Danna D. Schmidt

Master Life-Cycle Celebrant®  
Ordained Wedding Officiant  
Funerals/Memorials Specialist  
Certified Grief Educator/Tender  
ADEC-Certified Thanatologist®  

Of Love, Lent + Lunar Offerings.

A friend and I went out to celebrate Fat Tuesday the other night and we couldn’t help but smile at how Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, and the Lunar New Year bumped up against each other in the décor at this popular Cajun eatery in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. Valentine’s Day. Ash Wednesday. Chinese New Year. I… Continue Reading

All Hail the Solstice

The whole year ‘round, from my front porch (except for days-on-end of snow clouds, rain clouds) I watch the sun set behind every bump and dip of the mountain skyline, from north of Mt. Eddy to south of Castle Crags.  Tonight, a few hours before summer solstice, I stand just outside my front door and… Continue Reading

Celebrating What It Means to Live a Life

I became an artist and thank God I did because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life.” Viola Davis To be a celebrant Is to be a Visionary, Guide, Scribe, Servant, Priest, Healer, Poet, Mystic, Fool,  Storyteller, Detective, Shapeshifter, Alchemist and Artist. (Cards from Caroline Myss’ Archetype Cards deck). As I… Continue Reading

New Year Rituals

Labyrinth at Grace Episcopal Church on Bainbridge Island, WA Here we are…it’s January! These past couple of years, the early days and weeks of the year have been all-consuming for me, as I’ve juggled work and time-sensitive projects. But I don’t let that stop me from the joy and fulfillment I get from enacting my January rituals, because the entire month of January has… Continue Reading

Summer SOULstice

Ah….blessed changing of the season’s guard! The year has turned ’round yet again while many of us were busy making other plans. Summer Solstice holds such mystique and never more so than when we can inch ourselves northerly to experience the full long light of this day. My fondest Summer Solstice memory was getting to participate… Continue Reading

How to Leave a Sexy Corpse

Life is short. Drive fast. Leave a sexy corpse.” Stanley Hudson, (The Office; Season 8, Episode 15) I am all about the first and final words in this motto…and perhaps less about the driving fast part these days. Life itself drives fast enough – way faster than we might like. And yet knowing this, most of… Continue Reading

Say it RITE…the Ceremonious Way!

NEWSLETTER