BOOT HILL

I am sure a lot of people are familiar with the term “Boot Hill”.  The famous era of when western United States was in the process of  being settled.  The law was not

established and many single people were working in the vicinity as miners, cattlemen, army troops, and buffalo hunters creating a boom in growth.  With growth came trouble in the form of greed.  Outlaws were plenty and many people died from gunshot or hanging.  These people usually “died with their boots on” hence the name “Boot Hill”.
There are three Boot Hill Cemeteries that are famous due to the history and the people buried there:
1. Dodge City Kansas has the famous Boot Hill Museum where they have preserved a part of the town from the 1870′s that includes a street front with a saloon and the original cemetery with the hangman’s tree.  Most of the people buried there are unknown, but the history of the time brought about famous radio and TV shows and many movies.
2. Tombstone Arizona Boot Hill Cemetery is well known for it epitaphs which are usually of a humorous nature, such as: Here lies Lester Moore, Four slugs from a 44, no less, no more.  Also known for the grave sites of Billy Clanton and the McLaury Brothers, who fought in the gunfight at the OK Corral.
3. Deadwood, South Dakota Boot Hill Cemetery is the resting place of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock.
Many of these names are legends and are still being used in the entertainment business today.  These cemeteries are part of the unforgettable history of the United States and if  you get a chance to visit one, have a drink for me!

WRITING LETTERS

 Writing letters to our dearly departed is a wonderful therapy for grief. Most people think that the line of communication is cut after we die, but I believe that the line is wide open! I’ve known people who have carried grief around for years because they felt that they never had a chance to fully tell the deceased loved one how they truly felt about them. You still can tell them through the writing of letters. I have books of writing because I believe that they have an affect on our lives, no matter how long they have been gone or how far away you think they might be, they still hear our words for them and they do respond. It’s as simple as keeping a journal and very therapeutic. You can ask questions through your writing or just tell them how much you love them and what happened that day that reminded you of them. The dearly departed love hearing from us and it is not a sign of mental illness to write letters addressed to those that have gone before us. Some of the world’s greatest inventions, art and song have been transmitted through this action. The line is always open and it is your choice to pick up a pen…….Amen.

CIMETIERE LES INNOCENTS

Cimetiere Les Innocents was the first cemetery built in the heart of Paris back in the 17 hundreds.  The area size being only 130 meters by 65, made it a nice little quint graveyard that was well maintained.  I’m shocked to think that as Paris grew, why did they not build another one?  This is a fact and so you can imagine what it was like.  The city was conducting mass burials in one cemetery just to keep up with their dead.  There was never much of a service performed and embalming was considered witch craft.  The pit would be left open until it was brimming with bodies.  Then they would close it and dig another one.  If you know anything about decomposition and what it breeds, (and we are not just talking about smell!!), you can well imagine the sick conditions of it all.  So Cimetiere Les Innocents became a festering dumping ground for bodies and when there was absolutely no more room, they were left outside, leaning up against the wall.  Charnel  houses began popping up in the neighborhood, attempting to make more room in the cemetery.  Chances of being sick from walking past the graveyard were pretty good, and God fore sake if you should fall into a pit!  At night the grave robbers, necromancers, and whores would use the cemetery as a stomping ground until the neighborhood went to hell it a hand cart!  By the 1770′s, bodies were exploding into the neighboring cellars and a fatal out break of disease caused by bad air slayed many in the surrounding area.

Finally in the spring of 1780, Louis the XVI closed The Cimetiere des Innocents for good.  The church was quite upset due to losing the burial fees, but it had to be done.  This was only the first step.  The next step would be to clean the place up which didn’t take place until six years later.  During the exhuming process, the decomposed bodies were cleaned of any margaric acid, or fat which got turned into candles and soap and was a lucrative business in Paris at the time.  The bones of the dead were dug up and carried in large piles by night to Denfert-Rocherau, an abandoned mine which was harboring revolutionaries and political up risers.  The procession was followed by priests as they said prayers for the dead and the bones were arranged in artistic displays inside the mine shafts and “The Catacombs” was born!  New cemeteries were built outside of Paris and the city could breathe once again!  I could never understand the point of the charnel houses, cause as far as I know, it’s unholy to disturb the dead, yet they were being dug up daily, but I can’t say if prayers were being said for them or not.  Did the families know or did they go to visit their relative’s grave only to find someone else buried there.  I realize that this is still practiced in some countries just labeled differently and you pay rent on a burial plot.  This practice does not make me feel secure about burying anyone I love and this kind of business conduct should not exist especially on so called holy ground.  Folks, we are not respecting the dead by turning death into a money pit!

