The Daily Undertaker, The Variety and Importance of Ritual

Friday, September 23, 2011

Fire Festival of Remembrance

Rituals and festivals take many forms. The Bolas de Fuego Festival of Remembrance in Nejapa, El Salvador commemorates the eruption of a volcano. Young men act out this horrifying calamity through a ritual firefight waged with gasoline soaked rags. How does this make anyone in the town sleep easier?

Ritual can act as a form of vaccination. We deal with a small piece of what terrifies us. This small dose can be beaten by our defenses. Throwing the balls ourselves gives us a sense of control over the unpredictable. Getting hit by a flaming ball, we survive and relish the excitement.

Does the festival prevent us from being decimated by another volcanic eruption? Do I want this festival to take place in my neighborhood? No and No. However, it does provide the residents of Nejapa with a way to approach and deal with the overwhelming, and that is the powerful quality that ritual brings to our approach to the difficult and insurmountable issues that confront us in life and death.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Twitter Tuesday - More Funeral related Tweets

My Favorite tweets about death since April this year - enjoy

someshnv Zip Zap Zoom Jetta

Wil never attend a funeral of the people who are not going to attend mine #anything4jetta

FkingUnicorns Martita▲

you're so not invited to my funeral.

The__Paul Paul S

Funerals suck.

The__Paul Paul S

In no particular order, today I: made a priest doubt my Catholicism, laughed during a cremation, and confused a nun.

stephk89 Stephanie Kenez

Useless fact I learnt at uni today: pacemakers have to be removed before cremation, otherwise they explode & cause damage to the furnace

adunaphel13 carla isabel

quite informative. The Daily Undertaker, The Variety and Importance of Ritual dailyundertaker.com

ToxicLED Lolly

Oh god they just showed a clip on the news of a dog lying next to the coffin of his soldier owner at his funeral and I am BAWLING.

jackburditt Jack Burditt

Based on the movies and TV I watched as I kid, I used to believe that the number one cause of death was quicksand

GoodFunerals Charles Cowling

Can you help with this enquiry: Is there a nice river in Scotland a family can scatter ashes in? No water treatment effluent permissible.

ItsSamBenson Sam Benson.

Oh and, I'm seeing my aunt's body on Monday evening. Her cremation is the day after. I'm pretty sure I'll cry a lot...

alltimejesslyn Jesslyn

Gonna miss my granddad's cremation. :(

Key_Marley420 kyara holmes

Stuck behind a funeral line !

whateveramber Amber V

@

@KawaiiMarti Agreed. Which is why I hope the Swedish Promession technology is available in the US when I die.

ciaraPaine Ciara Paine

A blooming good idea for organic burials: To date, promession has been tested on naturally deceased animal carca...http://bit.ly/mDdQy3

G_Sivi13 Elyce Gabriella ^_.^

#dreams : I want to die in Hawaii and have a natural cremation. then let my ashes float out to see as my friends look on to me flying away

Ashtyn_c Ying♥

I'm at a funeral,& my dad goes up to the pianist in the church & asks if she has any hip hop,she replies:"ooh no!, we don't play that here!"

sennhauser Michael Sennhauser

Most words have long been sentenced to death.

B_Rigz M U F A S A .

I had a dream that my step dad had a second funeral and he's been gone going on 3 years o_O

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SpaceJamJordie Jordan Henry

Maybe I should go church this weekend! The only time I've ever been is when there's been a funeral lol #badtimes

22 Apr Unfavorite Retweet Reply

Will I ever forgive myself for not being there for his cremation? No. But it's the price I pay for choosing where I stand. He'll understand.

ToddPM Todd

@

@bldngnerd I'm a realist. My retirement plan: cremation.

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