An invitation to participate in
A Celebratory Gathering
LIVE from the Rowan Tree and the International Space Station*
Designed and facilitated by Michelle Atherton
A Borrowed Time event
Friday October 15 at 18.30 BST/UTC+1
How do we publicly acknowledge the lives of those no longer living, beyond the funeral and the obituary? In secular cultures how do we bestow significance on a life and mark the lives of the dead? If what is important about life is how it is lived, how do we collectively judge what is consequential, what counts, what really matters? Equally, how do we move away from anthropocentric views on the worth or value of the life of other species and other organisms?
In an attempt to address these questions I wish to invite you to a gathering that will bring together anyone who would like to celebrate, in their own way, friends, loved ones or anyone, any organism or anything no longer in existence and in so doing pay tribute to the full spectrum of life and matter. From the recently or long-since deceased to those that are now extinct, extinguished and forgotten, whether human or not. During the gathering participants can share their tribute through whatever form they wish, whether that be testimony, stories, song, tears, toasts, chanting, recipes, contestation, poetry, imagery or silence…
Our aim is to create collectively an audible space for the dead to be with the living; to give participants a chance to celebrate the lives and impact of people or non-human life; to register those that might be overlooked or not considered significant.
[Image (above) Rowan Tree by Eeno11 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org_w_index.php_curid=5029715]