or wrongdoing, it
would be devoured by Amit, aterrifying creature with the

(04:43):
head of a crocodile, the body ofa lion, and the hindquarters of
a hippo.
Your soul would cease to exist.
Can you imagine the weight ofthat moment?
Standing there, your entireexistence balanced on the truth
of your life.
And Anubis, he was there thewhole time, steadying the

(05:05):
scales, guiding you, andwitnessing your truth.
Anubis exists in what we nowcall a liminal space, a
threshold, an in-between space.
He wasn't fully in the land ofthe living, nor was he entirely
in the realm of the dead.
He existed in both, movingbetween worlds with ease and

(05:26):
authority.
The ancient Egyptians understoodsomething profound.
Death isn't instant.
It is a process, a transition.
And during that transition,souls are vulnerable.
They need guidance.
They need protection.
They need someone who knows theway.
That is where the psychopompcomes in.

(05:48):
And friends, that's where wecome in.
Before we jump to modernnursing, let's talk about the
healers of ancient Egypt,because they too were threshold
guardians in their own right.
In temples throughout Egypt,there were institutions called

(06:08):
the Perank, the Houses of Life.
These weren't just libraries orschools, they were healing
centers, where priests andpriestesses, many of them an
ancient version of modern-dayphysicians, cared for the sick,
studied medical texts, performedsurgeries, and practiced what we
would now call holisticmedicine.

(06:30):
These healers understood thatillness wasn't just physical, it
was spiritual, emotional, andmagical.
They used herbal remedies,surgical tools, prayers and
incantations.
They invoked gods like Sekhmet,the lioness goddess of healing,
and yes, also destruction, andThoth, the god of wisdom and

(06:51):
medicine.

But here's what strikes me: these healers also understood (06:53):
undefined
death.
They were deeply involved inmummification rituals, in
preparing bodies for theafterlife, in ensuring that the
deceased had everything theyneeded for their long journey.
They stood at the thresholdbetween healing and dying,

(07:13):
between life and the unknown.
That sounds a little familiar,doesn't it?
So contemporary nurses occupiedthe exact liminal space that
Anubis inhabited, standing atthe threshold between life and
death, between the known and theunknown.

(07:35):
This is particularly evident inintensive care units, emergency
departments, hospice settings,where nurses regularly guide
patients and families throughone of humanity's most profound
transitions.
Research demonstrates thatnurses play a critical, albeit
often unrecognized, role inmanaging the transition from

(07:56):
curative to palliative care.
A qualitative study published inBMJ Open found that
hospital-based nurses occupy,quote, a critical albeit complex
role in recognizing medicalfutility and facilitating timely
referrals to palliative care.
End quote.
Nurses' continuous bedsidepresence gives them unique

(08:18):
access to patients and families'emotional and spiritual states,
allowing them to identify whenthe transition to end-of-life
care is needed.
The concept of liminality, fromthe Latin liman, meaning
threshold, describes theambiguous in-between state
during fundamental transitions.

(08:40):
Healthcare scholars recognizethat dying patients exist in a
liminal space where they are nolonger living but not yet dead,
creating vulnerability andrequiring specialized support.
Nurses who spend more time withdying patients than any other
healthcare providers become whatone study called the human

(09:02):
anchor in a time when everythingis dissolving.
It's our sacred practice ofpresence.
The most essential skill ancientpsychopomps possessed was their
ability to provide steady,protective presence during
transitions.
Modern research confirms thisancient wisdom.

(09:25):
A 2014 phenomenological study ofhospice nurses found that
consoling presence was the mostpowerful intervention for
alleviating existential andspiritual suffering.
Nurses described their practiceas being with patients rather
than doing for them, recognizingthat bearing witness to

(09:48):
suffering, to the end of life,to the transition itself, is in
itself a healing act.
The concept of bearing witnesshas deep roots in both ancient
and modern caregivingtraditions.
When nurses sit with dyingpatients, hold their hands,
speak softly to them, and honortheir dignity, they are

(10:10):
performing the same essentialfunction that Anubis performed,
that priests and priestesses inthe Per Ankh performed, guiding
souls through a frighteningtransition with protection,
knowledge, and compassionatepresence.
Contemporary nurses havedeveloped rituals that echo
ancient Egyptian practices.
The sacred pause is implementedin hospitals across the United

