Tag Archives: Cultural Perspectives

The Unique Funeral Customs of Various Filipino Ethnic Groups

An exploration into unique burial rites and customs practiced among different groups in the Philippines

When you hear the word “funeral,” your mind might drift to images of people gathering around the caskets or urns of lost loved ones, while delivering eulogies and culminating with either digging dirt for the grave or scattering the ashes … Continue reading

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Into the Woods

Natural German burials rooted in traditional places

Were you to walk into one of FriedWald’s EcoEternity forests in Germany, you may not necessarily know that you had entered a green burial site. No headstones to be seen, no large tombs proclaiming the importance of the interred. You … Continue reading

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Shraddha: A Hindu Ceremony To Help Souls Enter The Next World After Death

Today we explore the ideology behind the Hindu Ceremony of Shraddha

For Hindus, Shraddha is a ceremony that must happen in order to ensure that the souls of their loved ones who have died will enter the next world safely and soundly. Its name comes from the Sanskrit word that means … Continue reading

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Smoke Gets In Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

A young woman's funny, heartfelt memoir of working as a mortician and revolutionizing how we think of death

From her opening line “A girl always remembers the first corpse she shaves,” I could tell this isn’t your run-of-the-mill memoir. Caitlin Doughty’s Smoke Gets In Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory is at once laugh-out-loud funny and … Continue reading

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Japanese Funeral Superstitions Surrounding Death and the Number Four

Why this number sparks fear in Japan

Superstitions about numbers are nothing new. Look at Western culture’s obsession with the unlucky number thirteen to understand how pervasive number superstitions can be. Many people in Japan would think nothing of hopping into an elevator to get to the … Continue reading

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Why Have Epitaphs Been So Popular For So Long?

A look at the origins of epitaphs and why they are often found on the graves of lost loved ones

When a person walks around a cemetery, it is quite common to see a good portion of graves or plaques marked with epitaphs. The word, “epitaph,” itself stems from the Greek word “epitaphios,” which means “a funeral oration over tomb.” … Continue reading

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