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Author Topic: Funerals and burial  (Read 3600 times)

Snowdrop

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Funerals and burial
« on: June 27, 2013, 11:52:38 am »
How do your religious beliefs affect how you would ideally like to be buried?  Does your religion have an already existing set of funerary practices?  If so, do you plan to follow them?  If you're a recon: how would you adapt ancient funerary procedures that aren't viable in the modern world?  Do you ever worry that, even if you set out your wishes in writing, non-pagan family and friends will ignore them and carry out your funeral according to their religion?  Or do you view funerals as primarily for the benefit of the bereaved anyway?  

I've been thinking a lot about how you could adapt Kemetic burials for the modern world.  You can hardly state in your will that you want to be mummified, and modern embalming isn't really the same thing, but I don't think it actually matters that much.  I have however been thinking about requesting to be buried with an amulet, probably the Eye of Heru.

Neteruhemta RaShuGeb

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2013, 01:19:49 pm »
Quote from: Snowdrop;113884
How do your religious beliefs affect how you would ideally like to be buried?  Does your religion have an already existing set of funerary practices?  If so, do you plan to follow them?  If you're a recon: how would you adapt ancient funerary procedures that aren't viable in the modern world?  Do you ever worry that, even if you set out your wishes in writing, non-pagan family and friends will ignore them and carry out your funeral according to their religion?  Or do you view funerals as primarily for the benefit of the bereaved anyway?  

I've been thinking a lot about how you could adapt Kemetic burials for the modern world.  You can hardly state in your will that you want to be mummified, and modern embalming isn't really the same thing, but I don't think it actually matters that much.  I have however been thinking about requesting to be buried with an amulet, probably the Eye of Heru.

 
I have thought about this a few times and I have had discussions with others about this. I'm not necessarily a Kemetic Recon, but I like to go along close to Recon lines.

There have been a few stories, articles, and programs throughout the years where ancient Egyptian mummification practices were recreated as close as each instance was able to. It was a bit expensive for materials and took a ton of work in each of the circumstances. I thought about what I want to do, and there was something that stuck out.

The materials and time would have been expensive back in the ancient days as well. I don't believe all of the people had mummification done. It was something for the "rich and important". I've been trying to piece together how it may have went for those who couldn't afford not had the resources for the elaborate burials. I consider myself doing some of the "work" of the priests but also doing the work of a "common" person. This is due to the changes in the world that the beings of the world have adapted to (spirits, animals, gods, and humans alike).

Here is a short list off the top of my head of what would guarantee my journey towards the Netjeru's lands:

1. I would like to be dressed in a nice outfit, and have as much of my body intact as possible.

2. Amulets including the eyes of Heru, Ra, a cartouche with my name(s), and an Ankh (if I end up missing any organs, amulets for them would be included).

3. A copy of a "Book of Pert-Em-Hru" (Book of the Dead for those unfamiliar with the term). I would either include an academic copy or have one commissioned later on.

My nuclear family is aware of my beliefs and I think would respect my wishes. Any extended family, spouses, and children would be held accountable for upholding my wishes; lest they want my Akh or my Khu (depending on how people want to refer to them as) wanders about to haunt them for eternity.

veggiewolf

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2013, 01:23:38 pm »
Quote from: Snowdrop;113884
...

I've been thinking a lot about how you could adapt Kemetic burials for the modern world.  You can hardly state in your will that you want to be mummified...

 
Actually, you can.  I've not looked into it too much, but a Google search turned this organization up on the first try. ;)
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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2013, 02:14:26 pm »
Quote from: Snowdrop;113884
Do you ever worry that, even if you set out your wishes in writing, non-pagan family and friends will ignore them and carry out your funeral according to their religion?  Or do you view funerals as primarily for the benefit of the bereaved anyway?


My basic view is that funerals are more for the people left behind than not, and that as long as they don't misrepresent my own religious beliefs, I'm okay with whatever format that takes for them.

