Celebrancy Today

Contents

Photos Credits

International Director's Message 4 Celebrant Troubadour 6

by Elaine Voci, Ph.D.,Life-Cycle Celebrant Update NYS4189 11

by Ronald Hunt, Life Cycle Celebrant & NY Celebrant Advocacy Director

Peggy Accot, Marcia Almeida, Celebrant foundation and Institute, Gerald Fierst,Sacha Jones, Kim Kirkley, Genevieve Munoz, Beth Palubisky, Adam Philips, Christopher Shelley, Isabel Almeida Jordan Alisa Tongg pictures Courtesy of Pat Robinson Photography, Troubadour image courtesy of Marie Maschiovecchio

Content Coordinator:

One Step Ritual 12 Celebrate Your Canine Companions

by Annemarie Juhlian, Life-Cycle Celebrant Healing and Funeral 21

by Stacy Mitchell, Life Cycle Celebrant Library Update 31

By Alexandra Lifshin, Life-Cycle Celebrant & CF&I Librarian Conversation with a Celebrant 23

by Marcia Almeida, Master Life-Cycle celebrant

Features Daily Rituals for Stress Reduction 9

by Sacha Jones, Life-Cycle Celebrant Life gives us one path with many turns 18

by Genevieve Munoz, Life-Cycle Celebrant® To Bless a New Building 28

by Peggy Acott, Life-Cycle Celebrant “A World in Pause” 24

By Beth Palubinsky, Life-Cycle Celebrant Destination Weddings in NYC 27

by Christopher Shelley, Life-Cycle Celebrant A Baby Blessings 30

by Cindie Wilding, Life-Cycle Celebrant Love Stories: A Celebrant's Work 32

by Kim Kirkley, Life-Cycle Celebrant

Celebrancy Today is the name of our emagazine / newsletter. This name has been used before, so by using it we are, in our humble way, paying tribute to those before us who took upon themselves the task of creating a newsletter for us Life-Cycle Celebrants, and we are also expressing the sense of continuity we feel with their efforts. Bringing you the best and most useful magazine for Life-Cycle Celebrants that we can is not necessarily an easy task, because as I have found out, Celebrants are not only gifted and creative, but also extremely generous with their contributions for the newsletter! So it has been a bit of a task trying to select what to put in this issue, or what to save for our summer issue.

We are very thankful to all of our contributors, and we do apologize to those who have sent in contributions, which, for space reasons, could not be featured, in the current issue.

This is a very exciting time at CF&I. New courses are being developed, others are being reviewed and updated as needed, and we are working hard in getting our New York Celebrant Bill, NYS4189, passed! A gentle reminder: you do not have to live in NY to ask the NY Senators to approve NYS4189!

Life-Cycle Celebrants are True Professionals 34

By Sandra Monahan, Master Life-Cycle Celebrant®

Is our most sincere desire that you enjoy this issue of Celebrancy Today.

Submission Deadline

Marcia Almeida, Master Life-Cycle Celebrant, CF&I Celebrancy Today and Social Media Manager,

April 25...........June Edition

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"Present, Past and Future” These three words are an important mantra for Certified Life-Cycle Celebrants™ as we co-create ceremonies with our client-honorees. In fact, a popular ritual for many of our ceremonies is a beautiful, three-tiered candle lighting, wherein each flame is an homage to our clients’ lives and loves in the now and in every time.

The great Jamaican-born American Civil Rights Activist, Marcus Garvey, tells us, “ A people without the knowledge of their past history are like a tree without roots.” That’s not a good thing, is it? History should not be a mystery. It’s important to remember that “we the people” stand on the shoulders of our ancestors and our Celebrant ceremonies do much to plunge people into a higher understanding of their lives - sometimes for the first time, but never the last! The awareness conveyed via ceremony engenders an appreciation of our collective past, present and future.

So let’s start our own candle-lighting ceremony! The first candle celebrates Celebrant Foundation & Institute’s past.

The Celebrant Foundation & Institute began back in 2001 and I share with you a photo from our CF&I “way back” photo album that includes most of our first North American Celebrants. Fifteen years later, we are rapidly reaching over 1000 Certified Life-Cycle Celebrants who live and practice in North America, Central America, Europe, Asia, and even down under in Australia!

From Left to Right: Frank Hechler, Gaile Sarma, Remi Barclay Messenger, Charlotte Eulette, Cynthia Reed and Kim Kirkley

Our second candle honors our present. In this Spring 2016 issue of Celebrancy Today, Celebrant writers from all over the world [name them?] generously share their knowledge with us. They tell us about: Storytelling, Leaving your Living Legacy (one of values instead of possessions), Community Ceremonies, Labyrinth Walking Ceremonies, Life Celebrations for our Loved Ones (babies, adults, and our four-footed furry friends), Being a Celebrant Book Author, Destination Weddings, Life as a Celebrant, Taking Care of Yourself as a Celebrant, and even Celebrant Etiquette (which, of course, is professionalism at its best!).

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After you partake of the wonderful gifts that the present issue offers, we invite you to light the third candle in the ceremony. I hope that you will take a moment to ponder your own bright future in Celebrancy and the continued success of the Celebrant Foundation & Institute.

Yours sincerely,

Charlotte Eulette, International Director Celebrant Foundation & Institute WS: www.celebrantinstitute.org EM: charlotteeulette@celebrantinstitute.org

Coming soon to your email box: CF&I’s 2016 Summer Certificate Program of Studies starts this June for alums and returning students signing up for their first certificate course. Registration forms, Curriculum and Teacher’s bios and photos will be included.

CF&I LGBTQ Life-Cycle Workshop Certificate Course will once again be offered in Fall September 2016. You don’t want to miss it!

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Let me introduce myself …my name is Elaine Voci and I am a life coach, specializing in career coaching, in private practice in Carmel, IN and I am a graduate of the Celebrant Foundation & Institute class of 2014. I am a published author of five books, and I write a monthly newsletter and blog for my clients and other readers. When invited to write a blog for the Celebrant Foundation & Institute, I gladly accepted.

My Celebrant Manifesto I was inspired to write a manifesto after reading a transcript of the most recent broadcast of “On Being” with Krista Tippett, featuring an article titled “The Monk Manifesto” by guest contributor Christine Valters Paintner (http://abbeyofthearts.com/) in which she spoke of living life with intention, and having a clear sense of purpose and personal mission. These are topics that often come up with my clients in life and career coaching, and they are at the heart of my own career decisions, including the one to attend the Celebrant Foundation & Institute to be trained as a life cycle celebrant. Here is what Christine’s article prompted in me: Celebrant: Someone trained in the art of ceremony Manifesto: A public declaration of principles and intention, from the Latin for “clear” My Celebrant Manifesto is, thus, a clear public expression of my commitment to live a compassionate, regenerative and creative life while working in the service of others. Here are my commitment statements: 1. I commit to finding time each day to be quiet and grateful for my gifts of creativity and compassion, and to resist the larger culture of constant noise, stimulation and emphasis on ‘doing’ rather than on being.

2. I commit to offering hospitality by welcoming people who find me and seek my services to perform a ritual, rite of passage, memorial service, a wedding, a funeral and other celebrations of life that mark life cycles/milestones.

3. I commit to kinship and fellowship with other celebrants to help create a community of soul friends with whom I can share my deepest feelings, longings, and aspirations, and with mentors who can offer wise guidance for my work.

4. I commit to cultivating awareness of my kinship with creation and a healthy discernment of how I use my energy and creative gifts, letting go of what does not nurture me or others, in order to flourish in my life and in my practice.

5. I commit to bringing my best self, my fullest presence, to the sacred work I do, holding a WS: www.celebrantinstitute.org Celebrancy Today / Spring 2016

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heart of gratitude to express my service to the world with purpose and meaning.

6. I commit to the rhythms of my celebrant career to honor times of quiet and renewal that allow me to grow, to reflect, to contemplate and to honor my own internal process of being and discovery, resisting the culture of busyness that would define and measure my worth only by what I do/produce.

