How Cultures Around the World Respond to Their Funeral Needs with Innovation

It’s likely not a surprise to anyone to learn that mourning and grieving practices differ greatly around the world. The cultural differences that make our world so incredible manifest themselves in funeral practices as they do in any other part of the lived experience, and taking a look at these practices can be informative. A better understanding of how different cultures handle funerals and grief can help us have a better understanding of our own approaches, and how we can change and tweak them to be more beneficial. Funerals around the world can inspire those in Lake City, FL—our team is happy to take the lead on giving you a quick tour.

• South Korea’s departed beads: In South Korea, mourners will frequently turn the ashes of their cremated loved ones into vibrant beads. They then incorporate these brilliantly-colored objects into glass containers or decorative dishes that can really allow their memory to live on in inspiring ways. The beads are usually blue, pink or black and appear to be made out of glass, even though they obviously are not. These inspiring cultural funerals are a way for countries to deal with diminishing cemetery space in creative ways, and we can try this in Lake City, FL, as well.
• United States’ coral reefs: A popular trend in the United States is for the deceased to will that their cremated remains be used to help constitute new coral reefs in our nation’s oceans. Funerals around the world can be incredible sights that we can learn much from, but sometimes we can look to our own backyard in Lake City, FL. Cremains can form the basis for vibrant new life that can allow the deceased to live on in amazing ways that can even be visited later.
• Ghana’s fantasy coffins: The fantasy coffins of Ghana are the product of master craftsmen, and represent a way that funerals around the world can inspire funerals in Lake City, FL. These coffins can truly be molded into any shape, from cars to wildlife to mechanical components. They are works of art, and they are used as part of a cultural tradition that mandates that the dead are far more powerful than the living and deserve the finest gifts that closely represent their priorities in life.
• Tibet’s sky burials: One of the oldest funerary customs comes about from Tibet’s rocky soil making traditional burials virtually impossible. Loved ones are laid out on mountainsides where they can be consumed by large birds of prey who eat carrion to survive. This is a valuable lesson on the impermanence of life for many of the Buddhists who practice this custom, since their bodies are allowing other life forms to live on and survive.

These funeral customs from around the world have taught our team at ICS Cremation & Funeral Home much about how we can approach death and how we can help our clients manage their emotions and decisions. We are proud to perform this level of research, and are happy to share it with our clients so they can prepare themselves for entirely new ways of thinking.

Categorised in: Funeral Services

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