Death And Burial Of The United States

At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people.

Funeral customs in Japan vary widely from region to region, but the majority of them are held as Buddhist funerals. At the time of death the body will be washed, and the orifices stuffed with cotton or gauze. Following the cleaning, the body is dressed in a suit or kimono depending on the gender of the deceased. Makeup is applied, and then the body is taken to where the service will be held. Once all of the arrangements have been made the body is put on dry ice in the casket. After family and close friends have attended the wake, the funeral service is held. Following the service the body and the family are transported to the crematorium where they wait for their loved one to be cremated so they may retrieve their bones and ashes. Due to the high population and small land area in Japan they are all cremated and share a family gravesite. Once the ashes have been collected they are taken to the family gravesite where the family says their last goodbyes and the urn is placed into the hollow space inside the gravestone. The family will hold services on certain days and years over time following the death of their loved one. (Billy Hammond

The two cultures that I decided to compare and contrast is the Mexican culture and ancient Egyptians. Mexicans have embraced death as a part of life. The Mayan and Aztecs practiced human sacrifices which gave and example of acceptance of death. In Mexico when a loved one passed on to a better life the viewing traditional takes place at the family’s home. A catholic priest comes to the family’s home and leads a mass in honor of the recently departed. The coffin in placed on a table along with candles on the side. After the funeral the family members get together and pray for nine days to guide the deceased into haven and ask forgiveness for their sins.On the other hand Egyptians were buried in pyramids directly in the ground. Often bodies were

This knowledge of death is common among many, including both Jewish and Modern Americans. However, even though this idea of inevitable death is noted in both Jewish texts and the Bible, the burial practices are not so similar. Early Jew and Modern American customs differ in terms of preparation of the body, funeral services and burial. Showing respect for the deceased is common among both cultures, however the way respect is shown is key to understanding their customs.

An analysis of the book “Day of the dead in the USA” by Regina M. Marchi revealed that to Latin Americans, death does not provoke fear but instead brings together family and friends to value life and each other while it lasts. The first chapter of the book gives a definition of what the Day of the Dead details, a historical background and different customs of celebrating this day in Central America and South America. The second chapter of the book moves onto specifically why Mexico is associated with the Day of the Dead and how they celerate this day. Then the third chapter of the book switches over to how the Day of the Dead is celebrated here in the United States. Finally, the fourth chapter goes into

Criticisms of American funeral practices have been made publicly aware since the 1920’s, and actually go back to ancient times in the scope of human’s ceremonies for the dead. Since the first published argument against modern funerals various authors joined the movement publishing their disparagements of customs for the deceased; that in essence contend the grandiosity and lavish displays are merely a social and psychological representation of the monetary opportunity of funerals (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2015, p. 306-307). Even further, regarding the encompassing funeral industry as exploiting grieving loved ones for their financial gains, while disregarding the actual needs of modern society (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2015, p. 307).

This week in class we learned about some basic facts about loss, the journey of dying in America, how life expectancy has changed over the years and some examples of how they have changed, we went through some questions like why to study grief and loss, how there is a lack of training for those helping professionals, different settings in which grief can be encountered as well as experiences that could generate reactions, and the benefits of training in loss and grief. Talking about these things made me feel more comfortable with the situation of loss. It also made me feel sad when people share their experiences for some reason. I guess I am more of an emotional person than I thought when it comes to death and dying and usually I just try

When an individual dies, their death can greatly impact the loved ones they leave behind. Each mourner may feel and perceive the death differently from one another, but one common factor that can influence the mourner’s beliefs, values, and views about a person’s death is their culture. Their culture can regulate the way the mourner copes with the death of a loved one, what they do with the physical deceased body, and how they may honor the dead afterwards (Cartaret, 2011). For me, my culture is relatively related to the Catholic, Hispanic American culture, which is a broad and subjective category, but it is what I believe that guides my views towards life and death. I have additionally chosen to learn about the cultural practices of Hinduism of Indians on death

People die everyday all over the world. In United States, people use hundreds of different words to describe death. Generally, people that grow up in the United States tend to view death as a taboo subject and are seen as a topic that should be kept behind closed doors and contracted with an individual or family. A belief system that so many individuals hold to be true has been shaped over the past century. In this culture, death has become something that is enormously feared and as a result, some people stop living their lives to his or her highest potential because of their fear of dying. The effect that death has pertains to individuals of all ages, gender and ethnicities. But unfortunately, how death is viewed it has become more and

Death is a subject we tend to shy away from, but why? It’s a natural occurrence that happens all the time, and it’s something we cannot avoid. At least once in our lives we will attend a funeral, but how many times will we visit the diseased once they are gone? A cemetery is a burial ground where those who have passed away lay to rest for the rest of eternity, and it gives their loved ones a place to go and visit them.

I’ve always been very uncomfortable about the modern process of death; however, I’ve always respected the process of death especially in certain Native American cultures where they place their dead on stilts high in the sky and burned them. I’ve seen pictures of dead individuals from generations back where they actually took black and white pictures of the dead at wakes, and after seeing those pictures are probably part of the reason why viewings and funerals make me uncomfortable. Going to the viewings to pay your respects and trying to make pleasantries have always made me feel awkward and nervous you never know the right thing to say.

The only thing in life that is one-hundred percent certain is death. Humans go through life ignoring this ultimate fate until the day they are confronted. What a civilization does with their deceased tells a lot about their culture and beliefs in an afterlife. Whether a person is cremated or the body is preserved, whether they are buried in the ground or placed in a tomb, and how their final place is decorated all show their cultures values and beliefs and what kind of person they were. At the Getty Villa museum one piece called the Sarcophagus with Scenes from the life of Achilles depicts how a Roman sarcophagus can show you their beliefs and customs.

Throughout our lives, we have buried our dead. It is a normal process, embedded into our culture since, to what seems so to us at least, the beginning. However, we never thought to ask ourselves when actually this practice began. Also we never thought to ask if we were the only ones to entomb our dead in a ritualistic way. There is evidence of our distant cousins Homo neanderthalensis, or Neanderthal, exhibit similar burial practices that we do to this day. Neanderthal sites often have artifacts and possible different burial practices which can means that they have the ability to do ritualistic burials. They are one of the links that may play a huge role in understanding our past, and how our concept of death and the treatment of them began. The topic of burying the dead is a big subject being because it is proof of some higher thought in our ancestors. One of the major questions of human evolution is when we gained the ability to conduct more complex and advance thought. By understanding our past we can have a better understanding of our future. If we understood how our minds developed and formed we may be able to better predict where it is going or at the least understand how our brains came to be up until present day.

The term "second burial" is a delayed funeral ceremony given after the family has had time to prepare.

Today the society is looking for ways to ease life and to find solutions for problems which oppress our lives and make it hard to live through. Because of many reasons, the traditional burials in this century are becoming a problem. (Prothero,2001). The fact that they cover a lot of land to build cemeteries and other things that are attached to these traditional burials is enough for us to search for a practical solution. About a century ago the term "cremation" was unknown to many people. It is believed that it began to be practiced during the early Stone Age and still exists today. Since that time cremations have been made all