Pushing Up Daisies - Your choice is... - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Plan9 · 01-06-2008, 05:51 PM

I was reading this:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science....ap/index.html

Quote:

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- Cynthia Beal wants to be an Oregon cherry tree after she dies. She has everything to make it happen -- a body, a burial site and a biodegradable coffin.

Cynthia Beal with an Ecopod, a biodegradable coffin made out of recycled newspaper.

"It is composting at its best," said Beal, owner of The Natural Burial Company, which will sell a variety of eco-friendly burial products when it opens in January, including the Ecopod, a kayak-shaped coffin made out of recycled newspapers.

Biodegradable coffins are part of a larger trend toward "natural" burials, which require no formaldehyde embalming, cement vaults, chemical lawn treatments or laminated caskets. Advocates say such burials are less damaging to the environment.

Cremation was long considered more environmentally friendly than burials in graveyards, but its use of fossil fuels has raised concerns.

Eco-friendly burials have been popular in Britain for years, but industry experts say it's starting to catch on in the U.S., where "green" cemeteries hosting natural burials have sprouted up in California, Florida, New York, South Carolina and Texas.

The majority of eco-friendly burial products come from overseas -- including the Ecopod, which is made in the United Kingdom -- although there are a few domestic makers. Options range from natural-fiber shrouds to fair-trade bamboo caskets lined with unbleached cotton. There are also more traditional-looking handcrafted coffins made of wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

The market is potentially huge. U.S. funeral homes generate an estimated $11 billion in revenue annually and that figure is sure to grow as baby boomers age.

There are already specialty funerals, featuring caskets with custom paint jobs and urns with the insignia of a favorite team. Industry experts say eco-friendly funerals are just an extension of such personalized end-of-life planning.

Biodegradable containers cost from around $100 for a basic cardboard box up to more than $3,000 for a handcrafted, hand-painted model.

"It's hard to tell if it's a fad or if it's here to stay," said Bob Fells, of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association. "We are certainly positioning ourselves that if this is what the community wants, we are ready to serve them."

The Green Burial Council is working on certification programs to verify the commitment and quality of providers who say they are going natural.

"What we are trying to do is to make sure this concept doesn't get 'green-washed' down the drain," said Joe Sehee, the council's founder and executive director.

...

If I chose the Ecopod option, I would demand to be buried only if I'm covered in the funny pages.

Although I suspect this is going to smack of the graveyards thread (http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=125468), I was wondering how everybody here feels about what happens to their earthly remains. I suppose this has been a previous topic, but I couldn't find it.

When I die? I want my body to be donated to science instead of uselessly occupying a plot below a fancy rock with my name and dates on it. Cut me up, take what you can use... I've done my time. Donation is cheaper for the family, I'd think. I want someone somewhere to learn something from my corpse, even only if it's a cherry doctor pulling out of his first organs.

noodle · 01-06-2008, 06:00 PM

Hmmm... cut me up, whomever take whatever they can, whether it be for research or reuse and burn the leftovers up.
I don't care how, avoid the fossil fuels if necessary.
I won't be there.

The most important part of that?

I've already got it in writing.

pig · 01-06-2008, 06:12 PM

Donate to science, take the refuse and turn it into something useful. Mulch for a garden? Boil me down to make something you can burn? Whatever...just don't waste more space putting me in the ground and wasting that landspace..

Willravel · 01-06-2008, 06:20 PM

I'm going under an oak. I've already made arrangements.

World's King · 01-06-2008, 06:36 PM

Cremate me.

And if at all possible brew my remains into a beer. Then drink me at the wake.

Psycho Dad · 01-06-2008, 06:45 PM

You would produce no usable fermentable sugars. And I can see no other use for human remains in a beer either. Cooked properly however...

Me... Feed me to something hungry that will eat me so completly that nobody will have to bother with the cleanup.

