Ceremonies and Assisted Dying with Megan Sheldon
Free trial for the Be Ceremonial app available at the bottom of this post!
I was really excited to speak with Megan Sheldon from Be Ceremonial. Ritual and ceremony is such an important part of not just medical assistance in dying, but life events in general.
One of the unique things about medical assistance in dying is that it can afford us more opportunity to be purposeful in how we celebrate and mark the end of someone's life. MAiD allows for a level of planning and preparation that isn’t always possible with an unexpected death. It gives the person and those around them a chance to be intentional, and to create space for ceremony, reflection, and connection.
Among the many types of ceremonies Be Ceremonial offers, they have a MAiD-specific one with secular, inclusive rituals that can support the person dying, their loved ones, and their wider community. These ceremonies can happen before, during, or after the death, and can include people who can’t be there in person, giving them a chance to express their grief and feel part of the moment from afar.
Megan and I talked about how ceremony can support not only the person choosing MAiD and their loved ones, but also the care teams who walk alongside them. Megan brings so much heart and clarity to this topic. After talking with her, I’m more convinced than ever that we need to be more intentional about how we mark a medically assisted death—not just for the person, but for everyone around them.
Be Ceremonial is a beautiful platform that helps people create meaningful ceremonies for all kinds of moments. They’ve also developed an app that walks you through building your own rituals—whether you’re supporting someone at end of life, processing a death as a health-care provider, or just wanting to bring more meaning into a transition.
You can find them at beceremonial.com, where you’ll also find links to download their app on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Megan has also generously offered access to a free ceremony at the link below, so you can explore what it feels like to build your own ritual and see how meaningful and grounding that process can be.
https://www.beceremonial.com/faq/how-to-redeem-a-promo-code/
Add ceremony code: MAIDINCANADA
So good to see Megan shining light on the value and purpose of ritual. As a Life-Cycle Celebrant, death doula, dying, death & grief counsellor, I get to witness the transformative impact of ritual on a regular basis. People are sometimes suspicious at first and yet it all comes naturally when needed. Normalizing it through podcasts like this one will go a long way.