CEREMONIES

I recently attended friends Memorial Service. My friend had struggled with Breast Cancer for over 3 years and graciously and courageously faced death. The Memorial Service was written and created by her before she died. It was so beautiful. She had a partner and two young daughters and the service was designed for them. It was held in a park and a friend conducted the service, we honored and remembered her. There was a photo board full of photos. We were asked to write a blessing for her, which was then attached to a balloon and released. We were also asked to write positive statements for her children which were placed on a wishing tree and which would then be given to each of her girls for their memory boxes. There was no coffin as she had chosen to have an unaccompanied cremation. The Memorial Service was then followed by a Wake.It was truly a celebration of her life and we were all given a postcard with a collage of photos of her to take home for our own Memory boxes.I wanted to share this story as it highlights some simple things that we can do to create a beautiful Ceremony. It was a very child friendly service and inclusive of the children which was wonderful.I wasn’t sure what to do as a gift for the family so my daughter and I made little gift bags for the two girls with little worry dolls, candles, tea light lanterns, a rose quartz gemstone and a beautiful angel to place somewhere special.

BOOK REVIEWS

COMING TO REST:A GUIDE TO CARING FOR OUR OWN DEAD by Julie Wiskind and Richard Spiegal.
This book is a great book...very simply written and structured and has some wonderful checklists to help people get organised if a death is impending. It is an American based book and the laws relate to USA only.

SACRED DYING: CREATING RITUALS FOR EMBRACING THE END OF LIFE by Megory Anderson.
I love this book...Megory talks about her experiences as a Death Doula, vigiling with dying people in either their home or hospital/hospice. She talks about how important it is to create a sacred space for the person who is dying and creating rituals to assist them in their process. These rituals are to help them resolve issues that are preventing them from letting go and dying. Other rituals are designed to help the person move easily through the dying process. Her focus is always on the dying persons needs and attending to the spiritual aspects of dying, recognising their beliefs and honouring these. It is a very easy to read book and her personal experiences are inspiring.

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE.

The main theme in my life thus far has been the birth, life, death, rebirth cycle or the circle of life. It has created and moulded my life experiences and is a big part of who I am. It is these experiences which have led me to creating this blog and all that I will express within it. Grief has become a very familiar and old friend, one that I know intrinsically. It is from this place that I have developed a desire to find out more about how we can care for our dying in a more natural way and reclaim the process of tending to the dead. Thus,placing that role back into the family and the community, with a vision of creating a more healing and enriching experience for all involved.
I have been a strong advocate for home birth and birthed all of my children at home. This experience has been profound for myself, my family and community.I now believe that the essence of the home birth experience could be infused into the experience of death.Both of these experiences are rites of passage that transform us. They are times when we enter the veil and walk between the worlds...when we are stripped of all of our masks and reborn into a new form.

"Here is the circle of rebirth.Through You all passes out of life, but through Me all may be reborn again. Everything passes; everything changes. Even death is not eternal. Mine is the mystery of the womb, that is the cauldron of rebirth. Enter into Me and know Me, and You will be free of all fear. For as life is but a journey into death, so death is but a passage back to life, and in Me the circle is ever turning." (STARHAWK, 'The Spiral Dance'19