The Call to the Far Shore: Learning to Die Before We Die with Nancy MacMillan

In this episode of the Harmonic Alignment Podcast, Priscilla sits down with Nancy MacMillan, a registered psychotherapist with master’s degrees in education and theology whose work has spanned palliative care, intensive care, geriatrics, and bereavement. Through both her professional practice and her own encounters with illness and loss, Nancy has spent decades accompanying individuals and families through the profound thresholds of dying and grief. She is the author of The Call to the Far Shore: Carrying Our Loved Ones Through Dying, Death, and Beyond, where she explores how ancient wisdom and compassionate presence can help us navigate the final passages of life with dignity and reverence.

Together, Priscilla and Nancy explore how modern culture has distanced us from the natural process of dying and how reconnecting with ancestral traditions can transform our understanding of death. Nancy shares insights from her years of working with the dying, reflections from accompanying her own parents through their final days, and the profound experiences that can arise when families are present to the sacred threshold of death. From honoring the body after death to maintaining connection with our ancestors, this conversation invites listeners to soften their fear of death and rediscover the wisdom held within life’s final transition.

Learn more about Nancy and purchase her book on her website.
Subscribe to Nancy’s Substack.
Follow Nancy on Instagram
Check out the books mentioned in this episode:

• Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days by Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov
• To Speak for the Trees by Diana Beresford-Kroeger
• Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity by Stephen Jenkinson

Subscribe to the Harmonic Alignment Newsletter and get your FREE guided meditation.

Learn how you can join Priscilla in Costa Rica.

Follow the Podcast on Instagram and TikTok.

Watch our episodes on Youtube.