Custom-crafted ceremony to honour the precious thresholds of your journey

TO THE CEREMONIES

Life is change and so we cross thresholds.

Let’s create unique and personally meaningful rituals to empower you through the changes.

WE MOVE TO NEW PLACES,

WE CHANGE HOMES,

FAMILIES FORM,

CHILDREN GROW,

WE MAKE LIFE-CHANGING DECISIONS,

WE FULFILL PERSONAL MILESTONES,

OUR BODIES CHANGE,

WE CYCLE THROUGH LIFE’S SEASONS,

WE JOURNEY THROUGH ILLNESS,

WE PASS THROUGH THE VEIL…

These passages can be rushed through and left unattended, the threads unraveling into a loss of possibilities… or, we can harness their power to transform us and to strengthen our relationships with ourselves and our loved ones.

Don’t miss an opportunity for greater intimacy with your unique and precious life.

Let’s work together to find fresh, authentic ways to honor your life transitions and milestones.

Why
Ceremony?

PREPARING A CEREMONY INVITES US TO REFLECT INWARDLY, WHICH ILLUMINATES THE UNDERLYING DYNAMICS OF THE CHANGES TAKING PLACE IN OUR LIVES.  THIS IS WHERE MEANING IS MADE. THIS HELPS US TO FEEL EMPOWERED IN OUR TRANSITION AND TO EMBRACE A TRANSFORMATION IN OUR LIVES.

THROUGH RITUAL SPACE, WE CREATE A PLACE WHERE TIME STANDS STILL.  WE BECOME DEEPLY PRESENT TO OURSELVES AND TO EACH OTHER.  WE CREATE AN OUTWARD EVENT THAT MEETS US WHERE WE’RE AT DEEP WITHIN.  THE CHANGES WE EXPERIENCE ARE WITNESSED, SUPPORTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED.

 

Your personal story matters, and it reaches far beyond the confines of your everyday jobs and routines.

Invite ceremony in

01

FOR CHILD-BEARING & PARENTING YEARS

Nature based ceremonies for life passages

02

FOR TRANSITIONS & MILESTONES

Ceremonies mother blessings

03

FOR DEATH & DYING

House warming ceremonies Vancouver Island

For the Child-Bearing Years

“Somewhere inside every woman is a deep knowing, even if it is barely conscious, that giving birth is a multi-layered, mysterious rites of passage.” — Pam England

Becoming a mother can be a woman’s greatest rites of passage.  The changes experienced in your body, your mind, your various identities and roles, can bring up a swell of emotions that need attending to.  These changes are profound, sacred, life-changing.  Ceremony can create a sacred container with loved ones for you to be(hold) your wild transformation, preparing you to let go of the your before-baby world and welcome the new with-baby world.

As a celebrant, I will weave together traditional mother blessing elements with your own story and journey into motherhood, teasing out your personal symbols and celebrating your unique flavor in this rites of passage.  Surrounded by your loved ones, you will be supported through your joys and challenges, hopes and doubts, honored for your beauty, power, strength, and dignity, pampered and comforted, and given a place to sink deep into the transformation taking place within and without as you step into motherhood.

Be this for your birth child (first or following), or for an adoption ceremony, this ceremony helps you prepare mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the motherhood journey ahead.  A deep and conscious connection arises in those who attend and who will be there to offer support, wisdom and guidance in your ongoing journey as mother.

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Inquire

There is a sacred window that follows the time after birth.

A birth story ceremony can help to consciously weave meaning around this postpartum cocoon and mark your birthing rites of passage.  Within the sacred space of this nurturing ceremony, you can find yourself surrounded by the women you love who come to witness your birth story and to comfort, support, and pamper you in this cocoon time.  Alternatively, you may choose to wait until you feel ready to step out of the cocoon, at which time we can create a ceremony to welcome your return, as mother, into community life.

Or perhaps, you are wanting to be supported through a one-on-one personalized ritual and ceremony, where you can drop deeply into your senses, your deep imagination, your compassionate thinking and your embodied emotions – all the while feeling held, supported, witnessed.  Stepping into motherhood is a ground-shifting transition that beckons deep attention to the stirrings of our heart in these momentous times. Let’s start imagining…

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“Everybody loves being welcomed by joyous, enthusiastic and happy faces when returning home from a long day of work or a trip away from home… Being welcomed puts an end to our long journey. This is as close as I can explain the process of birth for souls coming to Earth: our children need to be joyfully welcomed when they are born.” – Sobonfu Some

This ceremony can take place in the intimacy of a close circle of family and friends, or amid a larger gathering of your Little One’s community; it can happen soon after birth, or a year later, depending on the timing that feels right for your family. It provides an opportunity for parents and siblings to reflect and express their family values and style, and gives the community an opportunity to feel involved in this child’s life.

