crowdog66 ◾ ◾ Thoughts on the memorial service

The service went well. Very, very well. The family and friends were greatly pleased, and the deceased may have a had a hand in one or two events that occurred during the service. More on that later.

The general reaction from the mass of mourners was also positive. They got right into the "hail and welcomes" during the ritual and most of them came up to burn a piece of flash paper as an offering, and afterwards several of them remarked that they were pleasantly surprised by their first encounter with a Wiccan ceremony, and asked respectful questions. I even got to meet the owner of the funeral chapel, Neil Bardal, who it turns out is a Lutheran and a Mason and spent a few minutes with me as I waited for my cab chatting about "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons", which he highly recommends. Even the lady in the back serving coffee asked about the ceremony, because she could hear parts of it where she was working and had never heard anything like it before!

Right now, I am tired and very satisfied. I think I acquitted myself quite well, and as far as I can tell I did exactly what the family needed -- sent the deceased on her way in a reverent manner that brought them closure. The best friend of the deceased, who is also Pagan, seems determined to look me up again when she comes to visit Winnipeg next summer -- a contact I would welcome, since she struck me as an intelligent and pleasant person.

More later.