On Talk of the Bay Christine Barrington interviews Naomi Ehrich, an award-winning wedding officiant and ceremony leader, modern mystic, and high priestess by blood, birth and bone. She writes and performs creatively reimagined, deliciously refreshing, life-affirming, one-of-a-kind ceremonies for couples and communities of all colors, creeds, races, religions, genders and sexual orientations. She is a natural bridge between the ancient and the modern, the mystical and the practical, the secular and the sacred. She is committed to “finding more insightful ways of comprehending the great human transitions, and reinventing meaningful ways of ritualizing them,” to being a potent force of feminine leadership in a realm that has, until recently, been male dominated, and to bringing more Beauty into the world. Her wedding ceremonies have been described as “magical,” “masterful,” and “art in action.” You can learn more about her ceremonial work at Santa Cruz Officiant.
Naomi and her Boulder based colleague, Jen Nealon Garone of Small Circle Ceremonies, have created a rich and poignant collection of DIY/self-guided, doctrine and dogma free ceremonies to help individuals and communities mark big life milestones with creativity and care. With the growing number of westerners (currently more than 40%) who identify as nonreligious they recognized the need to provide ceremonies for unaffiliated, atheist, agnostic, secular, spiritual-but-not-religious, multi-faith, inter-spiritual, earth honoring, neo-pagan and God-squeamish couples and communities that don’t have a priest, pastor or parish to go to, but still want a meaningful and inspiring ceremony. This collection (available in both English and Spanish) includes wedding ceremonies, memorials, pet funerals, divorce rituals, and abortion healing ceremonies. They are available for purchase at Owl & Rose Ceremonies on Etsy. Naomi and Jen also author an online advice site at Ask an Officiant answering all of your wedding and ceremony related questions.
