Pet Reliquaries began as a way of honoring the sacred substance that was the cremated remains of a cat who had been my kin and companion for 23 years, Ms. Moppet is her name, and I say “is” in the present tense because our relationship is alive today. She is my ancestor, still my kin and companion, but now she lives in a different “realm” from this one that we inhabited together for so long.
There is no way to overstate the importance of the remains of our deceased loved ones, and the compelling necessity of honoring them – the studio is an honoring place. Ashes, hair, bones, feathers, dirt, rocks, plants, all have their place and home, and are welcome here. When a Pet Reliquaries friend sends the precious remains of their loved one to me for the creation of a reliquary, those remains are cared for throughout the entire process. When I receive them they are placed on a protected shrine in the studio, where they stay until they are ready to be sealed inside of the reliquary. They are safe here.
studio shrine with portrait of Ms. Moppet
Have you ever had the experience of speaking out loud to someone who has passed? I do, I talk to them all the time. Even though they have departed their physical bodies, they are still with us, waiting for us to find ways to stay connected to them, to hear from us. In part, that is what memorialization is all about. I frequently ask my clients for a picture of their animal, which I like to put above my jewelers bench while I’m making their reliquary. I find comfort and inspiration in getting to know them a little bit, I greet them when I come into the studio, and often share some of the wonderful things I know about them from the stories their people have told me. I let them know all is well.
Lisa’s jeweler’s bench
When a loved one dies it is hard not to contemplate where they have gone. When they leave their physical bodies do they still exist in another form? Can they hear us? Do they communicate with us? Love us? Protect us? This questioning and attending is part of the rugged territory of grieving. Reliquaries hold them close, and are meant to inspire our creative, intuitive selves to attend to our hearts, to find ways to stay connected that make sense to us, and to honor the living life we share.
~ Lisa Havelin
