Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Apples and Honey,



Apples and Honey

In these days when the earth opens a New Year
An apple spins on the Book of Life
While Fukushima spills death into the sea
And Syria's children continue to suffer

I will do my part for making things whole
Cast the crumbs of my named misdeeds
Into the currents of conscience and forgiveness
Small offerings from the loaf of accumulated days



Later I will set on the table
A bowl of apples
A knife
A plate with honey poured on



While the roundness of the year
Passes through our endings and beginnings
I will invite family and friends
To rest a while

We will cut wedges from the apples
Dip them in honey
Sink our teeth through
Smooth skin to crisp flesh

And wait for the honey
To mix with the tartness on our tongues

So that for the time being we will know

The world still has sweetness for us to savor.



-Dina Stander





“In my Celebrant work I have discovered purpose and genuine service. I am always learning, from the families and communities I work with and from the life stories and spirit of the loved ones we honor.”   - Dina Stander

http://www.dinastander.com/Welcome.html  




Tuesday, September 19, 2017

The Celebrant Troubadour: Poet - Trees

The Celebrant Troubadour: Poet - Trees: By Sheri Reda Nature, they say, abhors a vacuum—which may be why we fill the space between us with communications of all kinds. ...

Poet - Trees




By Sheri Reda

Nature, they say, abhors a vacuum—which may be why we fill the space between us with communications of all kinds. During busy times, we email, post, text, and tweet and are surprised when we look up and see a flesh-and-blood face. Poetry posts are a way to combine human connection and a connection with nature. They are like those real estate signs that hold listing sheets, except that instead of listings, they hold and display poems, quotes, or words of wisdom. They range in complexity from imitation trail markers to unprotected pages attached to trees, which turns trees into—yes—poet-trees.
MATERIALS
• Materials for posting, such as a length of string or a pre–built box
• Statement, wish, quote, or poem honoring nature
• Tree or lamppost
• Unbleached paper
PREPARATION
Find a quote or poem that honors nature and may inspire human beings. Print it out or copy it by hand and live with it for a week to make sure it speaks to you in a variety of moods. Then consider the kind of experience you want to offer.

• Do you want to post a single page that people come to see, or a product people can take with them? Will your posting be ephemeral—designed to wear away over time—or encased in a permanent or semi-permanent home?

• Be sure that laws or regulations permit you to post materials in your chosen spot. Your own parkway or lawn may be the best spot for a posting; city and parkland kiosks can work, too.
POST
Set an intention, post your material, then become the first reader to read the post aloud. Let the sound steep the area with good intentions.

