Fire & Water
Posted by John Porter I am an archer. I am a funeral celebrant. The last funeral I facilitated was of Thelma, my archery coach. She used to coach the British archery team many years ago. The chairman of Tonbridge Archers led the tribute and, much to everyone’s surprise (he was renowned for “going on at […]
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 […]
The presence of the dead is essential
We bear mortality by bearing mortals — the living and the dead — to the brink of a uniquely changed reality: Heaven or Valhalla or Whatever Is Next. We commit and commend them into the nothingness or somethingness, into the presence of God or God’s absence. Whatever afterlife there is or isn’t, human beings have […]
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 […]
Fiery funeral
The story: Scores of Viking warriors descended on the shores of Lough Neagh last weekend, where they engaged in battle and bade farewell to one of their own on a blazing funeral pyre, watched by hundreds of people, young and old. The full story: It was a re-enactment. Good fun, though — great spectacle.
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 […]
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 […]
