The concept of a 'Woodland Burial' is tied heavily to an eco-friendly funeral and grave. Furthermore, it provides an alternative to those who do not wish to buried in a formal cemetery or churchyard nor do they wish to be cremated (as cremation also emits plenty of gases and in effect is not very eco-friendly). The woodland burial option is a "return to nature" type deal where the deceased can be buried in the fashion of her choosing. This liberty extends from the type of bio-degradable coffin to the direction one wishes to be laid to rest to the options of trees or flowers or other plants to be placed on top of the burial. The director of the Durham Woodland Burial site made it quite clear that they wish to accommodate the personal choices and liberty of those who wish to be buried there. In the documentary they showed the relatives of the deceased created their own significant narrative and meaning behind the burial. The wife of one talked very much about her husband's return to nature and being part of the environment. How the place became a significant and in a way tranquil place for her. She was able to come and enjoy the grounds and at times meet others who have also buried their dead at this site. Another spoke of how her father (I think it was her father) could look over a certain space and watch the birds, which tied into a larger narrative about her father's interests. Another lady spoke about customizing her coffin with bird feathers shed from the birds she had rescued. She created a narrative about returning to a place where she could be with the birds. Another mentioned how she returned one day and found that her husband's site was covered in daisies. She said that her husband would have loved the thought of literally pushing up daisies.
In a way, each of these narratives were extensions of identity. That they were able to customize and individualize how he/she would pass on. They are able to individualize their death and at the same time contribute to the environment. The burial sites were not affiliated with any one religion, although there are sites that are consecrated by the Church of England, the sites wanted to remain religion-neutral and secular so that anybody would be able to be buried there. By allowing funerary customs outside of any particular religion and at liberty for their own creative ways of honoring the dead this practice becomes, in a sense, a redefinition of the term 'sacred' space. If we can typically associate the term 'sacred' with what is affiliated with the religious then this becomes a way for a sacred in the secular or profane sense. An individualized sacred. In a way, this is a liberation of customs and conventional sacred narratives of death towards a personalization and individualization of the narrative.
The Woodland Burials project wants to be as "natural" as possible. By natural I understood biodegradable, which is also to speak of impermanence. This meant that coffins would be bio-degradable. And that the deceased would also be providing nutrients to the soil as they themselves decomposed.It felt a bit odd that something like this could be called 'natural' with so many things involved are actually man-made (if we can take 'man-made' to be in contrast to that which we can call 'natural'). But I suppose it is "more natural" than a funeral which involves more 'man-made' products and preparations.
For more on natural burials:Prof. Davies and Hannah Rumble published a book entitled: 'Natural Burial; Traditional-Secular Spiritualities and Funeral Innovation'
When I was listening about Woodland burials, my thoughts turned to Korea.
In Korea, it is conventional to bury those who passed away in the mountains. Although I am unsure about how they are buried, whether it is done in "bio-degradable" fashion, the resemblance of the traditional Korean grave is analogous to the Woodland Burials in the sense of being buried in a natural setting. Some examples of Korean graves:
These are typical graves, shaped in a lump. The poor usually have no marker - headstone or otherwise.
The family or an elder of the family usually knows where to go for which grave.
Grave with a headstone - written in Chinese characters, which indicates an older grave
As you can see, the more money a family has the better the grave - not only in terms of a place but also in terms of altars, headstones, and other stone placements such as the one shown right above.
This is a picture of a extravagant (judging by the food on the table) ancestral ritual.
Here are some pictures of Woodland Burials:
Graves marked by trees and a wooden or stone tablet
Grave marked by flowers
Research has shown that these woodland burials is a rising trend in Britain:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/2012/08/30/woodland-burial/
https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=15203&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
What is ironic, is the trend in the UK, and perhaps the west in general, is moving towards the mountains while Korea is opting towards the concentration of graves in rows:
The reason for this, while we can speculate trends in westernization and the need for an alternative spirituality, is primarily economical. With the spaces on mountains becoming limited, it is becoming more and more expensive to bury the deceased in traditional locations. I would anticipate something like this happening in England if natural burials become popular and this becomes the preferred method of burial. Although this probably will not happen for a long time, in the event it does, there will be some logistical matters that will arise. One of the potential issues was brought up by an audience member and answered by Prof. Davies. Which was the re-use of graves and how this would be managed. Bones are not entirely degradable or if they do eventually they would take a lot longer than the rest of the body. A culture's attitude towards graves and the bones of their ancestors can be a very sensitive issue. Native Americans have demanded the bones of their ancestors returned to them when researchers uncovered them. Davies was quick to note that there are cultures, notably from the Greek Orthodox Church, that dig up the bones of the deceased after 2 - 3 years, wash them with wine, perfumed, and placed inside an ossuary. Theologically this presents a conundrum when the body has not decomposed - saint or sinner? The site director also noted that much of the decisions made for the site and how to about it will be to allow the members of the site to vote on the logistics and decisions. In a way, the Durham natural burial site will be democratically mediated and gives people a share in its decision making processes. I would presume that this would be space whether they allow the extent of permanent things like headstones and so on into the space of impermanent or natural things.
While I like the idea and the philosophy of being "eco-friendly" issues of sanctity, respect, and notions of the sacred in addition to the extension of identities in space will come up. I also imagine legal issues will arise as well. Another thing that I found quite interesting in the opening was the contention of traditional funeral directors and those who are in the "death industry" (coffin makers and sellers). Some of them were contentious about the knock on some of their coffins and practices as not eco-friendly or that the funerary business was profit-driven. Market share and the division of the market on death became apparent as well. I'm sure at the same time this creates a bigger range of services and products available for the customer, client, or what have you.
All in all I found the opening quite entertaining and thought provoking in terms of individuality/liberty and sacred spaces.
Here are some other "alternative burials":
http://www.livescience.com/16021-8-modern-burial-alternatives.html
No comments:
Post a Comment