7. I commit to ongoing acts of service through my work as a celebrant, knowing that I have chosen this path of transformative human experiences to connect with others supportively to honor life’s milestones.

If you were to write a manifesto for your own career/life path, what would you declare as your guiding principles and intention? How might you frame them in the context of your life and your work as a certified Life Cycle Celebrant?

Sharing Your Passion for Storytelling: Finding Hidden Treasure Where You Live

By Elaine Voci, Ph.D.

Celebrants sometimes wonder how to grow their practice; they may be overlooking opportunities that lie in plain sight. One such example can be found among the other storytellers in their area.

As Celebrants we share a love of storytelling with these folks and we can join organizations that provide opportunities for storytelling and not only spread the word of what we do, but also enjoy sharing stories with others that help sharpen our storytelling skills.

Indianapolis has one such incredible story to tell. It began, as all good stories do, with a dream.

28 years ago, three people wanted to give the citizens of Indianapolis the gift of stories. And those three people formed a movement that brought together countless individuals who donated time, talent and resources. Because they believed so passionately in their dream, the organization they founded, Storytelling Arts of Indiana, began with one annual event, the Hoosier Storytelling Festival. Now there are monthly programs, and a total of 150 programs and events every year,that entertain, educate and inspire thousands; three of my personal favorites include: • Helping families at a local children’s hospital take their mind off the pain and distress with weekly storytelling.

• Creating a place for elders to share their ageless wisdom in an ongoing program, the “As I Recall” Storytelling Guild, which meets at the Glendale and the Hancock County Public Library.

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• Encouraging kids (of all ages) to tell whoppers at the Annual Liar’s Contest on the opening night of the Indiana State Fair each summer.

Why not explore your own community and discover where storytellers gather, and see if there are local organizations that promote storytelling? You may find that your shared interest and skills can be of service to them, and that you can help grow your business organically by simply sharing stories at various community events. Your involvement brings with it free advertising, and lets you piggyback on the marketing and promotional efforts being made for scheduled storytelling events; an added bonus is the new friendship and alliances you will make by engaging in one of the things we all love to do: to tell stories that matter, stores that are meaningful, and stories that inspire the human heart.

Beginning May 12, 2016 through January 12, 2017 Deadline to register is March 31st, 2016

CF&I Master Life-Cycle Celebrant™ Certificate Program

With great joy and pride, the Celebrant Foundation & Institute offers to our accomplished alumni Celebrants who have earned three certifications or more and have three years of experience the opportunity to become Master Life-Cycle Celebrants.

CF&I Master Life-Cycle Celebrant™ Certificate Program This advanced academic and service program is designed to provide a "Master" designation to those experienced Celebrants who are at the forefront of our Celebrant movement committed to being LifeCycle Celebrant leaders, pioneers and mentors.

The program is open to graduate CF&I Life-Cycle Celebrants who have at least three years of Celebrant practice experience, and are certified in at least three of the five certificate courses we offer, which are: Ceremonies Across the Life Cycle (Families & Children), Weddings, Healings, LGBTQ Life-Cycle, and Funerals.

This challenging eight-month program requires Celebrant candidates to complete a series of projects. Upon completion, graduates will receive their "Master" certification, diploma and use of the title and CF&I Master Life-Cycle Celebrant Logo.

Program Director & Teacher: Sandra Monahan, Master Life-Cycle Celebrant

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Daily Rituals for Stress Reduction

by Sacha Jones, Life-Cycle Celebrant

Sometimes when we stop to ponder ritual & ceremony we think about the big milestones in life, or perhaps seasonal events - but ritual need not be limited to the momentous, and indeed may be incorporated into our day-to-day life.

Today it seems most of us are stressed out. We have to-do-lists as long as our arms; we don't stop for lunch; we eat on the run or at our desks; and breathing is something we must be reminded to do. Research shows that stress is a major influence, if not the root cause of big dis-ease in our culture.

Stress creates inflammation and inflammation leads to a myriad of chronic illnesses. In fact our brains actually change depending on how stressed or calm we are. Our amygdala increases in size the more stressed we become, and we are almost always in Fight, Flight or Freeze mode, even we are asleep. When this is so, we have no true distinguishing way of knowing what is real fear, and what is our response to being over stressed! (This is actually dangerous, we need these responses to work to protect ourselves.)

But what to do about it? We live in a stressful stimulating world, we are busy people with lots to do, and reducing our stress levels seems challenging right?

As a holistic wellness practitioner AND a Lifecycle Celebrant, I have witnessed (and personally experienced) a significant reduction in stress, and thus a vast improvement in the health and well-being - of myself and my clients, by including some daily rituals.

Now, you may be thinking "I don't have time to add ritual to my life, I am so busy!" But sometimes all we need to do is shift our thinking, and change a chore into a ritual.

My personal definition of a ritual is something that we frequently do, mindfully and with true presence. It could be flossing our teeth or folding laundry, but with a fresh mind - instead of "having to do these chores" (while our mind is on the other million things we have to do) - we choose to be present and have gratitude, and run a little mantra through our minds ("I am lovingly folding my laundry right now"). This helps us to be present which is a very important ingredient in stress reduction. So much stress is caused by worrying about the past (regret) or worrying about the future (fear). We don't really have as much control over the past and the future as our worrying minds would like to think - bringing it back to the present moment is more than just a new agey idea, it's actually a very powerful healing technique.

There will always be dishes, and laundry, and teeth to floss - if we are lucky. So, for example, 9

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while washing the dishes after dinner, we may include gratitude for the food we just ate and for hot clean running water. While we tend to our oral care, we can silently express gratitude for our healthy teeth and the power of our beautiful smile. When we replace annoyance and frustration with gratitude and ritual we organically reduce the stress in our bodies. Easier said than done?

Well first we must see the beauty in the chore, then find gratitude and then get present.

When I think about my daily rituals I realize that many of them really are just chores approached from a new angle. Each evening, as part of my wind down ritual, I set up our mugs with fire water spices, making for a more efficient morning - I love taking the lids of each glass jar, smelling the spices, hearing the clink of the teaspoon on the glass and ceramic, and thinking healing mantras in my mind as I do so. When I put away the laundry, I fold our clothes and spiral-roll our socks just like Marie Kondo suggests in her joyful decluttering books - this then becomes a moving meditation, with attention to how beautiful they look in the drawer.

My morning writing, sun salutations, and big glass of lemon & aloe water first thing... all ritualistic. Cooking & doing dishes are most certainly rituals with a side of gratitude & a large heaping of love. I stir my big pot of herbal tea or soup (and anything that requires stirring) nine times in each direction with a special spoon, and whisper love into it as I do.

If you want to take it up one or two notches, you can add to your ritual by lighting a candle or burning incense, closing your eyes and/or whispering a sweet mantra. Art & magic.

Are you looking to reduce stress and increase healing? What are some chores you could re-frame as ritual? Perhaps just start with one or two simple mindful meditations as you work your way through the day and just notice subtle changes over time. Now, take a sweet deep breath in, drop your shoulders, soften your face, turn the corner of your lips towards your eyes and let out a big sigh..... aaaaah!

Sacha Jones is a holistic wellness practitioner and a Lifecycle Celebrant. She resides in New York City, and on the weekends can often be found shaking off the stress of the big city in the countryside of upstate New York. Her personal stress-busters include dancing around the apartment, regular stretch breaks, taking just-because walks, playing with clay and gettinglost in a book. You can learn more about Fire Water and Sacha's online Cleanse & Nourish classes at stiggly.com and learn about her celebrant practice at SachaJonesCeremonies.com

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Trailblazing the Passage of NY State Wedding Celebrant Bill – an update lob·byˈläbē/verb gerund or present participle: lobbying seek to influence (a politician or public official) on an issue.

At the Celebrant Foundation, we are pleased to report that Senator Tony Avella, of Queens, has reintroduced our "Celebrant" bill this session. This bill will allow properly trained graduates to be recognized as professional officiants, and do away with the additional requirement of ministry for us.

