Celebrant Training
RE-IMAGINING CEREMONIES TRAINING
A space where you can learn to become a celebrant, to create meaningful ceremonies to mark moments of transition, to step up and serve your community.
New Enrolment: Opens December 9th
Location: TBC
How to join: if you’d like to apply for training, please get in touch at training@entheos.ie

ABOUT CELEBRANT TRAINING
Training Content
We believe that rituals and ceremonies don’t have to be old fashioned. They don’t have to be a compromise or a cookie-cutter event. They can be unique. They can be meaningful. They can be inspiring. They can resonate and represent all those who have gathered. If you’re ready to serve the communities of this new world, you’ll find the support and guidance you need here.


CEREMONIES FOR EARLY LIFE
Unlike most trainings, this module is not just about planning the happy occasion of a Baby Welcoming. We acknowledge the truth of the pregnancy and birth experience, and we let this truth be our guide as we plan for the specific ceremony ahead of us, with the specific people involved.
In this module we will explore the many ways we come into being:
- Fertility/Infertility,
- Assisted Reproduction & IVF
- Planned & Unplanned Pregnancies,
- the rollercoaster of pregnancy and birth for parent and child,
- Birth as both a solitary and communal experience.
- We will also explore the losses of early life:
- Infertility,
- Miscarriage,
- Abortion,
- Termination for Medical Reasons,
- Stillbirth
- Neonatal Death
- Sudden Infant Death
- Sudden and Anticipated Death in Childhood
This module will equip participants with the knowledge and skills to hold intimate and precious funeral ceremonies for those babies and children whose lives come to an end before or soon after birth, or during childhood.
We will also cover family and community ceremonies for early life –
- Blessingway/ Baby Shower Ceremonies (before birth),
- Baby Welcome Ceremonies (age 0-3),
- Ceremonies of Family Connection (around age 7),
- and Ceremonies of Community Recognition (around age 12).


LIVING AND LOVING
Ceremonies of Marriage, Transitions and Threshold Moments
In this module we will cover the various ceremonies of adult life – the major focus being Marriage Ceremonies, but also:
- Coming of Age (around age 16-18),
- Handfastings,
- Vow Renewals,
- Name Change Ceremonies,
- Menarche/ Menopause/ Croning,
- pre/ post Surgery,
and any and all transitions and thresholds of life.
Every ceremony is unique, and every ceremony requires a sensitive and skilled planning phase, which will culminate in a beautifully meaningful and transformational ceremony for the couple and their guests.
On a practical level we will cover:
- The structure of a wedding ceremony: what goes where, and why.
- Including children
- Blending Families
- Celebrating diversity
- Roles to incorporate others
- Music choices
- Poem/ Reading choices
- Addressing the couple & congregation
- Choosing and writing vows
- Handfasting/ Joining of the Hands
- Ring exchange options
- Ceremony enhancements- choosing wisely!
- Legal considerations
- Pronouncement and first kiss
- Cultural considerations & variations
We will also cover wedding ceremonies where all is not as the couple might have hoped:
- Marriage in Anticipation of Death
- Hospice and Hospital Weddings (non-legal)


FUNERALS AND END OF LIFE
Everyone deserves a final tribute which not only reflects their own unique personality and approach to life, but that also honours and celebrates the unique gifts they brought to the world, and the legacy they leave behind. In this Module, you will learn to create and carry out a beautifully unique funeral ceremony, which reflects the character, personality and beliefs of the deceased.
This learning will include:
- Death, Dying, Grief and Bereavement
- Anticipatory Grief
- Planning a Funeral in Advance
- Managing anger and heightened emotions
- Working with Trauma & Unexpected Death – Suicide, Murder, Sudden Accidental Death, Death following recent diagnosis.
- Writing Eulogies
- Honoring the Truth
- Celebrating Diversity
- Dealing with Media Interest
- Holding Virtual Funerals
- Holding a Burial Ceremony
- Holding a Cremation Ceremony
- Visit to Funeral Home
- Visit to Crematorium
- Funeral Ceremony Enhancements
- Holding a Ceremony at Short Notice (as is usual in Ireland)
- Managing eulogies & speakers
- Death and the Funeral as a Community Experience
- Self-care: Recognising & Preventing Burnout & Compassion Fatigue


SETTING UP AS A PROFESSIONAL CELEBRANT
This learning will include:
- Online Presence: Website, Social Media & Marketing
- Finding and Engaging with Clients and Venues
- Streamlining your Systems and Payments
- Leveraging Media and PR Opportunities


THE ART OF RITUAL AND CEREMONY
This learning will include:
- Intention
- Structure
- Participants
- Holding and Healing through Groupwork/ Ceremony
- Reading the Space, and Responding
- Inspirational Speeches & Use of Ceremonial Language
- Ceremonies without Scripts: Developing your Own Language & Structure
- Guided Meditations & Visualisations


TESTIMONIALS
Words from training participants

Contact us for more information about the training
