Ceremony is a wonderful way to bring people together, to gather with friends and family, to mark, honour and bear witness to the special and significant moments in our lives. We are free to create ceremonies in any form we wish and I encourage ceremonies that are warm, loving and inclusive, with the participation and involvement of all present. I encourage a deep heartfelt awareness of the interconnected Unity of all life and offer an Earth-based/interfaith spirituality. I have many years of experience in creating ceremonies and can help you craft the ceremony that’s right for you. This can be done over the telephone, by email or, if you are within 50 miles of my home in Derbyshire, to come and be the celebrant in person. I am also happy to advise you over the phone and help you craft your own ceremonies. I am often asked if I would do a celebrant training course and I have begun to seed this intention for the future. It will probably be a year course combining an email study course and some experiential residential weekends here in Derbyshire. Do let me have your contact details if you are interested in this and I will keep you informed. Mentoring ServiceI have had many requests over the last couple of years for me to set up a telephone and email mentoring service. I'm really enjoying this work and it supports my plans to stay more Derbyshire-based. By creating one to one sessions I can get to the immediate heart of which skills you wish to develop and create a program to suit you. We begin with an initial free session on the phone to establish what you need and then, if you wish, we can go on to formally set up our mentoring session(s), These take the form of email exchanges and telephone sessions. They may be weekly, monthly or intermittent - it's entirely up to you. The mentoring sessions give you the opportunity to ask the questions, tap into my experience and knowledge and the sessions are honed specifically to your needs. We will need to come to some arrangements to cover a cost for my time. This may take the form of an hourly fee but I am willing to work creatively and sympathetically with this. Planning ceremonies: I can help you develop your own ideas so that they will work well for specific ceremonies or provide ideas for you to work with. I can help you to facilitate an open participatory event with the utmost simplicity, with the potential for creating deep and moving connection, whether for large or small gatherings, for people of all faiths or an Earth based spiritual path, inspiring you to step into the role of celebrant. I am also happy to mentor you on any of the subjects I have written about over the years. I would like to charge £30 an hour for this service, but I am open to a sliding scale depending on your own income. As always I am willing to be flexible and open to creative exchanges that do not involve money.
There are many different ways that I can offer help and advice in the planning and preparation of ceremonies or events, such as:- Explore ideas together - starting with your ideas and creatively bring them into a workable ceremony. This can be done by meeting up, over the telephone, via email or by letter. Incorporate ideas for indoor or outdoor ceremonies. Share my own many creative ideas that can be adapted and personalised by you. Draw on ancient wisdom and the Celtic traditions of our land; to gather in circles, to mark the beginning and end of the event with an opening and closing ceremony; to honour the 5 Elements of life, Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. Include awareness of the rising energy of the Earth and Moon cycles, and include the relevant Celtic festival and its underlying energy. Adapt traditional customs, and folklore; include the healing associations and symbolic meanings of flowers, herbs, trees and other symbols that you may wish to incorporate in your ceremony. I encourage an ethical and environmental awareness in the planning, venue, food, entertainment, gifts etc connected to your event. I can teach and lead songs, chants, spiral dances and simple step dances. To provide ideas for decorations. To make ceremonial shields, banners, 5 Element poles or shields, commemorative art or craft pieces, gifts. Decorate, help decorate or hire people who will decorate any indoor or outdoor ceremonial space, create shrines and beauty using natural materials as much as possible and provide lanterns, candles, candle holders, ribbons and materials for transforming spaces. Work with you to design the invitations and produce a master copy ready for printing. Finally I will draw up all the ideas into a detailed workable plan, which can be used by you and friends or with me as the celebrant. In this role I will space clear the venue beforehand, gather the guests for the ceremony, hold ceremonial and sacred space through out the ceremony, and make sure everything runs smoothly and beautifully.
Ceremonies and rites of passage may include:- Handfasting and Marriages Blessingways – blessing the pregnancy and the baby in the womb Baby welcoming and Naming Deaths, Funerals, Memorials Any Celtic Festival or Seasonal Event Blessing a new home or land. (Includes space clearing, energizing boundaries, blessing the Elements, the ancestors and elemental beings present) Rites of passage such as menopause, puberty, divorce, letting go of the old and affirming the new Anniversaries, birthdays, adoption, step-family welcoming Personal ceremonies and rites of passage, working through grief, releasing the past, cutting the ties that bind, healing separation, affirming new intentions and directions, reconciliation, moving on, welcoming in, completion
I am happy to work with individuals, families and groups, large or small, and always encourage Love, respect, compassion and kindness, and to touch the sacred in simple and heartfelt ways. I also have a lot of experience in coordinating large events such as the Healing Areas at Glastonbury Festival and the Big Green Gathering. I have also organised and co-ordinated gatherings and camps and have led many small and large ceremonial processions, and opening and closing ceremonies for events. All of which I continue to love doing.
Every ceremony needs some structure, even if it encourages maximum spontaneity from family and friends. I aim to help you to create a ceremony that most fits what you want to achieve, and is personal to you. The first stage is to get together to brainstorm ideas, yours and mine, and then to use my experience of running ceremonies to bring your wishes, intentions and ideas into a workable ceremony. From this I will draw up a written basic plan or order of ceremony. This I will send you at least 2 weeks before the event, earlier if there is time, so that you are perfectly happy with what we have decided. Adjustments must happen at this stage and not on the day! I will take on the responsibility of the ceremonial part of the event, so that you are free to be fully engaged with the ceremony, friends and family. This would include creating sacred space and space clearing beforehand, and other scene-setting things such as lighting candles, scattering petals etc. I will take on the role of celebrant, gathering the guests and participants together, creating a clear beginning and ending to the event, and all we have decided beforehand that I will do. Especially I will make sure that the ceremony runs smoothly, with a calm inclusive atmosphere, and I will keep the focus throughout.
MY FEE: £250 a day + Travel expenses at 40p a mile
Additional services: (price negotiable) Designing print-ready invitations. Use of any of my original art work for the invitations is possible. Transforming any indoor or outdoor space using hangings, ribbons, plants, flowers and other natural materials, supplying candle lanterns, candle holders etc. I can help you choose appropriate herbs and flowers according to their traditional and spiritual significance. Creating special pieces of art or craftwork especially for the occasion. |
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