In some small way, a group of like minded people may have a disproportional effect on the political process. Things such as our hashtag campaign #PASSNYS4189, and our Change.org petition, are mentioned by every staff member I talk to. We have been told that we have had the most successful grassroots campaign, that NY State has seen in years.

It takes time and effort, and we are blessed with a core group of Celebrants, that think creatively, and bring others along. Writing a letter, sending an email, making a phone call becomes a veritable tsunami of support. Face to face lobbying connects us with those staff members who need Celebrants for their outdoor non-religious ceremonies. Those are the connections that we have made along the way, and they convince their Senators of the importance of our bill. There is more work to be done, but the power of Celebrants is moving this bill along!

Assuredly, the most heartfelt unique and meaningful Ceremony, you have ever experienced.

By: Celebrant Ron Hunt, NY Celebrant Advocacy Director

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The following is an excerpt from Life-Cycle Ceremonies: A Handbook for Your Whole Life

Celebrate Your Canine Companions

By Annemarie Juhlian, Life-Cycle Celebrant

Yes, I’m one of those crazy dog lovers. My husband and I have a household of older and special-needs dogs, all rescued from neglect and abuse. In my work as a celebrant, I have found that creating everyday celebrations around the dogs in my life brings me great peace and joy. If you are an animal lover, here are few simple one-step rituals to celebrate and honor your beloved canine or other animal companion: ONE-STEP RITUALS • Candle Lighting. Each morning, I light a candle and ask the invisible world to come to the aid of neglected, abused and abandoned companion animals and farm animals. By sending out a little grace each morning on behalf of animals, I feel blessed to be connected to a higher source and vision for what may be.

• Morning Tea/Coffee. Each morning, I take one of our dogs and sit on the couch with a cup of tea and have “doggie quiet time.” Some mornings it may be just five minutes. Other mornings, it could be 30 minutes. This is my ritual time to “be,” an art mastered by the dogs in my life.

• Wish Box. Many years ago, I created a “wish box” to serve as a touchstone for requests and blessings around the animals in my life. Whenever I hear of a dog in need of rescue or healing, I write a request and put it in the box, asking that a highest intention be served. Often I am astonished by what happens.

Life-Cycle Ceremonies A Handbook for Your Whole Life

Available on Amazon now, Link: http://bit.ly/Life-CycleCelebrant A Celebrant Foundation & Institute Publication Annemarie Juhlian, I am a Life-Cycle Celebrant non-denominational Wedding Celebrant and Minister working in the Seattle/Puget Sound area. My work life is dedicated full-time to creating personalized, heart-centered and memorable ceremonies: weddings, vow renewals, baby welcomings, life memorials or the passing of a beloved pet. I honor/respect all beliefs and traditions: religious, spiritual or secular. I come to this work with a big and sensitive heart. I possess an open-minded, inclusive and curious nature and a life philosophy that is spiritual in nature with love and kindness at its center. If what I share here resonates with you, let’s chat by phone or meet for coffee/tea and conversation. Please call 425.922.1325 or email anne@marriedbyannemarie.com.

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Celebrant Family, For the last few months, you've received requests to donate to our Annual Appeal. We have a few months left before our fiscal year closes in June and we are so close to our goal!

So, we are going to "sweeten the pot"! Our Appeal is now going to be called: Live, Love, Give and Get! Every Celebrant donation of $50 or more will earn a gift of an expertly crafted Celebrant PowerPoint and Webinar presentation! This presentation was developed by marketing guru and Celebrant Faculty Member, Elisa Chase. It is a state-of-the-art marketing and branding tool for you to wield as you showcase yourself to the public as an authority in the field of ceremony and ritual.

Faculty made this for you! YOU WANT THIS! This gift includes a one-on-one teleconference with Elisa and I - we will personally walk you through the material so that you can shine in the spotlight. You will use this gift forever!

This gift is valued at $250. Since this year's appeal is all about education, we are giving to get!

Please help us reach this goal. We need to raise $4,000.00 more by June 2016. Only $50.00 (or more) will do it!

Only once a year, your alma mater, the Celebrant Foundation & Institute, humbly sends you our Annual Appeal.

We are committed and excited to raise$11,111.11 So far, we have raised $7,567.11!

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Your combined donations allow us to develop new, crucial Celebrant certification and professional development courses, by and for you. You depend on CF&I to be Number One hence all the number 1's in our appeal!

Our Celebrant academic program continues to trailblaze! Here's what we've accomplished recently. But, we need your help to do more. We can only to this with you, not without you.

Hey hey, did you know?...

•

Our entire CF&I course has been translated into the French language and taught by Celebrant French Academic Teacher, Solange Strougmayer.

• Faculty members Mila Martin and Anita Vaughan developed our LGBTQ Life-Cycle Celebrant Workshop course in response to our Celebrants' requests. It took two years of research and interviews to create this amazing, first of its kind course! (We invite the US Supreme Court justices to take this course too!)

• Our Masters in Celebrancy program has been re-designed and is expertly taught by Master Celebrant Sandra Monahan.

• A plethora of rich, abundant and creative marketing, publishing, and ceremonial writing programs are just some of the courses we continue to develop and offer for our beloved, savvy Celebrants.

Over the last 15 years, our Celebrants' experience has become increasingly vast and rich. We need to share their collective wisdom with you and create more courses so that you continue to be the best Life-Cycle Celebrants anywhere. We are all committed to education and excellence.

Please reach into your ever-loving Celebrant hearts this season and make a tax-deductible donation now. Remember that CF&I is a non-profit educational organization and your donation goes directly to this project that will benefit all Celebrant - past, present and future. A gift of any size makes a huge impact. The Celebrant Foundation & Institute's founders, directors, faculty and volunteers are grateful for your ongoing, loving support.

LIVE, LOVE, GIVE and you will GET! Donate directly at: http://celebrantinstitute.org/donate.html or call us at (973) 746-1792 Please give now!

Thank you SO much, Charlotte Eulette, International Director Celebrant Foundation & Institute

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To Bless a New Building

By Peggy Acott, Life-Cycle Celebrant

When I became a Life-Cycle Celebrant, even though I received certification in both weddings and funerals, I knew I didn’t want to get trapped in the chute of being just a wedding celebrant or just a funeral celebrant, or just any-one-kind of celebrant, for that matter.

I truly believe in the power of ritual and ceremony to carry us meaningfully across all sorts of thresholds in the course of our lives; the problem is, we have been cut off from the gristle and heart and soul of such things, so that many of our passages are followed by rote, by some pale shadow of what they could possibly be, because we don’t know any better or any different; we sometimes end up feeling like something is lacking, an unpleasant dry-ish taste in our mouths, without us knowing quite why. This is what I want to change, a celebration at a time.

What is more sterile, more rote, for example, than a high school or college graduation? They all look alike; they are all by-the-book identical, for the most part. And yet. And yet….it still brings a tissue to the eye of many a parent (I remember it did to mine), it moves those who are graduating – I would bet regardless how jaded the teenaged or young adult heart – into a jubilant sense of having passed over a threshold where things now really are different and changed forever. The process of walking up one set of stairs, across a stage (the liminal space), to then receive a diploma and shake hands with the school principal for the last time and leave the stage at the other side; moving that tassel from one side to the other, a shiver of finality; such is the power of ceremony, even the most banal.

On the fringes of the ceremonial world, then, are the more subtle and less overt occasions, but none the less important. Transitions like retiring from life-long employment, moving to a new home/leaving a family home, making the bold decision to build a new building in service of a dream and seeing it to completion. The latter is very much like a graduation, complete with pithy speeches and an action (traditional ribbon-cutting instead of moving tassels) that separates what was to what is now and moving forward. That symbolic crossing of a threshold. There is much cheering and applauding in both cases, because there is the feeling that it’s real. A tangible thing. And therein lies the magic.

But how to make something like a new building significant and individual and real? How to honor the uniqueness and the commonality at the same time?

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I had the opportunity to do just that, about a week ago, at the official opening of The Urban Grange at Zenger Farm. It coincided with the end of my six-years on their Board of Directors, so the ceremony gave me the chance to have a kind of small-g “graduation” for myself. For me, privately, this was a meaningful culminating event, as the capital campaign for the new building was the major and driving project in the final year of my board tenure.

