Honoring Our Grief
“Our task, in life and death, is to realize we always have a choice. We can fall asleep into unawareness and stay stuck, or we can wake up.”
– Pema Chödrön
Hello,
This collection allows participants to express gratitude, move into honoring pain, and bring forth a new way of being with emotions.
You might already have your kit. Please use the instructions below. The kit includes rituals based on the elements of earth, water, air, and fire. These may help you connect to living beings and can honor anyone and anything you wish.
“I received a beautiful grief kit from The Night Sky Garden. This resource has helped me set a grief ritual for animal suffering and the vystopia I experience.”
Amber Y., Denver, Colorado
All materials in the kit can be reused, recycled, or composted.
Use a piece of the rolled-up white translucent (thin) paper to write a message that expresses your emotions. Then, submerge the paper into a bowl of fresh water. Sit for a moment, breathe, and watch as the paper dissolves. You may use this water for the seed paper in your kit to nourish and honor new life as well as honor any individual who has passed.
The seed-embedded paper brings new life into spaces. To use the seed paper, write a message to someone who has passed. You may wish to name your feelings and perhaps words that were not said while they were alive. Soak the seed paper in water for at least 8 hours.
About the Plants: Your seed paper contains a wide variety of annuals and perennials (depending on where you live) including snapdragon, petunia, beardtongue, daisy, thyme, poppy, foxglove, catch fly, maiden pinks, and chamomile. Once your message is written and soaked in water, you may plant the paper in an area that receives at least four hours of direct sunlight. These varieties can tolerate a bit of shade and may grow up to 3′ tall. While the seeds are germinating, be sure to keep them wet.
The Gaillardia seeds also bring in new life. The seeds may be planted in an area where you enjoy visiting outdoors in your front or back yard. Find a space that is especially meaningful to you. Perhaps you spent time under a favorite tree with a dog family member who passed away. A sunny space next to the tree can allow for moments of remembrance of your time together.
About the Plants: The Gaillardia seeds (also known as native blanket flowers) are perennials that have short-lived flowers. While they require full sun, this native variety is low water. Collect the seeds, plant them in the Fall, and enjoy a large collection of blossoms. Plant the seeds in the area adjacent to, but not with, the seed paper to ensure the Gaillardia is not over-watered.
Use your mini journal and pencil to honor your feelings. You may use this space to write about your experience with the ritual kit and how you might use it differently in the future. You may choose to carry the journal with you (it is small enough to keep in a wallet.) Journaling is a wonderful way to express emotions that would otherwise be challenging to talk about.
“Times that challenge us physically, emotionally, and spiritually may make it almost impossible for us to feel grateful. Yet, we can decide to live gratefully, courageously open to life in all its fullness. By living the gratefulness we don’t feel, we begin to feel the gratefulness we live”
– Brother David Steindl-Rast
Try these prompts to get started:
- I remember when…
- I created an enduring bond with you by…
- My happiest memory of you is…
- Some of the lessons I learned from you were…
- You taught me to…
- I will continue to honor you by…
- To honor all animals I will…