Funeral support: a real-life story

Our products are used in many different areas of the healthcare sector, including funeral services.
A unique field of work in which essential oils can be of great value. For both those who are preparing to let go of life and their loved ones, scent can bring comfort, peace and gentleness.
Alma Guijt gave us a wonderful insight into her remarkable work. We’d love to share her story with you.

Through this initiative, we hope to inspire people who work in the care sector, or who look after a loved one in their circle.

‘Hello! My name is Alma Guijt and in my day-to-day work I act as a funeral and ritual counsellor in
Zwolle and the surrounding areas within my own company Alma Liora | Funeral director with light and soul. Every now and then, I’ll also travel a bit further afield when my services are required.

Strength is often almost imperceptible when I visit a family who are grieving the loss of a loved one who has passed away. Nevertheless, I try to empower them, to let them make their own decisions and carry out tasks during that hectic week leading up to the funeral, so that their resilience can re-emerge. I do this step by (manageable) step, with the aim of supporting everyone as they begin what is known as ‘healthy grieving’ after the funeral. In doing so, I frequently incorporate rituals appropriate to the situation.

One day, I received a message from a woman who had lost her mother. Her mother had been living in a care home where burning incense was not allowed, and she was so keen to light her Palo Santo incense. I’d once been given a lovely Mother Earth roller by a kind woman at the Green Spirits festival. I vaguely remembered something about Heiloo and a company with its roots firmly in Dutch soil, and found De Groene Linde online. I quickly bought the Palo Santo spray!

To provide further support for “my” families, I also looked for lovely sprays that could help their pent-up emotions flow and cleanse their energy fields. That’s how I came across the Golden Oldie Lord Saint Germain and also the Rosslyn from the Awareness range is my favourite.

As well as my role as a funeral director, I am also a co-founder of the The Swan Sisters. I train people who wish to use rituals to assist others through the process of dying, during the week of the funeral, or to support their loved ones through rituals during the period of mourning. Ancient rituals are being revitalised and new rituals are being created to meet the needs of our time. Within these rituals, I also use products from De Groene Linde, always tailoring them to the situation so that I can provide a bespoke service: comforting, invigorating, liberating, reassuring… 
”I am very pleased with the wide range of options that De Groene Linde offers me, enabling me to consistently meet the individual needs of my clients."

Written by: Alma Guijt