An afternoon of education at CDAS
Adam and Eve as portrayed at the Creation Museum Kentucky illustrating John Troyer’s presentation. There’s some interesting stuff going on in the world of academia which can go unnoticed in the frenzied world of Facebook updates and Twitterfeed, and yesterday the GFG took a few hours out to go and listen to some learned folk […]
Stonehenge and sky burial
Posted by Ken West The archaeology at Stonehenge is all about digging up funerary artefacts so is it possible to consider how those funerals occurred? Stonehenge is unique, the only certain stone circle in Britain aligned to the solstices. Forget the Druids, as they did not exist in the Neolithic period and never had any involvement […]
Each to their own
Darius, a king of ancient Persia, was intrigued by the variety of cultures he met in his travels. He had found, for example, that the Callatians, who lived in India, ate the bodies of their dead fathers. The Greeks, of course, did not do that – the Greeks practised cremation and regarded the funeral pyre […]
EXCLUSIVE: It’s going to be one wacky sendoff for Downton’s Matthew
The GFG can exclusively reveal that Downton star Matthew Crawley will be cremated in a way-out guerilla funeral on the ancestral estate in a ritual created by the grief-stricken family. Devotees of toff-soap Downton Abbey were left dazed and heartbroken at the end of the 2012 Christmas special when heir Matthew Crawley was violently killed […]
Super-sacred
Tina Hurley wants to establish a funeral pyre at her home in Elephant Head, Arizona, inspired by the pyre at Crestone. Hurley said she was inspired to create an alternative funeral approach after attending a traditional service for her favorite aunt at a funeral home where she felt compelled to control her emotions. The family then […]
Different cultures, different customs
Very interesting photo-essay here about the ghats at Varanasi. Good text, too. Sometimes poorer people cannot afford enough wood to completely burn a body. In this case charred body parts are simply flung into the river with the ashes. Certain people, such as small children, pregnant women and holy men, are not cremated at all, but […]
Pyre appeal, Ghana
In Ghana the famous xylophonist Bernard Woma is appealing for money for a new funeral pyre for the people of his village. Here’s what he says: Due to centuries held traditional practice, the Dagara people perform funerals in a public setting. This public funeral ritual means that the deceased is displayed in a pyre mounted […]
Green Light For Tower of Silence In English Seaside Town
Posted by Charles In a move which is sending shockwaves through an English tourist resort, council chiefs in Weymouth, Dorset, have given the go-ahead for followers of the Zoroastrian religion to expose the bodies of their dead in the midst of sunbathing holidaymakers. The down-at-heel, bucket-and-spade seaside town has granted the Zoroastrian Council of Great […]
An open air cremation in Sri Lanka
From an article in the Guardian: Perhaps the most egregious use of diplomatic immunity goes to the former Burmese ambassador to Sri Lanka who reportedly murdered his wife before burning her body in his backyard – in full view of spectators and police. The 1979 incident is recalled by Gerald Hensley, former vice dean of […]
No smoke without pyre
Unlike most countries, cigarettes are sold in singles in India and most shops that sell them have electric lighters attached to the wall for their customers to use. An anti-smoking campaigner fitted the lighters with a device which plays the Indian death chant every time someone lights a cigarette. “Raam Naam Satya Hai” is chanted […]
