Halva for the Heart: Dying and Grieving in Diaspora Podcast By Misha | Hafez Death Care cover art

Halva for the Heart: Dying and Grieving in Diaspora

Halva for the Heart: Dying and Grieving in Diaspora

By: Misha | Hafez Death Care
Listen for free

Halva for the Heart is for both the collective in general, and for those of us living in diaspora specifically. Here we will explore topics of grief tending and death care as a way to build the liberated future we envision for our world, as well as what is means to be dying and grieving while living in diaspora, especially for those of us who have roots in the SWANA region. All are welcome here - befarmāid.Copyright Misha Social Sciences Spirituality
Episodes
  • Farvardingan: The Iranian Holiday of Honoring the Dead and Connecting with Ancestors

    Farvardingan: The Iranian Holiday of Honoring the Dead and Connecting with Ancestors
    Apr 7 2026
    In this episode of Halva for the Heart, I explore Farvardingan, the ancient Iranian holiday when the fravashis (spirits of the departed) return to visit the living. This year, Farvardingan takes on profound significance as we grapple with unprecedented levels of loss: from war on Iran and regime violence to the ongoing genocide in Palestine and personal grief. I discuss how Farvardingan becomes an act of resistance in a world that gives us almost no space to grieve, and expand our understanding of ancestry beyond blood to include the many lineages that shape and sustain us.

    In this episode, I reflect on:
    - Memory as active care, not something to "move on" from
    - Continuity between the living and the dead
    - Farvardingan as a support for us during this time of war
    - Ways to stay connected ancestors
    - Different types of ancestry beyond blood lineage (as taught to me by my teacher Holly Truhlar)

    Resources Mentioned
    🔗 Holly Truhlar's Idea of Soul Lineage - Explore ancestral connections and soul lineage work
    🎵 Dard-e Del Playlist - Curated music for grief and ancestral connection
    📖 Farvardingan Guidebook - Deep dive into practices, rituals, and reflections for honoring the dead


    If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...
    • Leave me a 90 second voice note
    • Message me on Instagram
    • Send me an email
    Learn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.com
    Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

    🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
    Show more Show less
    33 mins
  • A Meditation for Nowruz in Times of War: For Iranians in Diaspora Whose Hearts Ache for Iran

    A Meditation for Nowruz in Times of War: For Iranians in Diaspora Whose Hearts Ache for Iran
    Mar 16 2026
    In this special episode of Halva for the Heart, I share a recorded Nowruz meditation for those of us in the Iranian diaspora who are holding the question so many of us are sitting with this year as we watch our homeland be harmed by bombs: Do we celebrate Nowruz?

    This meditation doesn't offer an easy answer. Instead, it invites us into the deeper purpose of our ancestral rituals, not as performances of joy, but as living technologies of transformation, continuity, and survival.

    This meditation moves through two ancient practices: Chaharshanbe Soori, the pre-New Year fire ritual, where we offer our exhaustion (zardi) to the flame and receive its red aliveness (sorkhi) in return, not just for ourselves, but on behalf of all those inside Iran carrying fear and uncertainty.

    And the haftseen sofreh, reimagined as a place to both ask for what we need, and a place to send love, strength, protection, and hope toward Iran.

    This meditation was created for Iranians in diaspora who are grieving, exhausted, and unsure how to mark a new year that arrives whether we are ready or not. If you are not Iranian, you are welcome to sit with us in solidarity.

    There is no single right way to do Nowruz this year. Maybe this meditation is all that you do to honor the holiday. And that's okay. That is enough.


    *This meditation was first offered during a live Dard-e Del session. If you're a fellow Iranian in diaspora and are looking for community spaces to hold your grief with others like you, please join us in Dard-e Del. We meet on zoom 3 times a month to support one another.

    If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...
    • Leave me a 90 second voice note
    • Message me on Instagram
    • Send me an email
    Learn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.com
    Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

    🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
    Show more Show less
    34 mins
  • Traditional Persian Medicine as Grief Care with Sahar Kaur

    Traditional Persian Medicine as Grief Care with Sahar Kaur
    Feb 17 2026
    In this episode, I sit down with Sahar Kaur, a decolonial womb educator whose work lives at the intersection of menstrual health, ancestral memory, and identity.We talk about how her path into womb education grew from a desire to return to grounded, lived wisdom, not spiritual trends or aesthetics, but knowledge rooted in lineage, culture, and survival. Sahar shares how Traditional Persian Medicine informs her work, and what it actually means to decolonize menstrual care: making it accessible, culturally relevant, and responsive to real lived conditions.We explore herbal support for menstrual cycles and grief, including gol-e gāv-zabān (borage), traditionally used to calm the nervous system and tend heartbreak. Sahar reflects on her work with displaced and refugee women, and how womb education shifts when survival, migration, and instability are part of someone’s reality.We close with a powerful conversation about the Kurdish serpent goddess Shahmaran (the protector, healer, and symbol of feminine wisdom) and how her mythology connects to womb space, surrender, and ancestral remembering.About SaharSahar is a decolonized womb health educator working at the intersection of cyclicity, identity, and ancestral memory. A daughter of ancient Elam and Bactria (early cradle civilizations of what is now Iran and Afghanistan) her work honors the womb as a site where memory, lineage, and truth are held.Through independent research in traditional Persian medicine, she is reviving ancestral menstrual wisdom and womb rituals erased by colonial history. Her work invites women — especially those from the SWANA region — to reconnect with womb health as cultural inheritance rather than aesthetic spirituality.In this episode, we explore...Decolonizing menstrual educationWomb memory and ancestral identityHerbal support for grief and menstrual cyclesCultural reclamation in healing spacesWorking with displaced and refugee womenKurdish Shahmaran mythology and serpent wisdomFeminine surrender and embodied knowledgeMentioned in this episode:🎧 Episode: Celebrating Yalda with Shahmaran🎧 Episode: Knitting as Ancestral Memory📖 Shahmaran: A Wintering Spent with the Queen of Serpents (zine)📺 Shahmaran teleision series🤝 Nisaba: the refugee women’s organization Sahar mentions📚 There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif ShafakA note on language & inclusivityIn this episode, we sometimes use the word “women” when talking about womb health and menstrual cycles. However, the wisdom we discuss is expansive: it applies to anyone who identifies as a womxn or femme, as well as anyone who has or has had a menstrual cycle.Even if that’s not your experience, traditional Persian teachings about cycles, rest, and grief offer healing insights that can support anyone. This conversation is meant to be inclusive, honoring the many ways people relate to their bodies and to this knowledge.Connect with SaharYou can find Sahar on Instagram and join her Diasp'AURA Telegram communityHoliday Guidebooks & Community AccessI create seasonal Iranian holiday guidebooks that explore ritual, remembrance, and ancestral practice. The Esfandegan guidebook focuses on devotion to the earth and to womxn & femmes, and honoring the Mother Earth goddess Spenta Armaiti through Iranian tradition.If you are a member of Dard-e Del, an online Iranian grief circle and community space I facilitate 3x a month, you receive access to all of these guidebooks free as part of your membership. The intention is to make cultural and ritual knowledge communal, as something we return to together, not practice alone.If you'd like to share what this episode brought up for you...Leave me a 90 second voice noteMessage me on InstagramSend me an emailLearn more about my work at my website www.hafezdeathcare.comSubscribe to my weekly newsletter🎵 Theme song: 'Lullaby' by Iranian oud player Negâr Boubân
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 14 mins
No reviews yet