Candles are a wonderful way of honouring our friends as well as sending love and light to their souls as they travel to heaven. When Poppy died I asked my friends and family to all light a candle for her. Here is one such beautiful alter that was created using precious things, a rose quartz heart, acorns and autumn leaves, a precious book, a picture that evokes feelings of comfort and joy, a beautiful candle (a battery powered one is perfect for having all night). You can refresh each day with fresh foliage, flowers and other objects that are meaningful. Perhaps take time to say a blessing each time you light the candle, such as "I love you and thank you"  and as you blow it out maybe say "I love you and I release you". This can help your animal friends soul move freely on knowing you will be ok. 

Writing a blessing to go with your darling animal friend to send your love with them as they move onto their next 'grand adventure'. You can take a photo of the blessing too so you can remember what you sent with them. When my darling Poppy died I wrote the above in Oak Gall ink with a special oak pencil and placed it on her chest along with a rose quartz and some flowers. I have pictures of these on Poppy, they bring me comfort to know that I loved and cared for Poppy even beyond her soul leaving her body. I believe Poppy can feel the love of the words I wrote to her, helping to soothe her soul too. 

You can use ink or paint to take a paw or nose print of your animal friend which you can then either frame and place in your home and/or you can have a beautiful piece of handmade memorial jewellery made. I can highly recommend the wonderful work of Laura from Two Green Lane, she has been creating beautiful pieces for families for many years and made my beautiful necklace with Poppy's print on for me, which I wear every day. Laura also makes jewellery with the ashes of your beloved animal friend too. 

When a human dies we often buy flower for the coffin as well as to bring comfort to the family left behind. We can do this for our animal family too, they have loved us unconditionally and deserve the same recognition of our love for them too. Flowers, especially locally grown flowers, have such a beautiful energy about them, just by looking at them fills our hearts with love at their beauty.  I chose roses for Poppy because they denote love and I wanted to gift this love to Poppy's soul. 

I chose a beautiful willow basket coffin for my darling Poppy to be laid to rest in. It came with a lovely shroud to wrap her in but I also wanted her to be comfortable too so I placed lots of fresh smelling hay in the bottom before gently laying Poppy in and then tucking her in with more gorgeous smelling hay before placing beautiful autumnal oak leaves and acorns on top. Creating this for Poppy brought such a wonderful sense of peace to my heart, it was a very special time when I could say my private and quiet goodbye as I honoured and gave thanks for her old and worn out body. 

I want to encourage you all to have a funeral ceremony for your beloved animal friend, no matter how small a ceremony it is. Humans have created ceremonies for centuries as a way to honour, to give thanks, to come together in our sadness, our pain and our joy. Animals give so much and ask for so little in return, they are family just as much as humans and so honouring them after they have died is just as important an aspect of animal care as it is when they are alive, it helps their souls and it helps us to grieve. For Poppy's burial ceremony I created a homemade order of service using my computer, some handmade paper, glue and pretty ribbon. Spending time creating the funeral, deciding on the music and the words I would say really helped me to reflect on my time with Poppy, helped me to feel close to her. You don't need a printer wither, you can handwrite all your order of services if you wish. 

For Poppy's funeral I decided to create little gifts for people to take home with them. I chose acorns as a gift because Oak trees are magnificent beings, that can last for hundreds/thousands of years. This felt a fitting tribute to such a brave and strong little doggie as Poppy. I used brown envelopes, placed three acorns in and printed a picture that I stuck on the outside. You can gift anything, many people gift forget-me-nots, a flower or a picture. There is no right or wrong, do what feels right for you and your animal friend. 

If you are laying to rest your beloved animal friend in your garden it is recommended that the grave is dug to 3-3.5 feet in depth. Here is Poppy's 'nest' which my nieces and nephew helped me prepare with delicious smelling hay, beautiful flowers that my niece, Rosie had bought for Poppy, as well as foliage from the garden too. This space is a sacred space that will cradle your precious friend's body and creating a space of beauty and light helps to make this part of saying goodbye a little easier. 

As part of the ceremony people were invited to place a piece of water soluble paper with a blessing written on for Poppy into a bowl of blessed water (I said a blessing over it and placed in some sacred oil). When Poppy had been laid to rest and 'tucked in' I gently 'watered' her with all the love from these words. It can be lovely to bring in the elements in a funeral ceremony, water (as above), fire (candles), air (feathers/bubbles) and earth (a stone) can all be used to honour your animal friends life and transition to spirit. 

I chose a beautiful handmade willow basket for Poppy to rest in and so was able to decorate with beautiful foliage we found in the garden. These again, felt like offerings to Poppy, the thought and care of choosing the foliage felt like an honouring of her life, of her soul. If you choose, you can wrap your animal friend in their favourite blanket or you can purchase some lovely fabric. You could even decorate a cardboard box, sticking pictures all over, painting on, writing your messages of love. Whatever you decide to place your animal friend in, take time in the process, time is the one thing that is a true gift to our friends. 

This time must not be rushed. We can't rush our way through the pain hoping it will be easier. It's important too that children are involved in preparations, having the opportunity to say their goodbye's too. Here my darling niece Rose spent time seeing Poppy and helping me to wrap her and tuck her into her cosy, sweet smelling nest. It was an opportunity to talk about life and death, for me to ask Rose what her thoughts were, how she was feeling as well as sharing lovely memories of Poppy too. 

The beauty of honouring our animal friends with all the energy, effort and love we can muster means we get to be involved the whole way. Unlike human funerals where most people still feel unable to take on too much, pet funerals still have the sames essence as human funeral once did with the community coming together to support the family in their grief with all aspects of the ceremony. In this photo my brother, Charles and nephew, Blake and niece Rosie helped with the arduous task of digging Poppy's resting place. A dear friend and my soul midwife through Poppy's death, Caroline, helped too and also came with delicious homemade cacao hot chocolate made with organic cream and also a home made nurturing and sustaining apple and rhubarb crumble to help keep our strength up. You can ask friends and family to take on different tasks so it doesn't all fall on your shoulders.