FUNERALS & FAREWELLS

HOW IT WORKS

If you have a loved one who has passed away and you are responsible for arranging the farewell, you can contact the celebrant directly. If you have already engaged a funeral arranger, you can pass the details of your chosen celebrant on to them.

If you have a loved one who has not yet passed but is palliative (close to death), they can contribute to arrangements by offering their preferences. This makes decisions easier for those they leave behind. Your celebrant can also work with your loved one whilst they are dying, to arrange their impending farewell.

Relative to the law, the main decision needed by Australian Law is whether the deceased will be buried or cremated. From there the options can be simple or plentiful, your choice.

PREPARING A CEREMONY

The celebrant is there to guide you through the process. Funeral and farewell ceremonies have no legal components so are 100% personalised. Grief is complex and individualised so getting contributions from the appropriate people can be tricky. There are also several traditions from cultures and communities all over the world with different rituals available. Funeral and farewell ceremonies serve to give respect to the end of one's life and to support the grieving process.

Below are just a few beliefs or rituals from different cultures and communities. These can be used during ceremony and/or after ceremony (at a wake). Remember, you are in control of all decisions yet have all the support you need from your celebrant.

Music & Song

Music can support and regulate emotions during times of loss, whilst singing, particularly in unison, offers powerful emotional benefits. Sharing the person's favourite music can also provide common ground for sharing stories.

Sorry Business

First Nations People in Australia are part of communities. Death is known as sorry business and is a community-wide approach, each individual with their own part to take depending on their place in the community and in the deceased's life.

Surfer's Paddle Out

Fellow surfer's will paddle out to deceased person's favourite surfing place, to create a circle and say their farewell.

Animal Connections

When humans pass, pets also grieve. Involving pets in ceremonial activities can support both the pets and others grieving for the pets' owner.

Final Words

Encouraging mourners to write down or draw their feelings can be a great way to help them grieve. They can then leave their papers with the deceased, take them home or share them with other mourners.

Tree Planting

Plant a tree in the name of the deceased, as part of the ceremony. Following, those at the farewell are invited to visit and help care for the tree as time continues to pass. This is a great way to involve children and help ground mourners.

Green Burials

Using a cardboard coffin or wrapping the deceased in biodegradable cloth without embalming. Not only is this better for the environment and costs less, it allows people to mourn together, sharing their memories as they write, draw and decorate with their chosen colours and materials. Also a wonderful way for young people to be involved in a process which is often kept taboo.

Tree Burial

Burial at a natural burial ground, with a newly planted tree or cremating and using the ashes to support the environment such as developing reefs are just two more examples of natural burial choices.

PH: 0419 300 863
PO Box 649 Altona, Vic 3018
Ceremonies@SunshineOfYourLove.com.au

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