singing the ancestors, singing the land

At around 3:20 yesterday afternoon the sky became a dark morass of clouds and rain fell like a torrent from an unseen waterfall high over my head. At the time I had just set up the altar for the rite of passing I was about to hold for the dear friend who died a few weeks before. The chalice of water had been placed upon the altar cloth and the incense prepared, along with an apple for his onward journey, a small stone and, of course, the mead. Decorated with Oak and Hawthorn and dark blackberry bearing Briar, I hoped it was a fitting tribute to the person I had come to know and like so much, and that the family and guests would approve of the rite that I had prepared for him, working with his wife and two daughters.

It felt as if he was having his last tease, as full of mischief as ever, though later a playful breeze seemed to increase in strength every time I attempted to light the replaced and dry again incense. I could see his eyes twinkling as he drenched me under the Oak beside which his body was to be placed.

As I became soaked I looked up to the cloud laden sky that had been so clear just a few minutes before and laughed with him, and in what seemed but a few moments the sky changed to an unbroken blue again, a gentle warming breeze rose up and the sun shone. The rite itself was conducted in warm sunshine and seemed a beautiful and poignant send off for someone who I had been honoured to know, more honoured to have ask me to conduct his rite of passing and, as the words of those remembering him flowed, became even more honoured to have been present at his passing. It would be inappropriate of me to reveal too many details, but he was, as I was now discovering, a truly remarkable man who had lived a life full of beauty and tragedy but who never ever lost his will to make things better for others, to celebrate the things he felt important and who, right to the end of his life, never let up the fight for environmental action. He was an accomplished historian and an excellent musician; though I knew he played the flute he was so modest of his abilities that it should have been no surprise to learn he was more than skilled on that instrument as well as the violin and piano. That he had found his Druidry so late in his life was, I think, something that allowed him to reconcile his search for spiritual certainty with his ethics and outlook on life.

Journey well Philip. I bid you ‘Hail and farewell!’, for now.

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It has been a strange few days down here – though what I am feeling is simply the ripples of change and the spirals of life and death that surround us all.

You see, just over a week ago I received a phone call from the daughter of a member of the Grove I used to run when living in Oxfordshire. Her father had died, unexpectedly, while on holiday abroad and she was getting in touch to ask if I would hold his Rite of Passing. It was only a year or so ago that the person concerned had asked me to do that very thing, and whilst he was older than most Grove members, he was still fit and lively with a deep intelligence, and inquisitive mind and utterly determined in all he did. He had attended one of my courses and I had grown to like him very much. Having agreed with him that I would hold his rite, the opportunity to sit down and discuss exactly what he wanted, as is so common, never happened. So to discover that he had died so suddenly, so quickly, was a deep shock to me. I will miss him.

Then on the same day I heard of Luciano Pavarotti’s death. This time much a more ‘public’ and expected death as he had been suffering from pancreatic cancer for a long while. Nonetheless, it was still something that affected me, having loved his voice, his passion, his zest for life (and sharing his love of football!) for many a year.

And now I hear of the death of Anita Roddick, a businesswoman I have admired for very many years, and who I tried to emulate in all I did within my retail career – and emulate, in some ways, beyond my retailing career too. Way back in 1991 I read her autobiography – Body and Soul and was struck by her desire and sheer bloody mindedness; for her, business and ethics were inseparable, as they were and still are to me. At the time I had been working for some deeply unethical companies and she was a guiding light for me and for many others….

Of course she wasn’t perfect – who is? – and in later years made some mistakes, not least (in my opinion) selling her Body Shop to L’Oreal. Technically it was the shareholders who made that decision, but I have no doubt without Anita backing the deal, it would never have gone through. But that, I think, misses the point about who she was, and what she stood for. Her campaigning, her fearless attitude, her determination and her efforts to bring environmental and ethical concerns to the forefront of business are what she will be – and should be – remembered for.

So, no more heroes? Perhaps it simply reflects my age, and my own life that I find it harder to find individuals who inspire quite so deeply these days- with a few notable exceptions. I hope that is the case, and that the heroes are still out there somewhere, waiting for me to discover them

Other link:
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/what-you-can-do/anita-the-trailblazer-20070911

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