A place for everyone

An important component of the celebrations are the places set up for all visitors, including those whose departed are buried elsewhere, to give them a chance to commemorate their dead. For many people, a symbolic activity, of more sacredly said, a ritual, is a moving moment.

Name Singing around the circle of fire
A stoker maintains the circle of fire the entire evening. Lighting the smoke with a strong spotlight creates a image in which people can dream.Visitors write the name of their departed on a piece of paper. Singers standing by the circle of fire sing these names. The slip of paper is burned in the fire afterwards. This ritual has a strong effect during an Allerzielen evening.

The Ever After
An open space is divided into rooms. This can be be simply done using ropes, but with Allerzielen Alom, we work with crates and bales of straw to suggest rooms. Boards with text were place in the 35 rooms describing what kind of room it was. Thus, there was a ‘room for quiet people’, but als a ‘room for smoking in anger’. People looked through the rooms and placed a candle where they thought that they loved ones would be at home. The room of anger did not stay empty. This showed that a place for negative emotions is also necessary.

Passion Mail
Visitors can send a card via Passion Mail. Glue, construction paper, and paint lie on the table. The public can decorate cards in any way. Personal texts and memories are written on the cards and then sent to other friends and next of kin. They can thus take part in the commeration. © www.passiepost.nl

Planting flower bulbs
A simple, symbolic activity is planting flower bulbs in honour of a departed one. The name of the person is planted with it on a small flag. New life, and a place to return to.

Memory things
A wall with compartments and a table of “stuff”, the ingredients for a cabinet of memories in honour of the departed. One chooses something which one associates with the deceased, and then it is placed in a compartment with a text of name. New memories are recalled.

Floating lights
If there is a pond or other body of water present, floating lights can add a special effect. Visitors put a candle or light, incense, and the name of the deceased or a message in a floatable cup or container. The cup is then released in a symbolic gesture to the dead (photo: Geert van Duinen, 2008).

Cabinet of wishes
A cabinet with hollow bamboo tubes to place rolled up wishes. A poet reads a poem and passes it on to visitors.

Casting candles
Make a mould of clay for casting paraffin. The result is an amorphous candle to place on a grave.