Archive for May, 2006
The UK Approves of Double Burials
The idea of burying two bodies in one grave may seem taboo here in the US, but it has finally gained political approval in the UK where burial space is increasingly limited.
View PostFunerals in the Digital Age
As the cost of technology decreases, digital tributes are gaining popularity in the funeral industry. With digital life tributes, people can combine home movies, photographs, and music with personal stories and final messages to create a DVD or computer file for loved ones. Or, loved ones can create tribute movies to remember the deceased.
View PostNatural Burials Are Becoming Popular With Environment-Conscious People
Natural, aka green burials are becoming popular with environmentalists who want to be buried without the chemicals or metal coffins. In regular burials, bodies are embalmed and preserved with chemicals. They are then placed in non-biodegradable coffins lined with cloth.
View PostMemorial Day a Time For Theft For Cemeteries
Cemeteries are fighting back when it comes to theft. The time leading up to Memorial Day seems to be the second busiest time – next to the days before Christmas. People walk off with flowers, shrubs, flags, vigil lights and other items left on the graves of veterans by family and friends. It’s almost as [...]
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The Afterlife Referenced in Cemetery Symbolism (Part 3): Tiffany Stained Glass
Tiffany Stained Glass The American painter and designer, Louis Comfort Tiffany, essentially brought new high quality, high technology stained glass as an art form to the world in the late 1800s. Prior to that time, most of the stained glass used in windows came from Europe, and then only as seconds. European craftsmen kept the [...]
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The Afterlife Referenced in Cemetery Symbolism (Part 2): Stained Glass
Stained Glass Another symbol intended to help prepare us for the great beyond is the stained glass window. Does this come as a surprise? In the mid-1100s, Abbot Suger of the Abbey of St. Denis (the royal abbey of France) believed that the presence of beautiful objects would lift men’s’ souls closer to God. This [...]
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The Afterlife Referenced in Cemetery Symbolism (Part 1)
As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I can’t help but notice that cemeteries live and breathe reminders of lives well spent and just rewards. Besides the ambiance, symbolism is just one of the many things cemeteries offer-perhaps it is the main thing. Take a short tour through some cemeteries as [...]
View PostNew Victorian-Inspired Cemetery To Be Built at Wilbury Hills
The North Hertfordshire district council has comissioned Michael Howe and his architechture firm, Mae, to design a new ‘flagship’ cemetery at Wilbury Hills, on the edge of Letchworth in the UK.
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Springtime in the Cemetery
One might imagine the original architects of the garden cemetery had spring in mind when they laid out such calming and pastoral landscapes. The image ‘Dogwood’ (to the left), taken at Historic Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, would not be nearly as beautiful or serene without the dogwood tree. When garden cemeteries came into being [...]
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