Does anyone know anything about pagan funerals, i dont want to have a christian funeral.

So what happens,
where can it happen
would i be buried or cremated? and how
Is it legal?

Some advice would be welcome

Well, the method of departure is very much up to you mate. Do you want to be buried or cremated? Different traditions say different things. In some ancient cultures cremation was reserved for criminals as the body was supposed to follow you into the next world, in others cremation is the only acceptable way. So it depends what you prefer.

If you want a burial you might like to check out somewhere like Penwith Woodland Burials and invest in an eco friendly coffin like the Pod. There's a stall that often comes out in Cardiff when the craft fair's on that has a range of eco-friendly coffins.

Cremation is a little more difficult. A recent Hindu challenge to the ban on open-air pyres (which is favoured by many religions and modern Pagans) lost. So the ban is upheld. If you specifically want an open-air pyre you'll likely have to go abroad (unless you're a cow with foot and mouth, in which case you can guarantee it). You can look around and see if there's a non-denominational crematorium. They must exist and you should be able to request the equipment/procedure without the Christian waffle.

Most pagans look at a funeral as a calibration of a life past; crying/wailing/sobbing is completely acceptable, but morbidity, moralistic waffle and that type of sh!t isn't. So you might consider holding a really kicking wake - get everyone 'round with a guitar, some pot and plenty of alcohol to share poetry, stories and music in your memory. Then leave a nice lump sum for everyone to get ratted afterwards. Really it's up to you.

You might like to have a snout through The Pagan Book of Living and Dying by Starhawk. It's more than a tad twee but it may give you some inspiration.

But it's your party. You figure it out, decide what you'd like and just make sure everyone knows about it beforehand.

Best wishes,

Marion.

Most crematoriums in the England and Wales (don't know if it's different in Scotland) are run by local authorities and are therefore non-denominational, it's just that most people in the uk (including atheists!) default to Christian for funeral services. However, more and more that isn't the case. In my (albeit limited) experience, the staff are very willing to try to provide what you want.

If you go for burial - just google "woodland burial" and you'll come up with a number of sites. There are companies now who maintain woodland burial sites and will organise eeryting for you if you want them to, or just provide the site. If you want a personal site, that's not a designated busrial site, that can take a long time to plan and get the necessary permissions.

I think that's it a good idea to think and plan well in advacne (as it were!) and make sure that your friends and family know your wishes. It also takes a lot of pressure off them. When my father died, he had arranged his funeral down to the details and everyone knew exactly what to do, it was comforting to know that we were doing it exactly as he wanted it. However, when a friend died, he ended up with a standard Christian funeral, when he wasn't a Christian and it wasn't what he would have wanted. His family were too devastated to do anything different and went with the flow. It's always worth thinking beforehand.

seem to recal "Liferites" advert from pagan mag? Try checking them out.

Liferites have a reputation for being slightly temperamental, some people speak well of them, others found they didn’t quite cut the mustard. Their website is here though if you want to check them out. They do have some resources on funerals though.

Best wishes,

Marion.

thank you lots to think about, before i make a will with my wishes
I best get saving too

Hi Whippet

A funeral can be of any denomination at all and you don't need any special qualifications to conduct one or be a minister/celebrant (if that's the right word?) at one.

You can be buried pretty much anywhere as long as you can get the local council to agree to it. There are certain legal requirements and it might take a bit of persistence, and of course, they might just say "No you can't be buried in the middle of Clapham High Street" or wherever.

Cremation is only legal at crematoriums. So no you can't do the whole viking ship down the local duck pond either.

Although crematoriums are christian-focused, as most people in this country have a christian minister, they do have to have removal religious items or cover them if requested to do so. We have been able to remove the crucifix from the altar but kept the candles and also placed several pagan items on the altar. Many crematoria also have two lecterns, so that's quite a good set up for a HP and HPS to do the funeral together, if that's what you want.

The main limitation in a crematorium is time - you get 15 minutes, unless you're the last group of the day in which case you can go over slightly.

If you know what you want at your funeral, what songs, what words, then there is no reason you can't write it all down now and discuss it with someone you trust, and also tell your family that you want such and such to do the funeral for you. (Otherwise once you've shuffled from this mortal coil they might decide that you're having a Christian funeral and there's not really a lot you can do about it!)

Hope that helps.

bb
Rhiannon

One other thing to try to bear in mind is that a funeral is for the living, not the deceased. It is a way for them to mark the passing of a loved one and maybe celebrate the life that has passed. So it is quite a good idea to take the feelings of those left behind into consideration to a certain extent when planning a funeral. That DOESN'T mean you shouldn't ask for your faith perspective to be reflected in the funeral service of course.

BB

Mike

There is a previous thread of the same title in Pagan Paths (circa October 2006), with alot of useful tips. Well worth checking out!

Ooops sorry, its in this forum actually on page 3...