-
Essay / North America: Day of the Dead
The view of death in North America has always been negative, but with recent discoveries, new rituals can help bring ease and celebration to these pessimistic views of death. Natural burials offer a new way of looking at death, one that can help change the dark views found across North America. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay According to the Toronto Star, many Canadians have given more thought to their plans after death. In recent years, it has been the norm in most Western societies to hold a funeral when a loved one has died. However, a new ritual has been introduced that offers a more peaceful path as well as a lasting offering in the face of death. A “natural burial” began to spread across Canada and the United States. This is a ceremony in which the body of the deceased is wrapped in shrouds (a cloth) and placed in a biodegradable coffin. This allows the environment around the burial site to be able to grow trees and plants to preserve the natural environment of the area. This new ritual may help shed light on what was initially considered a terrible event. Funerals have always been seen as a sad and depressing event and have associated the stigma that death is horrible. “People don't find the same value in dressing in black and being lectured for an hour as they once did.” Trevor Crean was interviewed by Saba on the subject of natural burials. He was introduced to the concept of natural burial and decided to incorporate it into his community. Crean wants to create a community that is not afraid of cemeteries and change the negative stigma attached to death in recent years. Regular funerals are very harmful to the environment. With hundreds of coffins filled with corpses lying underground, plant life is not able to survive, nor are the hundreds of headstones located on top of the graves, stopping the growth of plants in this area. In today's society, our environment has become an important factor in sustaining human life. If all these burials with non-degradable coffins and large headstones were to continue, there will be little life that can survive in the surrounding area. This aspect changed many people's views on funerals, which then made people realize the natural beauty that death can bring. Natural burials may yet change the negative views about death that many Canadians seem to have. The idea of helping the Earth even after death can help make death meaningful or easier. It's a kind of way to celebrate the life that has been lived and to bring peace and freedom to those who have died. Louise Bell is a woman who is helping to introduce natural burials to her community to bring friends and neighbors closer to the idea of death. “The philosophy is that the earth will return to its natural state.” Bell wants to help families better understand death, in addition to what a natural burial means. She wants to show that there are better ways to not only help your environment, but also to cope with the death of a family member. With a natural burial, death will leave a mark more beautiful than any headstone. It provides new habitats for animals and many species of plants. This can help restore sustainability within a community and bring more peace to many people than the negative ideapresent of death. This led many people, including Bell and Crean, to have a more comfortable relationship with death. Having nature be a part of someone's death gives a natural aspect to death. Celebrations have never really been an aspect of death in most Western societies. It is considered an event that no one wants to witness because it means that death has taken yet another person. But in other societies, death is actually a celebration. Take for example the Day of the Dead celebrated by many Mexicans. This celebration takes place every year in November; it is where families from all over Mexico come together and celebrate the death of their ancestors. They will bring offerings to the graves of their ancestors and hold a feast with their families to celebrate the occasion. In this culture, death is considered a rather happy and positive event. People are grateful to tell stories to the younger generation of the family to help keep the memory and spirit of the deceased alive. It is said in this culture that by talking about the death of an ancestor, you help keep their spirit alive on that occasion. This event may be considered very bizarre by most Westerners when they hear that death is celebrated. However, their view of death helps bring people closer to the idea of their death. These people know that even though at some point they will no longer live on this earth with their family, they are still celebrated and recognized by their family, which is a positive thing. The connection between a natural burial and Day of the Dead is that both concepts transform a negative view of death into a positive one. Each of these rituals helps celebrate the purpose of death by creating a beautiful and meaningful celebration that brings family and friends together to remember the past. In the case of a natural burial, it is the nature that surrounds each person that can help them remember the lives of their loved ones. Families will know that their loved ones will always be with them when nature surrounds them. Much like the Day of the Dead celebration, where family and friends tell stories to help keep the spirits of their ancestors alive, people who participate in a natural burial can feel the same connection when they see a tree or a flower in nature. Natural burials can help bring a positive feeling. vision of death, but certain adjustments must be made for people to accept this new type of ritual. Natural burials aim to help preserve our natural environment, this means you will not have a particular stone or site to mourn your loved one. These kinds of adjustments are difficult for people to make and will interfere with their view of death. This can cause tension among people because they are used to the old way; a burial with a headstone and cemetery. Stewart discusses this tension by asking the question "Can man commemorate in nature?" ". Gravestones are a symbol of death that allows people to mourn their loved ones. What natural burials offer instead of a piece of stone are trees or flowers that can continue to grow and create new plants and green life that represent the deceased life spreading across the land, making more than one with nature. So people can respect the beauty of nature around them. When people see trees and flowers, they remember their loved ones, because they too have become part of the natural world. This makes it possible to create a new place of commemoration. Their loved ones are in a more beautiful and more..