Walking with Love Through Life’s Final Threshold

If you’ve found your way here, you may be walking alongside someone you love in their final chapter, or preparing for your own passage. You may be seeking support, ceremony, or simply a hand to hold through the mystery of dying.

As a death midwife and ceremonial guide, I walk beside individuals and families during life’s most tender threshold. I bring presence, ritual, experince and a deeper understanding — so death is not faced in fear, but honored as the sacred transition that it is.

A woman squatting in a field, petting a light-colored horse. She is wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a feather, a long coat, and ripped jeans. The scene is outdoors with a cloudy sky and other horses in the background.

About Me

My name is Barbie Herron Conkling. I am a mother, artist, Reiki practitioner, and ceremonial death midwife. My path into this work has been shaped by profound personal experience — most deeply, walking alongside my son, Lyon, through his journey with cancer until his final breath on December 17, 2023. I have also had the honor of guiding many others through their sacred transitions Home.

Since 2019, I have served as a death midwife, holding space for individuals and families with tenderness, presence, and ceremony. I bring to this work the sensitivity of a Reiki practitioner, attuning to both the seen and unseen needs of those I serve. Alchemizing my own experiences through grief and loss in order to be of service to those in need.

I have learned that death is not only an ending, but a threshold — one that deserves the same love, care, and ceremony as birth.

My background weaves together many threads: a former esthetician who tended beauty and care, a sober guide grounded in recovery, and a deep calling to medicine and healing. With over 13 years in recovery myself, I bring compassion, steadiness, and trust to each family I walk beside.

This is not just my work. This is my life’s true purpose.

Close-up of a delicate pink and white flower with soft, blurred background.

My Offerings ❊

Support Tailored to Every Journey

End-of-life support is not just my work — it is my heart’s calling. Support should honor both the energy given and the accessibility every soul deserves.

Contribution

End-of-life support is not just my work — it is my heart’s calling.


My pricing varies depending on the unique needs of each family and will be thoughtfully discussed during our initial conversation.


Your contribution allows me to continue this sacred work with integrity, devotion, and love.

Accessible Care

I believe compassionate care should be accessible to all.


For those who may not have the full means, I offer a sliding scale. Together, we’ll find an exchange that feels balanced and aligned for both of us.

If you’re uncertain where you fall on the scale, please reach out — we’ll find what feels right..

Where I Serve

Offering in-person support throughout Los Angeles, Ventura, San Gabriel, Santa Barbara, and San Diego counties, as well as remote guidance through FaceTime and phone.


Wherever you are, presence and care can be shared.

From the Families I’ve Walked Beside

“Barbie, thank you for being my mom’s friend and her spiritual guide as she approached the end of her life. You helped make her transition to death, something so devastating, so beautiful. I don’t want to imagine having to go through this without your gentle support.”

Chad P.

“Mom…you guided all of us through loosing Lyon. You took the fear away and made it a really beautiful experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. And more recently you walked my wonderful mother in-law to the veil. It feels as though you were without a doubt put on this earth to do this work.”

Bella P.

“Barbie, thank you so much for helping me with my mom a couple of weeks ago. She got her “Angel Wings” that night! I’m sure due to all your love and guidance for me. I am forever indebted. Love you to pieces.”

Kathleen A.

Ceremony Philosophy

In many cultures, ceremony marks life’s beginnings and endings. In our modern world, death has too often been stripped of this sacredness. Replaced by an empty void and heavy fear.

I believe ceremony allows us to pause, to honor, and to hold grief in a container of love. It invites beauty, presence, and reverence back into the final chapter of life.

My mission is to gently and lovingly change the narrative surrounding this final right of passage and reclaim our death rites that we lost over a century ago.

Open the
Conversation

Whether you’re seeking guidance, presence, or simply someone to hold space, I would be honored to connect. Leave a few details below, and I’ll reach out soon.

barbieherron1008@gmail.com
(310) 388-7211