Cremation Services Throughout History and Religions
In America, a third of all deaths result in cremation services. After the person dies, according to ceremony, the body is placed in a wooden casket or corrugated cardboard box for transport to the crematorium. It is then placed into an industrial furnace fueled by natural gas, propane or coal, which heats up to 1600 - 1800 degrees. After the two hour process, the 5.3 pounds of bone fragments and calcium phosphates are placed into a cremulator, which pulverizes the remains into sand-like ash. The ashes are then collected and placed into a plastic container, urn or other designated vessel.
In Catholicism, the remains are typically buried or entombed in a cemetery. Pope Paul VI lifted the ban on cremation services in 1963, which had essentially been in place from the Middle Ages until the Early 1900s. And up until 1997, direct cremation (without a mass first) was still forbidden because the body is believed to be sacred and Catholic theology states that the practice refutes the idea of resurrection.
In Hinduism and Buddhism, cremation services (or “antim-samskara” meaning “last rites”) are mandatory. It is believed that cremation detaches the fresh spirit from its earthly body and assists the passage to the next world. After a brief prayer service, the nearest male relative submerses the ashes in the holy Ganges River.
In Japan and Taiwan, 99% of the dead are cremated and the cremation ceremony is slightly different. Instead of pulverizing the bones to ash, the bone fragment remains are given to the family members and the relatives use chopsticks to pick up the fragments (starting with the feet and ending with the head) and transfer them to an urn. The remains are sometimes buried in a company cemetery or family burial plot for $2 million yen. For $400,000 yen, the bones are placed in a “Graveyard Apartment,” which is a locker-sized unit. In this technologically savvy way to commemorate the departed, mourners are greeted by touch-screens with videos, messages, a family tree and other information.
Whether Japanese, Buddhist, Catholic or Protestant, cremation services are widely recognized as a respectful way to say goodbye to the departed. You may want to schedule a viewing or a memorial service at a funeral parlor before the incineration takes place, to offer loved ones a chance to properly mourn the dead. You may then choose to bury the ashes, spread them in the sea, shoot them into space or place them in an urn on the mantel.