The history of the building of the Grange and of the farm itself is made up of intertwined stories that stretch back and forth across nearly a century, involving the original Zenger family and all the people who have created the organization that exists today; their combined dreams for the future of this land that in ways takes on the aspect of a sacred space. I wove a few of these stories together, then offered everyone present the opportunity to express and leave behind their blessings and best wishes for the farm by making weathergrams that were strung between the deck pillars like their own personalized version of prayer flags. I closed with a blessing by Australian writer Mikail Leunig. Afterward, those assembled made and hung their weathergrams, visited with old and new friends and had more food and drink (in this case the feasting started before the ceremony, not left till last – it was also a party to celebrate the organization’s volunteers, after all).

“We

give thanks for places of simplicity and peace.

Let us find such a place within ourselves.

We give thanks for places of refuge and beauty.

Let us find such a place within ourselves.

We give thanks for places of nature's truth and freedom, of joy, inspiration, and renewal, places where all creatures may find acceptance and belonging.

Let us search for these places in the world, in ourselves, and in others.

Let us restore them.

Let us strengthen and protect them and let us create them.”

-Mixhael Leunig

Did the ceremony work its appropriate magic? I’d like to think so, and some of the feedback confirmed that. One person, who was familiar with the stories I shared, felt like those stories – and by extension the Zenger family – were duly honored by their telling. Others felt like the building was finally and officially “real.” That’s how I felt, too. Like the Grange settled itself a little deeper into its place. Earlier in the day there had been the official ribbon cutting with city officials and dignitaries, and the day ended with a blessing and a celebration. Combined together I think the building, the project, the people who made it happen, were all uniquely honored.

It is a subtle thing, sometimes. But I think it truly is a sort of magic.

The alchemy of turning story into ceremony.

I am a fifth generation Oregonian. A county in Eastern Oregon is named after my Great-GreatGrandfather. Stories and a sense of place are part of who I am. They are part of the fiber that has made me. I am a Certified LIfe-Cycle Celebrant

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through the Celebrant Foundation & Institute.

Being a Certified Celebrant means I have been trained and skilled to perform personalized ceremonies for many occasions, milestones and transitions; from life’s beginning to life’s end.

Each person’s story is unique. As a LIfe-Cycle Celebrant, my goal is to tell your story. Or not, if you’d rather your ceremony be more private.

That is part of your story too. But even the simplest ceremony can be uniquely your own.

Peggy Acott, Life-Cycle Celebrant StoryToCeremony@gmail.com https://storytoceremony.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/img_5436.jpg

So, You Want to Officiate at a LOT of Weddings?

A 3-Week Professional Celebrant Development Course Instructor: Lois Heckman, Life-Cycle Celebrant® Lois shares the secrets of her success. After 12 years and hundreds of ceremonies she has developed methods to handle as many ceremonies as possible and not be overwhelmed. She will impart big ideas and little tips to help you find as many couples as possible, officiate as many weddings as you wish, and do it all with ease.

Class 1. Focus on the ceremony If you have ceremonies every weekend how can you improve your writing speed without giving up the high quality we Celebrants maintain?

Lois says: "I will teach you how to find your voice, write quickly, develop your own materials and get the most out of your client meetings."

Class 2. Be organized Learn how to create and keep files and records, and what you should know about how to keep 100+ ceremonies straight without error.

Class 3. Get the work How to position yourself as the local expert in your field, make the best advertising choices, and win the clients!

Classes will be held on Tuesdays in April at 9PM EDT: on 4/12, 4/19 and 4/26 for three, one-hour sessions, plus one private session for each student.

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Life gives us one path with many turns Labyrinth Ceremonies

by Genevieve Munoz, Life-Cycle Celebrant®

Throughout my life I have noticed and been drawn to the simple beauty and power of labyrinths. They are a symbol for our ever turning, ever changing path of life.

There is a theme and path of sacredness that we go down when facing big life changes (rites of passage, milestone moments) and in that path are reflections in my own desire as a Life-Cycle celebrant® to share knowledge and appreciation of how walking a labyrinth can be used as a spiritual tool that helps us focus our attention in a sacred and stable space to listen to the longing of our soul.

Walking a labyrinth is an invitation to journey into our inner realm and back out again. They help you find your way. They transform you - and to walk its intricate fold is to experience a birth.

I offer labyrinth ceremonies because they can assist us in our life’s “transformation work” by: Opening the heart, acting as a wonderful bereavement tool, punctuating joy and celebration, helping us on our transition journeys, centering/grounding/ balancing energy, allowing for the receiving of grief and pain - then allowing its release, connecting one to that which is greater than yourself, becoming a tool for community building, acting as an agent for global peace and a metaphor for life.

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The feelings a labyrinth walk may evoke after your experience: a memory, a dream, an unfolding, tears, smiles, body changes (from stiffness to flexibility) Combining a celebrant led ceremony with labyrinth walk can create a very powerful experience and can be used for any stage along the life cycle.

At the 2012 Annual Gathering of The Labyrinth Society I presented a workshop on “Creating Ceremonies and Rituals on the Labyrinth” and provided some experiential examples of a Divorce Ceremony as well as an Empty Nest Ceremony for participants.

Many hospitals and clinics are beginning to use labyrinths as part of a holistic model of patient care – assisting in treating the whole person – body, mind and spirit.

In July of 2015 I created a meaningful labyrinth ceremony for the Pain Management Program Support Group at Essential Health in Duluth, MN. Built into the labyrinth ceremony were moments of thoughtful reflection, story-telling, music, symbol, poetry, and blessing. The ritual was designed to honor the hallmarks of each participant’s journey with chronic pain as well as an acknowledgment and celebration of their resilience and courage. It was a ceremony that honored, transformed and blessed.

Genevieve Munoz is a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® and graduate of the Celebrant Foundation & Institute™. She holds certifications in Ceremonies Across the Life-Cycle as well as Weddings and Commitment Ceremonies.

In addition, she is a trained labyrinth facilitator and graduate of Veriditas, having studied and trained with Lauren Artress at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. As the founder of Genevieve Munoz Ceremonies, LLC, she creates and officiates life-cycle ceremonies for individuals, couples, families, communities and can incorporate the labyrinth within your ceremony.

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Life–Cycle Celebrant® The new 21st Century Encore Career for Baby Boomers.

Life–Cycle Celebrant® the new 21st Century Encore Career for Baby Boomers. Celebrants tell their stories. Especially if you are over 50, you've probable had this conversations with your close friend when you finally made time to get together with them instead of texting: "It's time for a change. I've did it, done it. I've put in my 2O odd years in my job as a (fill in the blank) and now I want a more fulfilling career, one that's both a profession and a pro-passion that reflect who I am at this stage in my life -- and I want to make a living too!" Changing careers to find a more satisfying one is a growing phenomenon. Current Pew Studies report that the baby boomer generation is working past retirement, that's 18 % of the US population, and many are reinventing themselves and are starting "second act" or "encore" careers, a term coined by retirement social innovator, David Freedman, founder and CEO of Encore.org.

A recently article "Encore Entrepreneurs: How Five Late Bloomers turned Big Ideas into Sweet Success", written by Joe Kika, appeared in the Sunday Parade Magazine in newspapers across the US, and the side-car piece next to the article under the shingle "Open for Business" posed the question to readers: "Ready to forge ahead on your own? "And at the top of re-careering occupations appeared "Celebrant".

Celebrant? What the heck's a Celebrant you say? And how is that it's a top career talked about in your Sunday paper and you've never even heard the word before? Life-Cycle Celebrants® are certified by the Celebrant Foundation & Institute, trained to create one-of-a-kind, womb-totomb ceremonies to mark the milestones in people's lives, such as: weddings, funerals and baby and healing and transition ceremonies. Celebrants are self employed, they work part time or fulltime and make anywhere between $20,000 to $70,000 .

