Welcome!

You have reached Kestrel’s Nest on beautiful Gabriola Island.  Within the nest, you will find Tidal Ceremonies, my Art and Ritual Goods, and Kestrel’s Healing Space !

As a life-cycle celebrant with Tidal Ceremonies, I am dedicated to creating ceremonies that respect your unique personality and life-style. Weddings and Engagements, Funerals or Celebration of Life, Pregnancies or Baby Blessings, Coming of Age or Graduations, New Business Openings or Retirements, New Home or Leaving Home, Pet Welcomings or Departings … so many things to honour with ceremony.  Inclusive and eclectic, I welcome all. Please see some photos and reviews from friends in My Ceremony Gallery.

My fiber art and painting reflects my love of ceremony and ritual.  Reflecting the changing Seasons, the four Elements, and the Goddess in all,  I bring in love of the Earth … drawing on decades of study in environmental science. A long-time seamstress, knitter, and quilter, I have taken my creativity into the realm of fiber art. Open to creating commissioned ritual pieces for special life events, I am.  Please see photos of current works in My Art Gallery.

Through My Healing Space, I provide offerings of ways to bring ritual into your life to celebrate every day.  Bright Blessings to you,  Kestrel

Tidal Ceremonies

Greetings! You have reached the home of Tidal Ceremonies situated on Gabriola Island on B.C.’s west coast. I offer personally-crafted, unique-to-you, memorable and meaningful life-cycle celebrations that acknowledge your life’s milestones.

We need ceremony in our busy lives more than ever.  We zip along missing the opportunity to stop and breathe at life’s growths, losses and changes of all kinds.  When you feel a need to honour life’s passage, whether in private or public, I am committed to supporting your path. 

 

I am a Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant  with  specialization in Ceremonies Across the Life Cycle, Weddings and Funerals, Healings and Transitions.  I am an ordained minister with the Canadian International Metaphysical Ministry offering inclusive, eclectic, and professional ceremonial experiences. 

My Service to you includes: ceremony research and resource materials; in-depth consultation and writing of your ceremony; script consultations and updates via email; your complete approval of the final script; a rehearsal as requested;  consultations with your other vendors if needed; officiating of the ceremony on the agreed day; and keepsake documentation of your ceremony. Please see My Ceremony Gallery for photos and reviews.

I welcome your inquiries at: Karen.Arends@shaw.ca  

What an adventure!  Kestrel 

My Ceremony Gallery

Welcome!  Please enjoy these pictures of my client-friends celebrating their once-in-a-lifetime events. 

“Kes is an excellent officiant. She made an in-depth inquiry into who we were as individuals and as a couple so that she could give us a ceremony that felt natural, flowing and in alignment with what we wished to convey to our friends and family.” -Stephanie
“Karen did a wonderful job with our ceremony. Our ceremony was very special and involved all of our children in the blending of our family with the sand ceremony.” – Jennifer
“Karen put together a family blending celebration for our son’s engagement. She worked with both sets of parents to create a fun and joyful announcement. It was awesome!” – Wendy
This is my own wedding day! We got the best compliment from my hubbie’s 96-year old grandmother who said “I liked it … it was different.” And she’d seen a lot of weddings! – Kes

Ritual Art Gallery

Greetings! I love a celebration!   My art reflects a love of ceremony. Reflecting on the changing of Earth’s seasons, the four Elements, and the Goddess in all women, I listen deeply within and without to create memorable and meaningful pieces. 

From crafting as a long-time seamstress, knitter, and quilter, I have taken my creativity into the realm of art worked in fibers of all kinds.  I enjoy the surprise of creating my own fabrics using natural dyes and processes.  Sometimes I am inspired by a piece of music, or a quotation, but the inspiration can come from a beautiful piece of fabric itself. 

Here I share some of my love of working with fiber to celebrate in ritual or simply to beautify. Please enjoy these photos of my past and current pieces.

“Pele Rises” Pele is “She who shapes the Sacred Land” – creator and destroyer Volcano Goddess. Hawaiians know that to enjoy the fertile lands of paradise, there must first be destruction by Pele’s passionate and unpredictable temper.  Many living in Kilauea’s shadow express reverence and thanks to Pele, even as lava destroys their home. Anyone travelling to her volcanic home standing at the edge of the active crater, is moved by the Spirit of this Goddess. 
“Woman in Tangles” We all feel it at times. That knot in our solar plexus chakra or manipura when our confidence is low or we fear some unknown. The connection between our gut and brain is a complex one and often overlooked as we search for ways to enhance our sense of personal power.
“Elmo” Created before our pet friend passed, this quilt has only now been able to be shared.
“Cape St. Mary’s” Anyone who has visited the Province of Newfoundland can recognize the flat tops of hills overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and dotted with sheep.
“Peacock Grace” A celebration of the colour and majesty of these beautiful birds. Created by fussy cutting and applique with piecing.
“Village of Vancouver” Growing up in a town by the sea brings a fondness of the connection between city and nature.
“Four Seasons Altar Quilt” Spring, Fall, Summer, Winter … which block attracts your sense of each season?
“Forest in the Morning Glow” As the sun rises, the trees in the BC forest seem to glow with radiance even as the sky remains darkened.
“Forest in the Evening Glow” As night falls and the sun dips below the horizon, the trees darken even as the sky remains bright.
“Winter Solstice Sunrise” After the longest night, the rising of the sun is a reminder that brightness follows the dark. And so, celebrating the return of the sun has been and remains a tradition in cultures worldwide. Let’s not lose that by retreating to the indoors.

My Healing Space

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Fishes

The Buddha says “the wave and the water are one”. The fishes that are immersed in the water are forever in their element.  They trust the water completely.  It is home, safety and continuity.  They are born and die there.  And, separated from the water, the fish panics and will die without it. Besides the …

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Night

Night!  Does the word fill you dread? Wonder? Anxiety? Peace?  Our lives are balanced between light times and dark times — the days, the seasons and our lifetimes.  Day is the time of doing, taking action, meeting and greeting – the stuff of living.  Yet, night is the time of being, dreaming, resting and recovering …

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