Home vigils and healing
Accepting loss as part of life
Being death positive
Death is natural
Accepting loss
The grieving process
When the body of our beloved is not taken from us before we feel ready, a profound healing of grief and loss is able to manifest. Many people experience a profound inner transformation and are able to let go of the physical attachment in the sacred space created in a Home Vigil.
There is a magical 3 day window that occurs after a death that allows great healing to occur. When we have the opportunity to be fully present, we are able to begin the transition into processing grief. Emotions, memories and regrets that were not there in the immediate aftermath of death, are able to surface over this time, and we begin to heal.
Inevitably, there comes the moment when family say they feel ready to allow the body of their beloved to move on to the next stage of their final earthly journey.
They may notice the energy change around the deceased over this time, the life force gradually depleting from the body. People come to feel ready to allow their loved one to re-join their original nature in the arms of the Earth.
This is the time for farewell, a funeral or blessing before final disposition of the body.
A Vigil may include any number of the following experiences:
- Candles or soft lighting, music and scent
- Washing and anointing of the body with traditional combination of pure essential oils
- Prayer and song or chant
- Dressing and laying the body in Honour
- Space for grief, love and all deep emotion
- Feasting, merrymaking and celebration of a life lived and loved
- Visiting of family, friends and community
- Children at play around the deceased
- A time for creating - art/craft specific to the deceased or to marking the transition
- Laughing and crying and honouring
- Shrouding
- Playing of instruments and live music
- Personal or religious customs and ceremony
- Private or public blessing ritual
- Final private communion and goodbye to the beloved