The Celebrant occupation was established by the Australian Attorney General, Lionel Murphy, 40 years ago in Australia and has, in the last 14 years, taken root and become wildly popular in the US, Canada and Europe with Asia in the wings. In less than 50 years Celebrants globally have co-created and officiate at millions of ceremonies and most professional Celebrants are over the age of 50 who have reinvented themselves in this new career. In 2014, New Jersey past a law, signed by Governor Christy, authorizing Certified Civil Celebrants to join the ranks of those legal to officiate and sign marriage licenses in the state. New Jersey is the first state in the US, more states and provinces in Canada are expected to follow.

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Funeral and Healing Celebrant Certification By

Stacy Mitchell

As of the Winter 2016 session at CF&I, the Funeral Celebrant Certification course is putting the “FUN” in funerals with a new honoree named Wink Wilson. Wink was an Iraq war veteran, a recreation program director at the local Boys and Girls Club, and a family man survived by three adopted siblings and their children, his parents, a life partner and two spoiled Corgis. Wink was well known for his humor and his ability to mimic many comics and actors of his day, as well as his cooking and heavy metal guitar playing. His partner and family wish to honor him with an outdoor ceremony that features music, art, and laughter. Wink is sure to challenge the creative chops of our certification students!

The Funerals course also has many added features including new ceremony case studies from Life-Cycle Celebrants Sonia Beverly, Julie Keon, and Shae Uisna covering personalized ceremonies, difficult deaths, handling media attention, community vigils, and offering ceremonies to grieve in community as well as finding ways to talk about death in a death phobic culture. We are also diving deeper into the realms of dealing with suicide and physician-assisted suicide as well as offering family directed funerals and funeral creation services with the living client featuring interviews with Life-Cycle Celebrants Holly Pruett, Kate Wallace Johnson, Kevin O’Brien, and Donna Belk. And a wealth of new supplemental and resource materials for your Funeral Celebrant library! If you are drawn to creating funeral and memorial ceremonies with Celebrant flair, you belong in this course!

In the Fall 2015 session the “new and improved” Healing Ceremony Celebrant Certification course was rolled out to great excitement and anticipation and it has not disappointed! This advanced course for previously certified students takes a deep dive into the creation and officiating of ceremonies for healing by taking a thorough look at a wide cross section of ceremonies by trail blazing Life-Cycle Celebrants such as Genevieve Munoz, Pam Packard, Nancy Zummack, Carolyn Walkley, Holly Pruett, Roberta Koepfer, Keline Adams, Kit Turen, and many more. The course is built upon a foundation of Celebrant self-care and takes students through the difficult terrain of working with clients to honor various aspects of the human condition and the resiliency of the human spirit with case studies in life-threatening illness and chronic pain, prisoner release, abuse survival and recovery, 21

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gender transition confirmation, pregnancy loss, relationships, employment loss, the death continuum, and communal grief. This is a not to be missed course for the serious Celebrant student who wishes to do the deep work of healing themselves and their community through Celebrancy!

Mary Garden: "This class was an amazing journey across a wide variety of healing rituals and reasons.

Really opened my eyes to the possibilities for celebration and ceremony and helped me with my own healing journey. Perhaps the richest of all was the in class discussions and notice board conversations.Stacey is a gifted and gentle guide!"

Kate Wallace Johnson: I am so thrilled this curriculum has been developed by CF&I. Although I have written and enacted funerals in my celebrancy practice, I knew the CF&I Funerals course would help deepen my understanding of the many issues surrounding death and its impacts on the living.

Students taking the funerals certification will feel challenged and stretched by the comprehensive nature of the coursework. It is designed to help us approach 21st century practices and needs, and will prepare us to serve our ceremony clients even more sensitively, professionally, and humanely.

Thea Dahlberg: For much of my life, I was an unmarried woman who didn't want to be a mother. In our culture, generally, that meant that nothing really important worth celebrating actually happened to me. However, through my credentials work in the Celebrant Institute and Foundation--and specifically the Ceremonies of Healing course--I know now that I can create important ceremonies that will mark the very significant life events experienced by people like me.

Life-Cycle Celebrant速 Stacy Mitchell creates and officiates ceremonies across the life cycle for her clients.

From ceremonies for families, to weddings, to workplace transitions, and funerals or memorials, Stacy is here to serve your needs and to honor your voice in ceremony. Serving Central Coast CA Pismo Beach, Shell Beach, Avila Beach, San Luis Obispo, and BEYOND! Skype ID: celebrantstacy http://www.honoryourvoice.com CF&I Faculty member Stacy Mitchell

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Conversation with a Celebrant: Recently I asked Celebrant Gerald Fierst to tell me about his two most recent ceremonies.

This is what he shared. -Marcia Almeida

A Conversation with Gerald Fierst "As funeral celebrants, we have the honor of a remarkable intimacy with both the deceased and their family. Every life is extraordinary, and we reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary. These past weeks, I had two tragic deaths which reinforced my sense of the honor we are given when asked to create a memorial service.

Two months ago, a 23 year old man on his way to San Francisco to start his own dot com stopped off to visit friends in Colorado. After a day of hiking, they said goodbye to him, and he continued alone down the trail. The rangers found his body three days later at the bottom of a cliff. He was the only child of an older refugee couple. How do we explain the loss of hopes, and dreams, and love and laughter? There are no words, and, yet, we must find them.

Last week, a brilliant 15 year old girl committed suicide. She wanted to become an opera singer, was a champion horse back rider, and spoke excellent French. Her school choral group of forty girls came to the service to sing in her honor. Coincidentally, a few days later, I ran into her father. “So many people asked how you were related to us,” he said, and I replied, “I think I will always be connected to you.”

Although writing these ceremonies was difficult, and I can only imagine, not comprehend, the loss of a child, I know that my effort made a difference, and, in some way, the power of words gave the families comfort in their pain.

"When I die, let this blessing be noted" Gerald Fierst is a world famous storyteller and celebrant whose skill as a performer and writer will reflect your unique love story, bringing warmth and connection to your ceremony. Your experience of creating, hearing, and saying the special words of your ceremony will last a lifetime. Whether your story is traditional or off beat, Gerry will listen and help you to shape and share this moment. ABC News called him "A Master Storyteller" and clients like Joe and Michelle Stroem write, "We could not have asked for anything more."

In his book, The Heart of the Wedding, he reinvigorates ritual with the true love stories and ceremonies of his clients. Go to: www.geraldfierst.com and www.theheartofthewedding.com

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“A World in Pause”

By Beth Palubinsky, Life-Cycle Celebrant

We don’t know for sure, or maybe we knew once but don’t recall, why my mother, Jessamin Sloan Zelnick, collected turtles. We don’t even remember just when they began to appear in our parents’ house. But all of us – my sister, our father, our husbands, the three grandchildren and, as time went on, her friends and other family – took it as a given across the years and miles that we must keep eyes open for the next addition to Jessie’s collection.

When she died in late summer 2012, closing in on her 94th birthday, the first question we asked ourselves, when we gathered some our wits about us in our grief, was, “Oh, wow, what about the turtles?”

There were hundreds of them, literally hundreds, all neatly and lovingly arrayed around her house, some as small as a grape, the largest a ceramic table from Indonesia. They came from every corner of the world, gathered on our parents’ wanderings and on our own travels. Some sat on shelves or bookcases or end tables – turtles of wood, brass, crystal, straw, clay, felt, iron, pewter and materials hard to decipher. Some hung on walls – framed paintings, nature articles tacked onto the bulletin board over her desk, postcards, magazine covers.

Turtles graced beautiful batik scarves, some goofy T-shirts, an occasional pair of socks. Some dangled from her ears (like a pair the kids found, when they were little, in a cheap boardwalk store and that she treasured as though from Tiffany) or lay around her neck (a silver pendant I’d had made for her in the late ‘60s by a recovering addict jeweler I knew in New York City).

And now she was gone and the turtles were here and, during the days following her death and cremation, as we planned her send-off event, we’d come back to the big question, “What about the turtles?” Nothing of my Celebrant funerals training, not one ritual idea or image, was making its way through my deep grief; I’d speak her eulogy but about the turtles I was clueless.

