Cremation
is the act of burning a body after it has
died
. Cremation is a popular option to dispose of (get rid of) a body instead of
burying
it. The place where cremations take place is called a
crematorium
or
crematory
.
Religions which approve cremation include
Christianity
,
Jehovah's Witnesses
,
Buddhism
,
Hinduism
,
Jainism
,
Sikhism
,
Shinto
, and
Neopaganism
. Traditional
Judaism
and
Mormonism
strongly discourage cremation, although the first reference to cremation in the
Hebrew Bible
is found in 1 Samuel 31, where it states that the dead bodies of
Saul
and his sons are burned, and their bones are buried.
[1]
Neo-Confucianism
and
Zoroastrianism
disapprove it. Many
Muslims
believe cremation is forbidden. However, some Muslims, such as
Quranists
, believe cremation is permissible in
Islam
as there is no prohibition in the
Qur'an
against cremation, and that burial is not the only Islamic method that is approved by God.
[2]
[3]
A
natural gas
cremation releases around 126kg of
carbon dioxide
.
[4]
Ways of keeping or disposing of the cremated remains
[
change
|
change source
]
Cremated remains (also called
ashes
) are returned to the person's family. The family then has a few options of what to do with the remains. Usually the ashes are buried in an urn at a cemetery plot just as a coffin is buried in normal earth burial. Many religions require the ashes to be handled in dignified manner. In Scandinavia it is customary to bury the ashes in an urn in a family grave (a grave which contains the remains of many family members). Family graves are also popular in Japan and Thailand.
Sometimes the cremated person has thought about what they want to be done with their remains and have shared their desires with their family. Cremated remains can be kept in a container called an
urn
, which in turn can be buried on cemetery plot or placed in a depot called
columbarium
, or thrown into the air or water of a place that was special to the cremated person, or buried anonymously in the ground. These are the most popular choices of what to do with remains. There are also other, less common, options of how to dispose of the remains. Some examples of ways to scatter the remains are: through
fireworks
, shot from guns, or dropped from an airplane or
hot air balloon
. Remains can even be sent into space or turned into a
diamond
. The latter can be done because humans and diamonds are both made largely from
carbon
.
Queen Victoria, pioneer in cremation jewelry
[
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|
change source
]
Queen Victoria is the most well-known mourner because she went into a state of mourning for several decades. To honour her late Prince Albert, Queen Victoria "took to wearing black jet jewelry, from Whitby, in Yorkshire". As a limited and fairly difficult medium to work with, jet was expensive. It's a hard material, requiring skilled craftsmanship to avoid breakage during carving.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Cremation
.