Reclaiming the lost art and healing ritual of a home funeral

“I absolutely knew that an at-home funeral was the way I wanted to honor my Dad and to begin the healing process for myself and my family. But knowing that I wanted to care for his body and have his funeral at my home and knowing HOW to DO it were two very different things. Once Dad passed, your gentle ways of teaching us each step of the way made me feel so safe. My 22-year-old son, who adored his grandfather, was not entirely sure what the process would be like, but he quickly put his trust in you. You guided us both through such a beautiful experience. Your kindness and your wisdom empowered us to do just exactly what we needed to do at just the right pace.

Bless you for the beautiful experience you helped us to have and bless you for the work you do. Thank you!”  Kathy S.
 

“I feel so blessed to have found Sacred Crossings, and created a home funeral for my beloved husband of 41 years. It definitely was a ‘family undertaking’ with a Grace all its own. To this day I can only use the word “magical”, not unlike the moment of birth itself. I can’t imagine having done otherwise.”  Mary M


“My sister’s home funeral was a profoundly moving experience. By having her body at home and taking care of her myself, I was able to find deep healing and closure which I don’t believe would have happened were she taken away by strangers.”  Diane K


“Everyone who came to see my husband as he laid in honor in our living room was profoundly moved by the experience. It is a shame that this special time has been taken from our culture. Caring for a body after death is the ultimate gesture of love and kindness. I will always be grateful to Sacred Crossings for making this possible.”  
Susan E


“Having Dad’s wake at home, with his body present, brought our whole family together. We really celebrated, and I know he was happy to be amongst us. Thank you!”  Kathy P


“Having a home funeral with Olivia gave us an inexpressible gift that I will cherish for the rest of my life. When our baby died at birth, it was the most shocking hit to my world – everything during the pregnancy and the labour had gone so beautifully. My midwife had looked at me during a low moment of prodromal labor, and told me “you will be holding your baby within 24 hours!” It was hard for me as a preparing first time mother to imagine what it would be like to hold ‘my’ baby – it seemed so intangible. As it was, I only got to hold him hours after he was born, when the doctors said there was nothing more they could do. Holding him was the most beautiful and exquisitely painful experience, because finally i could see that he was really there, but I wouldn’t be able to keep him. Then they had to take him away to the coroner. Letting him out of my sight, and my arms felt so utterly wrong.

So in the days that followed, when Olivia offered to come and give Darrius a home funeral, it felt like the only right thing to do. With her help we navigated the world of crematoriums and how to bring him home, and ensure that he didn’t have to have an autopsy. I will never be able to put into words how her presence, so peaceful, comforting and reassuring enabled us to make this one of the most beautiful experiences imaginable. As a family we prepared his body for the service, and anointed him with myrrh and frankincense and dressed him. I had never been so close and intimate with death, and never even really thought about it tangibly, but with this new world we found ourselves in, I realized there was no fear… only profound love and the strength given by all our family, friends and loved ones. We were encapsulated in prayers and grace during those days, and when it came to the actual service all that was magnified times a million.

We would never have imagined that such a short life; 9 months inside my tummy, could impact so many lives. Olivia suggested that everyone could make a prayer flag for him, and in this way everyone was able to express their feelings and wishes, in a way that brought color and sacredness, and healing… in the days that followed we were able to read them all and feel the depth of love that surrounded Darrius and which he brought to us all.

Livvi helped us to do everything we could have done to send our son in peace and with our blessings and love. We formed the beginning and the end of the circle around him, and in a way that we have no regrets; nothing was left undone, and even though I still feel his loss as much as I did that first moment, I have peace, because everything we did with and for him was of love and sacredness. The value of that is beyond words, a treasure I can recall every time I remember that very special day.

If there were ever a perfection attainable to being there and yet not being there, of guiding and yet standing back, of choreographing something on seen and unseen levels, so that grace is present, then Olivia has attained that.”   Emma Rigge

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