It wasn’t till the night before her life celebration that my husband hit on it, and it was simple and just what she’d have liked: “We each take the ones we most want to have, and then we take the rest with us tomorrow and give them away.”

We held her memorial at a Friends’ meeting house, late-August sun flooding a room set with chintz-covered couches and armchairs and folding chairs brought in for the many, many people who came to send Jessie off. Around the edges of the room, on table upon table, were a few hundred of the turtles, which our guests assumed lay there just in tribute to Jessie. “Oh, we brought her that one from India, remember?” someone would say, or, “I was with her in Boston when she found that one!” or, “Jessie would never have worn those dopey turtle bedroom slippers?”

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But then, after the formal talking and singing were over, while the bagels and lox and rugelach came out for lunch and the Jessie stories continued over coffee, we announced, to much surprise and a lot of tears, that the turtles were there for the taking. So Jessie’s loved ones chose their turtles. With a kind of reverence, they clutched them to their hearts, wrapped them around their shoulders, tucked them into pockets or purses, slipped them around their necks or into their earlobes.

About 30 turtles stayed behind, and the next brainstorm was my brother-in-law’s. A few days later, we shipped those to two women whom Jessie dearly loved, professors at University of Maryland. There in College Park, land of the Terps, when those friends want to honor a student for some special achievement, they give him or her one of Jessie’s turtles. They say, “This belonged to a rare and wonderful woman, and you must cherish it always.” And I am certain they will, doing what the writer Bruce Feiler said: “Take a walk with a turtle. And behold a world in pause.”

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Beth Z. Palunsky, Life-Cycle Celebrant has built and shaped her Celebrant approach and practice on years of service to others through her work in human services and public policy. As an attorney, she contributed time and expertise to pro bono criminal and civil cases. As in-house counsel and senior program officer for a progressive national R&D think tank, she designed and managed programs that sought to better the lives of marginalized youth and the long-term unemployed. She was development director for Philadelphia non-profits serving the arts, the homeless and those battling life-threatening illness. And as a musician, she has performed for years in and around the Philadelphia area. A 2005 graduate of Celebrant Foundation & Institute, she has three certifications: Ceremonies for Families & Children, Funerals, and Ceremonies for Healing. She has performs ceremonies throughout Southeastern PA, South Jersey, Delaware and New York. She serves on the Board of Directors of Senior LAW Center, which improves the lives of low-income, older Pennsylvanians and protects their rights through legal representation, education and advocacy.

CEREMONIES ACROSS THE LIFE-CYCLE

C

Ceremonies Across the Life-Cycle is an eight module survey course for students seeking proficiency in creating and performing personalized ceremonies for the milestones and moments that span the life cycle. Students will emerge from the course with the skills to create and perform personalized ceremonies to mark a wide variety of passages along the life spectrum for clients of all beliefs and backgrounds. In this course, students will study: ceremonies for dwellings, ceremonies for expectant parents, ceremonies to welcome children, coming of age rituals, milestone birthdays, ceremonies for midlife passages, personal sustenance rituals, marketing, and ceremony performance and practice. In addition, students will complete a ceremony observation report and a ceremony writing assignment.

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Destination Weddings in NYC

by Christopher Shelley, Life-Cycle Celebrant

Not every visitor to New York City comes here to grin at a selfie-stick and block our path to work. Thousands come here to get married. New York City is the world’s destination wedding venue. Even in the heat of summer, when New Yorkers flee the city, couples from all over the US, Europe, Australia, Canada and other countries come here to legally wed. I’m a Wedding Celebrant with a goofy track record, so these couples hire me to create and officiate their ceremony. Often, they trust me to find a location for their wedding too; this is where I have fun.

I’ve been doing wedding experimentation with tourists for years.

Why New York City? Some of their relationships have history here; sometimes one of them lived here, or they fell in love here on a previous vacation. One couple conceived their daughter here.

(Oh what a night!)

Often, their New York wedding is part one of two. Later, they have a second, larger ceremony back home. What their families will never know is that the one in NYC is the one that means the most to them. It’s the first, without the family stress-monster looming over them. It’s also much 27

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more fun, and most importantly, it’s entirely theirs. My ceremonies thrive on humor, creativity and celebration, qualities that are often absent in all but Celebrant-designed ceremonies.

In Central Park, they’re drawn to Cop Cot, Belvedere Castle and Shakespeare Garden, but the iconic hot spot is Bethesda Fountain. This is where I feel most like a street busker. One onlooker turns into five, then ten, then twenty. One British couple at the Fountain had a hundred awestruck tweens from a Bronx school cheering for them by the time I pronounced them husband and wife. It was the first wedding those kids had ever seen and I wanted to tell them yes, weddings are always that fun.

The High Line is becoming a wedding destination. Lincoln Square attracts matrimonial mayhem. Dumbo and the Brooklyn Bridge are popular. Rockefeller Center offers the chance to get married and do the NBC tour in the same afternoon.

Grand Central Terminal lures only the most daring of wedding clients: Australians. Australians are up for anything, and Australians love me. I think I’ve married half of Australia, and the other half hasn’t met the right person.

A wedding at Grand Central only works if it doesn’t look like a wedding, because weddings are not allowed there, technically. Ken and Melissa, from Melbourne, filmed their Grand Central wedding in brief segments, with different sections of the ceremony filmed in different parts of the terminal: we told their love story on a staircase, did ‘the Asking’ by the information clock and exchanged rings at Cipriani’s bar. Later that month, they showed the video of their daring New York wedding at a huge party back in Melbourne. Jimmy Fallon would be proud: the whole thing was ready-made for Youtube.

After Super Storm Sandy shut down the City Clerk’s office, I performed two emergency weddings for two Swedish couples at their hotel.

I led a Canadian couple on what I called a ‘Walking Tour Wedding’, with friends performing readings along 5th Avenue, a ‘Unity Pretzel’ from a cart guy, and rings exchanged in front of the Rockefeller Christmas tree.

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Zealand couple brought 200 people all the way to NYC to see their Mondrian Soho rooftop wedding. I guess they don’t have rooftops in New Zealand.

The improvisational experimentation I get by working with NYC visitors fuels my meticulouslyplanned American weddings. By stepping out of their comfort zone to get married, these jetsetting couples make me step out of mine. Love stories can be told a million ways; the more I tell, the better I get.

I welcome visitors from around the world. Please, come to my city to get married; I have some things I want to try. Just please leave your selfie sticks at home.

Christopher Shelley is a NYS Wedding Officiant and Celebrant. Read all about his glamorous job at www.IlluminatingCeremonies.com.

Christopher Shelley is a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant and New York State Wedding Officiant, serving the five-boroughs. Chris creates personalized ceremonies that honor your wishes and expand beyond the bounds of your imagination. Chris has been a professional actor, an accomplished writer, a massage therapist and an entrepreneur. He brings a wealth of humor, literary skill, life experience and empathy to his work. Illuminating Ceremonies shines a light on the sparkling treasures of your love for each other, whether the ceremony is non-denominational, interfaith, civil, same-sex, or one that defies definition. Chris is a fan of true love.

Love In Translation About the LOVE IN TRANSLATION Course: Love in Translation is a 3-week professional Celebrant development mini-course teaching literary creativity writing with instructor Celebrant Christopher Shelley.

LOVE IN TRANSLATION explores the dynamic journey from the raw material of information to the exquisite awesomeness of wedding ceremonies that are rich in humor, storytelling, language, imagery, sentiment and, of course, ceremony. Turn the paint into a painting. Turn the clay into pottery. Turn the lime, sugar, rum and mint into a mojito.

Classes will be held on Wednesdays in March at 9:00 p.m. EDT: Three one-hour sessions on 3/16, 3/23 and 3/30, plus one 20-minute private session for each student.

