scattering ashes at sea

Using Flowers in an Ash Scattering Ceremony

August 1, 2010 urngarden.com

We were thinking about going to the lake this weekend, and evidently so our some of our friends and family. We’ve had several calls lately from all over the country asking questions about water burial. They want to go to the lake, off the dock, maybe in a boat.

We’ve been cultivating the beauty of fresh flowers as a cool respite from this summer’s heat. The fragrance and delicate beauty have been a bright spot in challenging world.

bird bath

Wreaths and flower petals are a simple and beautiful touch to an ash scattering ceremony, whether it’s at the lake, on the shore, or at sea.

scattering ashes at sea

An inexpensive wreath can be made with daisies, the April birth flower.

daisy wreath

This might not be the best choice for a water burial, but I do love this wreath created with succulents.

succulent wreath

There Goes The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived

January 7, 2010 urngarden.com

ted williams

According to a letter owned by Phil Castinetti, the sports memorabilia king of New England, Red Sox legend Ted Williams had a longtime wish to be cremated immediately after his death. The letter, dated Dec. 19, 1991, is an authentic writing from the desk of Teddy Ballgame himself.

“It is my wish that no funeral or memorial service of any kind be held and that my remains be cremated as soon as possible after my death,” Williams wrote in the letter nearly two decades ago. “I want you to see that my ashes are sprinkled at sea off the coast of Florida where the water is very deep.”

Williams’ three children fought bitterly over the body of their legendary father. In a perfect world, the letter in Castinetti’s collection would be used to do justice in the case of Ted Williams, but rather than have his wishes carried out, Williams was taken to a lab in Arizona where his remains were kept suspended in liquid nitrogen.

Last year, a lab executive documented the brutal inhumane treatment of Williams’ head at the cryogenics center shortly after his death in 2002.

Rather than being scattered in Florida as he’d always wished, the body of the Red Sox legend was mutilated and disgraced.

In life, Williams never got the respect he deserved. The fans in Boston booed him, the media blasted him, his personal life was unstable and troubled. In death, Teddy Ballgame has been treated even worse.

Source:

Catholic Doctrine Rejects Scattering of Ashes

November 4, 2009 urngarden.com

stained glass window

ROME:

The Italian Bishops’ Conference is preparing to publish updated norms on funeral rites including cremation and the burial of ashes.

The manual, which will be reviewed and approved by the bishops’ conference in Assisi on November 9, will explain that Catholic doctrine does not oppose cremation but rejects the practice of storing ashes of loved ones at home. The document will stress that this is a violation of the work of mercy that obliges Catholics to provide a holy burial to the dead.

Keeping the ashes of the dead at home does away with the important rite of accompanying the deceased to the cemetery, “which unites the community of believers.” Burying the ashes at a cemetery, the “place of the dead,” is what makes most sense, the bishops will add.

Scattering the ashes, according to the Italian bishops, is based on a pagan ritual that supposedly symbolized the union of the deceased with “the great soul of mother earth,” and is contrary to the Christian obligation, established by the Lord Jesus himself, to bury the dead.

Continue reading “Church in Italy to issue clarification on cremation”

Funeral for a Friend: Celebration at Sea

August 11, 2009 urngarden.com

coral rose

Recently, I had the good fortune to connect with a local blogger who inspired me with several stories of her life experiences. She graciously allowed me to share a very touching memorial service that she participated in:

My dear friend Leslie was my roommate my freshman year at Drury College and also a sorority sister. She died of cancer in 1997 and Sally and I still are pissed at her because she naturally went out in the most awesome way.

Before she died, she instructed her husband, Bob, to take a group of us to Monterey, CA for a weekend – all expenses paid at a B&B including gourmet meals and on her birthday, we all climbed aboard a boat and had the captain take us beyond the 3-mile mark where we had a memorial service and spread her ashes.

Bob brought her favorite flowers, coral roses, for us to throw on top of the ashes and we were all incredibly weepy until somone started telling “Leslie stories” which had us all in tears of laughter which lasted through her memorial luncheon at the Monterey Aquarium. Leave it to Leslie to set the bar so damned high in life AND in death!

Surfs Up-Paddle Out Memorial

March 30, 2008 urngarden.com

According to Darren Crouch of Passages International, 40% of cremation families plan to scatter the ashes. 70% of those cremation families plan to scatter the ashes over water.

We’ve talked to several families this past week, mostly from California, who have planned this style of ceremony. Often families don’t think they’ll need an urn for this method of memorialization. The truth is, that an urn will simplify the process and eliminate the chance of “blow back“. There are a couple of urn options suitable for water burial that are environmentally friendly, attractive and designed to float for a few minutes and then gracefully sink in the water. One of the nice qualities about these urns is the fact that they are made from recycled paper and molded into the shape of a shell or a pillow style vessel.

Some of these families plan to scatter ashes from a boat, or have organized memorial paddle-outs, a traditional Hawaiian good-bye for departed Polynesian kings. Often, flowers, wreaths, rose petals, or leis are cast out after the ashes are in the water.