Bear Cub · 01-06-2008, 06:46 PM

Cremated, and the remains put into the chassis of a drag car. Creepy, probably, but I still want to be doing what I love.

PonyPotato · 01-06-2008, 06:50 PM

Make me into a meat pie and feed me to some pompous jerk.

Just kidding!

I'm already a registered organ donor and wouldn't mind donating my body to science. I'm pretty sure that most of their cadavers are subsequently cremated, anyway. And considering that 90%+ of my family doesn't live in the U.S.. there's no point in burying me and having a funeral.

Manic_Skafe · 01-06-2008, 06:59 PM

"On the day I greet the worms I'll pull the daisies down with me as a fuck you to the norms"

While I do like the idea of being a Robocop like cyborg after death, the idea of being donated to science really bothers me. I know my body belongs much more so to the earth than it does to me so I don't mind so much donating my organs to those in need but the idea of being chopped, sliced and examined...not cool.

I'd wanna go into the earth as eco-friendly as possible. In an unmarked grave somewhere with a lot of grass.

World's King · 01-06-2008, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psycho Dad

You would produce no usable fermentable sugars. And I can see no other use for human remains in a beer either. Cooked properly however...

Damn.

There has to be someway to turn me into beer. What about other types of alcohol?

Plan9 · 01-06-2008, 07:09 PM

How about a salty beef snack?

"SNAP INTO A WORLD'S KING... OOOOO-YEAH!"

Willravel · 01-06-2008, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by World's King

There has to be someway to turn me into beer. What about other types of alcohol?

Nope. You don't have any sugars to ferment. They all get broken down during digestion.

You could be the worm in tequila.

World's King · 01-06-2008, 07:13 PM

I insist on becoming alcohol.

But now that I think about it... would that be Cannibalism?

kramus · 01-06-2008, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by World's King

I insist on becoming alcohol.

But now that I think about it... would that be Cannibalism?

Dare I say - it would be truly Christian in the earliest sense of the term, to be turned into drink (specifically, wine) ???

I see no problems with your being some sort of adulteration to beer - a sprinkle of King Ash to give the brew it's zip. I personally wouldn't touch the stuff unless you dump your remains into a nice cask of Scotland's finest, but that's just me.

as for the OP - scrap me and burn the leftovers - sprinkle any ash left near trees and running water

Willravel · 01-06-2008, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by World's King

I insist on becoming alcohol.

What part of your body produces or consists of sugars, though?

World's King · 01-06-2008, 08:12 PM

I guess the only way it would work would to be used as fertilizer to grow hops.

Now to decide what kind of beer I want to be. I'm thinking an extra hoppy Pilsner.

Dammitall · 01-06-2008, 08:14 PM

I used to think I wanted to be cremated. The green burials are becoming more and more appealing.

A funeral pyre on the water might be nice, but I feel like I'd really have to earn it.

Interesting to note: the Body Farm decomposition research facility at the University of Tennessee has a waiting list for volunteer donations.

Fotzlid · 01-06-2008, 08:19 PM

use whatever is left.
burn the rest.

ratbastid · 01-06-2008, 08:19 PM

King, I'm reminded of an old Irish joke. "Ya mind if I pass ye over me kidneys first, laddy?"

Compost. Seriously, google "human remains compost". They freeze-dry you, break you up into a powder, dehydrate it, remove anything metal or plastic, and deliver it to your survivors in a box. Supposed to be great for plants.

Psycho Dad · 01-06-2008, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by World's King

I guess the only way it would work would to be used as fertilizer to grow hops.

