This post can be viewed as a bit morbid. So ye is forewarned.
Ever since I was little, I've had a fascination with the macabre. I guess most people do. It is probably human nature to be curious of death. In a world that is filled with such uncertainty, insecurity; our mortality is truly the only thing that is guaranteed in this life. It is true; uncertainty surrounds death. We have no idea when we will die; how we will die; where we will die; what is after this life. The only thing we know for sure is that, one day we will have to leave the world--- this plane of existence. It is a fact we all share. Death the great equalizer.
Death is the human race's least common denominator, but it is fascinating to see how each culture has their own rituals regarding death. In India, it is normal to cremate the body, while here in America, cremation is still considered a bit of a taboo (Well at least for my Roman-Catholic family it is). Indians wear white to mourn, we wear black. In America, we are used to open-casket viewings, but (according to the National Geographic Channel) that is considered strange in the UK.
Certainly throughout history, our [humans'] views on death have changed. It wasn't until recently that our modern funerary rituals started to take shape. As modern people, we have become very disconnected to death. It was once tradition for a family to wash, dress, and prepare their deceased loved ones' bodies. They would even have them displayed in their own homes. This actually gives way to one theory on why we call our parlors "living rooms" now. Bodies were displayed in the parlor (think funeral parlor), but to dissociate this room with the stigma of death, they starting calling it "living room". But I don't know how true this theory is. Today we have morticians to prepare bodies, and funeral homes to display our dearly departed. This detachment from death only started maybe 100 years ago.
One cannot mention the history of funeral rites without involving the Victorians. It seems like this generation had a connection deeper to death than any other. Perhaps it was the multitude of deadly disease pandemics, high infant mortality rates, or their tough lives, that gave the Victorians their close connection to death. This cultural pessimism gave us the likes of Edgar Allan Poe (was he Victorian, or is he too early?), and Emily Dickinson.
The Victorians had many death rituals that we would consider just plain bizarre. They made jewelery out of the dead's hair. Or made wreaths out of their own hair for mourning. Hair jewelry and art actually became very popular. It is really quite beautiful, but a bit disturbing. Human hair is very strong and durable. I think it is one of the few organic materials that can survive stomach acid.
The most disturbing Victorian death ritual had to be post-mortem photography. They would take photographs of the deceased. They tried to pose their loved ones like they were alive, even propping open their eyes in some. It is heart-wrenching to see the photos of mother's holding their babies. I understand that they want something that they can look at and remember their family by, but I don't see how these pictures helped the grief of the surviving members.
Most people know that embalming started during the Civil War, in order to send the bodies of fallen soldiers back to their families without decomposing. Abraham Lincoln was the first President to be embalmed. His body survived a two week train tour throughout the country.
Embalming allowed families to display the dead for longer periods of time. Some people chose not to have their family member embalmed. As we get closer to the Twentieth-Century, people are handing over the care of the dead's body to morticians. These morticians would go to the home and work there. For those that chose not to embalm, morticians would using a cooling table. A body was placed on a table with holes, then ice blocks would be placed underneath. Cold air would circulate around the body through the holes, and slow down the decomposition . On the Discovery Channel's new show called Oddities they showed a cooling table from the late 1800s. That episode was actually the inspiration for this post.
For more on Victorian death rituals check out this link: http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=151 .
Postscript: During my 11th grade class trip to Gettysburg, PA. We took a ghost tour. I think with the Farnsworth House Inn. It was pretty cool. I didn't see any ghosts (Gettysburg is supposed to me the most haunted place in the US), but in the beginning of the tour we went to the basement of the inn, where they told us ghost stories about the inn. My favorite part of the ghost tour (and probably of the whole trip) was when they went into the history of the funerary rituals of the Civil War. They had artifacts like a coffin and even a wreath made out of hair. It was awesome!
The picture for this post is Danse Macabre by Michael Wolgemut (1493). Not Victorian, but still cool.
Ten points to anyone who can tell me where my title is from.
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