These are precious occasions that leave lasting impressions and shared memories to cherish again and again at each birthday. Let’s creatively honor your little one’s journey Earth-side through a delicious celebration of personalized ritual, story, blessings, song, vows, gifting and feasting!

“All over the world, ceremonies take place to give voice to the awe and thanksgiving that the safe delivery of a child inspires. These awaken the community to the practical and spiritual task of raising the child and supporting its parents. The bestowing of a name is usually a central part of that ceremony” – Jackie Singer

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“Story is the song line of a person’s life. We need to sing it and we need someone to hear the singing. Story told, story heard, story written, story read create the web of life in words”  – Christina Baldwin

Each family is its own unique tapestry, its own unique story.  There are many ways to become a family – from surrogacy, to adoption, to step-parenting and the blending of families, and more. Ceremony and ritual can support these life transitions, offering emotional and spiritual support, guidance, comfort, celebration, and a sense of community as you ready yourself to become a family.

These are ground-shifting times that require tender honoring and careful attention. Let us tend through the deep presence and timelessness of ritual space the multiple currents enriching your world: the deep emotions emerging, the new constellations forming, the dream seeds taking root, and the previously established dynamics shifting under foot. Let’s co-create a personalized ceremony to honor your unique story.

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Whether birthdays, seasonal celebrations, family sharing circles, daytime or evening rituals, there are so many ways we can integrate ritual into our family life to deepen connection.  Growth milestones – like starting school, loosing teeth, a girl’s entrance into puberty through a First Moon Ceremony, or the crafting of an adolescent Rite of Passage – also give us the opportunity to celebrate changes, honour growth, acknowledge emotions and empower transitions.

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For those times when the nature of things feels out of rhythm, when life and death hold hands too closely, when budding hopes and dreams are buried in spring ground…   In these times, when the world changes in an instant, never to be the same again, the love and strength of our community becomes of sacred importance.  Together, through ceremony, we remember.  We hold space and tend hearts.

Miscarriage, stillbirth, infant loss, terminating of a pregnancy, or needing to release the dream of having children to consciously create a life without… Many challenging feelings arise, asking for a voice, seeking their place in your heart, requiring acknowledgement, sacred space, and time to tend to these. A sensitive and creative ritual space can help acknowledge & express these deepest needs, longings, and grievances – holding precious your journey in times of loss.

For Transitions & Milestones

House Warming

Moving into a home (house, apartment, cabin, RV…) can be a significant event as we invest a space that holds our waking hours, our sleep, our dreams, our relationships…  Moving into a new home can also be a time of stress and rush to get everything into place and start your life afresh from this new terrain that you’ll root into.  Taking the time to have a house warming ceremony can be a powerful way of pressing pause to infuse your new home with intention and acknowledge the journey that brought you here.   Many traditions around the world have “blessed” new homes, such as by celebrating the first fire in the hearth through a house “warming”.  In creating your personalized house warming ceremony, we work together to uncover the deeper meaning of “home” for you and craft personally meaningful rituals that infuse with love and gratitude the house that becomes your home.

House Clearing & Blessing

Homes are places where we invest so much of ourselves, they become extensions of our inner lives.  They are shaped and imprinted by our energies, stories, and dreams.  As such, when we move into a house to make it our new home, we need to mark this transition from one inhabitant to another.  A house clearing and blessing is a ceremony that helps to mark this transition from one owner to another, by supporting the house in letting go of past stories and energies, to fully embrace new beginnings and create the terrain for your dreams to flourish.

House Cooling (saying goodbye to your home)

With every leaving – be it of your house, your neighbourhood, your community, your place – there is a separation from the familiar and a stepping into the unknown.  There may be a loss and sadness, a part of you reluctant to say goodbye.  And there is a journey that seeks acknowledgement.  Let’s see how we can support you in fully acknowledging and holding space for the present moment, as you stand between past and present.  Ceremony and ritual can help you to acknowledge the impact of the changes, support your inner reorientation, and celebrate the seeds of new beginnings, blowing wind into the sails of your next adventure.

