Shrouds and Green Burials

I love the idea of a green burial. No embalming, we are talking about returning to the earth and composting. I love the idea of returning to the earth in a handwoven shroud of my own design with prayers, songs, and love woven into it, and maybe a little magic. I bought a loom several years ago with the intention of weaving shrouds. I wove lots of bits and lengths, to see the strength of the fabric that I could create with my own two hands, mostly overseen by the ‘let’s break the rules’ Meg from #whisperingweaver. I made a few lovely pieces of clothing although I never got around to weaving that sacred shroud.

The loom sat forlornly in the corner of my house, gathering dust for two years, I could hear its call, until yesterday when Meg casually mentioned bringing the loom into my office, for families who would like to weave their own shroud, or part of a shroud. With a gleam in her eye, she announced they could weave bits of their hair, the dog’s hair, or any bits they wanted really.

So today I made that a reality, my loom sits ready and Barefoot Funerals would love to invite you to come by and have a chat and make this part of your reality. You don’t have to weave the whole piece; you could come weave just a small part to be sewn onto a ready-made shroud or even placed into the casket or coffin of your person.

I used Dr Google to look at the history of shrouds and using the weaving idea, it has been around for eons, but whilst going down the rabbit hole I found an incredible story of a woman Lily Martina Lee from https://www.instagram.com/lilymartinaleestudio/ who weaves shrouds that memorialize unidentified female victims of murders that took place for decades unto the mid-1990s. Her shrouds are charged with the purpose of “being a protective covering that the victim didn’t get. So, what does this have to do with offering you all to make your own shroud or that of those you love? Nothing, although it reminds me as I am often reminded when doing a funeral service for someone I don’t know, how many wonderful caring and interesting humans there are in the world, many of whom I wished I had the pleasure of meeting.