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A Baby Blessings

by Cindie Wilding, Life-Cycle Celebrant

Quincy Diane was born on 7/12/12 at 12:12 p.m.. There were many indications similar to her birth date and time that indicated she was trying to communicate with her parents. As her parents Rick and Beth were en route to the hospital on the day she was born, Hicky Burr, a fun jazz song by Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby, came on the radio. Since Beth had received a Quincy Jones biography from her brother for Christmas, being big lovers of jazz, and realizing what a huge impact Quincy Jones made in musical history, Rick and Beth just knew that her name would be Quincy. The universe was nodding in agreement and approval while announcing her arrival all at the same time. Coincidentally, that day was also Bill Cosby’s birthday.

Baby Welcoming ceremonies have been celebrated in many cultures around the world for probably thousands of years. They are an opportunity for friends and family to gather and congratulate the new parents, celebrate the child’s birth and share stories of their family’s past and future.

Quincy is a bubbly, happy child who easily bonded with me and I enjoyed our interactions every time we saw one another. She is charming and a flirt, but also, in her parent’s eyes, an old spirit.

She has a wonderful ability to command attention. She is quick to laugh and very inquisitive and by her first birthday and the time of her Welcoming Party, she was taking her first confident steps around her house.

During her ceremony, I talked about the meaning of a circle, how we were encircling her in a circle of wisdom. Before the ceremony began, every guest had chosen a bead from a basket of multi-colored beads in various sorts of shapes and depictions. We then took turns around the circle, returning our beads to the basket and sharing why we chose that bead and what our hopes and dreams were for her and her future. This was an emotional and so very touching time as every single guest had something significant and meaningful to share.

Grown men were seen crying and although Quincy slept through the entire process until the very end, we know she absorbed every good intention.

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We closed the circle and the ceremony with a request that the community support her and many blessings to her for a healthy and full life.

What a wonderful way to incorporate the birth of a child into our families and our communities with the participation, love and support of all.

Welcome Quincy! “Babies are such a nice way to start people.� ~ Don Herold Cindie Wilding is a Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant. She creates unique and personal ceremonies for baby blessings, weddings, memorials and all life passages. Learn more at www.cindiewilding.com.

Cindie Wilding is a Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant creating and delivering baby blessings, house blessings, weddings and memorials in the northern California area. Being a Celebrant combines all of her favorite things as well as her skills. She holds a BA in English, is a trained Life Coach, a certified Retreat Coach Leader and loves getting to know people and telling their stories. Find out more about her at www.cindiewilding.com

Celebrant Foundation & Institute Library Update

By Alexandra Lifshin, CF&I Librarian The Celebrant Foundation & Institute online Library is now revamped for 2016. We have uploaded 200 brand new pieces that run the gamut from a Dr. Who-themed wedding ceremony to a Celebration of Life stone and candle ritual to even blessings for herds of livestock. If you haven't already perused the digital stacks, we invite you to browse and partake of all the shared Celebrant wisdom.

The Library exists only with the support of Celebrants who generously donate their writings, research, and other resources to the CF&I community. To all who have contributed to the Library - THANK YOU! Your gift is much appreciated and a tremendously valuable source of knowledge for your fellow Celebrants.

If you would like to submit ceremonies, rituals, readings, research, or resources to the Library, please send them (as a Word or PDF attachment) to me at alexandra.sidiropoulos@gmail.com. All submissions retain the author's name and are labeled as property of the author and as part of the CF&I Library.

Here's to continued cultivation of our rich Celebrant culture this year and every year!

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Love Stories: A Celebrant's Work The following is an excerpt from Chapter 28 of Kim Kirkley’s groundbreaking book, Love Stories: A Celebrant's Work, available on Amazon.com

“When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belongs to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of men we are.”

~ Cesar Chavez

To launch a Celebrant practice the start-up costs are quite minimal. You will need a computer, a mobile phone, about 100 business cards, a professional photograph, ideally a website and certification as a Life-Cycle Celebrant®. We will cover the layout of your website in a separate chapter. Also, the fee to become certified by the Celebrant Foundation and Institute is in the low four-figures. For specifics about the CFI course please visit http://www.CelebrantFoundation.org <http://www.celebrantfoundation.org/>.

Once you are registered, have your computer, are ordained and trained and have a high speed internet connection, you will be served to invest in a high quality professional photograph or “headshot.” A headshot is perhaps the most important marketing item you will need to begin.

People choose to work with those they know, like, and trust. Quite often people will see you first through a photograph in a list of officiants or a photograph on your business card. It is said that a photo speaks a thousand words. Make sure that your photo presents you as someone warm, trustworthy and wise. There are photographers who specialize in creating professional headshots. I invite you to seriously investigate making that investment in yourself and your practice.

With all of these tools in place you will want to start attracting clients by advertising. When I began my practice I posted ads on free sites, first. As my confidence and track record grew so did my advertising budget and expenditures.

Once you are a part of the wedding industry you will quickly become aware of the many online opportunities to attract brides and grooms to your service.

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Free Places to Advertise Your Wedding Business: 1.

3.

5.

7.

9.

11.

13.

15.

Wedding Wire Bridal Tweet One Wed WeddingVibe.com Twitter Ezine Articles Squid My Space

2. Wedding Bee & Wedding Bee Pro 4. Wedding Mapper 6. Top Wedding Sites 8.

Facebook 10. Google Places 12. Hub-pages 14. Green Bridal Guide 16. Local Business Directories

At the moment there are no direct, sure-fire advertising routes to funeral, baby-welcoming and business ceremony clients. There are some upstart attempts but none has gathered a critical mass, yet. However, with the growing desire for custom-tailored ceremonies for every milestone that may so, on change.

In her early days as an attorney, Kim Kirkley wore the shell of a cynic.

Through her volunteer work with social justice organizations, in the U.S., Africa and South America, Kim began to realize that she longed to play a part in something more meaningful and spiritual. When she realized that her happiness depended on finding a new vocation, Kim shed her shell, moved into her heart and waited for the right opportunity. Today, she is a joyful, professional civil Celebrant and has received a �Modern Bride Trendsetter� award! As a Celebrant she stands in the power of ritual and invites everyone to celebrate a meaningful, personalized wedding ceremony -- religious or non-religious -- full of the great expectations and sense of adventure that are the foundation of a joyful union.

Does being a Celebrant make your heart sing? Do you have a passion and a specific direction you want to take your practice or want the world to know you are a Celebrant? Then consider becoming a Master Life-Cycle Celebrant. This special 8 month program taught by Master Celebrant Sandee Monahan starts this Spring. Invites and registration are coming your way. If you want to jump on this now and learn more, than feel free to contact us at CF&I or faculty member Sandee Monahan at: weddingswithoutworries@comcast.net

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Life-Cycle Celebrants are True Professionals The following excerpt was submitted as Sandra Monahan’s Master Life-Cycle Celebrant® Master Research Project as she graduated in the first Master Class of 2012. Please enjoy the introduction and Part I with future editions to follow.

Author’s Introduction

“And yet no word in our language is so greatly misunderstood, so falsely interpreted as this word etiquette”. ~ Emily Post, 101 Common Mistakes in Etiquette-1939

Until the 1960s teaching good manners was considered a part of everyday life and included in public and private schools as well-rounded curriculum. Charm schools specialized in teaching social graces, poise and good manners. The liberated ‘60s and ‘70s brought about a decline in the popularity of etiquette programs when many of the P’s and Q’s of social behavior got tossed aside. No more charm schools! A renewed interest was welcomed into society in the 1980s and more once popular values began to surface with the 1990s. Today, the strong competition in the business arena has made social graces an important tool for the competitive edge and in our personal lives. We’ve come to realize just how important it is to know how to handle every social and business situation with grace and professionalism. Why did employers begin inviting job applicants out to dinner? You guessed it: to see how they could handle themselves through appropriate dining skills and evaluate the impression they would make on possible clients if they were given the position.

With well over 30 years’ experience in the professional market including advertising, sales, human services and the wedding industry, as a Life-Cycle Celebrant, I know how hard we strive to educate ourselves in Celebrant ceremonies to build and grow a business. Along with these dedicated efforts, we often forget about the day-to-day personal and social skills necessary to take our Celebrant services to a higher level. Professionalism is not about one aspect -- who speaks or presents better, smiles better, looks neater and professional, or who does a better job to help their clients feel warm and in trusted hands. It’s about all these aspects wrapped together, which create a solid foundation of protocol and etiquette, needed to succeed and stay there. Simply said…..it’s the whole package.