THE CLOSING OF THE CASKET

If you’ve been to an open casket funeral, you will find that the most moving moments of the ceremony is the closing of the casket and the lowering of the casket in the cemetery. These seem to be the final, final good-byes. This is usually when the whole family is put into tears and a feeling of loss is hanging over the assembly. The pain can be softened if we look at these moments in a different light.  Consider it not “the end” but “the beginning!” The beginning of a new journey, surrounded by friends and family that have gone before them.  It can be considered an adventure that we will all embark on sooner or later. Rejoice at the closing of the casket fore this is what the deceased would rather see at their funeral. I sometimes wonder if some journeys are not put on hold due to the emotional state of the loved ones left behind. Some spirits may feel they cannot leave until they have the emotional consent from family and friends, postponing their journey and where they are needed until a later time. I believe we die because our spirit is needed in another place, we have work to accomplish on the other side. So next time an open casket funeral is on your agenda, rejoice to the closing of the casket and the beginning of the journey and send them off with a smile and a knowing that they are needed in another realm.

CELEBRATING DEATH DAYS

Celebrating Deathdays for those who have died in the past on a particular day is a sign of honor and respect. This isn’t just for the famous people who have past on, this celebration can be for anyone who we have loved or respected in the past. Deathdays must be like Birthdays on the other side. It is a sign of miraculous change, no matter how it came about. Our rituals towards the dead are dark and dreary and I believe that this consciousness must be changed for the better. When we are alive, we meet and live and love other souls who help us create beautiful memories. I believe those memories are immortal and live forever in the universe. Stirring up those positive memories again can be very healthy and it helps us learn from the past. Everything is linked to today and surrounds us, holding together the fibers of our lives. Celebrating a Deathday can be as simple as just remembering that person and giving thanks or you can have an all out party with other family and friends. Doing something that that person enjoyed doing like eating in their favorite restaurant is another way of giving honor. Just remember that we would all like to be remembered because it proves our existence and place in the universe so don’t forget to mark those very significant days on your calender and spice it up with some cake and candles cause everyone likes cake!

THE FUNERAL AND CASKET BURIAL

The funeral and casket burial is one of the most used forms of saying good-bye to a loved one. We all know of it and will probably have to deal with it at some point in our lives, whether it is going to a funeral or planning one. I will not be writing about the process here, due to most people not being interested or if they need to know the information, they can find it online under any funeral home. What I would like to discuss today is how detrimental the embalming and casket burial can be to our ground water. If you are wondering what embalming is, it is the use of chemicals injected into the arteries of the newly deceased to prevent them from rapidly decomposing. When we die, which is the permanent ceasing of all biological functions that sustain a living organism, our remains send out a signal to other organisms for them to come eat it. Embalming with the use of formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, and ethanol became popular back in the civil war in order to send home the deceased without them decomposing before they got home so their loved ones could see them one last time and say good-bye before they were laid to rest.  The Civil War was a long time ago and I think we need to change how the dead are dealt with, considering there is a huge change in societies way of thinking. Our source of water is probably poisoned in one form or another every day, but that does not mean we have to add to it. I also believe that an open casket is nothing but creepy and everyone always wonders if that is really the deceased or some kind of mannequin, better to remember a smiling picture of your loved one instead of that last image!

It's not only the embalming solution contaminating our ground water, but also everything that is holding the casket together. Varnishes and glues, plus the hardware! If you would like a complete break down on facts of this nature, please visit: https://www.disabled-world.com/health/cemetery.php  I don't really want to repeat the internet, but I probably am, and I will tend to rant once in awhile, so bear with me and I will show you many more ways the dead were and are dealt with besides casket and ground burial. Read on!

WELCOME....

WELCOME....

Welcome back to burial-alternatives where there will be many discussions on different methods of burials. Man must always have a way of disposing of the dead, no doubt about that, and over the years there have been many, many rituals pertaining to this human necessity.  The most common being the funeral with the graveyard burial, but this method can often be expensive, toxic to our ground water, and horribly depressing.  I truly believe in celebrating a persons life and what they've accomplished and understanding that their time to "move on" has come.  In this blog, the reader will find various methods of burial. Everything from ground burial to sky burial.  I have read and heard about several different unique methods, not all are possible everywhere, but many are considered.  I hope you follow what's to come and your thoughts and views are welcome. Also, all images are courtesy of myself, either they are my personal pictures or my drawings.