RIP PART TWO (2)

As long as there has been life......there's been death, and the need to do something with the dead. Every culture has it's rituals. Shoot, there are so many different funeral ceremonies a person could go nuts trying to decide which is best for their dearly departed loved one. The ancient Egyptians got the whole embalming tradition started. They would pull the organs out and put them in beautifully carved canopic jars. Then they would pack the abdomen full of a tar like stuff. Of course we have all heard of them removing the brain through the nose! YUCK! But it worked! They wrapped up their family members and now almost every museum in the world has a mummy on display.

There was a group of Romans who lived in northern Egypt way back when. They morphed funeral traditions into a unique mummification that can be seen at the Getty Villa in Malibu. It seems the Romans liked to create portraits of their loved ones. And living in Egypt required a wrap job, so they combined the two. These guys placed a portrait, painted with wax on wood, over the face of the dead person and then proceed with the mummification process. The result is STUNNING. If the portrait wasn't good enough, they also painted the wrapping cloth. Very Cool!

By world standards, there are some cultures who still seem pretty primitive when it comes to dealing with their dead. There are some reclusive Tibetan sects who perform "Sky Burials." Basically they take the corpse to a sacred location atop a hill, or somewhere, then they dismember the body into small pieces, smash the bones up, and basically leave the remains exposed for the vultures to eat. Not pretty, but effective. Not something I would pick, but hey....who am I?

A traditional Hmong funeral can be seen as primitive in many ways, yet it has gained quite a bit of acceptance in America, at least where Hmong have settled (St. Paul area of Minnesota & here in the Central Valley of California). They are huge events with tons of people, music, and food, and ceremonies. I guess the biggest eye brow rising aspect is that of the animal sacrifice. Apparently local funeral homes, city councils, and community leaders have been able to come up with compromises that satisfy all involved. Most animals are butchered by commercial cutters and then delivered to the funeral homes. That is what I call, thinking outside the box.

All this info is interesting, but how would it help us? Stay tuned for PART THREE (3) in which I share our own personal wants and don't wants and what our final plan is for TJ.