THE CLOSING
Ceremonies and rituals are all about making words and intentions come alive. By posting them to share with friends and strangers alike, you invite ceremony and an appreciation for nature into everyone’s life, and you contribute to a truly social form of media.


~~~~~
Reda, Sheri  "Poet-Trees" originally published in Life-Cycle Ceremonies a Handbook for Your Whole Life 41-42



SHERI REDA is a Life-Cycle Celebrant® with certification in Weddings, Funerals, Ceremonies Across the Life Cycle, and Ceremonies for Healing. She and her husband live in Chicago with the younger of their two great kids. Sheri can be reached by email at sheri.a.reda@gmail.com or through her website, www.flowceremonies.com.



How do you commemorate momentous events? Memorialize people who have shaped you? Draw support from those you hold dear? This primer offers methods for honoring the special occasions in your life with humor and grace. Its ceremonies help ground each day in the wholeness that supports our entire lives. Each ceremony has been vetted by a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® affiliated with the Celebrant Foundation and Institute, which offers training and support for celebrants worldwide. Visit us at www.celebrantInstitute.org.












Please direct all request, comment or concerns about our CF&I Blog to our 
Social Media Manager ~ Marcia Almeida, Master Life-Cycle Celebrant. at  celebrantsocialmedia@gmail.com    
Or to the Celebrant Foundation & Institute’s director, Charlotte Eulette at: charlotteeulette@celebrantinstitute.org 
call us at (973)746-1792.  
Visit us at http://www.celebrantinstitute.org/?p=business

Monday, September 18, 2017

The Celebrant Troubadour: “September Is A Month For Remembering”

The Celebrant Troubadour: “September Is A Month For Remembering”: “September Is A Month For Remembering” By Elaine Voci, Life Cycle Celebrant September is a wonderful month with cooler tem...

Become a Life-Cycle Celebrant



Welcome to the Celebrant Foundation and Institute! We are the preeminent, global online institute teaching and certifying people to be a Life-Cycle Celebrant who are modern day personalized ceremony professionals.
We Provide Courses for these Ceremonies:
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The Celebrant Institute & Foundation offers lively, enriching, educational programs taught via our state-of-the-art, live, real-time, online distance learning teacher-to-student, Web-based classes.
Beacome-a-certified-celebrantBeing a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant is a viable and satisfying profession. It is a new occupation that has been hailed in the media as a top new profession. Full or part time, our Celebrants enjoy the freedom to be self-employed.
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Tuesday, September 5, 2017

“September Is A Month For Remembering”

“September Is A Month For Remembering”
By Elaine Voci, Life Cycle Celebrant

September is a wonderful month with cooler temperatures that are pleasing, and, for many of us, with fond memories of going back to school with a new lunchbox, a new back pack, and a fresh chance to learn new things.  It is also a month with two special holidays that involve remembering: Native American Day, and Grandparents Day.

Since 1968, when Governor Ronald Reagan signed a resolution, the fourth Friday in September has been a holiday dedicated to honoring and celebrating Native Americans, the Native American culture and the contributions that Native Americans have made to the United States. 
On this special day cultural events are held, such as pow wows, to celebrate our indigenous Americans with dancing, music, singing, and socializing at markets that feature special foods and conversations that help us all remember the contributions of our earliest settlers.  Where I live, our native arts museum hosts a special day with food, music, tribal dancing and ceremonial garb worn by native Americans who live in this area to mark Native American Day.  There’s always a good turnout and many people tour the museum as part of the day’s festivities, some for the first time.  It seems there is always something new to be experienced and to learn about the people who lived in this area before it was settled during the migrations of citizens from the East Coast.

Do Something Grand It was President Jimmy Carter who began National Grandparents Day by presidential proclamation in 1978; Congress passed legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as the day for annually remembering and acknowledging their many contributions to American culture.

In his presidential proclamations, President Obama called on Americans to “honor those who have helped shape the character of our Nation, and thank these role models for their immeasurable acts of love, care and understanding.”  An organization called Generations United urges grandparents and older adults to share their wisdom, perspectives and key civic values with young people on this annual day of remembering grandparents.  Their slogan is “Celebrate Grandparents Day by committing to do Something Grand!”

Although my own grandparents are deceased, I enjoy some of the activities in our community that mark this Sunday such as a fitness run for seniors, various parties and celebrations in local assisted living centers that are open to the public, and the public library events during the month of September that focus on story-telling, and reading books about some famous grandparents and some that well known only among their families.  When my grandkids were young and in pre-school, they often drew pictures and created art that featured me as the centerpiece of their efforts as a grandparent they knew and loved.  I saved this precious art to return to them one day when they are grown. 

This year, I have chosen to participate in National Grandparents Day by donating time as a volunteer at the local library reading to pre-schoolers.  Not all the children have grandparents nearby, and some may have grandparents who are deceased, so for a few hours I will be with them as a representative grandparent. I will do my best to make it fun, and I am certain I will enjoy sharing stories with them that help bridge our generations.  It will make me feel grand inside and I hope it will help them remember their elders fondly.







Elaine Voci is a life coach in private practice in Carmel, IN and a graduate of the Celebrant  Foundation & Institute .   Elaine is the Editor of the Celebrant Blog for the Celebrant Foundation & Institute.
https://www.ebookit.com/tools/pd/Bo/eBookIt/booktitle-Soul-Sketches--How-to-Craft-Meaningful-and-Authentic-Eulogies. 






Life-Cycle Ceremonies: A Handbook for Your Whole Life 


How do you commemorate momentous events? Memorialize people who have shaped you? Draw support from those you hold dear? This primer offers methods for honoring the special occasions in your life with humor and grace. Its ceremonies help ground each day in the wholeness that supports our entire lives. Each ceremony has been vetted by a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® affiliated with the Celebrant Foundation and Institute, which offers training and support for celebrants worldwide. Visit us at www.celebrantInstitute.org.








Please direct all request, comment or concerns about our CF&I Blog to our 
Social Media Manager ~ Marcia Almeida, Master Life-Cycle Celebrant. at  celebrantsocialmedia@gmail.com    
Or to the Celebrant Foundation & Institute’s director, Charlotte Eulette at: charlotteeulette@celebrantinstitute.org 
call us at (973)746-1792.  
Visit us at http://www.celebrantinstitute.org/?p=business





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