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FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS – Please connect with me for gift ceremony packages to offer your clients

“As they participate, they remember.  As they remember, they grieve.  As they grieve, they love.”
– Sarah Yorke,  Remembering Well

Loss, sorrow, fear, grief are part of life and bring us ever closer to the depth of our love.  These emotions claim containers that will allow these energies to emerge from our depths to be acknowledged and honored.  Sometimes the container becomes the sacred silence of our solitude and sometimes the listening hearts of our community.  Often both are needed.  Whether healing through chronic or life-threatening illnesses, pregnancy trauma and infant loss, sacred dying and bereavement, shared trauma in the community, or mourning the losses of planetary suffering and deepening global crisis, ritual and ceremony creates the space to acknowledge our loss and healing. Through these sacred moments, we remember ourselves into the wholeness of our existence.

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Life is full of transitions – sometimes chosen, sometimes unexpected – whether these changes take place in our relationships (as with divorce), in our work life (as with layoffs or retirement), or in our health (as with chronic or life-threatening illness).  In moments of transition, when the ground shifts under our feet, we are required to redefine who we are and reorient ourselves inwardly. If we accept the invitation to transformation, we come into greater alignment with the changes taking place in our lives.

Depending on where you are in your life transition there are hardships & losses to be acknowledged, gifts to be honored, and/or a new way of being in this world to be celebrated.  Ceremony and ritual can help us take the time to integrate the significant inner transition taking place and help our community support us through change, whether this be through a support ceremony, a process of sustenance rituals to “hold the center” during a period of transition, or a ceremony to mark the completion of a passage.

“Brooke is a loving, intuitive and focused guide into deep imagination. She created safe, respectful space and brought her wisdom, curiosity and total acceptance to my process. This allowed me to be free to follow and enjoy what naturally emerged in the dreaming and mythical realms, resulting in new insights that will help me achieve my goals.” — Liz, Comox BC

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“I have come to suspect that in the absence of ritual, the soul runs out of its real nourishment”— Malidoma Some

There are so many pivotal moments that have a significant impact in our lives. These can range from a midlife passage to moving to a new location, preparing a milestone birthday, committing to a new relationship, stepping into a career changes, taking on a new name, celebrating a graduation, or endless other possibilities that bring about important changes in our sense of identity and our roles.

Let’s make sure your passage gets the acknowledgment it deserves. Our human need for deep connection to life’s profound experiences runs deep. As we turn our attention inwardly during that these experiences, their transformative potential opens up. Let’s work together to create the space and time to honor this transition in your life, so that your wings can unfurl into your shifting reality and you may emerge into the fullness of your next step.

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For Death & Dying

“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”
Kahlil Gibran

How difficult it is to lose someone we love… How difficult it is to lose someone who has been in our constellation, whatever the emotions that are present then and now…  And what a gift to chose to honor this person through ceremony, with the respect and careful tending that each human life deserves. Ceremonies for final passage through the veil are a part of the healing process: space is made at the kitchen table of our hearts for all the emotions that want to sit down and be heard, acknowledged, given space. We serve them each a hot cup of tea and allow our hearts to steep in a salty mix of joy and sorrow. In the safe container of these ceremonies and held by our community, we are offered support to help us turn towards life’s utter beauty, messiness, grit, and greatness.

While celebrant-crafted ceremonies can integrate traditional elements of funerals and memorial ceremonies, they also offer you the freedom and creativity to authentically honor your loved one in ways that resonate with you. With fresh and imaginative rituals, these celebrations of life reflect the flavour of the life they lived, the breadth of their story, the depths of their unique journey, the love you shared.

Funerals & Grave-side burial ceremonies

These celebrations of life take place in the wake of death, either in the intimacy of a home or at a funeral home.  They can also include a grave-side burial ceremony.

If interested, ask me about green burial and home-funeral options.

Memorials & Scattering of ashes

These celebrations of life can happen later in the grieving process, like on a special day of your choosing, and can take place in various settings that reflect the legacy your loved one is leaving behind – be it in the form of a walking pilgrimage through the woods to a beloved nature spot, an intimate gathering in the deceased’s garden or living room, a beach-side celebration for a lover of oceans, a large party in a favorite restaurant, or a moving creation of song, dance, poetry in a meaningful setting… Each celebration is different, as each person’s journey through life and death is unique.