(10:34):
States.
It involves a brief moment ofsilence after a patient's death
to honor the person's life,recognize the care team's
efforts, and provide closure.
This modern ritual serves thesame function as ancient
Egyptian funerary rites, markingthe significance of the
transition, honoring thedeceased, and helping caregivers

(10:56):
begin to process their grief.
Alright, friends, if you need tohit pause and take a break, now
is the perfect time.
When we come back, we're goingto dive into the science behind
liminality and threshold spaces,and then we'll talk about
practical ways you can honorthis sacred role in your own
practice.
Don't go too far, I'll be righthere when you get back.

(12:08):
So, liminality, like wediscussed earlier, comes from
the Latin word limen, meaningthreshold.
It refers to that ambiguousin-between state during a
fundamental transition.
Anthropologist Victor Turnerdescribed liminality as a middle
stage of a rite of passage, thespace where someone is no longer
who or what they were, but arenot yet who or what they will

(12:31):
become.
So think about it.
A patient who's been admitted tothe ICU, but hasn't been
diagnosed yet, a family waitingfor a loved one to come out of
surgery, a person activelydying, suspended between life
and death.
These are all examples ofliminal spaces.
And guess who's in those spaceswith them?

(12:54):
Us.
Nurses.
Research shows that people inliminal states experience
heightened vulnerability,anxiety, and disorientation.
But they also experiencepossibility, transformation, and
profound meaning making.
Liminality streps away the oldand makes space for the new.

(13:14):
It is uncomfortable, yes, butit's also sacred.
One study published in MedicalTeacher in 2020 explored
threshold concepts in palliativecare education and found that
understanding liminality isessential for healthcare
providers working with dyingpatients.
The researchers wrote thatacknowledging the liminal space

(13:35):
allows clinicians to providethat liminal space where
patients and families cannavigate their transition with
support, dignity, and presence.
And presence, that's the keyword here.
The science is clear.
What dying patients and theirfamilies need most isn't always
medical intervention.
It's presence, bearing witness,being with them in the

(14:00):
uncertainty.
In that 2014 phenomenologicalstudy published in BMC
Palliative Care that I mentionedbefore the break, hospice nurses
described their experience ofproviding spiritual care to
dying patients, using words likeconsoling presence, being with,
and standing in the suffering,becoming that human anchor in a

(14:20):
time when everything isdissolving.
That is liminality.
That's the threshold.
And if you look at ourexperience, that's where we live
and work almost every singleday.
Let's pull all this together.
We are the modern psychopomps.

(14:41):
You could loosely say that we'rekind of like the descendants of
Anubis, the jackal-headedguardian who stood at the
threshold between worlds.
We're the inheritors of thehealers in the pair-onc, the
houses of life, who understoodthat care was both a science and
a sacred act.
We stand in liminal spaces, inICUs, in ERs, in hospice rooms,

(15:05):
operating rooms, at thepatient's bedside, wherever that
may be.
Places where life and deathmeet, where the veil is thin,
and where souls are at theirmost vulnerable.
And in those spaces, we do whatpsychopomps have always done.
We guide, we protect, wewitness, and we honor.
This isn't just poetic language.

(15:26):
It is the truth of our work.
And when we name it, when werecognize the ancient lineage
we're part of, it does changehow we show up.
It reminds us that we're notjust air quotes doing tasks.
We're participating in one ofthe most profound human
experiences there is thecrossing over, the transition,

(15:49):
the sacred passage.
So what does this meanpractically?
Well, first, honor your role.
You are not and never will bejust a nurse.
You are a guardian of athreshold.
You are a guide for souls attheir most vulnerable moment.

(16:09):
Recognizing that dying involvesspiritual and existential
dimensions, not just physicalsymptoms, allows nurses to
address patients' deepest fears,questions, and needs.
This might include facilitatingconversations about meaning,
supporting religious practices,or simply sitting in
compassionate silence.

