Transition Blanket: A Loving Way to Prepare for Death

Jan Engels-Smith

My father was dying from advanced cancer. In preparation for his imminent death, I created a transition blanket that produced a life-altering experience for my family.

When my father finally died, he had an expression of horror on his face. His eyes were bulging out, and panic and fear seemed to grip the muscles of his face. Dad was so scared of his "final judgment" that in these last moments, he couldn't conceal his terror. The family members at his bedside were distressed by this horrific scene.

The transition blanket, a simple woolen blanket covered with loving prayer bundles, changed the experience from one of tragedy to an experience of healing, peace and acceptance.

The mystery of death can be one of the most profound experiences of life. It is said in Tibet that death is life's most important event. Of all life experiences, the impending death of yourself or that of a loved one refocuses priorities and reframes relationships more quickly than any other event. Death is the teacher during this transformative time.

In the transition from life to death, how do we prepare both ourselves and loved ones?

I have spent my life in a career of service, helping people in difficult life situations. I teach shamanic classes in death and dying. I am a Reiki master. I am a licensed psychologist. However, even with all of this training, when it came to my own family, I felt a profound sorrow at my feeling of physical separation. I continued with my various journeys to the spirits, discussing my feelings and needs in the quest to provide help for my loved ones. My spirit helpers helped me to construct the transition blanket.

A Loving Creation

I bought woolen blanket material from Pendleton Woolen Mills and sewed on the binding. I wanted a size that was manageable for an ill person as they lay in front of the TV or in a chair. I made four red prayer ties (from the Lakota tradition) and tied these prayer bundles on the blanket.

These red prayer bundles, constructed with a square of red cotton cloth tied with tobacco inside, contain specific prayers. In the Lakota tradition, tobacco is the herb of prayer placed on earth by spirits to help us communicate with them and nature. When constructing the prayer bundle, you take the tobacco in your hand and pray into it. The prayer ties are then folded into a pouch and tied onto the blanket. When the dying individual lies under the transition blanket, the prayers are activated.

For my father's transition blanket, I traveled on a shamanic journey while holding the tobacco in my hand. My spirit helpers instructed me that each prayer bundle should be imbued with different prayers, spiritual helpers and Reiki symbols.

Balance. The first prayer bundle I made held the spirits of extraction and the Reiki Usui power symbol. These spirits clear low vibration frequency energy, including fear, doubt, anxiety, worry and sadness. This extraction process allows a person's energy system to return to its true nature, which is radiant and balanced on the energetic level.

Soul retrieval. The second prayer bundle held the spirits of soul retrieval and the Reiki distance symbol. These spirits bring back lost soul parts or divine essence that a person has lost throughout this life. The qualities of calmness, serenity, peace, joy, trust and knowingness also return, for these are natural feelings of wholeness.

Love. I then imbued the Reiki master symbols and the master healers in the third bundle, opening the channels of the universal life force of unconditional love. These symbols and spirits help in pain reduction and feelings of well-being, no matter the situation or how difficult the last days may get.

Transition. The last bundle held the spirit helpers of transition and psycho pomp (a Greek word for taking souls to the light) and the Reiki distance symbol. The distance symbol activates the angels of transition, who escort the soul after it lifts from the body.

The blanket with the imbued love, spiritual helpers and Reiki symbols protects the individual both here and there. The energies that an individual feels when lying under the blanket are exceptional. I sent this blanket to my father when he was in stage four of esophageal cancer. My father had tangible changes in his pain level when he placed the blanket over him. In fact, my stepmother would not leave him alone in the house unless he had his blanket nearby as a resource of help and pain management.

I spoke with my dad almost daily. After he received the blanket he often told me of the effects: I feel so much better, I have less pain, it makes me feel good, I feel your love, I feel more at peace, it calms me.

When it was my father's time, he went fast. The horror that he expressed was his fear of his judgment day. In his last moments he had no control of this fear and it was expressed on his face.

After the death occurs, the transition blanket should cover the person for four hours. The time after passing shouldn't be rushed. Four is a sacred number in the Lakota tradition and this amount of time gives the soul time to transition. The number four reflects the elements earth, fire, air and water, and the seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall.

The prayer ties should be removed from the blanket and can be burned or buried with the person. The blanket can become a family heirloom and be used in years to come when other family members are ready to transition. The Reiki symbols and spiritual helpers will help you find each other on the other side to be reunited.

At the time of my father's death, the blanket was pulled over his face and body, where it stayed for the next four hours. The blanket concealed dad's fearful expression, which was a welcome reprieve for the family of onlookers. After the designated amount of time, he was uncovered. His face was serene, relaxed and peaceful with a slight smile on his lips. My stepmother fell to the ground, weeping for joy.

The healing energy of the transition blanket touched us all in a profound and miraculous way.

Jan Engels-Smith, author of Becoming Yourself: The Journey from Head to Heart, Awaken Unburden Create, and Take Your Body with You, is the founder of A LightSong School of Shamanic Studies and LightSong Healing Center. Visit www.lightsong.net and www.janengelssmith.com.