Susan Cross describes herself as a “well-wisher to ravens, bears, bumblebees, rattlesnakes, and coyotes.” She is a burial shroud maker, a rawhide hand drum and rattle builder, a ceremony writer, a gardener, an old mother, a tour driver, a self-proclaimed grief-stricken naturalist drowning her sorrows with single malt scotch, and a weary but wonder-filled pilgrim.

Cross has written a number of essays for Spirituality & Health, including her essay “Rethinking Burial: Burial Shrouds and More Ideas” featured in the July/August 2021 print issue. She is also the author of a new book called A Fleeting Presence: Fieldnotes From a Crone.

In this episode Rabbi Rami and Cross discuss the presence of the crone in all people— regardless of gender—burials, heritage, the “Disney-fication” of the feminine, and much more.

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