I would prefer cremation, because I know a lot of people (in wide geographic dispersal) who keep some kind of ancestor altar or Samhain tradition or whatever, and I would like them to have the opportunity to have a pinch of ashes for whatever use they'd like in their own tradition of honoring their beloved dead.
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Aranel

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2013, 02:58:24 pm »
Quote from: Snowdrop;113884
Or do you view funerals as primarily for the benefit of the bereaved anyway?  


This. If I'm being honest I don't want a funeral but I'm aware that that wish won't get granted. I don't think my family really understand my religious beliefs so I would rather that there was no religious element to my funeral whatsoever. My pagan friends will probably hold their own one.
The one thing my family does know is what to do with my remains. That's more important to me than the funeral. Cremated then the ashes halved and spread on the top of two different hills. They know which ones.
I do have a feeling that if I did die (I'm 22, it's not exactly something that gets discussed that often :p ) my family would be consulting with my best friend so if there was to be any religious aspects to my funeral then he would organise those (and I trust him to stick to my beliefs, not his. He knows what we differ on. )
« Last Edit: June 27, 2013, 02:59:12 pm by Aranel »

Phouka

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #5 on: June 27, 2013, 07:01:31 pm »
Quote from: Snowdrop;113884
How do your religious beliefs affect how you would ideally like to be buried?  


Well I think in cremation was used in ancient Ireland along with burial. I personally have chosen cremation which my sister knows and understands, she also knows to call certain friends who will do the actual funeral ritual.

For myself the ritual is more for those left behind than for me, but the cremation and burying of the ashes is important. The ashes go as fertilizer under my lilac bushes.

My sister asked if she could have some of the ashes to put in her cremation urn and I told her yes.

Materialist

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2013, 07:04:37 pm »
Quote from: Snowdrop;113884
How do your religious beliefs affect how you would ideally like to be buried?


I really wish to be excarnated in the ancient way: have my body dumped in the middle of no where and eaten by vultures. So simple, yet, my mother says there would be legal problems with that. Such as, having the police trample my resting place every time somebody trips over my bones.

TylerJade

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2013, 11:27:59 pm »
Quote from: Snowdrop;113884
How do your religious beliefs affect how you would ideally like to be buried?

 
My daddy has always said that he wants to be cremated and mixed in the mulch pile; my mother has always said she wants to be wherever daddy is laid to rest. I feel like this is the most spiritual thing I have ever heard. They don't want to ever be separated, not even in death.
This poses a problem for me, however. I wish to be cremated and mixed into the Earth, like my father. My significant other follows the Norse path, and he is a Navy man; he wants to fill his pockets with gold for Ran and be sunk into Aegir's kingdom. How do our souls find each other, if I am in the Earth and he is in the Sea?

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #8 on: June 28, 2013, 10:20:43 am »
Quote from: Neteruhemta RaShuSet;113903

I've thought it over often, and - against the general tenets of my faith -I've decided that the disposal of my body by cremation and dispersement in the sea will not impact my soul reaching the Field of Reeds correctly. I will probably request to have a copy of the Book of the Dead burned with me just to be sure.
I've asked my family to contact Rev. Tamara Siuda House of Netjer so she can read the 70 Days Prayers and add my name to the Akhu shrine.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2013, 04:17:09 am by SunflowerP »

Snowdrop

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #9 on: June 28, 2013, 11:19:14 pm »
Quote from: veggiewolf;113905
Actually, you can.  I've not looked into it too much, but a Google search turned this organization up on the first try. ;)

 
Huh.  For some reason, I'd always had the impression that that would somehow count as a non-proper embalming (for states that have specific laws, anyway).

Leanan Sidhe

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #10 on: June 28, 2013, 11:19:52 pm »
Quote from: Snowdrop;113884
How do your religious beliefs affect how you would ideally like to be buried?  Does your religion have an already existing set of funerary practices?  If so, do you plan to follow them?  If you're a recon: how would you adapt ancient funerary procedures that aren't viable in the modern world?  Do you ever worry that, even if you set out your wishes in writing, non-pagan family and friends will ignore them and carry out your funeral according to their religion?  Or do you view funerals as primarily for the benefit of the bereaved anyway?  


