Green Burial: The cycle of life

Water Cycle

I am sure that environmentalist and clean water advocates will not be happy with this particular article. This can also be against the law so check your local ordinances. So do you remember in elementary school when you first learned about the water cycle? Just in case, like me, it has been a long time since elementary school for you, this cycle is depicted in the above picture. Can you imagine a drop of water starting in a mountain stream and making it all the way down to the ocean. Particles of stuff are suspended in the water and carried for who knows how far downstream. So if you really want to spread those ashes, here is what you do.

Have your spirit whisperer take your ashes and mix them with water. They must then hike up to the beginning of a mountain stream and pour the contents in the water. A remote location with no one around seems like a very good idea. In case you aren't aware, the Hindus have run into problems trying to place their ashes in the river. Hindu custom dictates that a father’s eldest son should light his funeral pyre and that his ashes should be scattered in a river or the sea within 13 days. They traditionally place the ashes in the river along with gifts to the deceased. If you travel to India, it perfectly acceptable to do this along with the rest of the country. In other places, you are on your own.

If you decide to spread your ashes this way, donate some money or your time to cleaning up a river. After all, you don't want to end up in a river full of garbage and nasty chemicals. Otherwise, you might as well flush yourself down the sewer. Pick a clear mountain stream and perhaps, as time passes, a small part of you will make its way slowly to the nearest ocean. All along the way, the water will be depositing small parts of your ashes as they get trapped or sink to the bottom of the stream. A very good way to go out in style and return to greening the earth.

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Waking the Dead

As the story goes, a wake was a rowdy place to drink and dance so you could wake the dead and have them join the party. This is the origin of the saying: “you are making so much noise that you will wake the dead.” Just like the doctor who finally gives up on trying to resuscitate someone who heart quits beating, a wake has to end. At some point everyone would get tired and go home. The dead stays dead and everyone else is dead tired.

Another reason people tried to “wake the dead” was to be sure the dead person’s soul was alert and ready to transition to the afterlife. I think we all know someone who was never awake during life much less being awake after they died. For those of us that believe in the afterlife, I guess it was important to not sleep in your body and forget to go to the next stage in your journey.

A third reason was to appease the dead by having a party in their name. You never knew if this person was angry at dying and would seek revenge on the living. Showing them some love during the wake would keep them from coming back to haunt you as they do in the Ghost Whisperer TV show. This haunting thing has spawned a whole genre of movies but has never really been proven as a truth. However, without ghosts, zombies, and other undead creatures, Halloween would not be near as fun.

Finally, the fourth reason was actually to celebrate that someone had died. All of us have someone in our life that we wish would just go away. Some even think about how much better their life would be if that certain someone died. No one wants to talk about that possibility because it isn’t nice and they may just come back as a zombie and eat you. Most of us have enough enemies in this life without creating any new undead ones. So respect for the dead is very important.

Showing respect and honoring the dead person is what we think the wake should be about. Use a theme that matches the important things is that person’s life. At the wake, you can party loud enough to wake the dead, but keep in mind that it is about remembering a life well lived. It is a life that deserves to go out of this world in style.

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