Ritual Funeral Singing
Ritual Funeral Singer
~ Vocal invocations for transition ~
This ancient ritual practice brings a spiritual aspect to a funeral ceremony, creating a sacred time to sing the beloved dead home. My ancestors practiced this ancient rite for the deceased in order to bless and ease their passing. It is a time for the community to honour the life of the deceased, giving permission for them to go, releasing bonds that may still hold them, all of which allows for their peaceful and safe passage.
In-person on Cortes Island & surrounding area
Contact to learn more: foxdenrituals@gmail.com
As each beloved’s transition and lived life is so profoundly unique, so too are the songs and prayers to sing them home. In offering my ritual funeral singing, there are three parts:
Initial Meeting~ Gathering to hear about your beloved one and what music or songs are meaningful. Also explore what spiritual wisdoms and ritual support resonates most deeply. Perhaps you know what you’d want or perhaps some time will be needed for the right song to come. Together we will arrive at a deeply meaningful grieving song to ritually support the beloved’s transition.
Ritual Funeral Singing ~ Offer prayerful invocation and song as part of the funeral to ritually sing the beloved home, support grieving and weave group connectedness.
Aftercare~ To complete this offering we gather after the funeral for aftercare if that’s supportive. This can be a time for prayer, singing or simply reflecting together.
About Me
I’ve been a sacred singer for over ten years supporting rituals and funerary rites. I have my own style of keening or grief singing that is rooted in ancestral practice and ritually supports communal grieving. I owe this opening to singing with spirit to Kelly Maracle, a Mohawk song carrier, who led a drum and singing circle I sang with for 4 years. This opening led me to root into the keening and grief traditions of my Irish and Scottish ancestors through ancestral healing and ritualist training with Shauna Janz and learning Scottish laments with tradition bearer Sìne McKenna for 2 years.
An Example of Ritual Singing
At my grandfather’s funeral my family invited me to sing for the ‘commitment of the soul’ (as this was a Christian service). I invited the community to hold in their hearts a blessing for his safe passage, then sang a ritual invocation to support the transition of his spirit in the “the big love”. I caught this song the day he became non-responsive and I began the vigil for his passing. It was gentle, but profound. The song allowed my family and his community to feel connected, to grieve, let him go and we believe it helped to send him off in a really good way with all our blessings showering him on his path.
Contact to inquire: foxdenrituals@gmail.com