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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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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
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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
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.
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Greener pastures for the dearly departed |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Friday, 27 April 2007 |
By Jim Pfiffer
New York--The entrance sign says "Greensprings Natural Cemetery." But where are the grave stones, mausoleums, well-manicured grassy plots and paved roads? The place looks more like a farmer's field than a cemetery. That's exactly what the burial ground in Newfield is supposed to look like.
Unlike conventional graveyards, where people are expected to be quiet, reverent and careful where they walk, Greensprings wants the public to use the land for hiking, cross-country skiing, picnics and nature classes.
Even more unusual is what is occurring underground where the bodies are buried. None of them are embalmed. Some are in cloth shrouds instead of caskets. They are decaying naturally to nourish the trees, shrubs and flowers that make the place look like a nature preserve.
That's the "natural" in the name of the year-old cemetery, the first "green" or "eco-cemetery" in New York state, says Susan Thomas of Corning, who got the idea to develop a natural cemetery in 1999.
There's room to bury up to 25,000 bodies, as nourishment, to eventually turn the 97-acre hilltop into an old-growth forest in a few hundred years, says Susan, treasurer of Greensprings' six-member board of trustees and a self-employed jewelry designer.
The official slogan of Greensprings is "save a forest, plant yourself."
"It makes sense," says Tom Reimers, a 61-year-old retired Cornell University professor who paid $500 to buy a plot to be buried in the cemetery when he dies. "I'm a tree- hugger, so it makes sense to me to give back to the Earth, even after I die."
To date, at least seven other people had the same thoughts as Reimers. Their remains now lie beneath the rocky soil at Greensprings. Nearly 70 people have purchased plots for their burials, says Mary Woodsen, a conservationist and president of the cemetery.
"It's part of the circle of life," says Mary. "It's a natural return to the Earth."
That's why Dan Degyansky, 51, his wife and daughter traveled all the way from New York City to visit Greensprings last Saturday during its open house. Dan, a Russian orthodox priest from Queens, plans to buy plots for his family at Greensprings.
"The whole idea of creation is to return to your creator," Dan explains. "What better way to do that than to let your body deteriorate and go back to the earth it came from. I like the back-to-basics idea of all it. Then my family can visit my grave site, have a picnic, bring the dog and enjoy the quiet and beautiful scenery of this place."
Beauty is the key. The cemetery sits on a former dairy farm on Irish Hill Road. It's surrounded by a valley and wooded hills, including Arnot Forest, a nature preserve and research forest owned by Cornell University. Birds, wildflowers and other wildlife make the place home.
I think it's a splendid idea. I want to be buried at Greensprings. My body is just a shell for my soul -- the chemical and electric energy that makes me, me. I don't need my body after death, so why fill it with embalming fluids to hinder the natural decaying process. I like the idea that my remains can be recycled into a white pine or red maple.
That's why the cemetery doesn't allow embalmed bodies, burial vaults or caskets made of imported or rare and endangered woods. The coffin must be made of biodegradable materials, such as wood or wicker. A simple pine box is sufficient. A gauze cloth body wrapping is better.
Gravestones are forbidden, although you can mark your burial place with a ground-level engraved fieldstone, but no polished stones. No artificial flowers, vases or other decorations are allowed on the graves. Natural wreaths and flowers are OK. Instead of a stone, family members are encouraged to plant a native flower or shrub to mark the departed's transition from this life into plant life.
The cemetery did its first burial last June. The bodies are buried about five feet deep to speed up the natural deterioration. It takes an unembalmed body about 50 days for most of if to decay, depending on temperature and moisture, say scientists. Bones can last for years.
The excavated dirt is piled into 3-foot-tall mound over the grave and covered with pine boughs. The mound settles to ground level in three to four years. And only one person can be buried in each 15-foot-by-15-foot plot.
It's much cheaper than conventional funeral home burials that can cost thousands of dollars.
"I just did a funeral and buried a guy last week (in New York City) in a $7,000 casket," Dan says. "All the money was buried in the ground. I don't get it. It doesn't make sense."
Greensprings makes sense for the environment. The average cemetery buries 1,000 gallons of embalming fluid, 97 tons of concrete and 56,000 board feet of high-quality wood in a single acre of green space, says the Greensprings Web site (www.naturalburial.org).
Yes, you can scatter cremation ashes in most of the woods and meadows at Greensprings for a "suggested donation" of $250, the Web site says.
Burial or ashes, continuing the life cycle in your afterlife makes sense to me. I try to give back to the environment in my life. Now I can do the same in death.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and me to tree.
http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070427/COLUMNIST36/704270309
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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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Each year in the U.S., we bury 180,544,000 pounds of steel, in caskets
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Quote Repository
“They count as quite forgot; They are as men who have existed not; Theirs is a loss past loss of fitful breath; It is the second death.” Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)From <
Grave Epigrams
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A pleasant child a morning flower
bent down and withered in an hour. Dedham, MA 1796 |
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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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