Opening Remarks
My sisters and brothers, we gather here today to commemorate and celebrate the life of Jane Hawkner.
Our rite will consist of three parts: The Rite of the Gates, the Fire Sacrifice, and the Arval Feast.
Our gathering today is not, however, one of commemoration only, but also of transition, which—symbolically, at least—will ease Jane's way from this life to that which comes next. For this, we will need the active engagement and participation of each one of you.
Much of what we do here today will, by tradition, be enacted while standing in respect. Let me add, though, that if you need to sit, please do so. Just be sure to sit respectfully.
Let us begin by acknowledging the Great Circle of Life and Death of which we are all a part, and by joining ourselves to it.
And so we begin.
