As an Independent Celebrant, my work centres around life and death, love and loss, happiness and grief. Most Celebrants go by their name rather than a unique business name. It makes sense as people will be able to identify who you are. So, you could be forgiven for wondering why I use the business name of Black Cats and Unicorns, rather than my name. I’ve considered changing the name of my business to my name, but honestly, I don’t want to. Pull up a chair and I’ll explain why below.
This adorable photo is of a cat called Albus. We’ve had four black cats so far and he is currently our only cat. He’s utterly adorable, slightly cheeky and a little love bug (on his terms only). Albus loves snuggling up to the pink and white unicorn, so much so that he gets very upset if it’s moved or isn’t in the right position on the sofa. (Yes, he’s Sheldon in miniature form…) I had the idea for my business from this photo. A black cat and his beloved unicorn. We had two cats at the time of the photo being taken, hence the ‘Black Cats’, but we sadly lost his brother Sirius, about a month ago. The connection and love between Albus and his unicorn is apparent in the photo. For me, black cats, like death, are misunderstood. The idea that black cats are bad luck or witches familiars, have been perpetuated for many years. Sadly, black animals are the last ones to be rescued from rescue centres. Why? This is mainly due to the fact that people don’t know how to photograph black cats, so the pictures for the ‘gram are no good. Utterly ridiculous.
Now unicorns. Unicorns are a ‘mythical creature’, some would say they don’t exist at all. However, personally I think if you look hard enough you can find a unicorn, even if it looks different to society’s idea of what a unicorn is (Rhinoceros’ anyone?). For me, love was a mythical notion. I saw other people falling in love, settling down, and being happy. Sadly, it was elusive for me- just like a unicorn. I honestly never saw myself finding love with anyone. Then, at the age of 43, I married to my best friend, who loves unicorns. Albus’ unicorn played a pivotal part in my proposal to her. Our house is filled with love and unicorns that range from heat pads to small crocheted ones to ceramic mugs. It is possible to find love, whatever your age or circumstances.
But Michelle, what has all this got to do with Celebrancy I hear you say? In the context of my business name, Black cats represent death and dying. Unicorns represent love. They’re part of the cycle of life and balance each other out.
One of the things I’m very passionate about is breaking taboos. I strongly feel that in order for people to have a good death and a funeral that they choose, with the content that they feel happy with, we need to talk about death, dying, funerals and the cycle of life. Delivering funerals and holding space for people feeds my soul. I much prefer to deliver a Celebration of Life to a wedding if I’m honest. If you’d like to start a discussion around planning your funeral in advance or want to tell me what you think, do reach out!
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