Main description:

This is a book filled with activities to allow individuals, families, and groups in bereavement support groups, at retreats, memorial services, and conferences to acknowledge the death of a loved one or community member in a gentle but effective way. The rituals include information about the appropriate age for specific rituals, materials needed for them, a description of how to go about creating them, and suggested meditations, poems, and thoughts that can be read during rituals.

Contents:

Introduction

Definition

Rituals and Their Importance

I Holiday Rituals
Beginning the Year
Hearts and Band-Aids or Hearts and Mini-Gold Safety Pins
Memorial Valentines
Egg Rituals
Mother's Day/Father's Day Rituals
Bubbles
Fall Leaves
Halloween Feeling Masks
Christmas/Hanukkah Memorials Ornaments
Candle Ceremonies

II Camp Rituals
Name Rituals
Solstice
Pine Cones at the Fireside
Hands
Floral Wreath
Candle Ceremonies
Rock Rituals
Seedlings or Small Flowering Plants
Native-American Rope Ritual
Planting of Trees
Native-American Burden Basket

III Group Closing Ceremonies
Balloon Lift-off
Hand Hugs
Bubbles
Rainbows
Peanuts and Baby Roses
Journaling
Creating Books
Seedlings or Small Flowering Plants
Rock Rituals
Candle Ceremonies
Rose Petals: Closing Ritual
Pouch/Stones
Family Circle

IV Conference Rituals
Healing Space Rituals
Native-American Burden Basket

V Unique Types of Rituals
Placing of Stones
Unveiling the Headstone

VI Poems and Mediations

VII Bibliography of Books Related to Rituals