Will and Testament

Ken Mayer / Flickr

I have a folder on my bookmarks bar where I stuff everything I come across the web that I want to read later or that I will work on within a few days. I ingeniously named this folder "P" for pending. I was going through some of its contents yesterday and ran across an article on the documents you need before you die. This is how I can always tell the fall is coming, my thoughts turn to death. Maybe it's the pull of ancestors.

In any case, I'm 33, as healthy as the next person, and, to be honest, the technical details of death are not something I've given a lot of thought to. Of course it's crossed my mind that I'd like to have a Pagan service at my death, but I've not made any solid decisions and I have nothing prepared. If I didn't wake up tomorrow, the person I live with (my mother) wouldn't know how to access my bank accounts, how to contact some of my friends, or what to do with my ritual items and other personals. She wouldn't know what kind of service I'd want, who should oversee it, and what I'd like done to my body.

This has been on my mind for years. When my father's aunt died some years ago, she didn't receive a Catholic funeral because she didn't leave any arrangements and her daughter, a Jehova's Witness, adhered to her beliefs rather than acquiesce to what her mother would have wanted. Last week, there was some discussion about this subject on one of the witchy lists I'm on.

Some of us want what we want. If we want a Pagan service, we should be able to have it. Other people don't care. They're dead, they say, who cares. Well, your family probably does and if you don't make arrangements for yourself, then make it for them. In the midst of tremendous grief, even choosing between white or purple flowers can be overwhelming. Make it just a little bit easier for them.

So, I took a few hours last night and put some documents together. I created a health care directive, a will, a letter of instructions and final arrangements, and a list of important contacts, accounts, and web passwords. The health care directive, also called a living will, outlines what to do if I can no longer take part in the decisions for my future. It's basically the document that says turn off the life support. The will names an executor and where my things will go. I don't have a lot, but I have enough to think about and I bet you do too.

Have you made final arrangements? Do you have a will? Have you considered a Pagan funeral and what will become of your ritual items?