Out of the Ashes

Back Again.

This week's blog prompt urged us to consider alternative methods of dealing with the remains of the departed. As for me I want to be cremated, the purity and simplicity of the fire appeal to me. But what about after that? What to do with the ashes, I'm not keen on being kept on some musty bookshelf or mantel piece and if I wanted to be in a grave yard I might as well just skip cremation and spring for the full coffin funeral. That leaves me with scattering, which is OK.... I wouldn't mind being scattered from atop my favourite mountain or left along my favourite trails. But is that really my only option?

                                          View from Juan de Fuca Trail.
As it turns out no.

I could be launched into space (somewhat interesting but as an archaeologist I have always been more interested in the ground than the sky). I could be mixed into some fireworks and literally go out with a bang, along the same lines I could be put into a series of memorial bullets. I could even be put into an hour glass to remind those that survive me that life is short. This last option seems a little bit morbid but I do like the idea of making a lasting impression. So now what?

As it turns out there is a process that superheats and then compresses cremains into actual certified diamonds, and what could be more lasting than that right? "Life Gem" is a company that specializes in creating diamonds of different sizes, cuts and even colours out of cremated remains (and locks of hair). They will even put the stone into a memorial ring. You could actually become your own grave good.

 This process is pricy and can run upwards of $14,000 but then again traditional casket burial and funeral these days can cost anywhere between 7000-15,0000 dollars. (http://www.canadianfunerals.com).

I'm not certain I would want to become a diamond (I have never be fond of jewellery) but the idea is intriguing and certainly makes one think about the staggering array of options that are out there. We often think of funerals and death as a fairly standard thing with some variation over time. This is certainly a problem in archaeology, when we lump cemeteries spanning hundreds of years into a general, over-arching theme and give it a label. "That is a Catholic cemetery, that is a Protestant Cemetery, that is a Victorian graveyard". These labels and themes have their place but we need to remember that the ways in which people choose to be treated after death are just as individual as the ways they choose to act in life.

Sources and additional links:
Life Gem:
http://www.lifegem.com/?gclid=CMOo0cnHk7UCFQfhQgodGz4Afg

Funeral Pricing:
http://www.canadianfunerals.com/funeral-related-articles/differences-in-cost-between-burial-and-cremation-in-canada.html

Things To Do With Cremains:
http://www.budgetlife.com/blog/weird-cremations/

Huffington Post Article Concerning Space Burial:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/25/ash-scattering_n_1545627.html