The grief cards
Grief Companion Cards
Your supportive friend in your pocket
52 illustrated cards, a guidebook and a magnetic keepsake box. Each card pairs a gentle illustration with one sentence to hold on to, and a reflection on the back to stay with a little longer.
Top: the fronts. Bottom: the backs of the same four cards.
How a card is built
Image, sentence and reflection
1
The illustration
Soft, dreamy images from nature: a tree, a rose, a forest after fire. The image often speaks before you read a word.
2
The key sentence
One short sentence at the bottom of the front. Easy to remember and to carry with you through the day.
3
The back
De titel, de thema’s van de kaart en een korte reflectietekst die de zin verder uitwerkt.
4
The colour
Each card belongs to one of the seven colours, and so to a stage of grief.
From the deck
Four cards to get to know the deck
Four sentences from the deck, each with a short note on what it holds.
Even a broken branch can hold you
Even what feels broken can still carry you.
Grief may give you thorns, but your beauty remains
Grief can harden parts of you, yet who you are stays whole.
The forest grows after fire
Loss also clears the ground for something new to grow.
Grief is love finding its way
Your sorrow is not the absence of love, but its persistence.
The colour code
Seven stages of grief, seven colours
The 52 cards are divided into seven stages of grief, each with its own colour. For each stage you can read how it may feel and how the cards in that colour can help.
1
Lavender
Feeling and releasing pain
Grief can move through you like a storm: shock, tears, anger. All of it is allowed.
These cards give your pain a place and help you let it flow, without blame.
2
Sky blue
Resting and being with what is
Sometimes everything seems to stand still. You have little energy and want to withdraw.
These cards remind you that rest is allowed, and that some days surviving is enough.
3
Light blue
Roots, connection and support
Loss can feel like standing alone, just when you need something to hold on to.
These cards show the bonds that remain: with your loved one, with others and with what you carry within you.
4
Turquoise
Holding contradictions and finding perspective
Sorrow and joy, longing and gratitude get tangled. The path still feels misty.
These cards help you hold both and make room for a new way of seeing.
5
Warm yellow
Light returning, self-compassion and hope
Little by little, softness returns: a smile, a quiet moment.
These cards help you notice small moments of light and be gentle with yourself.
6
Pastel pink
Growth, renewal and meaning
Something new grows from the loss. You carry your loved one into who you are becoming.
These cards speak of growth, new meaning and the love that continues in you.
7
Soft pink
Mystery, the unseen and enduring love
What you can no longer see, you can still feel. Grief turns out to be love finding its way.
These cards make room for the unseen and for the bond that endures.
Grief is not a staircase
Niemand doorloopt de fasen netjes van 1 tot 7. Je kunt terugvallen, fasen overslaan of op één dag meerdere kleuren voelen. Kies gerust de kleur die vandaag past, ook als die “terug” lijkt.
How to use
How to use the cards
There is no right or wrong way. These steps help you get started.
I am grieving
I am supporting someone
Choose a quiet moment
Een kop thee ’s ochtends, een plek bij het raam, even voor het slapengaan. Vijf minuten is genoeg.
Draw a card, or choose a colour
Draw a card at random and see what comes. Or ask yourself: which colour am I in today? Then choose a card from that colour.
Look at the image first
Take time for the illustration before you read the sentence. What do you notice? What do you feel?
Read the sentence, then turn it over
Read the key sentence a few times. Then quietly read the text on the back.
Let it settle
What touches you? Write down a few words, or simply let it be. Tears are welcome.
Take the card with you
Put it on your bedside table, slip it in your bag or take a photo of it. The sentence can carry you through the rest of the day.
A card doesn't fit?
Put it back and draw another one. You don't have to feel anything you don't feel.
Offer the cards, don't insist
Vraag of de ander er zin in heeft. “Ik heb kaarten meegebracht, wil je er eens naar kijken?” Een nee is ook goed.
Let them choose
Drawing at random or choosing a colour on purpose: the choice belongs to the person who is grieving.
Look and read together
Look at the illustration together. Read the sentence aloud, or let them do it.
Listen more than you talk
Stel een open vraag: “Wat zie je?” of “Wat raakt je hier?” Geef geen advies en vergelijk niet met je eigen verlies.
Allow the silence
Silence is not a problem to solve. Sometimes sitting quietly together with a card is the conversation.
Close gently
Let them keep the card if they want to. You might agree to do it again.
When to look for extra help?
If someone stays stuck for months, can no longer function or remains very low, encourage them to talk to their GP or a grief therapist. In Belgium, anyone with thoughts of death can call the Suicide Line on 1813, anonymously and free of charge.
The box opens like a book, keeping the cards safe.