(16:31):
Secondly, practice presence.
In liminal space, your presencematters more than your
productivity.
Sit with your patients, holdspace, bear witness to them in
that threshold period.
Just as ancient Egyptian templesprovided dedicated healing
environments, nurses can createsacred space at the bedside

(16:55):
through intentional presence.
Things like dimming thelighting, calming music, and
minimal interruptions.
These environmentalmodifications honor the
significance of the transitionoccurring.
Third, create ritual.
The ancient Egyptians hadelaborate rituals for death and
dying because rituals providestructure, meaning, and closure.

(17:17):
Consider implementing a sacredpause after a patient dies on
your own floors, even if it'sonly just for yourself.
A moment of silence to honor theperson, maybe their family, and
also the care that your teamprovided.
A moment to silently acknowledgethe emotions you're holding as

(17:38):
well.
Implementing rituals like thesacred pause, blessing
ceremonies, or legacy-buildingactivities help patients,
families, and staff process theprofound significance of death.
These rituals provide structureand meaning and closure in
moments of chaos anduncertainty.
Fourth, take care of yourself.

(18:00):
Standing at the threshold isheavy work.
It does take a toll.
Make sure that you have your ownrituals for grounding, for
processing grief, for honoringthe sacred work that you do.
Ancient Egyptian embalmers woremasks of Anubis during
mummification, symbolicallychanneling divine protection.
Modern nurses need similarprotective practices: solid

(18:24):
boundaries, debriefing rituals,supervision, and their own
spiritual practices to sustainthemselves in this demanding
role.
I have a great series in seasonone called Debriefing Yourself
that teaches you exactly how todo this.
And finally, next episode, we'regonna continue diving into
burnout and moral injury.

(18:46):
Because standing at thethreshold without support is
unsustainable.
We'll talk about how to protectyour own heart while you hold
space for others.
Alright, my friends, let's bringa little of our magic into this.
Let's talk about coffee of theweek.

(19:08):
So this week, for the secondtime, I'm recommending
Egyptian-style spiced coffee,also called kawa, which I think
I'm probably mispronouncing.
It's strong, bold, and flavoredwith cardamom, cinnamon, and
sometimes a hint of cloves.

(19:28):
It is grounding, warming, andperfect for long night shifts.
If you can't find it at yourlocal cafe, try adding a pinch
of cardamom to your regularcoffee.
Trust me, it is honestly a gamechanger.
For our crystal of the week andour tarot card poll, let's see
what we have as our prescriptionfor this week.
One of the things that I findmost interesting about the

(19:51):
ancient Egyptian lore of theconcept of the psychopomp,
Egyptians didn't use the wordpsychopomp.
That is a word after the factthat describes much of what they
did in holding the space, butEgyptians didn't use that word

(20:13):
itself, is how deeply theyunderstood the significance of
transformation and the thresholdspace that transformation takes
place in.
Because a lot of thatunderscores much of what we've
been learning over this pastyear that we've spent together

(20:34):
in creating ritual space forourselves.
And I know that I've talkedabout this before, but I just do
want to just kind of as areminder, when I say ritual
space, when we talk aboutcreating rituals, this is
independent of religion.
So no matter what your religionis or isn't, creating ritual is

(20:59):
intentionally using materials,space, time, yourself, and
intention to manifest somethingsignificant.
And doing so with repetitioncreates a habit.
And ritual makes that habit thatyou have created sacred and

(21:21):
magnifies the intent of it.
And it doesn't matter whatreligion you are or aren't, you
could create ritual aroundanything.
So, first crystal that jumpedout for our prescription for the
next two weeks.
We are going back to two-weekrelease of episodes.
The weekly ones that we've beendoing the past three weeks have

(21:43):
just been for, oh my goodness.
I don't think that that wasintentional because that was
like eight cards.
Has just been for spooky seasonand some fun episodes.
So we are going back to ournormal, regularly scheduled
every two-week release.
So our crystal prescription forthe next two weeks, I think what
we're getting is just this card.

