WELCOME TO OUR BLOG
Welcome to the SevenPonds.com blog – a community-driven extension of SevenPonds.com! I hope you find comfort and community in the resources and stories featured here. I’m always happy to hear from readers and can be reached at suzette@sevenponds.com.
FEATURED
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10 Facts About Hospice Care You May Not Know" />
10 Facts About Hospice Care You May Not Know: NHPCO stresses that hospice is about living fully, not preparing for death. -
Man of Many Faces" />
Man of Many Faces: A niece says goodbye to her favorite gay uncle, in whom she confided about her own sexuality -
Last Rites: A Catholic Send-Off" />
Last Rites: A Catholic Send-Off: A look at the religion's final prayer procession for the dying
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Tag Archives: Funeral
New Eco-Friendly Coffin for Cremation
The Innovative Soul Ash Solace Coffin from Maximal Design of Belgium
Soul Ash Solace has an innovative design for a funereal vessel- it is made of light-weight materials that are completely biodegradable, (and much less harmful for our planet than showy, lacquered coffins and the like) such as papier-mache and corrugated … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Belgium, Biodegradable, Burial, Coffin, Cost of Dying, Cremation, Death, Death Care, Dying, Eco-Burial, environmental impact, Funeral, Noxious Fumes, Relic, Rememberance, SevenPonds, Soul, Soul Ash Coffin, United States
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Book Review: “Cremation or Burial? A Jewish View” by Doron Kornbluth
A case advocating burial over the increasingly popular practice of cremation
Modern society tends to prefer cremation: it is perceived as cheaper than a burial, more environmentally sound, and, well, just more hip. To the contemporary person, “the idea of scattering ashes seems a eco-friendly alternative” to burial. The idea of … Continue reading
Posted in Lending Insight
Tagged Abrahamic Religions, Ashes, Burial, Cremation, Death, Death Care, Doron Kornbluth, Dying, Eco-Friendly, environmental impact, Funeral, Funeral Services, Great Britain, Grieving, Japan, Jewish Culture, Jewish Tradition, Judaism, Natural burial, Sea Burial, Space Funeral, United States
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What Do You Want ‘Em to Say About You at Your Funeral?
Comedian Jerry Corley jokes about the conversations at his mother's funeral.
Can’t see the video in your browser? Watch it on YouTube.
Metaphors on Death
Cultural beliefs about life, death, and the afterlife dictate how people around the world experience and ritualize the end of life.
A common tactic for understanding the complexity of death and end-of-life is to liken it to other parts of life that are a little simpler to comprehend. Though this is done commonly across cultures, the metaphors used differ from culture … Continue reading
Letter from SevenPonds’ reader
SevenPonds' reader Cindy Garner expressed her thoughts on a new reality TV show, "Best Funeral Ever"
We recently did a blog post on Best Funeral Ever, a TV show based in Dallas, Texas. One of our readers, Cindy Garner, expressed her opinion on the show: “I watched it last Sunday night and, although the families seemed … Continue reading
Posted in Opening Letters
Tagged Best Funeral Ever, Controversy, Dallas, Funeral, Reality TV, Texas
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Ancient Egyptian Burial Customs: Tombs and Mummification
The burial of Egyptian kings and commoners
Many of us are vaguely aware of the elaborate funeral customs of the ancient Egyptians. We’ve seen enthralling images of massive pyramids, ancient tombs, exotic mummies, and shining shrines to former lives. These elaborate customs were born of the ancient … Continue reading
Posted in Cultural Perspectives
Tagged Ancient Egypt, Ancient Egyptian burial, Ancient funeral rituals, Egypt, Funeral, Kings, Mummifciation, Mummy
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Simplicity in Amish Funerary Traditions
The culture of modesty breeds modest -- and eco-friendly -- funeral practices
Have you ever witnessed an Amish funeral? Unless you are, in fact, part of that community, you likely have not, and may have never even pondered it. They are modest and simple events, involving members of the family and the … Continue reading
Posted in Cultural Perspectives
Tagged Amish, Amish Funeral practices, Burial, Death, Funeral, Pennsylvania Dutch, United States
2 Comments
Bodybox by Leslie van Berkel
The simple casket is a practical and stylish option for green burial
This cardboard casket designed by Leslie van Berkel in 2006 for Li Edelkoort design academy offers a stylish and cost-effective burial option in an eco-friendly design. Van Berkel, along with her contemporaries, was asked to think of the notion of … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Casket, Coffin, Death, Design, Eco-Friendly, Emergency management, Funeral, Green Burial, Leslie Van Berkel, Li Edelkoort
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Shelves for Life
This multifunctional furniture design lasts more than a lifetime!