In 2016, etiquette is alive and well, and can make a tremendous difference in our Celebrant careers. Grounding in business etiquette provides the confidence we need to face every situation in the best manner we know. Once a Life-Cycle Celebrant becomes comfortable and confident with finely polished skills, business etiquette will be second nature – completely natural and WS: www.celebrantinstitute.org Celebrancy Today / Spring 2016

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seamless.

A well-balance blend of social skills will enable you to enjoy life, and most of all the wonderful benefits of being a Celebrant.

PART I DRESSING FOR CELEBRANT AND PERSONAL SUCCESS What to wear? Where am I going? What image do I want to convey?

As Celebrants, our careers require a modern professional appearance, especially when we are meeting with clients, their families, venues, and other professionals. Although the rules of dress have become more relaxed, it remains important to always know about particular dress codes and what is considered acceptable and comfortable to where you are going.

Being under-dressed for a ceremony, event, or meeting can reflect a lack of respect -- or worse, it can show a definite “I don’t really want to be here” image in your participation. If you are in doubt about what to wear, contact the person sending you the invitation, or the client you are working with, and ask what the dress should be. Better yet, check the venue or organization online for a better feel of who they are and what they do. Are they your specific clients, business executives, wedding professionals, social media marketing experts, or funeral directors?

Attire for Celebrant ceremonies is best based on the type of ceremony you will be performing.

Weddings.

Professional clothing should be selected to include suit jackets, skirts, proper fitting slacks/pants, tailored blouses, and comfortable shoes. The color range can be from black, brown, grey, tan to a few lighter shades taking into consideration any ethnic colors that may represent events of sadness, etc. Depending on where you offer your services in the country, color choices may differ. Much will depend on the type of ceremony you are offering. Consider asking your clients what they would prefer you wear, or ask them about any special colors for the ceremony (especially important for weddings), or present them with options. Some Celebrants have a portfolio showing attire they have worn in the past, others more simply state, “I typically wear X, would that be suitable?” Whatever choice you make, please use consideration and don’t try to upstage the wedding party styles. The attire you wear will be in the wedding photographs for years to follow. Remember in every situation, your image of proper dress will be one of your best methods of referral for future ceremony bookings. As Celebrants, we offer unique ceremonies 35

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and are unique individuals. Our professional appearance reflects who we are as individuals and the broad spectrum of our Celebrant personalities. Be yourself and appropriate.

Funeral/Memorials.

Keeping in mind the advice for weddings, choosing professional clothes for funerals or memorials is the best path to take. Celebrant funeral ceremonies are often celebrations of life, and after interviewing the family you will have a much better feel for your selection. Again, client wishes are paramount as to tone. While we are celebrating the passing of a life, showing up in bright red, orange, or yellow may not be appropriate.

If you are just beginning your funeral services career, why not invest in a few moderately priced, not-easilywrinkled pieces for your wardrobe? Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have them handy and ready to go even in a time sensitive situation.

Families/Children Ceremonies.

Based on the rules of thumb for weddings and funerals, these ceremonies will have various wardrobe choices for you to make. Your interview with your clients and a keen sense of communication will be your guide. A Baby Blessing or Welcoming will be a more professional clothing selection especially if they are being performed in a chapel or non-denominational based venue. And others may be a more casual nature when conducted in homes, backyards, parks, lodges, and social rooms. Your basic wardrobe pieces that are interchangeable (mix and match), clean, pressed and properly fitting choices will be fine in most situations.

Spiritual or religious aspects, particular client requests and your most trusted source -- common sense -- should always be your guide when planning your wardrobe. Remember: How you look will remain your image in the eyes of the beholder from that point on. If you feel your choice of outfit is: too short, low-cut, sheer, flashy, wrinkled, and sloppy or in need of mending, it probably is! No matter how talented we are in professional ceremony knowledge, appropriate dress and image should remain at the top of the list.

A Few Notes on Formal and Semi-formal Occasions: For some events (particularly weddings at high-end venues), you may need to follow the dress code on the invitation. A basic understanding of formal or semi-formal choices is essential: Black Tie Social Events â&#x20AC;&#x201C; For Weddings. The invitation will be your best guide to whether it is formal or informal.

Formal Daytime. For women, cocktail or afternoon dress; WS: www.celebrantinstitute.org Celebrancy Today / Spring 2016

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gloves and hats are optional unless required by the invitation. For men, dark suit, conservative shirts, and ties are best.

Formal Evening. Depending on local custom, for women a long evening dress, or dressy cocktail dress; gloves and hat optional unless required by the invitation. For men, tuxedo required if invitation states “black tie”, otherwise a dark suit is acceptable.

Semiformal Daytime. Women can wear a short afternoon dress, dressy pantsuit, or cocktail dress. Men, a dark suit is perfect.

Semiformal Evening. Ladies may wear a cocktail dresses or very dressy pantsuit and men a dark suit.

Sandra M. Monahan, CF&I Master Celebrant Program Instructor & Director Master Life-Cycle Celebrant® & Master Wedding Planner™ Sandra M. Monahan, Founder and President of Weddings Without Worries of Wexford, PA, earned the designation of Master Life-Cycle Celebrant in 2012 and has achieved four other CF&I Certifications. The mainstay of her services includes creating and officiating personalized wedding ceremonies and also those for all of life's rites of passage. She has been a Celebrant since 2005, and serves as Co-Facilitator for the PA-Pittsburgh Alumni Chapter Group in addition to being past chairperson for Weddings and Military and Veteran's Committees. As a Minister/Director for Universal Brotherhood Movement, Sandra has ordained many Celebrants for UBM and offers her mentoring skills across the country. Sandra has also achieved the accreditation of Master Wedding Planner™ with the Association of Bridal Consultants and is an adjunct instructor for Penn Foster Career School in the ABC Wedding Planner Certificate course. An affiliate partner with Etiquette Survival, she has presented numerous seminars across the country teaching Etiquette and Social Graces for personal, business and children programs.

“May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder. ” ― John O'Donohue, Eternal Echoes

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Celebrant Foundation and Institute Mission The Celebrant Foundation & Institute's mission is to pioneer the widespread use of relevant, customized ceremony to honor the fullness of the human experience across the lifecycle.

Celebrants - the new tradition for modern and meaningful ceremonies!

Vision The Celebrant Foundation & Institute (CF&I) seeks to increase opportunities to affirm and celebrate milestones and transitions for all people through the training, certification, and ongoing support of professional Life-cycle Celebrants and by providing public education, outreach, and advocacy.

Dedication The CF&I is dedicated to teaching the principles, history, and practice of Celebrancy in a rigorous seven-month program which educates and certifies Life-Cycle Celebrants in the art of ritual, ceremony, world and faith traditions, ceremonial writing, and public speaking and presentation. Celebrants are ceremonial facilitators and ritual creators, trained to officiate and guide individuals, couples, and families through key life events. The CF&I is a non-profit educational institution.

Our Celebrants will guide you and assist you in paying homage to your life's achievements, your wonderful times, and the meaningful relationships of your life, as well as to the most difficult passages you have endured.

Our Web site is designed to help you learn more about us and the ceremonies we offer. It will furnish you with materials and resources, answer questions, and help you with your choice of ceremony and Celebrant. And, if you're interested and so inspired, we invite you to join us, and become a Life-Cycle Celebrant in your community. There are thousands of Celebrants throughout the world, of all ages and from all walks of life, who have embraced this most personally fulfilling vocation.

The Celebrant Foundation and Institute movement begins here at our headquarters in New Jersey. Learn more about becoming a Certified Celebrant by calling us at: (973) 746-1792

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SOCIAL LINK https://www.facebook.com/CelebrantInst https://twitter.com/celebrantinst https://plus.google.com/+CelebrantFoundationandInstitute https://www.pinterest.com/celebrantfounda/

Celebrant Foundation & Institute Montclair, NJ Phone. 973.746.1792 39

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