A few weeks ago, I went on a funeral field trip to The Netherlands. I was curious to learn more about the funeral practices in my home country. The Dutch are well known for the relaxed, personal and innovative way of dealing with their dead. What can de UK funeral world learn from their neighbours?[…]
The world is in despair. But there’s a cure: rituals. Find out how four ritual super powers will save the world. Community Ritual North London, June 2016 2016 has been a turbulent year and many people are concerned about what will happen in 2017. The world is shivering. Brexit and Trump have been no[…]
Recently, I watched the film ‘Departures’, a 2008 Japanese drama by director Jōhirō Takita. The film is about a young man (Daigo Kobayashi) who, after a failed career as a cellist, stumbles across work as a nōkanshi, a traditional Japanese ritual mortician. Daigo’s work is to prepare bodies for cremation in a ceremony called encoffinment.[…]
One of the most precious things of being a celebrant is learning a lot about the richness of rituals and ceremonies from all over the world. As an independent celebrant, I deliver ceremonies for people from all kinds of backgrounds: secular, religious and interfaith. My starting point is always with the people I meet and[…]
Preparing your wedding can be an extremely stressful experience. For almost one in four men (23%), it’s the most stressful thing they have ever done, compared to one in six women (16%). There is a whole list of things to decide on. What venue? Who to invite? How to make sure that everybody is going[…]