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Celebrants

Click here if you are looking for our online listing of Pagan friendly registered marriage celebrants.

Share in the handfasting of our President and his wife. Click here to see the pictures and ritual from this ceremony.

Leaders that have been ordained by the UPCoA, as well as many group leaders that haven’t been ordained, can provide celebrant services for various Pagan ceremonies, including:

  • Handfasting*
  • Funerals
  • Naming Ceremony
  • Love/Affirmaton Ceremony
  • Dedication Ritual

* Not legal marriages. See below.

Handfastings

The Handfasting is the traditional (Celtic) Pagan wedding and can take many forms. Often the ceremony is customised to suit the participants needs and wishes, and may be held in a park or garden, or some other outdoor location.

If a legal marriage is needed then a Civil Celebrant can be engaged to provide that part of the ceremony necessary to satisfy legal requirements. This will allow the happy couple to enjoy a real Pagan ceremony with a legal marriage element included. If you need this you should contact us for further information regarding integration with Civil Celebrants. (there are a few Pagan Civil Celebrants registered in Australia, and also a couple of Pagan religious Celebrants that were registered pre-2000. UPCoA is compiling a list of Pagan friendly celebrants - click here to see this list. You can also search the official database on the Attorney General website.)

A Handfasting can also be held as a temporary joining - for a year and a day - after which time the couple will decide if they wish to continue, or separate. Often this will be the process for a Handfasting; the first ceremony being a purely Pagan event joining the couple for a year and one day. If the couple still wish to be married at this time, a second Handfasting is held, with the help of a Civil Celebrant to conduct the legal marriage section.

Handfasting Certificates

The UPCoA has the following Hadfasting Certificates available for issue to the happy couple. Note that wording on the certificates shown is for the permanent Handfasting. Wording will be changed to reflect the “Year and a Day” ceremony if necessary.


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Funerals

A death is a difficult time for everyone concerned, and to have a celebrant present a ceremony that fails to cater for the religion of the deceased, or worst still caters for a totally different religion, only serves to make this difficult time that much harder.

Pagan celebrants can provide a 100% Pagan funeral rite, customised to suit the family of the deceased if desired. The services of a licensed funderal director should always be engaged, however there is no restriction on who can conduct the ceremony. The funeral rite can be held either at the graveside, or in the funeral home chapel (or some other appropriate venue).

Naming Ceremony

The Pagan Naming Ceremony presents the child/baby to the community and the Gods/Goddesses. Whilst it is considered the Pagan equivalent of the Christian baptism, it doesn’t actually promise the child to the religion.

Again, the actual ceremony can be customised to suit the family, and held at any suitable location, including the family home.

 

 

 

Love/Affirmation Ceremony

Those couples not necessarily wanting a handfasting (or those already married) can affirm their love and commitment to each other through a Love or Affirmation Ceremony.

These ceremonies are about the couple, irrespective of the sexual orientations of the couple, and so the ritual will be created and customised to suit those involved. Like the Handfasting this ceremony can be held outdoors, in a park or garden or some other suitable location.

Dedication Ceremony

Although not necessary in all paths, some people that have chosen to follow a Pagan path may like to undergo a dedication ritual, as a symbol of their commitment to following a Pagan path. Dedication ceremonies are usually customised based on the path to be followed, and are generally held following some period of training or instruction in the relevant path.