Because I am so sensitive, to other people’s feelings, I found being a Funeral celebrant very hard as I would pick up on others emotional state’s,   Yet I deep down know that its part of the grieving process, and is not always sad, it can be a celebration of life.

We do get very sad deaths, unexpected deaths, are especially difficult to deal with and we will all experience that in time.

Being a Psychic medium where I pick up loving messages from the spirit world, you think I would have been able to cope, my first funeral service I did was a suicide, then the next one was my very own Uncle Billy’s one, where previously I had been over in Canada during the covid lock downs and spent a long time with him and he knew he didn’t have long to go but I still had some great memories of him. But found it extremely hard but we gave him a good send off.

Having lost a brother to suicide I did find that first service very hard, I did my best and was very professional.

I have been asked why I didn’t do any more?

I felt I needed to work on myself and maybe learn to not be so sensitive to other’s emotions’, when helping or sorting out their loved one’s funeral, to be honest I avoided doing them.

I have done weddings and renewing of vows and loved it, its such a privilege to be part of these ceremonies, having just been a year married myself I have real experience from the other side of what it’s like to organise these events.

Dealing with death is not easy why?

We are all programmed to not talk about it, fear death, and the realisation that we do continue after death has been programmed out of us, but there has been a shift and its becoming more and more spoken about hospices have been set up and the care and healing has been improving of the last few years.

My reiki Master invited me on one of his courses Soul Midwifery for Angelic Reiki, you have to be a Reiki master to attend and have real experience in the healing field which I have, and I love giving and receiving healing.

Death can eclipse and shatter everything, but when a death is good the room is filled with peace and all the pain that went before it is forgotten; where there was mystery there is knowledge and where there was fear there is love – this is the work of the Soul Midwife, I learnt from this from that amazing experience during the course, it changed my perception of death and gave me the tools not just to be a better celebrant in dealing with funeral services, but also to help those who have been given a terminal diagnoses’ or know they have a shortened time here.

I am now offering this service to my clients and this has made me look at how I do my funeral celebrant work also, being a life coach, counsellor, Reiki master, Past life Therapists I can make a difference in this field of my work.

Cost of providing such a service would vary depending on needs of the client.

If you would like a chat please get in touch.

derek@ahappyceremony.co.uk or call 07468119635

Helping dying people experience a good death is the work of the Master Healer in the 21st Century.

Soul Midwives are non-medical, holistic companions who guide and support the dying in order to facilitate a gentle and tranquil death.

Soul Midwives listen, provide gentle therapeutic techniques and ensure compassionate care at all times, work holistically with both the spirit and the soul of the dying person, keep a loving vigil, create and hold a sacred and healing space for the dying person, recognise and support the individual needs of the departing soul to enable a tranquil death, use sound, touch, colour and smell and other gentle techniques to help alleviate pain and anxiety support families and loved ones.

The Soul Midwife’s most important role is to provide comfort, continuous support and reassurance in helping a dying person to experience the death he or she wants.

A new way of dying.

‘It should be a sacred day for you when one of your people dies – a sacred day, when a soul is released and returns to its home.’ (Black Elk)

We all die. But there are good deaths, and not such good deaths. Most of us hope to die, pain free, at home, with our loved ones around us given the choice. But not many of us actually achieve this. Most modern deaths are at best, efficient but clinical, institutionalised, functional and soul-less. Soul midwives ensure that death is a dignified and peaceful experience.

In traditional cultures around the world, death has always been regarded as an important rite of passage, an initiation, a journey across a spiritual threshold. Modern soul midwives can draw on these ancient skills and traditions, applying them to our modern world and using them to ease the passage of those who are dying.

Soul midwives lovingly assist and accompany a dying person on their journey, and can provide their services within a home, hospital or hospice.

Here are the 12 Principles of soul midwifery

1 To work as non-medical holistic companions who guide and support a dying person in order to facilitate a gentle and tranquil death.

2 To support and recognise the individual needs of the dying person and ensure they feel loved and supported.

3 To create and hold a sacred and healing space for the dying person (whether in a hospital, a hospice or at home).

4 To respect and honour a dying person’s religious/spiritual or atheist/agnostic beliefs and practices.

5 To work as non-denominational, multi-faith practitioners who honour the dying person’s beliefs about life, death or the afterlife.

6 To listen, provide gentle therapeutic techniques, and ensure compassionate care at all times.

7 To ‘serve’ our friend; not aim to ‘fix’ or ‘rescue’.

8 To give healing, using sound, touch, colour, scented oils or other gentle techniques to alleviate pain and anxiety.

9 To keep a loving vigil.

10 To work holistically with the spirit and soul of our friends at all levels and stages of transition.

11 To support families and their loved ones, giving loving care with a human touch.

12 To provide comfort, continuous support and reassurance in helping a dying person to experience the death he or she wants.

If you would like more information pleace get in touch.