Telephone call to the afterlife with the “wind telephone” at the foot of the Jura
Published: Friday, Dec 29th 2023, 12:10
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A phone call to the afterlife to speak to the deceased: With the "wind telephone" in Villars-Burquin VD above Grandson, 50 bereaved people have already done just that. The bright, glazed wooden cabin has been standing at the foot of the Jura mountains since May.
At number 20 Chemin de Poéty, the booth stands on a wooden platform in a corner of the huge garden of Patrick Genaine, a specialist in bereavement counseling, far from his house. Surrounded by trees, plants, bushes and flowers, the telephone booth offers a panoramic view of southern Lake Neuchâtel and the Alps from Moléson to Mont-Blanc.
It is simple and elegant, made of wood and largely glazed. Inside there are two old telephones without plugs on a small wall table, two stools, a notebook, a pen and two instruction manuals, one for the little ones and one for the grown-ups.
A Japanese story
The "wind telephone" is a simple, intimate and poetic way of talking to the afterlife and helping children and adults in the event of bereavement. In Japan, talking to the deceased has a long tradition in the context of ancestor worship and Buddhism. It is usually practiced at home altars.
"When I was reading a book by a French sociologist living in Japan, I came across ten short lines in which the story of Itaru Sasaki's telephone box is mentioned," said Genaine, the keeper of the place, in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. He built his telephone box himself within three months.
Back in 2010, Japanese garden architect Sasaki decided to install an old telephone box that he had rescued from a demolished shopping center in his garden.
The installation helped him to accept the loss of a loved one and to cope better with the painful event. As Sasaki believed that the wind carried his words to his cousin, he named his cabin "Kaze no Denwa" ("wind telephone").
A year later, Sasaki decided to open his cabin to the public after the tsunami and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
An emotional door
But although a Japanese person invented the concept, it is not a uniquely Japanese tradition or ritual per se, Genaine said. "It could have happened anywhere else in the world." According to him, there are three "wind telephones" in Japan and around a hundred worldwide. In Switzerland, there is only one wind telephone.
"Because of my training and background, I immediately sensed the potential of this cabin. It was so obvious," says Genaine. Something happens in the cabin, you can let your thoughts run free. "Emotions and memories can be released, an emotional door can open if something is still stuck."
Genaine estimates that around 50 people have used the phone since it opened on May 15 - taking into account the words left in the notebook. The establishment's Facebook account has more than 1,200 friends to date.
Use of the "wind telephone" is free of charge and the cabin is open all year round, daily between 2.00 and 7.00 pm. It is not necessary to make an appointment. You can come alone, as a couple or with the family. And it is also possible to meet and chat with the "guardian of the place".
©Keystone/SDA
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