Feed Me To The Wind

Don’t pay any attention to the photo above. If you missed Feed Me To The Wind, a very good programme about ashes on R4 this morning, don’t despair; you can listen to it on the BBC website. Here’s the Beeb blurb:

Tens of thousands of ashes remain uncollected or unscattered. Amanda Mitchison looks at the choices, conflicts and absurdity in the new British ritual of ash scattering.

More of us than ever choose to take the ashes of the deceased away from a crematorium or funeral directors: but it’s what should happen then we can’t figure out. In fact, every undertaker has a whole room of unclaimed ashes – those whose next of kin either couldn’t decide, or agree, what to do with them. As a nation, we used to know which death rites were, well, right – but as more and more are cremated, we lawless Britons started improvising.

We speak to people who are yet to collect ashes – or have made the decision to keep them, at home – exploring the complex emotions these plastic containers provoke, even in modern ‘un-spiritual’ Britain. We’ll hear from people whose personal ceremonies did not go to plan, where uncertainty about bylaws and prevailing winds has led to farce instead of reverence. The practicalities always seem to fox our need for something ‘spiritual’, so perhaps we’re not adequately prepared for what we receive from undertakers.

We ask whether the whole process is a hangover of the industrial revolution – and look at the feelings that municipal buildings like crematoria can elicit. In the quest for something special and unique, those who are in the business of ash-scattering tell us about the more dramatic means of scattering – miniature Viking ships and all.

Perhaps we could take a lead from other traditions which have practiced cremation for thousands of years – what is the Hindu perspective on cremation? Should we let those around us know to ‘Feed Me To The Wind’ if that is what we would want?

Listen again here

From God we come and to Him we return

A thought for the day from Richard Rawlinson

The trend for funerals conducted as celebrations of life must surely stem from society’s weakened belief in life after death. Even Christians now opt for the panegyric of the dead through tributes to the deceased instead of a ceremony combining natural grief for the loss and hope of the mercy of God.

In the days of the Hapsburg Empire there was a ritual to receive the body of a dead emperor into the cathedral in Vienna: attendants with the coffin would knock on the doors and a voice from within would ask: “Who demands entry?” Many grand titles would be read out. The doors would remain shut. The attendants would knock again and the same question would be asked. The response this time would simply be “A poor sinner”. The doors would be thrown open and the coffin would proceed inside.

Presswatch

The weekend yielded three newspaper articles about funerals.

The Indy’s is a way-to-go survey. It begins by reflecting the current morbid fascination with the demise of enormous people and the consequent indignities of going out big, making play of wardrobe-size coffins and cranes used to lower them. Health is the new morality, of course, so going to your grave in a JCB amounts to judgement. For the rest, we’re not at all sure that the article tells anyone anything they didn’t already know. The writers talk of caskets, not coffins. They quote the average funeral cost as £7,248. They display the customary media attraction to wackiness — Crazy Coffins, for example. Oh and promession, in development since 1999 and yet, as far as we know, to render anyone to biodegrable powder. Verdict: dull. Score: 3/10. Find it here

There’s a much better piece in the Guardian by Amanda Mitchison and Caleb Parkin about ashes and what people do with them. Richard Martin over at Scattering Ashes was thrilled that his Viking longship got a mention, though no name-check for him. Or for the GFG, which begat the concept. 8/10 for this and, at the time of typing, we are waiting for Ms Mitchison to take to the air on R4 and talk to us about ashes. Listen-again link later. Find the Guardian article here

Finally, the Daily Mail plays to the zeitgeist with a shamelessly sensational piece about a man too large to fit into a mortuary refrigerator and ‘left to rot’Plans for an open casket funeral have been scrapped because his body is too decayed.’ What’s all this casket talk we’re getting these days? Score for this piece 0/10 or 10/10 depending on the altitude of your brow. Find it here

Have your say

Happy Monday, everyone. 

If you come to this blog wondering what’s kicking off, chances are you’ve got something to say yourself. 

If so, we’d like you to.

The GFG’s a talking shop. We don’t have an editorial line, we don’t have a manifesto. Come one, come all; we’re Funeralworld’s Speakers’ Corner.

If you’d like to sound off about anything at all, do get in touch. 

The Good Funeral Guide
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.