|
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.
Announcements
Graveyards of Chicago:
The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries
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!
Green-Wood Cemetery Arcadia Publishing announces the release of Alexandra Mosca's historic account of one of New York's most famous cemeteries. Aracdia Publishing's Images of America series has an extensive catalog of many cemetery publications! Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Green-Wood Cemetery and to browse other available titles!
Men of Mortuaries Calendar
To purchase your 2008 calendar, learn more about the KAMMCARES Foundation, or to be featured in the 2009 calendar, please visit Men of Mortuaries.
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
with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman is now
available. Please visit
Studio Indiana for more information.
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.
|
|
Written by DeadGirl
|
|
Thursday, 08 November 2007 |
By Jean H Charles
November 1st represents for the Catholics and for all
Christians, a time to reflect and ponder on the memory of those who have left
this earth to meet their Maker in the eternal life. This reflex ion is material
and spiritual. Material, because it is the time to give a fresh paint to the
thumb of the departed ones, to plant fresh flowers and to light a candle to ease
the soul of the dead ones. Spiritual because the church urges the believers to
lead an exemplary life that will result in the eternal redemption...
the vagabond connoisseur traveler there are four sites in this world that give a
particular dimension to the day of the dead... They are Greenwich Village in New
York City, the hotbed of spiritual experimentation and of artistic fermentation.
It tales seriously the celebration of the day of the dead. In an organized
festival well known as the Halloween parade, this debauchee of costumes and
extravaganza dwarfs the feast of the children with their trick and trick house
hunting.
Ozeaca, Mexico brings to life or graces this civilized world
with the vignette of a tradition that goes back to a millennium before Christ
when the Azteque were celebrating their dead ones with food, party and dance.
Roseau, Dominica brings on November 1st a culmination of homecoming,
Creole Festival and celebration of the dead... Thousands of people from the
Caribbean flock to this idyllic island to dance (sometimes in the mud, the rain
is always an uninvited guest)
Last but not least, Grand River, Haiti
(where I am writing from) celebrates the day of the dead with a mixture of
voodoo ritual, big band festival and religious ceremony. The revelers remake the
wake of their dead ones on the thumb with food, music and dance.
I was
on the veranda with my father watching the passers-by on their way to the
cemetery when suddenly a funeral procession was on the way. The pallbearers were
involved in a macabre dance of the dead, a ritual that has its roots in Africa,
because New Orleans has its own tradition of funeral dance. Those pallbearers
amuse themselves in an exhibit of their skills in dancing with the coffin while
never reaching the ground with the body. It is a sort of limbo dance with the
coffin as the measuring baton.
The strange part of the story is the
departed one was in transition between being a rural villager and an urban
carpenter. His clients and friends in town were following the coffin with “the
civilized manners” of the urban dwellers while the pallbearers are fellows from
the rural world. The interesting point of this vista was I had to disagree with
my father (at 95 years old, a legal scholar in his own right, former Chief Judge
and Dean of a national law school) that this vestige of a cultural heritage does
not deserve scorn and disdain.
The fact is the pastor and the mourners
were following with grace and dignity this strange exhibit of a ritual dance at
a funeral. It was already a step in progress in celebration of the cultural
roots. This story is the heart of the dilemma of the modern world. Will the
Indian Bureau of the United States revamp itself to become an energetic agency
that seeks to enhance and preserve the cultural heritage of the Indians? Will
the Mexican government and the urban society take steps to allow the indigenous
Indian Mexicans to maintain and enrich with their culture the Mexican ethos?
This essay is going further than this story to advocate for the creation
on November 1st of a Heritage Day for the Recognition, the Celebration and the
Preservation of heritage vestiges of the past. The Catholic Church has endorsed
the pagan festival dates to promote its own calendar. It is time to take a cue
from the Catholic Church and promote the Day of the Dead as the official date
sanctioned by UNESCO to remember the old traditions.
Our children
deserve no less. We are seeking for the prince philosopher who will understand
that not all values from the past should be preserved, in particular those that
denigrate women and children, nevertheless enjoying the present while preserving
the past is a sure way to build a strong future. As a post scriptum, my own
father agreed with me that the Dance of the Dead in Grand River, Haiti is a
tradition that warrants its respect. It should not be an object of ridicule by
the urban dweller. |
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-4392--6-6--.html
|
|
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
|
Kansas is home to one Presidential gravesite, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
|
|
Quote Repository
“Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.” Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Grave Epigrams
|
'Tis but a few whose days amount
To threescore years and ten
And all beyond that short account
Is sorrow toil, and pain. 1791 |
|
Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
|