Here is something: http://bottlegang.blogspot.com/2007/...-cocktail.html

Quote:

Bone beer: There’s a little known, although once common, funerary practice called “mortuary cannibalism,” in which a recently deceased body is consumed by family, friends, and tribe. Anthropologists sometimes refer to this as “compassionate cannibalism” — and not without controversy — but the logic of the practice is neatly summed up by a quote often attributed to the Cocomo Indians of Peru, who are said to have explained to Missionaries that it was “better to be inside a friend than to be swallowed up in the cold Earth.” Mortuary cannibalism has been well-documented in South America — in particular, the eating of the bones of the dead, properly called osteophagy. Mind you, South American tribes didn’t simply de-bone their loved ones and begin gnawing on their ulnas. Instead, they ground the bones and concocted complex meals with them, including mixing them with honey, cooking them into soups, and brewing them into manioc beer. By the way, for those of you who don’t mind the thought of a hint of corpse in your beer, it should also be pointed out that the traditional process of brewing manioc beer was to have women of the tribe mash up the manioc root, chew the mash, and then spit it into a bowl to ferment.

I'll pass and drink the Hoegaarden clone I'm kegging next week.

Push-Pull · 01-06-2008, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by World's King

I guess the only way it would work would to be used as fertilizer to grow hops.

Couldn't your decomposing, out-gassing body be used to add bubbles to the brew?

Or how about your burning remains being used to boil the concoction?

More importantly, what would be on the label? King's Mean Spleen beer?

Back to the OP, as many others said, recycle what you can of me, then burn it up.

World's King · 01-06-2008, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psycho Dad

Here is something: http://bottlegang.blogspot.com/2007/...-cocktail.html

I'll pass and drink the Hoegaarden clone I'm kegging next week.

Sign me up...

Who wants to chew on me then spit me out... ?

snowy · 01-06-2008, 10:04 PM

I want to be made into Soylent Green...

No, really. I like this ecopod idea. Cremation kind of gives me the creeps, but traditional burials take up space. I'd rather decompose. My other consideration is economical--I don't want my offspring to be burdened with some expensive funeral. Caskets are pricey, and so are urns.

I've dealt with this issue a few times, as my grandparents have passed on. All three chose cremation. Oma's ashes were mostly spread on a beach in Washington on a very stormy day. Some of Grandpa's ashes are in a tulip garden at my parents' house. The rest are mixed with the remainder of Oma's, and they are buried together in a memorial garden. My other grandfather's ashes were scattered in a river that flowed through the county he spent most of his life in. Cremation certainly gives a person a lot of choices as to where their remains go, but like I said...it gives me the creeps (or as my mom says, "You'll be dead! What do YOU care?!").

analog · 01-07-2008, 07:15 AM

Great... Whole Foods is going to start burying people?

Crack · 01-07-2008, 07:55 AM

I want some collage kids to drag me around with sunglasses on and have adventures and meet hot chicks. Like weekend at bernies!

ryfo · 01-07-2008, 11:09 AM

Anything that can be used, take it, then burn the rest and throw the ashes into the ocean. I have always wanted to travel, but wont fly so this is the only way I will ever leave Australia. Cheaper too.

ScottKuma · 01-07-2008, 01:53 PM

Hopefully something can be used to better someone else's life - retinas, scalp, ANYTHING....

Other than that, break me down as small as possible, so I don't take up the whole 7' x 2.5' x 6' plot....and bury me in a small plot. I DO like the idea of a headstone, but not of taking up so much space.

My wife has said that she'd like to be buried next to me in an arrangement like I just outlined.

Willravel · 01-07-2008, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crack

I want some collage kids to drag me around with sunglasses on and have adventures and meet hot chicks. Like weekend at bernies!

Anything to hang out with Andrew McCarthy.

MSD · 01-08-2008, 06:58 AM

I want to be cremated and fired out of a cannon, or have my ashes mixed with cocaine and handed out at parties.

Quote:

Originally Posted by World's King

I insist on becoming alcohol.

But now that I think about it... would that be Cannibalism?

I'd drink you. (not gay)

soma · 01-08-2008, 07:26 AM

I want to be cremated.

Crack · 01-08-2008, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSelfDestruct

I'd drink you. (totally gay)

abaya · 01-08-2008, 07:33 AM

Interesting topic. We just got back from Lebanon yesterday, and I had the opportunity to go along with ktspktsp's family to their family burial areas for a visit.

