cremation(why?)

just saw that prince was cremated within days of his death and wondered what everyones views were on cremation?

thats one thing i,ve made sure that isn,t going to happen to me,i came into the world naturally and when i die i want to go just the way nature intended.

not religious in the slightest but just burning every trace of you to ash doesn,t seem right to me,its only bones but if thats what was suppose to happen then everyone would combust when they died. You may leave a skeleton here for a reason and for that i,ll leave mine here just incase.

If you want to go naturally then you may want to consider a sky burial, that's where they take your body to the top of a mountain or hill and let the wildlife eat you. If you were referring to being put into a wooden box and buried underground, that's just as unnatural as cremation if not moreso.

As far as why people are cremated, it's all personal preference.

a reply to: sparky31

I see no need to take up real estate with my shell, once I've left it. My Mom agrees with you -- she is afraid God won't find her if her body is cremated. Thus, I will respect her wishes and bury her on the island of her birth.

Me, I think it's perfectly natural to have my body cremated and then returned to the sea. Gravesites are mostly for those who survive you. It's a place to 'talk' to your elders. I do so with my Grandparents...... sit by their stones and talk about the land and the weather and things they would identify with. I think sometimes I feel their presence, although mostly I think I feel them when I am walking the land they lived upon.

I want my ashes to be scattered at sea near the island that I've lived upon and loved. I can't think of a more fitting end to my body.

Purification by fire.
Floods, condo development, grave robbers.

If there's ever a graveyard flood, I don't want to be floating by some poor soul that has to see that 😳

a reply to: sparky31

Well, I personally, would rather be cremated than buried. Damn the cost of a casket and burial, I wouldn't wish that upon those who are left to deal with my departure.

Plus! They can do all sorts of funky things with your ashes, like, turn them into jewelry for one. My remains could be a family heirloom.

I'll be cremated, thank you.
The average cost of a funeral is around $6500. All for a nice box, that is just going to go in the ground to rot, right after friends and family get to see you in it. Seriously, what's the point? I'm dead, I don't care if you toss me on a pile of logs and light it or just dump me in a hole in the ground, sans box. But, I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a nice casket, just so everyone else can say "Oh, he looks like he's asleep".
"Nature" would rather you be buried without the wrapper. Easier for the bugs and worms to get to you.

a reply to: snowspirit

That's a good point. We had a hurricane in 2004 that destroyed our island. Graveyards here are six-foot deep concrete bunkers just a little bigger than a casket. Several bodies were washed out and onto the roadways. Now, I don't care much about my body after I've left it. If there were an avenue to leave it to science fiction, I'd do so. No avenue to leave it to science here.

So, for me, torch it, scatter it, drink lots of ale and hard liquor and tell good lies about me while scattering my ashes.

When my Bride's mom died, she was cremated. Her sisters and me went to Angel Island in the S.F. Bay to scatter her ashes. Just as we opened the bag, a huge wind gusted and dusted us all and our hair with her mom's ashes. I really liked that. It was like a quirky goodbye from mom.

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a reply to: sparky31


Cremation for me because I can't get any of my so called "loved ones" to buy of on my wood chipper idea.

I see someone else mentioned floating up from the grave in their casket as being a bad thing. But don't you think that some poor drowning person could ride you to safety?
I mean most caskets have lots of handles on the side and float really well.

*Just for clarification I would like to stipulate that I want to be set on fire AFTER I'm dead and not before.

I am in favor of cremation. For a loved one, you can actually have some of the ashes formed within a crystal egg that looks really nice. I personally am very much in favor of that small rememberance than a gravestone for me..for the rest, toss it into the sea and let the ashes become reabsorbed into the earth..the body is just old clothes once you are dead, so who cares.
btw, for anyone interested: Crystal memorial egg
Almost nobody visits gravesites after a number of years. You initially go during grief, then it becomes less and less, eventually its just a spot of a forgotten memory. I think its a bit selfish for that much real estate for a old carcass...especially when the net is now a thing and we could house entire libraries of pictures, videos, conversation, holograms, etc on something the size of a book about a person..could even have a little slot, if necessary for future cloning potential, housing perfectly preserved dna if desired. the gravesite is no longer a rational consideration.
A bit of ash in a nice little crystal, maybe a usb on the base of the crystal stand you can detatch and see some pics and stuff of..thats enough and more than anyone I love would care to deal with.

a reply to: DAVID64

Perfectly said. "Nature" would leave you where you lay. Whatever is the closest to that is more nearly 'natural'.

