Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

160 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
custom of burying the dead before the next sunrise, without embalming or coffin, and not too
deep. According to this custom, they would be dressed in their favorite clothes, accompanied by
a few favorite items as grave goods. A winding sheet would enshroud the body. A sapling fruit
tree (generally apple) would be planted upon the grave, and as the tree grew, its questing roots
would draw sustenance from the decaying corpse, recycling what was once human into a thriving
memorial tree. And eventually that tree would put forth its fruit to be eaten by the people,
and the cycle of life would come full circle. (See song by Oscar Brown, Jr., “A Tree and Me.”)
As an extension of this custom, a couple desiring a child would make love on the fresh
grave on the nights following the interment, ritually inviting the spirit of the beloved dead to
incarnate into the new life being conceived. The child, if there was one, would be given the
name of the departed, and the afterbirth would be planted beneath the grave-tree, which
would then become the child’s own sacred totem tree. Apple trees normally live about as
long as humans, so the fate of the child and his/her tree would be intertwined.
In addition to rites and practices involving the disposition of the body, there are two
other very important ceremonies of passing that are as much for the living as the dead. These
are wakes and funerals.
Wakes are best held as soon after the death as possible. All those who knew the deceased
are invited to a big party in their honor. In former times, the corpse would also be present on
a bier. Whiskey and other intoxicants would be passed liberally around the circle, as people
took turns telling increasingly outrageous stories of their departed friend, laughing, singing
songs, and generally having enough fun and making enough noise to “wake the dead.” Conducted
ritually, a wake is very similar to a bardic.
Funerals are generally more formal affairs. These days, they are usually held in churches
or funeral parlors, which are set up with the coffin or urn on a platform or altar at the front of
the room, and seating arranged as if for a lecture presentation. There will likely be a prescribed
order of service, starting with a eulogy (“good word”) presented by the deceased’s
closest kin. One at a time, selected people may be invited forward to tell their stories, as in
the wake. And according to the deceased’s spiritual beliefs, selected inspirational hymns of
passage to the afterlife will be sung (our current favorite of these is “Into the West,” sung by
Annie Lennox at the end of the movie, “The Return of the King”).
And finally, an ancestor altar should be established in the west side of the family’s temple
room, with images and mementos—including ashes—of the deceased.
181. Ritual of my Death
This is the Ritual of my Death.
It is a feast of Joy,
For I will dance among the stars.
Do not grieve my passing,
For we shall meet again,
And dance again, and love again,
For such is the Law and the Promise.
For now, let me take leave
And hold me no longer,
For I must be free...
I am the voice of the Beloved.
Find me within the Universe...
Remember me with as many names
As there are stars in the sky...
—Frank Cordeiro
182. A Tree Has Been Cut Down
The giant trees stand in a circle
Silently communing with the One
Who lies felled on the forest floor.
“One of us has been cut down”.
The form but not the Being within the form.
Your freedom is our loss, beloved friend.
No longer do you stand with us on the Earth path,
Your precious, beautiful, human form destroyed
But You, Immortal Soul, dancing freely now,
Moving as lightning, or wind, or winged Spirit,
Communing with us in our earth-body sleep.
Farewell, dear friend.
As you depart for that unknown country,
We can remember
The Oneness of all Being.
—Ralph Metzner, June 2003