Celebrancy! What a rewarding experience it can be to guide new parents through the ceremony of naming their baby, or to walk alongside a couple in love as they vow to fasten their hands in marriage. Or to escort the departed to their last resting place, creating a memorable rite for the bereaved left behind. Rewarding, certainly, but also a skill that doesn’t arise out of the blue. But it is something that can be learned.
The OBOD celebrancy course “Serving the Living and the Dead”, taught by member River Jones, is in full swing and being studied by quite a number of OBODies of all grades, and by non-members too. This elaborate programme takes the call for service in the Druid’s community seriously and offers a myriad of insights and support for the participants on their path to become a funeral celebrant. The other course “Celebrating Life”, teaches you how to design and lead weddings, handfastings, memorials and baby/child namings.
The Halstatt Award has been created to help OBOD members who might be financially disadvantaged and unable to afford the fees. We award £175 towards the tuition fee twice a year to two OBOD members. The recipients are chosen through a point system and a narrative in which they make a case for their participation in one of the two celebrancy courses. Points are given for commitment to the Order and its own course work – expressed by more points as members pass through the grades; for creative contributions in the form of published Touchstone submissions; and for some form of financial or other hardship (e.g. disability, retirement, support of dependents in the household etc.) The applicant with the most points wins the award. If there are more than one applicant with the same score, the OBOD Office, River, and the donor will vote under the consideration of the narrative.
Awards will be announced at Samhain and at Beltane, with applications due by Alban Elfed (for the Award at Samhain) and by Alban Eilir (for the Award given at Beltane).
Our hope is that, with the Hallstatt Award, we can help more OBOD members become celebrants, no matter what their circumstances. To make an application email celebrants@druidry.org