In the Christian areas, most families have their own vaults, and each vault is gated and locked. You walk inside (we're talking the size of a garden shed here), and you face a wall with 6 doors, each one holding a coffin behind it. Beneath your feet is an underground vault with more room for other coffins. There are no names or markers on any of it, just a family name on the outside, and that is how it's done there. Interesting, but I would not prefer it for myself.

In the Muslim graveyard (Sunni, to be exact, though I am not sure what the differences would be for Shi'a), the bodies are buried almost immediately after death, and without a coffin of any kind. The body is wrapped ceremonially with a white sheet and laid in the bare earth, then covered up with more earth. Then a smooth cement slab is poured over the top, with a small tombstone (written in Arabic) at the head. The cool part is that a round opening is made at the foot of the slab, opening directly into the earth, over the body. Each grave typically has at least one tree or large plant growing out of that hole, and it's obvious that it's being nourished by the decomposing matter below. The point, if I remember correctly, is the idea of "from dust we came, and to dust we will return," and that the body should become part of the earth again. I found it quite beautiful, actually.

As for myself, I go back and forth on this a lot. After witnessing my own grandmother's cremation (to the point of actually seeing the flames burning her body, through the crematory furnace window), I can see how it might creep people out... but there is something so efficient about it, too. Yes, it burns up fossil fuels, okay (I wish we could do things as they are still done in India, for example, where they burn funeral pyres on wood by the river Ganges, in the open air--talk about a way to go out!)... but still, I hate the idea of decomposing in a box. And since so many lands are part of who I am, I would love the idea of my ashes being spread over many places, by a trustworthy person (or people--like Lurkette did with her brother's ashes on TFP). So I lean towards cremation.

But the part of burial that I do like is that it gives a place for the living to come and grieve, and hopefully heal from their loss. Not that I think I'm some terribly important person, but I know the psychological comfort that a tangible gravesite provides for the living, and I know that ktspktsp or my parents or my friends and family (if they outlived me) would need something like that. My father's body was never found when he drowned suddenly, and I think the lack of a body really ripped the heart out of his family for many years... they had nowhere to go to mourn him. Eventually, his mother put up a tombstone in the family graveyard, and while there is no body beneath it, it gives a place for us to go and recognize his death.

So, after writing this dissertation on burial, I think I would like to donate my organs (still iffy on that one, but I know it's the ethical thing to do), be cremated, ashes spread in a few of my beloved places, and then a memorial placed somewhere in my name, for the living to have a place to go. Or something like that. But nothing is in writing yet... we need to get that done.

ametc · 01-08-2008, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abaya

In the Muslim graveyard (Sunni, to be exact, though I am not sure what the differences would be for Shi'a), the bodies are buried almost immediately after death, and without a coffin of any kind. The body is wrapped ceremonially with a white sheet and laid in the bare earth, then covered up with more earth. Then a smooth cement slab is poured over the top, with a small tombstone (written in Arabic) at the head. The cool part is that a round opening is made at the foot of the slab, opening directly into the earth, over the body. Each grave typically has at least one tree or large plant growing out of that hole, and it's obvious that it's being nourished by the decomposing matter below. The point, if I remember correctly, is the idea of "from dust we came, and to dust we will return," and that the body should become part of the earth again. I found it quite beautiful, actually.

But the part of burial that I do like is that it gives a place for the living to come and grieve, and hopefully heal from their loss. Not that I think I'm some terribly important person, but I know the psychological comfort that a tangible gravesite provides for the living, and I know that ktspktsp or my parents or my friends and family (if they outlived me) would need something like that. My father's body was never found when he drowned suddenly, and I think the lack of a body really ripped the heart out of his family for many years... they had nowhere to go to mourn him. Eventually, his mother put up a tombstone in the family graveyard, and while there is no body beneath it, it gives a place for us to go and recognize his death.

