Other ceremonies

There are lots of reasons to hold a ceremony, funerals aside, and I can help you with many other forms of memorial and celebration, from marking the death of a much loved pet, to life changes such as the end of a relationship, divorce, children leaving home, a career shift, and so much more.

Marking these transitions can be helpful in processing the shift, particularly when the change was unexpected, sudden, or felt out of your control. Holding a ceremony to mark it can bring things back into your control to some degree and help you move through the situation with more ease. A ceremony or ritual can be especially helpful if you feel like there is something missing, whether the funeral didn’t go exactly to plan or there was no official recognition of an event which feels significant to you, regardless of whether other people feel that way or not.

This could be as simple as lighting a candle in front of a photograph or reading a poem aloud in an empty room, or as elaborate as time, energy, and money allow. Some examples I’ve been involved with are a birthday party for my baby who died 25 years previously, and a funeral held for the closure of a university course (pictured here), complete with coffin and a flash mob (sadly not pictured).

You might be looking for ceremony and ritual pre-death: a living funeral, perhaps, where you get to hear how your family and friends feel about you, or maybe a way to mark the transition to hospice or end of life care, some acknowledgment of the many losses along the way to death, or something else.

I can advise, hold space for ideas, make suggestions, and host/compere/lead/facilitate at the occasion as required, so get in touch for a no-obligation chat about your options.