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Welcome
Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
A Taphophilia Thank You...
Taphophilia (dot) Com would not be possible without the knowledge, experience and talent of DarkestWeb. From its conception and early development, DarkestWeb was faced with many challenges; from inspiring and motivating, to providing guidance and direction. The continued dedication and support has produced results greater than ever expected, and for this, I owe a huge debt of gratitude.
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By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski. Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!
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Men of Mortuaries Calendar
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Epitaphs: The Magazine for Cemetery Lovers By Cemetery Lovers
For information regarding subscriptions, single issues, submission guidelines, deadlines, classifieds or advertising for future issues, please visit The Cemetery Club.
Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints, Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture
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West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.
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Graveyard shift - A tale of two gravediggers |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Wednesday, 17 January 2007 |
January 16, 2007 Barbara Ellington, Lifestyle Editor
Jamaica
Dovecot Park in St. Catherine is one of the most popular cemeteries in Jamaica. It is within close proximity to Kingston and St. Andrew and persons from farther afield also lay their loved ones to rest there. The property also has a chapel and a crematorium. Graveyard shift
But have you ever wondered about the persons who are employed to Dovecot, or any cemetery for that matter? For them it's like working the graveyard shift everyday. And what about the silence? Lifestyle spoke with two gravediggers whose task it is to prepare the final resting places for persons unknown to them. It is what they do everyday except on their days off.
Warren Worrel is from Point Hill in St. Catherine and Melbourne Collins lives in Fraser's Content, also in the parish. Warren takes a cab, but Melbourne drives to work at Dovecot everyday.
New Year's Day is just another normal working day for both men. The two gravediggers have been employed to Dovecot for over eight years. Both men had somewhat regular employment in the construction and auto repair fields before taking on their present jobs, but this is now a regular and reliable means of living and it feeds their families and sends their children to school.
Dressed in dark blue overalls and swinging machetes, both rush to greet family members who make the trip on special days - such as New Year's Day - to visit their loved ones' graves.
Uneventful days
For the most part, their jobs are uneventful. There are no ghostly visitations, but even if there were, both men said they are not afraid of ghosts. There are no mysterious guests when they leave work in the evenings and none during the day either. Their days are deathly quiet, the tranquility of the atmosphere broken only by the occasional car engine or a helicopter flying overhead. When Lifestyle visited, there were a few other relatives who had come to pay respects to their loved ones and all were known to the workers by name.
"It is very quiet over here, but we are not bored. We listen to the radio, we love the quiet and we don't do any of the things people say we should do when you dig a grave, such as offer libations to the spirit. And when it's time for burial, if the casket is opened we don't look at the dead unless it is someone we know," Melbourne said.
CellPhones in Caskets
So, have they ever encountered ghosts at Dovecot? The answer was a resounding no. "People who come here all the time to visit their loved ones, say they have seen ghosts but we never see any," Warren said.
About the most exciting thing to have happened in the eight years since their employment is late mourners running them down to open a casket. Also, some relatives bury their loved ones with a cellphones and other workers claim to have heard the phones ringing but so far, they have not heard anyone responding to their callers from the bowels of the earth.
Melbourne also related the tale of a popular don who had been buried elsewhere with large sums of cash and tons of jewellery. He alleges that this man's grave was subsequently raided and the cash removed so his body was exhumed and brought to Dovecot where he is so far resting in peace.
DIGGING A GRAVE
The process takes between 30-60 minutes. Graves are still the standard six foot six inches in dimension (babies' graves are smaller) and there are four groups of workers who do an eight-hour day. They can complete three graves in a day, there is a lunch break and food is available at the canteen on location. http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070116/life/life1.html
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Taphophilia Facts
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In Ghana's Akan culture, "fantasy coffins" have been fashioned in the shapes of chickens, Mercedes and outboard motors.
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Quote Repository
“It is a time when one's spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden, and the future but a way to death.” Mark Twain
Grave Epigrams
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Death gave to me a sudden call,
I have obeyed and so must all. Dedham, MA 1806 |
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Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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