close

In a few weeks I have my mom's funeral and am thinking about the possibility of reading something that expresses my sort of attitude concerning the whole ball of wax. Below is a couple things I had for my dad's funeral that I would like to share here below. Both are American Indian, I would be happy to hear anybody else's which they've found... I'm sure there's some great in English/Irish writing I'm not aware of. This would be wonderful.

If this or something similar has been covered elsewhere in posts on the forum please direct me!

cheers and happy Summer!
4leaf


a Quechua prayer
----------
Where are you going, my father?
I'm going to the great forest, I'm going walking.
Why do you go? Who goes with you?
I go to the harvest, I go alone.

In the woods where you must go
Black flag is waving.
In the open place where you must cross
departing grass spreads cloaks of flowers.


Little Bell,
Ring farewell for me.
I am going to the great forest.
I will never return.

a Souix prayer
-------
My child, you have toiled through life and come to the end: and now our Lord has obliged you. Truly our home is not on earth: only for a while, only briefly do we w do we enjoy the companionship of one another. You have been taken by the Lord, he of the Swirling Waters, and also the Lady of the Land.
He has made you be his servant, he has brought you to his seat. For truly our home is there, our place of creation and ending is there, there where the the earth grows wide, where it all ends.
Now you have gone, gone to what ever kind of place it may be, the place where we all are born, the place we all go to,
At the end of many days you went away and left your children, your grandchildren; you left them orphaned you left them living. We will go and join you, we will be with you at the end of many days.

Sorry to hear about your mother.

This short poem was included in a publication of The Nation's Favourite Poems (back in 1998). Although at the time its origins were described as a mystery it had become Britain's favourite poem.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die.

Sorry for your loss 4leafplanet. May the spirit of the heights lend your mother grace in her journey passing into the west.

We have a mixture of customs here in Scotland. We lament a birth (lullabys are very dirge-like here) as the child has come from a place of joy to a world of toil. At a funeral we rejoice as the soul returns to the island of everlasting youth midst the great waters of the west.

There is an appropriate time for lamenting, after the proper period has elapsed after passing (3 to 7 days depending on the area) - at the funeral procession, and they do this with much gusto and even professionalism. The clan's greatest keeners and wailers would lead this ritualised keening as they followed the procession.

At the burial itself a poem, or more often song would be sung. One specially composed or a traditional lament. If specially composed it followed traditional lines though. The refrain (weary weary oh, so sad I am without thee) is used as a chorus, and the whole funeral party will sing this together.

The Corries do a version of Griodal Cridhe - a gaelic lament made famous by a Glen Lyon widow. They sing partly in English and partly in Gaelic. "Bheir Mi Oh" sounds like "Wearie Oh" or "Veer Mi Oh", depending on the area the gaelic speaker comes from.

GLENLYON LAMENT
Weary, weary, up the hill,
Weary doon the brae,
Weary by yon riverside,
Where we will meet again.
(weary oh refrain)
Gone where but the west wind blaws,
Gone where but the snow ne'er fa's,
I would sleep where sleepeth ‘ee,
Where the violets grow.

A lot of love songs have the Bheir Mi Oh refrain in them, perhaps implying the loved one is a person that is lost to the west.

THE FAIRY CHASE
I left my darling lying here, a-lying here, a-lying here,
I left my darling lying here, to go and gather blaeberries.
(weary oh refrain)
I’ve lost my darling baby O!
I’ve found the wee brown otter’s track,
(weary oh refrain)
But ne’er a trace of baby O!
I found the track of the swan on the lake,
(weary oh refrain)
But not the track of baby O!
I found the track of the yellow fawn,
but could not trace my baby O!
(weary oh refrain)
I found the trail of the mountain mist,
But ne’er a trace of baby O!

Personally I would like the Afrocelts to play at my funeral, even though their songs are a mix of cultures. "Eistigh Liomsa Sealad" is a perfect keening. "Release" is appropriate as it was written to commemorate a band member who had passed into the west, and features Sinead, it was described as "Proof of the healing powers of music and Sinead's amazing shamanic qualities. Their track "Mother" might be more personal for you, though it is sung in Kinyarwanda.

RELEASE

Don’t argue amongst yourselves
Because of the loss of me
I’m sitting amongst yourselves
Don’t think you can’t see me

Don’t argue amongst yourselves
Because of the loss of me
I haven’t gone anywhere
But out of my body

Reach out and you’ll touch me
Make effort to speak to me
Call out and you’ll hear me
Be happy for me

Don’t argue amongst yourselves
Because of the loss of me
I haven’t gone anywhere
But out of my body

Reach out and you’ll touch me
Make effort to speak to me
Call out and you’ll hear me
Be happy for me

Reach out and you’ll touch me
Make effort to speak to me
Call out and you’ll hear me
Be happy for me


MOTHER - ENGLISH LYRICS

Sun, sun goes down
There is no pain here
Beside her
Beside her

Somewhere deeper I hear her
As from a dream
And it's all that I can keep
Of what might have been

I've fallen down and I'm in your space
And I know that the time has come
To feel your grace

The Clanada Gadellica has collected together a lot of celtic funeral customs, if those interest you. As close as the stone is to the earth, so may the blessing of the gentle protector be as close to you in your times of need.

