Category Archives: 1001 THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU’RE DEAD

...and other stuff, 1001 THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU'RE DEAD, ART, FREE ADVICE, LIVES, READING MATTER, UNIVERSES

HAVE A PARTY FOR THE DEAD! (Disembodied Souls Want To Have Fun Too)

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

( Painting:  “DAY OF THE DEAD” by Diego Rivera, 1924 )

The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to its indigenous pagan cultures. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors had been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 2,500–3,000 years.In the pre-Hispanic era, skulls were commonly kept as trophies and displayed during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.

The festival that became the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the goddessknown as the “Lady of the Dead”, corresponding to the modern Catrina.

In most regions of Mexico, November 1 is to honor children and infants, whereas deceased adults are honored on November 2. This is indicated by generally referring to November 1 mainly as Día de los Inocentes (“Day of the Innocents”) but also as Día de los Angelitos (“Day of the Little Angels”) and November 2 as Día de los Muertos or Día de los Difuntos (“Day of the Dead”)

People go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed and build private altars containing the favorite foods and beverages, as well as photos and memorabilia, of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them. Celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

Plans for the day are made throughout the year, including gathering the goods to be offered to the dead. During the three-day period, families usually clean and decorate graves;  most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with ofrendas (offerings), which often include orange Mexican marigolds (Tagetes erecta) called cempasúchil (originally named cempoaxochitl, Nahuatl for “twenty flowers”).

In modern Mexico, this name is sometimes replaced with the term Flor de Muerto (Flower of the Dead). These flowers are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings.

Many other cultures around the world have similar traditions of a day set aside to visit the graves of deceased family members. Often included in these traditions are celebrations, food and beverages, in addition to prayers and remembrances of the departed.  Some tribes of the Amazon believe the dead return as flowers.

The Bon Festival (O-bon (お盆?), or only Bon (盆?), is a Japanese Buddhist holiday in August to honor the departed spirits of one’s ancestors.

In Korea, Chuseok (추석, 秋夕) is a major traditional holiday, also called Hangawi. People go where the spirits of their ancestors are enshrined, and perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning; they visit the tombs of immediate ancestors to trim plants, clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors.

The Qingming Festival (simplified Chinese: 清明节; traditional Chinese: 清明節; pinyin: qīng míng jié) is a traditional Chinese festival usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar. Along with Double Ninth Festival on the 9th day of the 9th month in the Chinese calendar, it is a time to tend to the graves of departed ones. In addition, in the Chinese tradition, the seventh month in the Chinese calendar is called the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits come out from the underworld to visit earth.

During the Nepali holiday of Gai Jatra (Cow Pilgrimage), every family who has lost a family member during the previous year makes a construction of bamboo branches, cloth, paper decorations and portraits of the deceased, called a gai. Traditionally, a cow leads the spirits of the dead into the next land. Depending on local custom, either an actual live cow or a construct representing a cow may be used. The festival is also a time to dress up in costume, including costumes involving political comments and satire.

In some cultures in Africa, visits to the graves of ancestors, the leaving of food and gifts, and the asking of protection serve as important parts of traditional rituals. One example of this is the ritual that occurs just before the beginning of hunting season.  (Source:  WIKIPEDIA.ORG)

1001 THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU'RE DEAD

BEING DEAD DOESN’T HAVE TO BE BORING

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

“If you discover that you’re all alone in space and that you’re actually enjoying your newly discovered peace, calm, quiet and serenity, there are a few thousand other things you can do to amuse yourself.

Most likely, your greatest problem will be boredom: the #1 enemy for a spirit. If you lived on Earth very long you will already know that people are obsessed with NOT being bored.” — Excerpt from 1001 THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU’RE DEAD by Lawrence R. Spencer

Support independent publishing: Buy this book on Lulu.

1001 THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU'RE DEAD, FREE ADVICE, LIVES

1 THING TO DO BEFORE YOU’RE DEAD

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Each year, the nation’s funeral industry buries:

  • 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid
  • 30+ million board feet of tropical rainforest hardwoods for caskets
  • 14,000 tons of steel for vaults
  • 90, 272 tons of steel for caskets
  • 2,700 tons of copper and bronze for caskets, and
  • 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete for vaults

The Environmental Protection Agency puts casket manufacturers on their list of  Top 50 Hazardous Waste Generators. Casket manufacturers spray chemicals such as methyl and xylene on caskets. Cemeteries put tons of fertilizers and pesticides and billions of gallons of water on their lands every year. Every year they deposit billions of tons of CO2 and other green house gases into the atmosphere to keep cemeteries manicured and looking “good”.

Cremation adds to the problem. The amount of non-renewable fossil fuel needed to cremate bodies in North America is equivalent to a car making 84 trips to the Moon and back….every year! Every time a cremation occurs, the process releases 400 lbs of CO2 into the atmosphere. Cremations emit nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, mercury, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, NMVOCs, and other heavy metals. The United Nations indicates that crematoria contribute 0.2% of the world’s emissions of dioxins and furans.

Surprised?

Learn more about The Green Burial Alternative

http://www.awillforthewoods.com/learn_more_greenburial.html

A “green” burial is an alternative to the modern burial model. The modern model often includes a “protective” or sealed casket, an outside concrete grave box or sealed vault to place the casket in and embalming of the deceased. The modern model also includes perpetual care of the manicured cemetery. The “green” approach eliminates all of these standard elements for a more environmentally responsible end-of-life choice.

The deceased is usually not embalmed in the green funeral although non-toxic embalming fluids have recently become available. Either way, this eliminates the use of toxic chemicals, primarily formaldehyde. Refrigeration of the deceased is easily accomplished and the law allows up to 72 hours for a non-embalmed burial to take place.

The green casket must be made of biodegradable materials. Renewable softwoods, woven wicker, seagrass and bamboo have become popular materials for casket construction along with linings of cotton and linen. Recall the plain pine box and linen shroud of yesteryear. The use of this type of casket saves our natural resources used to construct the traditional casket made of steel, semi-precious metals such as copper and bronze and highly finished hardwoods, some of which are becoming increasingly rare (mahogany and black walnut for instance). In addition, no concrete box or sealed vault is used. This saves resources used in the construction of vaults.

Another element in the green burial is the placement of the casket directly into the ground. This returns the deceased to nature in a relatively short time, promoting the cycle of life – allowing you to literally push up daisies.

Green burial encompasses a final resting place within a natural environment. Instead of tombstones and manicured lawns, a green cemetery resembles a nature preserve – prairie grasses, wildflowers, memorial forests, and other settings indigenous to the natural landscape. Graves are marked by a tree, bush or natural stone among other biodegradable options. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology ensures permanent location of the deceased.

*Statistics compiled from Casket and Funeral Association of America, Cremation Association of North America, Doric Inc., The Rainforest Action Network and Mary Woodsen, Pre-Posthumous Society.

Related Web Links:

America:
www.greenburialcouncil.org
www.gravematters.us
www.memorialecosystems.com

Australia:
Natural Earth Burial Society of Australia
Funeral Rights, by Robert Larkins

U.K.:
www.naturaldeath.org.uk

World-wide:
wikipedia on natural burial