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“to live in this world

you must be able
to do three things
to love what is mortal;
to hold it against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go”    – Mary Oliver

When preparing for the inevitable final passage through the veil, Living Life Celebrations are a rare and precious chance to gather with those that matter most to you and to celebrate what you have meant to each other in this lifetime. This type of ceremony does not replace a funeral or memorial, rather it is a meaningful chance to celebrate – while you are alive here and now – and to affirm your life and legacy, to express your gratitude and appreciation, to feel the love that surrounds you, to receive the blessings from your loved ones, to feel that your unique life has made a difference.

We can craft this together and/or with the help of a close friend or family member, to create a ceremony that resonates with you. You may want to celebrate in the safe sanctuary of an intimate circle of close friends, or maybe you would rather feel surrounded by a larger gathering of your community. Where the ceremony takes place and what kind of elements give it shape will all depend on what is unique to you, your qualities, your loves and interests. This celebration will be a joyous reflection of your life’s breadth and depth, and will help your close ones to best accompany you as the final passage of your journey unfolds.

Scroll down to Pricing/Offerings to find a package that suits your needs

Our beloved pets and animal companions hold a very special place in our lives.  Often, we are their world and their family.  When the time comes to say goodbye as they age or become ill, it can be very difficult to say goodbye.  Through custom-crafted ceremonies, we can honor their lives and acknowledge your journey together in a way that resonates with you.  This can take the form of a burial, a memorial (with or without scattering of the ashes), or the crafting of meaningful rituals to help them pass the threshold if they are being put down through euthanasia.

“This magnificent and touching ceremony was a salve to our immense sadness and the great emptiness at the loss of our beloved dog, who had been a full-fledged member of our family for 14 years. To offer our children this rite of passage and to have them feel welcomed in the fullness of their emotions was deeply healing for them. Through Brooke’s gentleness, empathy, way of listening and sense of spirituality, the ceremony perfectly met our family’s needs.” – Catherine & Dominic

 

My dog Sunny and I : )

CEREMONY PROCESS

Your story, honored in its wild authenticity, embedded in the salty breath of the Pacific Northwest.

WHAT THIS JOURNEY TOGETHER LOOKS LIKE

01

COFFEE DATE

Once we’ve connected through this form, we’ll set up a FREE no-obligation interview by phone call, online or in-person. This way I’ll get a basic sense of your needs and you’ll get a better sense of how I can serve you. We can become acquainted with each other and make sure I’m the right fit for you! Based on the information you share with me, I can establish a quote. If you decide to work with me, we sign a contract and you make a deposit to engage my services.

02

DEEP DIVE INTERVIEW

Next, we’ll meet online or in-person for in-depth interview(s) in a cozy indoor setting or in a local forest, beach, or meadow with hot tea in hand… I will hold a space for you to share your story and for us to go into more depth and detail about your intentions and vision for your ceremony or for the ritual support you are seeking.  Depending on the process we have agreed to, I may offer nature-based ritual guidance between interviews.

03

WRITTEN QUESTIONNAIRE

I send you a written questionnaire that you fill out and send back to me. Taking the time to fill out this questionnaire is an integral part of the ceremonial experience, providing the necessary pause and breath in the busy pace of life to reflect upon your unique journey and clarify your desires.

Victoria Celebrant
Victoria Celebrant Brooke Rochette

04

CRAFTING PROCESS

Based on our interview and the questionnaire you filled out, I will work to craft your unique and personalized ceremony. We will revise and update your ceremony script through email and phone consultations/support until you are delighted with the result.

05

CEREMONY DAY

I will arrive on site and officiate your ceremony with grace and great care.

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A BEAUTIFUL KEEPSAKE

Following the ceremony, I will gift you a lovely keepsake copy of your ceremony.

* This outlines the general process for ceremonies.  For more complex ceremonies involving multiple parties, the process is tweaked and adapted to the context.  Perhaps your needs are different and you’re simply looking for advice around a ceremony you’ll be leading yourself.  As every situation is different and needs vary, we can create a package and process that feels right for you – let’s talk and co-create!

REACH OUT

I respectfully acknowledge my place as a settler on the stolen Indigenous lands and Coast Salish territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən/Lekwungen (Songhees and Esquimalt) and W̱SÁNEĆ ((SȾÁUTW/ Tsawout, W̱JOȽEȽP/ Tsartlip, BOḰEĆEN/Pauquachin, WSIḴEM/ Tseycum, MÁLEXEȽ/ Malahat) First Nations, whose timeless relationships with the land continue to this day.  As a guest on this land, may my deep respect and reverence be enacted through my relationship with the rightful stewards and traditional keepers of this land, with the Earth and Waters, with all living entities and sentient beings, and with the spirit guardians of this place.