First, today has the right numerology for a 'Catholic' ruling.
10/25/2016 = 10+25+20+16 = 71
This ruling comes from 'Rome'. Today also has matching numerology for 'Rome'.
10/25/16 = 10+25+16 = 51
Ask yourself, how can something such as cremation not be sorted out by 2016? How long has the Catholic religion had to figure this out?
http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/25/europe/cremation-vatican-scattering/index.html
All we are in dust in the wind...
ReplyDeleteDude.
Angel dust
ReplyDeletePCP
Sherman Hemsley
Crop dusted
Get wet
Pollen
:)
Dusty Springfield (60's singer) -- cremains & a rifle!
DeleteSpringfield Armory -- founded 1974 -- based in Geneseo, IL
Geneseo ... Genesis ... Back to The Beginning ... Dust(y) ;D
My thinking is that this decision is based on money. If more Catholics choose cremation over tradition funerals and burials, mortuaries and cemeteries are not profiting. So, the Vatican issues guidelines to ensure that Catholics would still need to purchase an urn, a plot, a container box, a headstone, etc. It adds up $$$.
ReplyDeleteMakes perfect sense.
DeleteI agree -- that was my first thought too. And I guess for the devout, the notion of not having their funeral sanctified by the church is scarier than the reality of leaving their loved ones deeply in debt. Sad.
DeleteYes, plus cemeteries must be filling up. Great work Cheryl.
DeleteInteresting timing ... a week from now is All Souls Day -- aka Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead -- when Hispanic Catholics in particular will be visiting & decorating the graves of their loved ones. Is this meant to imply that without graves to go to, this tradition could be lost? They needn't worry about that.
ReplyDeleteThere will also be altars set up in the home -- & they are just as important.
It's a really wonderful tradition. A table is covered with flowers & candles, & photos of the deceased are displayed -- surrounded by the things they enjoyed most in life. Favorite food & drinks are laid out, mementos, figurines of animals, cars, etc. -- even beer & cigarettes if that's what they liked -- everything there represents a good memory of that person. Stories are told about what each item meant to that person, which helps connect children to their ancestors & keeps family histories alive.
Those able to go to the graves will decorate them profusely, then maintain an all-night vigil ... during which families who've been apart will visit & reconnect. It's not about sadness, it's about remembering those who have passed, & including them in the present. Beautiful, really.
Similar customs were once abundant throughout our country -- known as Memorial Days. Much to our detriment though, that custom has been thrown out -- replaced by a solitary day that means no more than sales, shopping & an extra day off from work.
To those who would denigrate the Hispanic culture, I say you should consider the closeness of their family bonds ... & recognize that -- in happier times -- your ancestors once lived that way too.
The current "popularity" of Halloween -- & all the darkness it eschews -- is something new ... a trend that our society has been taught to embrace.
Gathering candy is fun ... but it wouldn't hurt anyone -- Catholic or not -- to also consider this tradition that reconnects our descendents with their ancestors. If nothing else, it might help offset some of the darkness that currently surrounds us.
As far as the church's "policy statement" -- it brings to mind the "Cremation Of Care" ritual at Bohemian Grove, & the burning of witches & heretics. Something about the timing of this just feels more like a dark, ritually-induced homage to Halloween than anything else.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, their "directive" literally contradicts itself at every turn. But they did manage to get the word "Cremation" splashed across the media -- right before Halloween -- & did it in a way that ensured the church's connection with it would get "top billing".
Well, I think they love relics, like the finger bone of Saint becomes an object of veneration. Skulls and bones, right, so it makes sense that they'd want people to be buried instead of cremated. Boxes of bones all over the place!
DeletePlus, fire purifies. Smoke and ash can drift on the wind which suggests freedom. Burial suggest being planted in one place (a place that they control).
I think that's why the anti-smoking brigade's PR campaign and has become so obnoxious in the past 20 years while the bigwigs all secretly smoke.
more religiousness, I still believe in God,I'm not here to argue the point that I still believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins even though I still process what that may actually mean.
Deletebut I Bleonged to a distinct cult early on and I know pointless when I see it.
how is an old guy in a dress an authority on whats needed to do for the remains of a loved one.
God would not care either way since you arent in that body anymore.
the only issue is..dont do it against the wind.
Of course! Perfect sense on all points. Yes -- fire purifies & also provides light & warmth ... which is why ancient cultures revered it. It's only been since the advent of the "modern religions" that fire became associated with evil. The old upside-down paradigm -- make people hate & fear the things they shouldn't.
DeleteLikewise with smoke & smoking. Indigenous cultures have always used smoke to "communicate" -- with spirits as well as with each other. When the anti-smoking push went into overdrive, they simultaneously changed the rolling paper used. (Ostensibly so that cigarettes would go out on their own if left unattended -- not true). What it ACTUALLY did was make cigarette smoke stink. It was akin to slapping a Scarlet Letter on all smokers.
I grew up around smokers & non-smokers alike ... not once did I ever detect a difference in odor in anyone's' home. Now though, even if you smoke outside, the odor lingers in the air long after you're done.
I once heard someone theorize that the non-smoking push was to increase the supply of "ritually acceptable" (i.e. "Virgin") blood & organs. I laughed, but the more I open my eyes, the less "funny" it seems. Suffice it to say that NOBODY would want mine ... (Puff ... Ah, yes ...)!
As for their love of Skulls & Bones ... You are spot on about that. Just think of the Catacombs in Paris (& elsewhere) ... & the numerous creepy CHURCHES in Europe that are made entirely out of bones! (Romania has several.) Like you said -- they've got to get them somewhere.
Best Travel Story Ever -- I know someone who recently went to the Paris Catacombs. This brazen idiot actually slipped a femur down their pants leg & brought it back to the states! I studied it -- & honestly, it doesn't look all that old. I'm no anthropologist, but I've been on archeological digs ... & this bone had none of the mottling (lacey-looking interior) you'd expect to see in a centuries-old bone. Creepy.
Hilarious too though -- this "heist" was probably easier than traveling with a "joint" (pun intended). At least now it's in a special place & not stacked up like kindling for tourists to gawk at. Interesting though, that THAT'S okay by the church's "standards", isn't it? ;D
Ram29 -- so true. Rules upon rules ... & exemptions & exceptions to those rules. Was the necessity of burial in church-sanctified ground even mentioned? What about pioneers who died along the trail? Victims of disaster -- dumped in pits or burned en masse?
DeleteLike you said, God has no need for such petty judgement calls. It's our soul that he loves -- everyone's -- not the shell we're encased in. :D
just letting you know I read your comment !
DeleteMany thanks -- sometimes things don't get through -- wonky on my end! :D
DeleteI love your posts. You always give us so many ideas to think about and investigate. Thank you so much.
DeleteGroup hug. Plus you all rock.
DeleteHugs back at all of you too -- were it not for finding this group of intelligent beings, I might've gone off the deep end long ago. Your combined insights & witty humor always make my day ... & serve to remind me that all is not yet lost -- because we are more than an army of one! ;D :D
DeleteGood group of people with some great ideas. Thank you Zach for providing the forum and thank you fellow readers for your insightful and often humorous comments.
ReplyDelete