I'm eventually going to talk with my friends and family about it someday. I like the thought of my body NOT being trapped in a box. But, if I die of mysterious circumstances, I'd want to be preserved and put into a coffin just so they can exhume me someday if they must. Ultimately, I'd love to die at sea and just sink into the bottom of the ocean. To just be forgotten and become nothing sounds like a nice way to leave this Earth to me. I don't want a tombstone or plaque or anything from which somebody can remember me at all. I just want to die and be forgotten. Unless I'm murdered. Then, I want to be all over the news and even on t-shirts. haha

Plan9 · 01-08-2008, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ametc

I'd want to be preserved and put into a coffin just so they can exhume me someday if they must.

Nobody is that important.

Crack · 01-09-2008, 11:33 AM

Speaking of weekend at Bernies

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddly...ddlyEnoughNews

Quote:

Originally Posted by ap

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two New York men wheeled the corpse of their friend around the sidewalks of midtown Manhattan in an office chair in a failed attempt to cash his $355 Social Security check, police said.

Virgilio Cintron, 66, had died of natural causes when two of his friends, both aged 65, brought him to a check-cashing store in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood Tuesday.

"They were trying to pass him off as still being alive," police spokesman Paul Browne said.

The two suspects left the corpse on the sidewalk while they attempted to cash the check, but the clerk knew Cintron and asked to see him.

The two men promised to bring him right back, but when they went outside to retrieve him a crowd had gathered around the dead man. An on-duty detective who had been eating lunch nearby spotted Cintron and immediately realized he was dead, putting an end to the caper.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta, editing by Vicki Allen)

QuasiMondo · 01-09-2008, 12:50 PM

I want to used as the path to greater riches...
http://www.1010wins.com/Cops:-2-Whee...-Check/1448848

abaya · 01-09-2008, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ametc

Ultimately, I'd love to die at sea and just sink into the bottom of the ocean. To just be forgotten and become nothing sounds like a nice way to leave this Earth to me.

My father died that way, and let me tell you... unless you live entirely alone, have no family whatsoever, it is impossible for you to simply "die at sea and be forgotten." It is such an utterly tragic way to leave survivors... no body, no goodbye, nothing.

But if you have that strong of a death wish, go become a commercial fisherman. One of the most dangerous jobs in the world, and I can guarantee you that NONE of those men would choose to die at sea, if they could. But many of them do, quite horribly. Honestly, I can't see why you would want to die that way, but each to their own.

Now, burial at sea is something else... I can see the appeal of that, somewhat.

01-06-2008, 06:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
pig pigglet pigglet Location: Locash	Donate to science, take the refuse and turn it into something useful. Mulch for a garden? Boil me down to make something you can burn? Whatever...just don't waste more space putting me in the ground and wasting that landspace.. __________________ You don't love me, you just love my piggy style

01-06-2008, 06:36 PM	#5 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	Cremate me. And if at all possible brew my remains into a beer. Then drink me at the wake. __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

01-06-2008, 06:45 PM	#6 (permalink)
Psycho Dad Mulletproof Location: Some nucking fut house.	You would produce no usable fermentable sugars. And I can see no other use for human remains in a beer either. Cooked properly however... Me... Feed me to something hungry that will eat me so completly that nobody will have to bother with the cleanup. __________________ Don't always trust the opinions of experts.

