My head is filled to the brim with grisly thoughts these few days...
Hopefully our wishes are respected to whatever family and friends it may fall upon to look after our remains once we no longer inhabit them. But ideally...what would you like to have made of your body after death?
Some say they leave it up to their families/loved ones to do with as they please - whatever brings them greater comfort.
Personally I want a cremation - what becomes of the ashes is irrelevant to me. Ideally sprinkled along the Sardinian coast though.
In the majority of Asian cultures open casket funerals and body viewings are de rigueur - nothing makes me cringe more. Families and relatives will often take photos with the body as well....I'm sorry I think it's just disgusting. Nothing could really be in worst taste than having people (regardless of whom) come up to my dead body and snap photos with it like some amusement park mascot makes my skin crawl.
In Indonesia they have a ritual called Ma'nene: They exhume the mummified body of a relative and dress him/her up in new clothing as a way of honoring the soul:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/mummies-new-
wardrobe-part-ma-nene-ritual-indonesia-gallery-1.1143923
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_portrait
Victorian Era mourning portraits I find quite gruesome as well. I don't understand the desire to preserve/be near the physical remains - it's a empty vessel, it's resident has vacated - it's a organic compost matter that is beginning to decay. But of course...Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.
Hopefully our wishes are respected to whatever family and friends it may fall upon to look after our remains once we no longer inhabit them. But ideally...what would you like to have made of your body after death?
Some say they leave it up to their families/loved ones to do with as they please - whatever brings them greater comfort.
Personally I want a cremation - what becomes of the ashes is irrelevant to me. Ideally sprinkled along the Sardinian coast though.
In the majority of Asian cultures open casket funerals and body viewings are de rigueur - nothing makes me cringe more. Families and relatives will often take photos with the body as well....I'm sorry I think it's just disgusting. Nothing could really be in worst taste than having people (regardless of whom) come up to my dead body and snap photos with it like some amusement park mascot makes my skin crawl.
In Indonesia they have a ritual called Ma'nene: They exhume the mummified body of a relative and dress him/her up in new clothing as a way of honoring the soul:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/mummies-new-
wardrobe-part-ma-nene-ritual-indonesia-gallery-1.1143923
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_portrait
Victorian Era mourning portraits I find quite gruesome as well. I don't understand the desire to preserve/be near the physical remains - it's a empty vessel, it's resident has vacated - it's a organic compost matter that is beginning to decay. But of course...Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.