Catherine Abbott Celebrant

01/05/2023

A cool idea for a handfasting, marriage or vow renewal, or indeed any celebration that would benefit from a clearing of the ways.

What would you include in your burnable bouquet? 💐🌿

03/06/2022

A summertime magical fantasy themed handfasting

03/06/2022

06/09/2021

✨Expected Death ~ When someone dies, the first thing to do is nothing. Don't run out and call the nurse. Don't pick up the phone. Take a deep breath and be present to the magnitude of the moment.

There's a grace to being at the bedside of someone you love as they make their transition out of this world. At the moment they take their last breath, there's an incredible sacredness in the space. The veil between the worlds opens.

We're so unprepared and untrained in how to deal with death that sometimes a kind of panic response kicks in. "They're dead!"

We knew they were going to die, so their being dead is not a surprise. It's not a problem to be solved. It's very sad, but it's not cause to panic.

If anything, their death is cause to take a deep breath, to stop, and be really present to what's happening. If you're at home, maybe put on the kettle and make a cup of tea.

Sit at the bedside and just be present to the experience in the room. What's happening for you? What might be happening for them? What other presences are here that might be supporting them on their way? Tune into all the beauty and magic.

Pausing gives your soul a chance to adjust, because no matter how prepared we are, a death is still a shock. If we kick right into "do" mode, and call 911, or call the hospice, we never get a chance to absorb the enormity of the event.

Give yourself five minutes or 10 minutes, or 15 minutes just to be. You'll never get that time back again if you don't take it now.

After that, do the smallest thing you can. Call the one person who needs to be called. Engage whatever systems need to be engaged, but engage them at the very most minimal level. Move really, really, really, slowly, because this is a period where it's easy for body and soul to get separated.

Our bodies can gallop forwards, but sometimes our souls haven't caught up. If you have an opportunity to be quiet and be present, take it. Accept and acclimatize and adjust to what's happening. Then, as the train starts rolling, and all the things that happen after a death kick in, you'll be better prepared.

You won't get a chance to catch your breath later on. You need to do it now.

Being present in the moments after death is an incredible gift to yourself, it's a gift to the people you're with, and it's a gift to the person who's just died. They're just a hair's breadth away. They're just starting their new journey in the world without a body. If you keep a calm space around their body, and in the room, they're launched in a more beautiful way. It's a service to both sides of the veil.

Credit for the beautiful words ~ Sarah Kerr, Ritual Healing Practitioner and Death Doula , Death doula
Her original video link is here ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7mG0ZAym0w

Beautiful art by Columbus Community Deathcare
Always With Love

01/05/2021

Beltane Blessings to all our friends and supporters.

On this the first day of May
We celebrate the generative force
And its powerful influence on nature
and on every living being.
it is also the time when many of us honour
the coming together of the Goddess and God.
and the blessings this joining gifts to us.

Deep within our hearts
stirs an awareness of our older souls
And a yearning to escape for a while
from the everyday mundane life
To return to the Greenwood,
just for a short time.
May we embrace that simpler time,
When we all were in tune
with the forces of nature.
And love was the generative force
That guided our footsteps

03/09/2020

This is huge! Still not time to rest on our laurels, there's more work to be done. :)

𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀? 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲?
The long awaited consultation paper from The Law Commission on weddings laws has been released today.

Read on to see how we can have our say in the final paper that will be presented to the government.

Here's our blog post about it...
https://www.paganfed.org/pagan-weddings-maybe

𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡: 𝐾𝑎𝑚 𝐴𝑏𝑏𝑜𝑡, 𝐶𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑑𝑎. 𝑈𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2.0 𝐿𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

19/07/2020

As regulations in England are relaxed, it's worth noting that the guidelines for Wales are different. Here is a link to the most recent guidelines for the safe use of places of worship. This impacts public rituals, handfastings, namings, funerals and other acts of public ceremony.
https://gov.wales/guidance-reopening-places-worship-coronavirus-html

Guidance for managing the safe re-opening of places of worship and prayer during the coronavirus pandemic.

21/06/2020

https://pandorasjar.org/practical-katabasis?fbclid=IwAR2p0BXn4G6lUno6jTJ8ZffjNRfFQDDeKiT4vC6S0faV1KtxrYmpk9Bp83c

27/04/2020

I know that many folk are disappointed that weddings and handfastings have been postponed or cancelled recently.

As a special service, I would be happy to write a unique handfasting service for you to perform by yourselves. Please feel free to PM me for details.

12/01/2020

12/01/2020

12/01/2020

12/01/2020

12/01/2020