Designer William Warren has mastered the art of multifunctional design with the Shelves for Life, a self-initiated project to further explore ideas of built-in sentimentality in our possessions. The product is designed to encourage strong emotional relationships with our belongings … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Art, Casket, Coffin, Death, Design, Funeral, Furniture, Memorial, Shelves for Life, William Warren
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What is a Celebrant? An Interview with Charlotte Eulette and Dorry Bless, Part 2
The conclusion of our discussion about celebrants, end-of-life ceremonies, and personalizing ritual
Last week, we published Part 1 of our interview with Charlotte Eulette, the International Director of the Celebrant Foundation & Institute, and Dorry Bless, Board Member and Funeral Committee Chair of the Institute. We continue our conversation about celebrants here … Continue reading
What is a Celebrant? An Interview with Charlotte Eulette and Dorry Bless, Part 1
A new era of end-of-life ceremonies: how celebrants both embrace and break with tradition
The Celebrant Foundation & Institute, a nonprofit educational organization that trains Life Cycle Celebrants, is changing the way we think about ceremonies. In particular, end-of-life celebrations are transcending the traditional funeral idea, with people opting for the personalized, meaningful ceremonies … Continue reading
Traditional Iranian Memorial
Information and Details Behind a Traditional Islamic Iranian Memorial Service
A comparison is made between traditional vs. contemporary Iranian memorial services and the details of a traditional Iranian memorial service is discussed. Continue reading
A Coffin Design that Facilitates a Family’s Right to Say Goodbye
The Disaster Coffin replaces the body bag and allows families to perform funeral rites
Hungarian designer Adam Miklosi has created a brilliant design that finds the ultimate balance between aesthetics and function. His LR16 Disaster Coffin addresses the need for a mass-production casket that allows for the facilitation of dignified funeral rituals. Traditionally, in … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Art, Burial, Coffin, Death, Design, Family, Funeral, Funeral Rites, Natural burial
4 Comments
Mothers of Invention
Reinventing funeral services
Mother’s Day arrives this week, and so I start it off with a post dedicated to our lovely mothers of invention. I will look at three different experiences involving mothers that signify why our national relationship to traditional funeral practices … Continue reading
Posted in Sharing Suzette
Tagged Angelina Jolie, Funeral, Funeral Director, Funeral Industry, Loss of a Mother, Madonna, Mothers, Remembrance
2 Comments
Film Review: Garden State (2004)
Loss of mother leads to self-discovery in this quirky indie film
Garden State begins with protagonist Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) being informed via phone message that his paraplegic mother has died after a tragic bathtub accident. The death serves as a sort of trigger to the rest of the action: when … Continue reading
Funeral Rites in the Buddhist Tradition
Exploring the ways Buddhists embrace death
Buddhists take a positive stance when it comes to death: the best way to approach it is without fear. On Buddhanet, you can find an abundance of information focusing on the beliefs about death and dying in the Tibetan Buddhist … Continue reading
The St. James Infirmary Blues
An Old Folk Song that Continues to Strike a Chord
In the old folk songs from the early 20th and late 19th Centuries, passed down through families and generations into the very soul of our culture, death is a common theme. This should not be surprising. These were harder times … Continue reading
Posted in Lending Insight
Tagged Cultural Perspectives, Death, folk, Funeral, Music, performers
2 Comments
A Look at Japanese Funeral Practices
Cultural Traditions in a Country with Almost 100% Cremation Rate
Japan has the highest cremation rate in the world, over 99%, with some local governments even banning burials. Until after World War II, cremation was reserved for the rich, but once the cleanliness and efficiency of the practice were recognized, … Continue reading
Posted in Cultural Perspectives
Tagged Burial, Cremation, Culture, Family, Funeral, Japan, Tradition
5 Comments
Classic Book Review: As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
How the Bundren Family’s Journey to Bury Their Dying Matriarch Speaks to Life as Much as Death
Faulkner was a “Southern” writer, in the vein of Flannery O’Connor, but like O’Connor, his works tend to speak to larger themes. His third novel, As I Lay Dying, concerns a relatively simple set of events: the death of the … Continue reading