It is not legal in most parts of the world to leave a person's body up on a scaffold to degrade with the elements. Entombed in a fiberglass or wood or metal casket is decidedly not natural. I don't begrudge anyone who chooses that. Not my thing.

My wife and I neither one want to leave a physical trace for people to come and mourn and whatnot.

The world is for the living, not the dead. When im dead, just do whatever you want really. Donate me to science. Use me to launch bottle rockets out my butt. Have me taxidermied to use for a towel rack. Whatever suits your fancy...ill be done with the body by then anyway.

But what we don't want is some memorial site that my kids will feel guilty for not visiting.

a reply to: DAVID64 i don,t care about a burial,jesus put me in back garden for all i care but just think that you die and leave a skeleton for a reason,rather have the bug life eat me than be burned to a pile of ashes.

as i say as nature intended.

The Hindus have been fire bugs for 1,000s of years..

www.speakingtree.in...

en.wikipedia.org...

And the Vikings, surely if anyone could've made some cool boxes out of wood to bury their loved ones it is the Vikings.. Yet, they too are fire bugs..

www.legendsandchronicles.com...

en.wikipedia.org...

Now, look at it this way... You finally got that 'plot' You've always wanted.. It is out by the creek.. 35 years from now a developer wants to build a golf course and homes on Your plot.. He has $$$ and Your dead. Guess who wins?

Now for those of You who suffer from claustrophobia....

namaste


Edit: I surely meant 35 years from the time of Your 'death' (luckily I'm one of those idiots that don't believe in 'death' so it doesn't bother Me.. sorry if I made You, the viewer, uncomfortable.. 35 years AFTER You 'cease to be'.. You know, if You're still reading this far.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

But what we don't want is some memorial site that my kids will feel guilty for not visiting.

Wow. Really true words. That must be the pinnacle of love for your kids.

a reply to: sparky31

Just my thoughts. Our body takes our soul around. It's the boat we ride our life's waves in. Death brings people to their knees. Life comes out of death. Death comes out of life. Time is life and life is time. All I know is we are born and must die. Nice thread.

I want a viking funeral (toss me in a boat and light me on fire) and hubby wants to donate his entire body to science.

So neither one of us will be taking up any land space unnecessarily.... no need for burial/funeral costs and all the headaches that go along with it for any of our loved ones.

Easy peasy double squeezy.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
My wife and I neither one want to leave a physical trace for people to come and mourn and whatnot.

The world is for the living, not the dead. When im dead, just do whatever you want really. Donate me to science. Use me to launch bottle rockets out my butt. Have me taxidermied to use for a towel rack. Whatever suits your fancy...ill be done with the body by then anyway.

But what we don't want is some memorial site that my kids will feel guilty for not visiting.

but skeleton or where your ashes are spread,anyone close to you will probably still visit the same site year on year.

originally posted by: CranialSponge
I want a viking funeral (toss me in a boat and light me on fire) and hubby wants to donate his entire body to science.

So neither one of us will be taking up any land space unnecessarily.... no need for burial/funeral costs and all the headaches that go along with it for any of our loved ones.

Easy peasy double squeezy.

no but your hubby will still be leaving his skeleton rather than it being reduced to a pile of ashes.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Have me taxidermied to use for a towel rack.

Well.... that'd give a whole new meaning to towel rod, huh?

originally posted by: sparky31

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
My wife and I neither one want to leave a physical trace for people to come and mourn and whatnot.

The world is for the living, not the dead. When im dead, just do whatever you want really. Donate me to science. Use me to launch bottle rockets out my butt. Have me taxidermied to use for a towel rack. Whatever suits your fancy...ill be done with the body by then anyway.

But what we don't want is some memorial site that my kids will feel guilty for not visiting.

but skeleton or where your ashes are spread,anyone close to you will probably still visit the same site year on year.

I've raised my kids to be irreverent. The older one, though, carries the Catholic guilt he was raised with by his grandparents. So you may be right

All i can do is my best to make my wishes a reality. Once i am dead, i really won't know or care. Like i said: you can use my skull to serve yourself cereal if you want. Maybe i'd make a nice hood ornament for an 18-wheeler. Get creative.