Bones and the Bereaved

Bones and the Bereaved is not a book about avoiding grief—it’s a book about making something sacred from it.

Written as her husband was actively dying, artist and author Rachael Rantz created this creative deathcraft guide as a companion for those standing in the liminal space between life and loss. Inside, you’ll find dozens of rituals, art projects, and meditative practices designed to help you process grief through your hands, your breath, and your bones.

Through beautiful photography, personal reflections, and detailed step-by-step instructions, Rantz offers readers a way to honor their pain and transform it into something meaningful. Craft projects include travel altars, mourning bands, sigils, beads, memory patches, bubble wands, and other sacred keepsakes for remembering loved ones.

This isn’t a how-to on “getting over it.” It’s an invitation to lean in—to make space for sorrow, remembrance, and healing through creative expression. Whether you are supporting someone in hospice, tending to your own grief, or building rituals of remembrance, Bones and the Bereaved serves as a deeply compassionate companion on the path of loss.

Tender, tactile, and profoundly human, this book reminds us that creativity can be both a tool for mourning and a vessel for love that never dies.