As a death midwife, death does not frighten me. As to what happens after death? this remains a secret, one that each of us will unlock when our time comes. Due to my work with the dying I'm interested in what different cultures adhere to surrounding death celebrations, and also what they choose as their final resting place.
Interment is the most commonly
carried out practice world-wide with the disposal of human remains consigned to earth. But there are other choices available through the other three elements; that of water, fire
or air.
Earth Burial
The most common practice known to
Westerners is inhumation, where the body is in direct contact with the earth itself or covered with a shroud.
With the birth of the funeral
industry around the time of the American Civil War, graves were lined with
bricks which created a container for the casket. The late 19th century saw the
introduction of concrete burial vaults designed to protect the coffin from the weight
of the earth and help maintain the burial property. Today the average cemetery will not accept a casket or coffin unless it is contained in a burial vault or liner.
With growing popularity of 'Green
Burials', most bodies can once again be buried in direct contact with the earth
itself, simple and natural. Green
burial, or natural burial, ensure the burial site remains as natural as
possible in all respects. Interment of
the bodies can be done in shroud, bio-degradable casket, or a favorite quilt. No embalming fluid, no concrete vaults are necessary or even allowed. The funeral industry argues this practice actually being
'green' due, they say, to the pollution of ground water as the body decays; why? because of the average person's exposure to pharmaceutical drugs throughout their lifetime. It has even come to the media's attention that prescription drugs that are disposed of via the commode, drain or landfill are also polluting our ground water. Here's a question...have we become hazardous waste ourselves and what impact does 'pharmaceutical runoff' actually expose us to?
That being said...
Religion, geography, and the
social norm influence most burial practices. Climate and topography can also influence
whether the body is buried, exposed to the air, cremated or placed in
water. Social standing can dictate how
elaborate the ceremony should be based on a person's caste system or rank.
The Proto-Celts originally developed a
culture of cremation and placement in urns. Called the 'Urnfield culture' it lasted until the
start of the Halstaat period; it was after this period that the Celts slowly began the practice of
inhumation also known as full body burial.
Sky Burial
Most common in Tibet where the ground is too rocky
for earth interment and wood has always been scarce; the body is many times laid out or dismembered for
vultures to consume. Dissection occurs
according to instructions given by a lama or tantric adept which comes from the
12th century treatise commonly known as 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead.' Considered a gift, relatives of the deceased
view this procedure as a 'giving back' to the cycle of all life.
Today with the low cost of fuel,
cremation is growing in popularity dictated largely by the growing hospitalization of many people in Tibet due to different factors but one being that carrion
birds find the smell of bodies exposed to hospital care and procedure distasteful. As a direct result many vultures are currently driven away or poisoned in
order to control their numbers. Doesn't it seem that the more modern we become the more harm we inflict?
Cremation
The word funeral comes from the Latin 'funus', a ceremony or ceremonies held in connection with the cremation of a dead person.
Cremation is the use of
high-temperature burning, roughly 1800 - 2200 degrees, causing vaporization and
oxidation that reduce animal or human bodies to bones. Actually, depending on the container in which the body
is placed, all that remains are broken skeletal parts which are basic chemical
compounds retaining the appearance of dry bone.
Pacemakers are removed prior to cremation as they are apt to explode
under extreme heat resulting in damage to the chamber itself. Cremation is an
alternative to interment in a casket holding an intact dead body. Some religions today still prohibit
cremation.
The cremation procedure, for those interested, works this way. The container holding the body may be made of wood or cardboard, it is placed in the
cremation chamber or 'the retort', which is lined with fire brick. The floor of the
retort is made from a special compound, resembling stone, that can withstand extreme temperatures. The chamber is closed by hand and switched
on, it warms up for a few moments, and when ready, the flame is released and cremation begins. This stage of the process takes a couple of
hours.
Following the incineration process
the interior goes through a cool-down of approx. 30 minutes. The remains are raked out of the chamber and
placed in a separate room on a work table. All
metal debris, screws, rods, and even staples from a cardboard container, are removed by the use of a large magnet. The remains are then placed in a processor with
metal blades and the bones are reduced to a coarse sand consistency called
'cremains'. Some very fine bone dust is also
present resembling ash. The final product is placed within a temporary container, box or
urn and returned to the family. Commonly remains are kept, buried
in a vault in a cemetery or scattered.
Other cultures around the world, India along
Mother Ganges for example, burn bodies along the shore, and dispose of them in
the river.
Water Burial
We are all familiar with the term
'Burial at Sea', most times carried out by the crew of a ship. This form of burial was necessary as the dead
could not be preserved long enough to reach their homeland. However there is a more religious, mystical
reason for this form of interment observed by the ancients. It was their belief
that water links the dead to the Immortal Realm. The deceased were sent off in ships, leaving those behind who prayed to the gods that their loved one
or chieftain would safely return to them in another form.
Some cultures still wrap the body,
weigh it down with stones and let it sink to the bottom of the sea or
lake. Others leave their dead on the shore
for the tide to claim them. Many
people spread the cremated remains of a family member or friend into the arms
of the ocean, life's place of origin.
Whatever we decide to do with our remains when we shuffle off this mortal coil, the idea of returning by way of the elements gives me, at least, a sense of returning home.
(Painting: Death Crowning Innocence by George Frederic Watts).
