Celebrant

I began working as a celebrant over thirty five years ago.  There was no training in those days and I drew on my background in writing and performing and interest in working with people, relishing the chance to help express each individual’s voice.

I fell into this work through the sudden death of a very close friend.  Knowing that the only appropriate way to create her funeral was to take control of how it was done I and a group of close friends devised a unique ceremony to remember and celebrate and mourn her.  The process was joyous, moving and challenging.  We learnt a lot about who the gatekeepers were in the funeral world and the resulting gathering was profoundly personal and authentic.  It helped my grieving process, bound friends and family closer together and led other people to ask me to hold other funerals and weddings too.  

I began to feel it was my calling alongside performing and that all the work I had previously done had prepared me for it.  I was used to writing and directing, holding an audience and working with people.  I had also explored a number of therapeutic approaches, faith traditions and meditation practise.   All these elements supported the approach I was developing to doing this work with people I was meeting for the first time. I position myself in the green zone between organised religion and atheism. 

I chose the name Markings for my work.  Making a mark to remember, celebrate, reflect, share the meaning of particular moments in people’s lives.  I work with namings, weddings and funerals but also mark occasions in our lives that are not usually recognised by our society – the end of a relationship or accepting not being able to have children, retirement, menopause or menarche.  I finds this work hugely rewarding. It is a privilege to be included in some of the most intimate and significant moments in the life of a fellow human being and I have learnt a huge amount from the people I have worked with particularly those living with a life limiting illness.

I am profoundly grateful to many teachers I have met along the way from junior school through university and drama school and beyond.  In recent years I have been profoundly influenced and guided by ALisa Starkweather and Nicola Kurk, co-founders of Women in Power.   They have have shown her so much about ritual, ceremony, compassion and listening.  They have deepened and steadied my practise.   Marianne Rothschild has also been a rooted and wise presence in my life and work for many years. I am very grateful to all those who teach including all the people I encounter in my work. 

My fee is usually £300 unless a lot of driving is required in which case there may be a travel cost added. Please get in touch to discuss how we could work together.