Pagan beliefs in the afterlife

[Arduinna]

Ok, so here is the thought process. Forgive if I ramble and make no sense. My beloved dog is going to pass over at some point. Probably sooner rather than later as he isn't well. I'm thinking of getting him cremated. Maybe spreading the ashes in a favorite spot. It feel kind of wierd though. Especially since I just think of body as a shell. Once the life force/spirit has left why does it matter what happns to the body. Or does some vibration remain ?? Not sure.

So what do you want to happen to your body when you die? Do you think the fate of your body effects your afterlife?

[Lilac Moon]

Pagan beliefs in the afterlife

"Forgive if I ramble and make no sense" Ramble is the only language I understand :

"Once the life force/spirit has left why does it matter what happns to the body. Or does some vibration remain ?? Not sure."
I don't think it really does matter to the person or animal that has passed. It is the absence of the soul or life force that creates a ripple. However, that said... I do believe that it is important to create a place of remberance for those left behind, a place that seems connected then and now to the person/animal that has passed.

"So what do you want to happen to your body when you die?"
I would like to be creamated and place beneath a sycamore tree.

"Do you think the fate of your body effects your afterlife?" No not really, but when I am in that place it would be nice to know that my remains are in the earth, back to which that gave me my life instead of sitting in a mason jar in someones closet. KWIM?

[Arduinna]

Thanks :-) Yes having remains sitting in a mason jar for all eternity would be wierd for me too.

[DaryLLL]

I agree on the cremation idea. In my case, casting them into the sea would be appropriate. Then anytime one of my descendants when to the beach, I would be there "body" and soul.

I do not like the idea of embalming a body and putting it in a fancy coffin, to do what? Slowly dry out? Altho I am grateful the ancient Egyptans did it, so we can learn about their wonderful culture! We did not bury my grandmother with any household artifacts, however.

Cremation is the culturally approved way to be more green about it. If we still could, putting me in a plain wood box and burying me somewhere on our acreage(if we had any) would work too. Then I could decompose gracefully, naturally.

this has nothing to do with afterlife ideas tho.

[yoga]

I would like to be bathed and smothered in essential oils, decorated w/lots of lotus and sunflowers, and displayed for 3 days. Then, I would like to be buried in a forest, no box or anything.

I don't want to be cremated. I'm pretty sure that whatever is done to my body, I will watch, and I don't want anyone harming it b/c I will freak out! I *do* care what happens to my body after I leave it, and I want it to be treated w/great care.

[khrisday]

I don't think that what happens to your physical body has any bearing on your afterlife, but I do think that the enbalming and burial process (the way it is done in America at this time) really disturbs the natural process which we are meant to go through. Our bodies should return to the earth to nourish things yet to come, and I think doing that in a favorite spot is a nice way to do that.

[BelovedBird]

. Then, I would like to be buried in a forest, no box or anything.

Chaka, that is interesting. We actually do not believe in a coffin in Judaism. By law you must use one in the U.S, so it is a plain pine, weakly constructed box. In Israel we do not use any box. Just an FYI, I will go now.

-BelovedBird

[Meiri]

Cool.

I saw an article awhile back about a small movement towards more Green burials starting in this country--some cemetaries being started with WOODS, in which a person's cremated remains can be buried. I've seen one about the same in England.

I would like as many organs and parts to be harvested to help others as possible, then be cremated or made into a teal Life Gem.

[OceanMomma]

This is an interesting question. I don't think what happens to our body after death effects our afterlife. After all, it is only a vessel for this lifetime. I think our beliefs that it will are very cultural & deep seated & go back millenia. I think tho' having a body & a funeral helps with the grieveing process immensely which is something our western society is not too good at.

I was reading a discussion on some other board about composting burials. They are able to turn animal carcasses into compost by submersing them in liquid nitrogen for a certain length of time. So they are talking about how they could do this to humans too. Apparently cremation is not that environmentally friendly. Not to mention what goes on with where some of the wood they use for coffins comes from. HEre's the link to the thread http://www.weblife.org/forum/message...il1220020927pm

As to what I want. I'm not sure. I'd like to be buried on family land over looking the ocean under a tree of some kind. Still deciding whether I want a fruit tree or a native tree. I think it would be way cool to have family land with a cemetry for the ancestors. But then, that is also a bit of a strange concept as my family has been pretty nomadic for generations now.