Coming of Age - Life Celebrations
OFFICIATED BY Linda Knodle, minister
I am available as a consultant, planner, co-creator and officiate for house blessings, newborn blessings, puberty rites of passage, blessing ways, marriages and more. See below.
Celebrate Change, Uniqueness and Individual Gifts
Rites of Passage can provide the celebrant experiences of separation, challenge, education, acknowledgement, love, acceptance, community and culture. Significant passages experienced by most humans are: birth into the earthly life, puberty, adult to elder and death into the spiritual living. Prominent opportunities for ceremonial rites of passage include births, adoptions, puberty, marriage, divorce, croning, grandmother-grandfather, and elder celebrations. Rites of passage and celebrations at birth, puberty, elder-hood and death are essential. (see Rites of Passage Workbook, Creating Ritual and Ceremony)
Adults Celebrating Youth
Acknowledging the Transition between Childhood and Adolescence
When the physical signs of puberty begin to manifest, increased intellectual capabilities also become gradually available. The feeling (soul) life is now conscious and becomes and more stimulated. During adolescence, the big questions of life begin to surface and the adventure of becoming an individual personality begins. Experiencing this period of time during pubescence and adolescence brings a conscious metamorphosis for each human being. If family and/or community do not acknowledge these changes, the youth will provide their own initiation into adulthood. This is the exact time for a rite of passage celebration that educates, honors, initiates and celebrates youth becoming adults.
Croning or Grandmother Ceremonies
Croning, elder woman ceremonies or a celebration of age are important not only for women but for society as well. Perhaps on a 60th birthday, during the ceremony, she may recall all her accomplishments of life and be initiated into the wisdom phase of life. This honoring is ultimately important because this initiation hails in the last phase of life. One of the greatest self-rewarding adventures in life is to know that in her elder years she has contributed to society and that her wisdom has been shared with her family and community.
Sometimes we think only of birth, puberty, fertility and finally menopause as a woman’ life. With the age ceremony women begin the last phase of the circle of life (child, maiden, woman (mother), elder) as a wise woman I believe that what the elder women give to their children and community, in return, they will learn to give back to the next generation. Her wisdom will carry on and therefore even if her name is no longer spoken, the things that she stood for will carry on. That’s a great sense of peace and satisfaction for her.
Celebrating a Loved One
Over the past two years I have and continue to research our North American culture’s relationship to dying and death. I am a hospice volunteer, a founding member of the National Home Funeral Alliance and a certified death midwife.
What is a death midwife you might ask? The answer is very different depending on whom you ask. This is true of birth midwives and doulas. Each individual will explain their relationship to their title and services they provide.
At present, this is the definition of the services I could provide as a death midwife.
Provides education about the choices available to all of us at death; comparing the costs of products and services of a funeral home vs. home funeral, comparing the experiences of the family in a funeral home setting vs. a home setting. Share the purpose and process of embalming and not embalming. Discussing the grief process. Comparing the ecological impacts of burial cites and cremation with green burial.
Meet with individuals, couples, families to create pre-planning documents for the event of death: the will, medical directives, financial directives, and disposition of the body statement, what kind of memorial service, burial or cremation.
If the individual wants to die at home, create palliative care plan.
Supporting families to fulfill the wishes of the departed as stated in the pre-planning documents.
Facilitating bringing our loved ones home for the rituals around death.
Supporting and guiding families to care for the departed, washing, dressing, ceremony, ritual, etc.
Holding the vigil, creating a sacred space for grieving, honoring and story telling of the departed loved one.
Taking care of ail the legal documents post death.
Facilitate transportation of the loved one.
Communicate with funeral home or crematorium if the family wishes.
I have completed all my pre-planning documents, have you?
Because laws vary concerning the departed, I would be happy to give referrals to other women providing this service in your country or state.
