"Here, then, is another rule about the soul: it is affected by symbol, ritual and image. None of this has to be understood or registered intellectually. It is enough to experience the transition."
Thomas Moore
“This is what rituals are for. We do spiritual ceremonies as human beings in order to create a safe resting place for our most complicated feelings of joy or trauma, so that we don't have to haul those feelings around with us forever, weighing us down. We all need such places of ritual safekeeping. And I do believe that if your culture or tradition doesn't have the specific ritual you are craving, then you are absolutely permitted to make up a ceremony of your own devising, fixing your own broken-down emotional systems with all the do-it-yourself resourcefulness of a generous plumber/poet.”
Elizabeth Gilbert, Author of Eat, Pray, Love
Crafting the rituals we need
As a celebrant, my job is to work with those who require a ritual to create something that will be both personal and powerful for them. As a starting point I offer a template which you can modify to include your own ideas, symbols and readings. My approach is fluid, flexible and interested in your life journey.
As the opening quotation suggests, ceremony can be used in many ways. Some of the most commonly celebrated are:
- Baby-namings
- Age of reason ceremonies: for children around the age of 8, moving from early childhood into another stage of maturity
- Greenings: for children moving into adolescence
- Handfastings/weddings: I am licensed to perform legal weddings but also offer non-legal ceremonies
- Renewal of vows/commitment celebrations: for those already married who wish to celebrate their love and commitment for each other
- Cronings: for women entering into the wisdom phase of their lives
- Funerals or memorials
However, this lists by no means exhausts the possibilities for using ritual in your life.
The venue is your choice. The ceremony can be outdoors in the wild, at a hotel, in my own Druid grove at Three Castles or other suitable location.
You can contact me using the form on the Contact Us page of this website, or Tel: +353567767142
