The Beginning And Growth of Funerals

According to the Bible death is the direct result of sin. We are both fascinated and horrified by death and have morbid fears about the dead returning to haunt or harm us. Such obsessions and fears have existed even before horror movies on these themes were made. People the world over have many views about death and some of the practices to keep the dead from returning are truly strange.

It has become a custom all over the world to lay the dead to rest at least six feet in the ground. This will prevent anyone from escaping, whether they are still dead or alive. Then, as an added measure, it is also a way of life to stack heavy headstones on top of the actual grave as to cause even a little more difficulty in getting out of the grace. There are many types of headstones in place and they can be very extravagant to merely a slab of granite.

Somewhere along the line, somebody decided to play it safe, and started burying the deceased persons belongings with him, just to make sure they don’t have to come back knocking for their favorite sweater. A more forward looking person would have realized the potential market this created for grave robbers. The Chinese went one step ahead and buried the deceased person’s wife, children, pets etc as well.

Others decided to keep the possessions for themselves. What of the deceased then? Simple. They cremated them. It was one thing for a zombie to be stumbling around, quite another for massless ghost to do any harm. It fixed the problem of grave robbers, generated some potential revenue from the fuel aspect (rumors?) and allowed convenient storage of the loved and departed ones in a family urn.

What started of as a solemn affair, has over the years become something of a social nightmare. Long lost relatives are re-united at funerals, often with mixed emotions of joy and grief. Party crashers find it a gala affair as seldom are they thrown out of a grief stricken event, provided they hold the appropriate emotion.

This day and age, memorial services have proven to be a very lucrative business. The funeral home owners have helped establish tradition. In contrast to the days of violence in the wild west where murder was not really a crime, the funerals today may have slowed down a bit. Despite that, everyone has a funeral upon death so the business makes a good living.

Never have the dead looked so peaceful and serene as after having gone through the funeral artists make-up. And a person called the funeral director can give the best wedding planner a run for his money. After all, its easy to plan a party at a joyous occasion, but how easy is it to make the grieving smile?

Funerals have come a long way since the first morbid affair of piling a bunch of stones on the deceased. However, the buck doesn’t stop here. If venture capitalists are to be believed, space is the final frontier and soon the dead (and erstwhile rich) will be hobnobbing with the stars and satellites themselves. That is, if the cryogenics enthusiasts don’t find a way to permanently preserve the body for later revival first.

Discover additional information on burial ceremonies and many other options like burial flowers coffins, and urns.