I think I'd go back to the poetry of Gary Snyder and Wendell Berry to express the magical and marvellous aspect of the natural world which we live in now and then return to. Snyder in his 'Mountains and Rivers Without End' quotes a 11th century Chinese poet...

Clearing the mind and sliding in
To that created space,
a web of waters streaming over rocks
air misty but not raining...

and Wendell Berry

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Sorry to hear about your mum. I've got a couple of photos of my parents (they died years ago now), framed together with this poem, which gives me comfort. It's by a wartime poet called Seigfried Sassoon.

"I Shall Find You

In the grey summer garden I shall find you
with day-break and the morning hills behind you,
there will be rain-wet roses; stir of wings;
and down the wood a thrush that wakes and sings.
Nor from the past you'll come, but from that deep
where beauty murmurs to the soul asleep:
and I shall know the sense of life re-born
from dreams into the mystery of morn
where gloom and brightness meet.
And standing there
till that calm song is done, at last we'll share
the league-spread, quiring symphonies that are
joy in the world, and peace, and dawn's one star."

Hi, 4leaf

if none of these excellent suggestions quite hit the mark, there's a ridiculous amount of megalithic poetry over on this thread here: http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/forum/?thread=23046&offset=50 - there's bound to be something among that lot that'll float yer boat! :)

G x

Sorry for your loss. These are some of my favourites x

In Magic Realms

In magic realms,
There exists a truth,
We forever searching,
In realms above,
Looking for this truth perfect,
Our mortal lives to reflect,
Upon the past,
We must let go,
To be re-born in the present,
The here and now,
Our journey through life,
Is all but a dream,
A blink of an eye,
In the great cosmic scheme,
In outer realms.

The search for perfection,
We will never find,
It's only a figment,
In our mind,
This is the truth,
We must all realise,
Until we reach inner realms,
Where pure love and truth abide,
So seek not dear traveller,
Through time and space,
Accept what has been given,
With good grace,
For life is a cycle of re-birth,
Only hope exists,
In our lives on earth.

- Julie Ann

Full Circle

A pebble came from the earth.
A rock came from the pebble.
The boulder came from the rock.
The mountain came from the boulder.
But now back to earth.

The wind came from the sky.
The breeze came from the wind.
The gust came from the breeze.
The tornado came from the gust.
But now back to the sky.

The snow came from the cold.
The water came from the snow.
The river came from the water.
The ocean came from the river.
But now back to the cold.

The fire came from the light.
The flare came from the spark.
The blaze came from the flare.
The inferno came from the blaze.
But now back to the light.

Life came from the ashes.
We came from life.
Unity came from us.
Destruction came from unity.
But now back to the ashes.

The earth,
The wind,
The water,
The fire,
The life,
Return all as one, from beginning to end.

-Author Unknown

Oak Tree

Lay my body 'neath an Oak tree
Give my roots to Mother Earth
Take me back through my childhood
Let me see the beauty of rebirth

I have walked this path of mine in silence
Bowed my head in awe of the Sun
Bathed naked in the light of Mother Moon...

Now I hear the voices of the wind
Was that whisper of time that set me free
I'm a living legacy to the Ancients
Feel their power rise in me

Ancient breezes cross the meadow blow
Bring the Goddesses voice to my ear
Songs of the Raven - Voice of the night
Soothe my mind - Quell my fright
Bring me strength written in stone
Cradle my soul - No longer alone

Pale moon light through leaves of Autumn
Sense the fragrance of rebirth
Softly calls me to the waters edge
To wade in the womb of her Earth

Bound by blood... Generations of life
Their Magic touches my soul in the night
Awakened to the call of far distant shores
I am weaving myself into the fabric once more
Time spun 'round me - warm cocoon
The loving arms of Mother Moon

I awaken and breathe in - There is life within

- Tayame

http://www.pagan-transitions.org.uk/

I came across this website for pagan funeral rites when I was searching for someting else.

Hi
scattered my dad's ashes a few months ago with these words:

We recognise that the measure of a man is not determined by his show of outward strength or the volume of his voice or the thunder of his actions. It is to be seen in the strength of his commitments, the genuineness of his friendships, the sincerity of his purpose, the quiet courage of his convictions, his capacity to suffer, and his willingness to continue to grow up.

Also said some private words.

Try WB Yeats also

Cheers,

Simon

Might I enquire what your choice was in the end??