Death Ed with Erin

02/27/2026

Green burial isn’t radical.
It’s remembering another way. 🌱

02/26/2026

Embalming is never required by law.
Not in any U.S. state. Not ever.

It became popular during the Civil War, before refrigeration and modern transport existed. Today, embalming is usually unnecessary—yet it remains routine, invasive, and costly (often $500–$1,200).

Blood is drained. Formaldehyde is injected. The body is cosmetically preserved, not for health or safety, but for appearance.

Some funeral homes require embalming as policy. Policy is not law. And you are always allowed to choose another funeral home.

The deeper question is this:
Why are we trying to make the dead look alive?
And who decided that was more “comforting”?

In almost all cases, you can lay your dead to rest without embalming. Death care should be rooted in honesty, dignity, and consent.

Did you know this? What are your thoughts on embalming? 🖤

02/26/2026

TWO FREE OFFERINGS AT DEATH ED WITH ERIN ✨

Walking Each Other Home
First Steps to Death Doulaship:

A teaching on the first steps to death doulaship. Live on Zoom on March 18 at 12pm MST.

This is for anyone drawn to mortality work. We’ll explore what death doulas actually do, why this role exists, and how tending the edge of life can bring more meaning to life.

No experience required. This education is for everyone, no matter what brings you here.

This class is offered live just once, on March 18th. Join us then to be a part of the q&a and conversation. If you are unable to make the live session, be sure to still sign up and you will receive the recorded version after the class ends for your convenience.

🖤 Link in bio to join.

The Reality of Mortality:
A conversation for everyone who will someday die

A pre-recorded, self paced class.

We prepare for everything except death. Let’s change that. This open-hearted conversation explores the basics of the funeral industry, environmental choices in death care, personal legacy, grief, and how to prepare for the inevitable with meaning and agency.

You will walk away with more clarity about your own choices, and more knowledge to support those around you when the time comes. The Reality of Mortality course is not for professionals, it’s for everyday people who want to understand death better.

🖤 Link in bio to join.

02/24/2026

This is the work of remembering
what our ancestors knew:
that death belongs to the living too.

02/23/2026

We are not inventing something new. We are remembering something ancient. 🖤

02/20/2026

02/20/2026

Off the shore of Panama there is an archipelago of 365 islands, inhabited by the indigenous Kuna Yala (aka Gunayala) people. These people are true Americans. They never migrated here. They always were. Originally from the Darien gap (look it up), they are a protected people. Only those born into the tribe can buy land or live on these lands. They are off grid - no electricity save for solar and a few generators. They speak their tribal language. They birth their babies, educate their children, and bury their dead outside of our modern institutions. They don’t know or care who Donald Trump is, or what car you drive or your designed handbag. They spend thier days fishing, dancing, and yes, welcoming tourism for income. I was so inspired by this experience. To see a land untouched by corporate interests - water as blue as I’ve ever seen. It made me think about who and what I’d be - what we would all be - if our lives were left to humanity and nature instead of programming and “progress”. I love that the government protects these people and this land instead of letting billionaires take it like they take everything else. San Blas Islands, they are called. The richest lands I’ve ever seen. The most in tact culture I’ve ever witnessed.

02/19/2026

Death is not the opposite of life.
It’s the keeper of its meaning. The threshold through which all love, all beauty, all grief becomes real.

02/18/2026

The more you allow yourself to feel the pain - the more you will also be able to feel joy. I am a proof of this too. As above, so below.

02/17/2026

“Erin has created a program unlike anything else.
You can study a book until you know the material backwards and forwards, but Erin has added her practical experience as a doula, as an educator, as a public speaker, to make the curriculum *human*. And there is nothing that compares to the humanity, the community, the acceptance, and the love that you'll find in Deathschool Evolved, and from Erin Merelli."

02/14/2026

Happy Valentines day ❤️ I truly love this community.

My valentines gift to you is a free introductory course to death doulaship:
Walking Each Other Home
March 18th on Zoom.
Link in bio to learn more and sign up