To help you honour
a love that was never simple.
"The columbine in tawny often taken, is then ascrib'd to such as are forsaken."
William Browne · Britannia's Pastorals, 1613
This set is for the relationship that was difficult, unresolved, or estranged. A parent, a sibling, a friend, a partner, one that you may have loved in a complex form, someone that hurt you, or for whom you only were able to love from afar. The seeds may be planted during your ceremony, or after, in a pot or garden, as an honest, lasting marker of a relationship that mattered even in its difficulty.
During the Renaissance period, aquilegia, or columbine, represented having loved foolishly, or being deceived or abandoned. In Victorian floriography it is a symbol of folly; perhaps due in part to its shape resembling a jester's cap, or a group of fighting birds.
But in Hamlet, Ophelia gives columbines to the king as an accusation, not in foolishness, naming the betrayal that broke her family from within. Read this way, aquilegia has long been the flower of estrangement. It carries gentler meanings too, its five petals sometimes seen not as birds fighting but as a circle of doves, a symbol of peace, and in Christian tradition a token of the Holy Spirit's gifts, among them wisdom, counsel and fortitude.
Ancient in structure.
Entirely yours.
The Guide inside your Ceremony Set is not an instruction manual, it is a companion for your ceremony: a framework that draws from thousands of years of human ceremonial practice, held in such a way that you can make your ceremony entirely your own.
Plus access to our online Words & Poetry Companion, with a list of poems suggested for your Set, reproduced in full where we are able, and signposted by title and poet
where copyright restrictions mean we cannot.
Our Guide was written following months of research across independent celebrancy, grief psychology, ancient funerary rites, Druidic teaching, wake traditions, and ceremonial practices.
Throughout, you will find notes drawn from the archive which guide you in crafting your own memorial event.
The grief that has no ceremony has no place to land.
Safety & Care Information
77mm diameter × 65mm high tin · 200ml fill · Approx. 40 hour burn time · Unscented soy wax · Cotton wick
Burn on a heat-resistant surface. Never leave burning unattended. Keep away from children and pets. Maintain 10cm clearance from flammable materials. Do not burn for more than 4 hours at a time. Stop use when 10mm of wax remains. Allow to cool fully before moving. Do not use if cracked or damaged. Matches are not included.
51 × 51 cm · Cotton-feel fabric, designed for indoor or outdoor ceremony settings
Travels well, resists stains, washable, holds its colour, and doesn't snag. Embroidered with the Ceremonies of Love icon.
Machine wash 60°C · Do not bleach · Tumble dry low · Iron hot · Do not dry clean
Aquilegia vulgaris · Exact varieties are subject to availability and may vary · Sow spring or autumn · Partial shade · Keep moist until established · Nature moves at its own pace, and germination depends on local light, soil, and season. While these seeds are carefully chosen, growth is a quiet partnership with nature, and results may naturally vary.· Keep away from children and pets, not for consumption