 
I want to have my ashes scattered in the ocean. It's not exactly in line with recon, but it's important to me. I'd infinitely rather have a full body burial at sea (to avoid causing pollution from the cremation), but the cost would probably be prohibitive.

As a backup, I'd like to be buried in a biodegradable casket or shroud.

While they aren't strict recon, they are important to my religious, spiritual, and political views.

I don't worry about my family not carrying out my wishes.Unless one member by marriage is the only one left standing. Then there would be a problem -- except that my guys will make sure it goes the way I want it to. The only reason anyone other than the family member I mentioned wouldn't do what I'd like would be if the cost was prohibitive.

While I believe (my UPG) that funerals can provide closure for those who have moved on, I also believe that usually they aren't necessary for that purpose.

I believe that funerals are mostly for the benefit of those left behind. In that vein, and also more solidly reconish, I want my family to celebrate, not mourn. There also shouldn't be any problems with this -- my grandmother wants the same thing.

I believe that the main reason for disposal of the body is to nourish and feed the life and creation that go on after our bodies cease to function.
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PhantomQueen

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2013, 09:40:09 pm »
Quote from: Leanan Sidhe;114112
I believe that the main reason for disposal of the body is to nourish and feed the life and creation that go on after our bodies cease to function.

 
I think the same way.  I want any organs to be donated to those who'd need them and get myself cremated.  In my way of thinking, a person shouldn't mourn an empty shell.  The spirit of a person is still alive but has moved on.  Burn the body and make use of it-nourishment to plantlife.  I'd live on in that way as well as the memories ot others who I've come in contact with in my/this lifetime.  Hopefully for the better and that I've motivated them to do good and pass on their good fortune to others.  

I'd prefer to have my ashes (and those of my cats) scattered with my maternal grandmother in her town's crematorium (in England).  She's scattered around some rosebushes by my grandfather.  As for the service, I couldn't give two farts about that-it's for those left behind.  I just ask that they rejoice in my life and not be miserable.

Thanatoic Discipline

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2013, 05:51:04 am »
Quote from: Materialist;113957
I really wish to be excarnated in the ancient way: have my body dumped in the middle of no where and eaten by vultures. So simple, yet, my mother says there would be legal problems with that. Such as, having the police trample my resting place every time somebody trips over my bones.


Tibetan Sky Burial:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial

mandrina

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2013, 09:30:24 am »
Quote from: Snowdrop;114111
Huh.  For some reason, I'd always had the impression that that would somehow count as a non-proper embalming (for states that have specific laws, anyway).

 
my guess is that modern chemistry part of the mummification process is what keeps them inside the laws.
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ALiteraryLady

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Re: Funerals and burial
« Reply #14 on: July 08, 2013, 09:58:36 am »
Quote from: Snowdrop;113884
How do your religious beliefs affect how you would ideally like to be buried?  Does your religion have an already existing set of funerary practices?  If so, do you plan to follow them?  If you're a recon: how would you adapt ancient funerary procedures that aren't viable in the modern world?  Do you ever worry that, even if you set out your wishes in writing, non-pagan family and friends will ignore them and carry out your funeral according to their religion?  Or do you view funerals as primarily for the benefit of the bereaved anyway?  

I've been thinking a lot about how you could adapt Kemetic burials for the modern world.  You can hardly state in your will that you want to be mummified, and modern embalming isn't really the same thing, but I don't think it actually matters that much.  I have however been thinking about requesting to be buried with an amulet, probably the Eye of Heru.

 
For me, I'd like to be buried in an environmentally friendly way and then have a couple of trees planted above my remains so I can become a food source for these trees. I know it isn't the floating funeral pyre that some of my ancestors may have had, but it's a nice balance between nature honoring that is okay with my family and not being too off of the wall for them.

I also agree that my funeral is more for my family than well for me, so if they are going to mourn, I don't think I can really stop that. Although, I'd like to think that in some manner, perhaps later on down the line, they'd be okay with celebrating my life in a more festive manner along with other family members who have past.

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