Mirrors of Passing: Unlocking the Mysteries of Death, Materiality, and Time eds. Rane Willerslev and Sophie Seebach

How is death, time, and materiality interconnected? How to approach an understanding of the world of the dead? In this introduction, we seek to understand how the experience of material decay, of the death of those around us, makes us aware of the passing of time. Through the literary lens of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, we explore how the world of the dead and the world of the living can intersect; how time and materiality shifts and changes depending on who experiences it. These revelations, based on fiction, provide a mirror through which the reader can experience the varied chapters of the book, which each presents a different perspective on death, materiality, and time.