Cremation. Good idea or bad

[Altair]

I used to be pro cremation but visiting a grave can be worthwhile, it is more personal. I don't know for myself, don't feel like thinking about that.

[Native spirit]

I used to think about this but when my husband passed away he was buried and the kids go there often to tidy the grave and to speak to him

but like everything else it is personal choice


Namaste

[Starman]

I recently went to a funeral and the deceased had been cremated; his relatives had his ashes in an urn and they had the option of keeping the urn at home or having it placed in a concrete locker at the cemetery.

The thing about cremation is that everything does not burn, like our skeletal system; bones, including the skull, will not burn so they have to crush them and break them into small pieces to fit into an urn.

I prefer a direct burial, without a service in a plain wood box so that my flesh and organs can dissolve and drip into the Earth through the cracks in the box. Although my skeleton will probably be in that box for quite a while.

No matter, while I still now care for my physical body, I am growing more detached from it even now. I went to a funeral for the homeless, bodies that no one claimed and many had no identification. They were all buried together in the same grave site, in body bags with no coffin, by the county. The homeless had no choice about their last remains.

[Altair]

Originally Posted by Starman

I prefer a direct burial, without a service in a plain wood box so that my flesh and organs can dissolve and drip into the Earth through the cracks in the box. Although my skeleton will probably be in that box for quite a while.

This sounds the most peaceful to me. Have done this with dogs, their bodies are for the soil.

Originally Posted by Starman

They were all buried together in the same grave site, in body bags with no coffin, by the county. The homeless had no choice about their last remains.

I find that sad, I think any person deserves a personal farewell and a ritual.

[Starman]

In the case of the homeless there is a graveside service, prayers are said, etc. I have gone to veterans’ cemeteries when they buried a group of homeless veterans, and there are other veterans there for a burial service, saluting the dead homeless veterans, taps are played on the trumpet, and prayers are said over the grave of homeless veterans.

Sometimes the county will announce when they are having a graveside burial service for homeless people, and they invite the community to come out and pay their respects. Although homeless people do not get a choice whether they want to be cremated or buried. The most expensive thing in the majority of North American funerals is the ornate casket. Lots of countries, like Israel, often bury their dead in a plain wood box.

[Native spirit]

I know of a couple of families that have gone for this new way of getting cremated the undertakers pick you up take you to the crem no family is allowed.they say they are ok with that,
until a few weeks later were they feel they were robbed of a final goodbye
I know its personal choice but they carry the guilt they couldn't say goodbye


Namaste

[Lynn]

Hello

I used to be on the fence about cremation, that a resting place felt better til I toured England and saw so many "lost grave sites" where there was once a church or there was one converted to retail space. I felt pulled into some of these shops to ask if I could go out back? To find a graveyard there that was once attached to a church with active services.

Now there was no one still "attached" to their resting place that was not crossed over, but there was an energy there and they were free to come to visit with me. It felt so sad and lonely! If one is cremated then one is release I now feel in body and spirit to the Universe.

Land is a precious thing at times and in time it will be reclaimed.

Even at Saulsbury Cathedral there is a small grave site, that is not looked at I was told by the Bishop that over see's services. I went out that door to visit with them. He came out and joined me saying he felt and saw an energy around me, that he did not fully understand. Too he said there needed to be more visits out there by him and those under him.

Often when you visit a very old church there are many headstones that are lined up at the very edge as their place had been lost over time and the names on them long since weathered away. I too found this sad, and lonely.

I now want to be cremated not buried. Where my ashes go I care not I just want to be fully set free.

Lynn

[BigJohn]

I will be cremated, placed in an urn and be accompanied by pictures and mementos in the home so as to venerate my life.

This is not my wish but that is the 'way things are done'.

[BigJohn]

What section of the home 'my urn' will be placed in I do not really know. It probably will face eastward so as to catch the morning sun rays.

I would be delighted if the urn is placed in a spirit house but an alter would suffice. I have an affinity for spirit houses. Also, I can imagine the burning of 3 incense sticks probably would be a weekly ritual.

[hazada guess]

Cremation. Good idea or bad.

It doesnt really matter,the soul has left the body.What happens to the body after death is down to the feelings of those who are mourning .