01-06-2008, 06:50 PM	#8 (permalink)
PonyPotato Soaring Location: Ohio!	Make me into a meat pie and feed me to some pompous jerk. Just kidding! I'm already a registered organ donor and wouldn't mind donating my body to science. I'm pretty sure that most of their cadavers are subsequently cremated, anyway. And considering that 90%+ of my family doesn't live in the U.S.. there's no point in burying me and having a funeral. __________________ "Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark." — Henri-Frédéric Amiel

01-06-2008, 06:59 PM	#9 (permalink)
Manic_Skafe More Than You Expect Location: Queens	"On the day I greet the worms I'll pull the daisies down with me as a fuck you to the norms" While I do like the idea of being a Robocop like cyborg after death, the idea of being donated to science really bothers me. I know my body belongs much more so to the earth than it does to me so I don't mind so much donating my organs to those in need but the idea of being chopped, sliced and examined...not cool. I'd wanna go into the earth as eco-friendly as possible. In an unmarked grave somewhere with a lot of grass. __________________ "Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian

01-06-2008, 06:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	I'm going under an oak. I've already made arrangements.

01-06-2008, 06:46 PM	#7 (permalink)
Bear Cub The Reverend Side Boob Location: Nofe Curolina	Cremated, and the remains put into the chassis of a drag car. Creepy, probably, but I still want to be doing what I love.

01-06-2008, 07:09 PM	#11 (permalink)
Plan9 I Confess a Shiver	How about a salty beef snack? *"SNAP INTO A WORLD'S KING... OOOOO-YEAH!"* __________________ *Whatever you can carry.* "You should not drink... and bake."

01-06-2008, 07:13 PM	#13 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	I insist on becoming alcohol. But now that I think about it... would that be Cannibalism? __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

01-06-2008, 08:12 PM	#16 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	I guess the only way it would work would to be used as fertilizer to grow hops. Now to decide what kind of beer I want to be. I'm thinking an extra hoppy Pilsner. __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

01-06-2008, 08:14 PM	#17 (permalink)
Dammitall Yarp.	I used to think I wanted to be cremated. The green burials are becoming more and more appealing. A funeral pyre on the water might be nice, but I feel like I'd really have to earn it. Interesting to note: the Body Farm decomposition research facility at the University of Tennessee has a waiting list for volunteer donations.

01-06-2008, 08:19 PM	#18 (permalink)
Fotzlid Junkie Location: Greater Boston area	use whatever is left. burn the rest.

01-06-2008, 08:19 PM	#19 (permalink)
ratbastid Darth Papa Location: Yonder	King, I'm reminded of an old Irish joke. "Ya mind if I pass ye over me kidneys first, laddy?" Compost. Seriously, google "human remains compost". They freeze-dry you, break you up into a powder, dehydrate it, remove anything metal or plastic, and deliver it to your survivors in a box. Supposed to be great for plants.

01-06-2008, 10:04 PM	#23 (permalink)
snowy Kick Ass Kunoichi Location: Oregon	I want to be made into Soylent Green... No, really. I like this ecopod idea. Cremation kind of gives me the creeps, but traditional burials take up space. I'd rather decompose. My other consideration is economical--I don't want my offspring to be burdened with some expensive funeral. Caskets are pricey, and so are urns. I've dealt with this issue a few times, as my grandparents have passed on. All three chose cremation. Oma's ashes were mostly spread on a beach in Washington on a very stormy day. Some of Grandpa's ashes are in a tulip garden at my parents' house. The rest are mixed with the remainder of Oma's, and they are buried together in a memorial garden. My other grandfather's ashes were scattered in a river that flowed through the county he spent most of his life in. Cremation certainly gives a person a lot of choices as to where their remains go, but like I said...it gives me the creeps (or as my mom says, "You'll be dead! What do YOU care?!"). __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

01-07-2008, 07:15 AM	#24 (permalink)
analog Banned	Great... Whole Foods is going to start burying people?

01-07-2008, 07:55 AM	#25 (permalink)
Crack Misanthropic Location: Ohio! yay!	I want some collage kids to drag me around with sunglasses on and have adventures and meet hot chicks. Like weekend at bernies! __________________ Crack, you and I are long overdue for a vicious bout of mansex. ~Halx

01-07-2008, 11:09 AM	#26 (permalink)
ryfo Psycho Location: melbourne australia	Anything that can be used, take it, then burn the rest and throw the ashes into the ocean. I have always wanted to travel, but wont fly so this is the only way I will ever leave Australia. Cheaper too.

