Barbara Densmore, Professional Celebrant

“No Service by Request”

July 26, 2011

This is a thoughtful article, from yesterday's Huffington Post. I will add the content here, in case the link ultimatley disappears. In the meantime, if you want to read the article (and the comments) on-line, click here to access. In the discussion, it became clear to me that there is a real pushback against the [...]

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A True Father’s Day Gift

June 16, 2011

From Write Daniel Asa Rose comes a wonderful way to honour Dad. And a true gift for both the sender AND the receiver….. Letter to a Father Before He Dare Die on Us Dear Dad –  Don’t you dare die. Ever. You’re only 88 and your four middle-aged children need you around as much as [...]

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Natural Dying event June 24-26

May 31, 2011

Don Morris, the Canadian Director for the Green Burial Council of Canada has moved to Vancouver Island…which kind of makes sense, given the growing interest in natural death of Vancouver Islanders. The cutting-edge O.U.R. Eco Village in Shawnigan Lake is becoming more involved in natural death as part of their mandate for sustainability. And the [...]

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A Salty Tale

May 23, 2011

I’m unpacking my stuff from a wedding over the weekend. One of the most genuine weddings I have ever performed. Creating the ceremony was an interesting process. While most of the ceremony came together easily (I love couples who answer the questions intentionally, and with more than a single sentence), it was the ritual that [...]

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An Old Twist on Valentine’s Day

February 11, 2011

Here comes Valentines’ Day, and with it, the media’s messages about how it “should” be celebrated. I wonder how St Valentine would respond, were he alive today. A few versions of his story exist, I particularly like this one: Valentine was a priest under Emperor Claudius’ rule in third century Rome. The Emperor decreed that [...]

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Handfasting 101

November 16, 2010

I’m in the midst of designing a handfasting ritual for a lovely couple who asked me to describe the photo on my site, and then said: “We want that!” Handfasting, for many people, popped onto the radar thanks to the 1995 movie Braveheart. In actual fact, it is perhaps one of the oldest wedding traditions. [...]

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Abbey, meet God

September 7, 2010

A wonderful little story I received today. Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God [...]

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A Camp Wedding? How…’camp’!

August 13, 2010

In the USA, it’s estimated that 1 in 8 weddings are destination weddings. While exotic locales have their cachet, in some cases your guest list may be shorter than you wish. Aunt Effie may be unnerved at the idea of staying at a fancy-schmantzy resort. Brother Earl may not be able to take get a [...]

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Get Low: living funeral on film

August 9, 2010

The recently opened (and fabulous) movie “Get Low”, is based loosely on the story of Felix Bushaloo Breazeale who in the latter 1930’s decided to hold his funeral in advance so he could “hear his own eulogy.” An estimated 8-12,000 people attended. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y17Me8uL6mA[/youtube] The witty film follows the original tale, with a little embellishment for [...]

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