What is a Home Funeral? Reclaiming the Lost Art of Caring for the Dead and Having a Funeral at HomeThe home funeral has proven to be a re-emerging trend, as more and more people are making moves to reclaim the lost art of dying at home.The home funeral offers an alternative to the act of transporting a loved one who has passed to a potentially impersonal funeral establishment; rather a home funeral encourages family and friends to care for the loved one in the comfort and intimacy of their own home. The practice was standard many generations ago — often out of necessity. Home funerals have also experienced more popularity as a way for families to have a planet conscious funeral, as they can often fall under the category of a “green burial.”
A home funeral
To start the process, family and friends gather for a few hours or days between the time of death and the time of burial or cremation. The experience can be very touching and beautiful. Overall, it is much different from the experience of going to a funeral home for viewing. The loved one can be laid out on a sofa, bed, table, or in the backyard for a home funeral ceremony, thus allowing the family and friends time to say good-bye and let go of a loved one. The movement to bring death care back into the home is growing. To learn more, check out SevenPonds’ information on planning a home funeral.
SevenPonds is a big supporter of The National Home Funeral Alliance (NHFA). If you would like to learn how to care for your loved one at home when they die and understand what a green burial is, this upcoming conference is for you. Join in a wonderful circle of kind, gentle and loving experts who will teach you the art of caring for your loved one as you let go of them. These passionate professionials will teach you how to plan and carry out the most personal of events – a home funeral – with friends and family.
2013 Annual Conference
“Home Funeral in Community: Reclaiming the Lost Art”
October 18 – 20, Raleigh, NC
The National Home Funeral Alliance aims to educate and empower the general public, meaning families and communities, to care for their own loved ones after they die. At the conference, you’ll be educated on the practice of home funerals and green burials. The conference will also provide you with the right tools to go home and talk about the death of a loved one, particularly by finding support within your own community. More specifically, you’ll learn about:
* Current American trends on end-of-life and death care
* Pre-planning and carrying out a home funeral – practical, legal, social and emotional aspects
* Green disposition (field trip to Pine Forest Memorial Gardens green cemetery included!)
* Building community through the work of home funerals
* Providing families and loved ones with the support to create meaningful deaths and goodbyes
*Nancy Jewel Poer will be the conference’s Keynote speaker. Also presenting is Dr. Monica Williams-Murphy, author of It’s OK to Die.
Contact Info: nhfaconference@gmail.
“In Case You Don’t Live Forever” by Ben Platt
Our Monthly Tip: Make an “In Case of Death” File to Ease Loved One’s Grief
This should be an interesting conference. I can see within a few years green burials becoming the norm rather than the exception. I’m not so sure about the home funeral – though I truly hope it does.
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One thing that is often not mentioned about home funerals is that they tend to be ecological in themselves (i.e. aside from a possible green burial or other kind of ecological disposition). I have yet to find a review of the waste that occurs in a regular funeral home business; but I can imagine that it is extensive (especially if not a direct cremation) — given (if nothing else) the fact that masks, gloves, gowns, etc. can only be used once, even when there is no embalming. In a home funeral, the family uses what they have on hand, and may have already be using for care for the person before they died — and most of that is reusable. Of course, one home funeral is not going to make much difference to our country’s (or planet’s) pollution; but as they become more popular, the difference will become more distinct. In any case, the ecological value of a home funeral is one thing to consider — as well as the emotional/spiritual and financial benefits — especially for those who have been committed to ecology throughout their life.
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