Cremation
Cremationis the act of burning a body after it hasdied.Cremation is a popular option to dispose of (get rid of) a body instead ofburyingit. The place where cremations take place is called acrematoriumorcrematory.
Religions which approve cremation includeChristianity,Jehovah's Witnesses,Buddhism,Hinduism,Jainism,Sikhism,Shinto,andNeopaganism.TraditionalJudaismandMormonismstrongly discourage cremation, although the first reference to cremation in theHebrew Bibleis found in 1 Samuel 31, where it states that the dead bodies ofSauland his sons are burned, and their bones are buried.[1]Neo-ConfucianismandZoroastrianismdisapprove it. ManyMuslimsbelieve cremation is forbidden. However, some Muslims, such asQuranists,believe cremation is permissible inIslamas there is no prohibition in theQur'anagainst cremation, and that burial is not the only Islamic method that is approved by God.[2][3]
Anatural gascremation releases around 126kg ofcarbon dioxide.[4]
Ways of keeping or disposing of the cremated remains
[change|change source]Cremated remains (also calledashes) are returned to the person's family. The family then has a few options of what to do with the remains. Usually the ashes are buried in an urn at a cemetery plot just as a coffin is buried in normal earth burial. Many religions require the ashes to be handled in dignified manner. In Scandinavia it is customary to bury the ashes ín an urn in a family grave (a grave which contains the remains of many family members). Family graves are also popular in Japan and Thailand.
Sometimes the cremated person has thought about what they want to be done with their remains and have shared their desires with their family. Cremated remains can be kept in a container called anurn,which in turn can be buried on cemetery plot or placed in a depot calledcolumbarium,or thrown into the air or water of a place that was special to the cremated person, or buried anonymously in the ground. These are the most popular choices of what to do with remains. There are also other, less common, options of how to dispose of the remains. Some examples of ways to scatter the remains are: throughfireworks,shot from guns, or dropped from an airplane orhot air balloon.Remains can even be sent into space or turned into adiamond.The latter can be done because humans and diamonds are both made largely fromcarbon.
Queen Victoria, pioneer in cremation jewelry
[change|change source]Queen Victoria is the most well-known mourner because she went into a state of mourning for several decades. To honour her late Prince Albert, Queen Victoria "took to wearing black jet jewelry, from Whitby, in Yorkshire". As a limited and fairly difficult medium to work with, jet was expensive. It's a hard material, requiring skilled craftsmanship to avoid breakage during carving.
Related pages
[change|change source]References
[change|change source]- Technical report #30Archived2005-03-24 at theWayback Machine– Incineration of Human Bodies
- ↑https://www.cremationsocietyofphiladelphia.com/bible-and-cremation/#:~:text=The%20first%20reference%20to%20cremation,and%20their%20bones%20are%20buried.
- ↑https://www.quran-islam.org/articles/part_5/cremation__(P1503).html
- ↑https://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/show_article.php?main_id=15614
- ↑Wright, Robert (2023-11-29)."Families seek green alternatives to traditional funerals".Financial Times.Retrieved2023-12-02.
Other websites
[change|change source]
- Cremation Association of North AmericaArchived2002-09-14 at theLibrary of CongressWeb Archives
- International Scattering Society
- Crematory in Europe