(22:04):
So let's take a look at it.
Oh gosh, this is absolutelystunning.
I don't know that I've drawnthis one before.
So it looks like our card iswanderlust.
And that's Aragonite.
And this is absolutely gorgeous.
So Wanderlust or Aragonite,embracing the unknown, change,

(22:28):
and grounding.
The Wanderlust card embodiesexploration and self-discovery.
Aragonite signifies grounding inconnection to nature, urging you
to embark on a journey of innerand outer exploration.
This card prompts you to trustyour inner compass, follow your
heart's desires, and embrace theunknown as you navigate towards

(22:50):
new experiences and endlesspossibilities.
This card is literallydescribing you being in a
liminal space and encouragingyou to explore the unknown and
possibilities.
If I didn't watch myself do it,then I might not actually

(23:11):
believe that it was just livepolled while I was doing this
podcast.
But this is an absolutelystunning image and it looks like
a compass with Aragonite in themiddle.
So let's look at our tarot cardpoll for the next two weeks.

(23:35):
And if you guys have morequestions about the history of
this or have more interest, hitme up and let me know on
socials.
I'm on TikTok.
Um, you can always hit thefeedback link at the top of the
show notes.
You can email me at hello at theritual nurse uh ritualnurse.com,
sorry, not the just hello atritualnurse.com and let me know.

(23:58):
Write to me.
I only covered psychopomps inancient Egyptian practices
because that's our earliestknown uh uh instances of them,
and there's specifically a deityassociated with it.
Um there are many in many othercultures, just because I didn't
mention them in this specificpodcast does not mean they do

(24:19):
not exist.
They absolutely do.
Um so if you would like to shareuh history or tradition in your
culture that is the is the sameas the psychopomp, I would love
to hear it.
Okay, so we have the eight ofcups and the nine of cups.

(24:43):
Interesting.
Ocean Jasper and Aura Ouraquartz.
I think Aura Aura quartz poppedup last week.
So let's but I think it mighthave been as a crystal
prescription.
So the Eight of Cups signifies ajourney, and Aura Aura quartz is

(25:08):
uplifting, confidence, andcommunication.
You may be coming to arealization that it's time to
walk away or move on from anemotional situation.
This card suggests to leave thatunfulfilling situation behind
you and spend time exploringwhat brings you true happiness.
The nine of cups is wishesgranted, satisfaction, and
emotional fulfillment.

(25:30):
Ocean Jasper signifies emotionalstability, joy, and uplifting.
Make the wish.
The Nine of Cups is knowntraditionally as the wish card.
The universe is listening, sothis is a sign to make a wish,
and it will soon be granted.
Also, practicing gratitude willlift your spirit and help you
see that you have a lot to bethankful for already.

(25:51):
I think that combined with whatwe discussed in terms of being
in the limital space and facingthe unknown and it being about
the journey and thetransformation, these cards are
really signifying to do a lot ofthat introspective self-work,
which we see as a huge themeduring the month of November,
starting off with theremembrance of the Day of the

(26:16):
Dead, All Souls Day, and reallykind of the thinning of the
veil, if you will.
There's always a lot of focusand encouragement on doing
shadow work and introspectivework during this time of year.
So I think this is very apropos.
It's also the reason I decidedto close out the spooky season

(26:37):
podcasts with the psychopompbecause we just passed over the
threshold of the remembrance ofthe day of the dead and all
souls day and soon or Halloween.
And uh it just seemed like theperfect closing uh to talk about
the liminal space and thethreshold.

(26:58):
So make sure that you have yourAragonite and your Ocean Jasper
and your Aura Aura quartz.
And your message this week isreally to trust yourself.
You know more than you think youdo.
You are exactly the guide thatyour patients need.
You need to take care ofyourself so that you can do so
and carve out that ritual timefor yourself, whatever that may

(27:21):
look like for you.
Thank you so much for being heretoday, friends.
This episode was deeply personalfor me.
This is a subject matter thatI've spent a lot of time in
introspection and research on,and I hope it resonated a little
with you too.
And remember, you are not just astatistic or a number.
You are standing at thethreshold between worlds,

(27:43):
guiding souls with courage,compassion, and grace.
You are the modern psychopomp,the guardian of the veil, and
the healer betwixt and between.
Until next time, keep craftingthose rituals to heal the
healer.
You are sacred and you are seen,and you are so, so needed.

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Walking Between Worlds - The Nurse, The Psychopomp

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