Tibetan Death Horoscopes, Mothers and Daughters, and Legacy-Breaking (Catapult)
I don’t believe in horoscopes (or I believe in them slightly, when the monthly forecast for my sign, Leo, is good), but in my grief over my grandmother’s death, I derived solace from the idea that something could still be done to benefit her, that she hadn’t left us but was just in a different place. It comforted me to hear that Tibetan lamas who’ve attained a high degree of enlightenment can ascertain where the deceased is on her bardo travels, and I liked picturing my grandmother walking down the road in bardo wearing her heavy black overcoat, her small, solid figure swaying from side to side in her characteristic gait, the usual optimistic and determined expression on her face.