West Raleigh has a Wind Phone!
What is a Wind Phone? “A Wind Phone is a beautifully simple idea: an old-fashioned telephone, often rotary, placed in a quiet space for reflection. Inspired by the original Wind Phone created by Itaru Sasaki in Ōtsuchi, Japan, in 2010, a disconnected phone booth became a place of comfort for thousands following the 2011 tsunami. Wind Phones offer a gentle invitation to pause, remember, and speak from the heart.” https://www.mywindphone.com
The original Wind Phone was created in Japan by Itaru Sasaki as he grieved the loss of his cousin to cancer. He purchased an old-fashioned phone booth and placed it in his garden, installing an obsolete rotary phone that was not connected to wires or any “earthly system.” There, Itaru felt a continued connection to his cousin and found comfort in speaking the words carried on the wind. He named the phone booth Kaze No Denwa (風の電話), meaning “The Wind Phone.” (https://www.mywindphone.com/about-wind-phones)
What makes the West Raleigh Wind Phone unique? The West Raleigh Wind Phone is intended to provide a space to speak to a loved one who has died or with whom you have lost contact, to share whatever you are feeling, to say words you long to say or are afraid to say. We also hope the Wind Phone will serve as a place for discernment and prayer: a place to ask your deep question, express your struggle and speak your prayer, your hope or your wish.
We invite you to visit the West Raleigh Wind Phone in the Beeloved Garden:
Come and sit…
Take a few breaths…
Pick up the phone and speak…
…to a loved one who has died
…to a dear one with whom you have lost contact
…share your love, grief, frustration, anger, whatever you are feeling
…say what you long to say and what you are afraid to say
And then be still…wait…listen…
listen for the wind, listen for wisdom, listen for the Holy,
Return often: you are welcome here.
OR
Come and sit…
Take a few breaths…
Pick up the phone and be present…
…ask your deep question
…express your struggle
…speak your prayer, your hope, your wish
And then be still…wait…listen…
listen for the wind, listen for wisdom, listen for the Holy,
Return often: you are welcome here.
Having a Wind Phone at WRPC was the work of a group of teens with first-hand experience of grief. After buying several rotary phones, the group partnered with James Brown at Oak & Axe Custom Woodworking who designed, sourced and coached the teens as they built the majority of the wind phone. The West Raleigh Wind Phone was moved from the building site to its permanent site on September 5, 2026.
We are grateful for James and the Cloud of Witnesses who underwrote this project: We remember you.
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