01-07-2008, 01:53 PM	#27 (permalink)
ScottKuma Insane Location: Maineville, OH	Hopefully something can be used to better someone else's life - retinas, scalp, ANYTHING.... Other than that, break me down as small as possible, so I don't take up the whole 7' x 2.5' x 6' plot....and bury me in a small plot. I DO like the idea of a headstone, but not of taking up so much space. My wife has said that she'd like to be buried next to me in an arrangement like I just outlined. __________________ A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take from you everything you have. -Gerald R. Ford GoogleMap Me

01-08-2008, 07:26 AM	#30 (permalink)
soma Addict Location: USA	I want to be cremated. __________________ Having Girl Problems?

01-08-2008, 07:33 AM	#32 (permalink)
abaya Location: Iceland	Interesting topic. We just got back from Lebanon yesterday, and I had the opportunity to go along with ktspktsp's family to their family burial areas for a visit. In the Christian areas, most families have their own vaults, and each vault is gated and locked. You walk inside (we're talking the size of a garden shed here), and you face a wall with 6 doors, each one holding a coffin behind it. Beneath your feet is an underground vault with more room for other coffins. There are no names or markers on any of it, just a family name on the outside, and that is how it's done there. Interesting, but I would not prefer it for myself. In the Muslim graveyard (Sunni, to be exact, though I am not sure what the differences would be for Shi'a), the bodies are buried almost immediately after death, and without a coffin of any kind. The body is wrapped ceremonially with a white sheet and laid in the bare earth, then covered up with more earth. Then a smooth cement slab is poured over the top, with a small tombstone (written in Arabic) at the head. The cool part is that a round opening is made at the foot of the slab, opening directly into the earth, over the body. Each grave typically has at least one tree or large plant growing out of that hole, and it's obvious that it's being nourished by the decomposing matter below. The point, if I remember correctly, is the idea of "from dust we came, and to dust we will return," and that the body should become part of the earth again. I found it quite beautiful, actually. As for myself, I go back and forth on this a lot. After witnessing my own grandmother's cremation (to the point of actually seeing the flames burning her body, through the crematory furnace window), I can see how it might creep people out... but there is something so efficient about it, too. Yes, it burns up fossil fuels, okay (I wish we could do things as they are still done in India, for example, where they burn funeral pyres on wood by the river Ganges, in the open air--talk about a way to go out!)... but still, I hate the idea of decomposing in a box. And since so many lands are part of who I am, I would love the idea of my ashes being spread over many places, by a trustworthy person (or people--like Lurkette did with her brother's ashes on TFP). So I lean towards cremation. But the part of burial that I do like is that it gives a place for the living to come and grieve, and hopefully heal from their loss. Not that I think I'm some terribly important person, but I know the psychological comfort that a tangible gravesite provides for the living, and I know that ktspktsp or my parents or my friends and family (if they outlived me) would need something like that. My father's body was never found when he drowned suddenly, and I think the lack of a body really ripped the heart out of his family for many years... they had nowhere to go to mourn him. Eventually, his mother put up a tombstone in the family graveyard, and while there is no body beneath it, it gives a place for us to go and recognize his death. So, after writing this dissertation on burial, I think I would like to donate my organs (still iffy on that one, but I know it's the ethical thing to do), be cremated, ashes spread in a few of my beloved places, and then a memorial placed somewhere in my name, for the living to have a place to go. Or something like that. But nothing is in writing yet... we need to get that done. __________________ And think not you can direct the course of Love; for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. --Khalil Gibran

01-09-2008, 12:50 PM	#36 (permalink)
QuasiMondo Wise-ass Latino Location: Pretoria (Tshwane), RSA	I want to used as the path to greater riches... http://www.1010wins.com/Cops:-2-Whee...-Check/1448848 __________________ Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer. -From the Collector's Edition DVD of The Terminator