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BODY PRESERVATION
The matter of matter; body disposal is not the only option when there are so many preservation methods for those inclined to live fast and leave a pretty corpse.
The matter of matter; body disposal is not the only option when there are so many preservation methods for those inclined to live fast and leave a pretty corpse.
One Catholic tradition sought to preserve the physical state for as long as possible. These are the ‘incorruptibles,’ like Bernadette Soubirous, a miller’s daughter from Lourdes whose body has lain unravaged by time in a grotto since her death in 1879.
Catholicism has a strong tradition of reliquary; many pilgrimage traditions were created around body parts and bone fragments of dead saints.
A few years ago All Saints Church in Hereford got funding for the erection of a cafe on a new mezzanine level. A new seating gallery had excellent lighting, all the better to illuminate detail of the magnificent intricate carvings cloaked in shadow since the 14th century! …Ah.
The man in the carving has appropriately been nicknamed Seamus O’Toole, and it is thought that his spirited salutation was created by a disgruntled medieval artisan.
Stone gargoyles and decorative misericords have all sorts of symbolic meanings but there is some anecdotal evidence that the more ribald version was a final flourish of carpenters and masons scammed of their pay.
Trail trees are trees that have been shaped by human intention rather than environment or disease, and they have been used for centuries to mark the way through the woods across the Americas.
A network of pre-Columbian roads and trails denoted by these trees, most often oak and maple, have been well documented across First Nation territories. Their uses varied between nation and specificity of the region but may have included pointing out a fresh water source
off a main route, minerals or other resources that may have been important to Native Americans for medicinal and ceremonial purposes, or designated areas of significant importance such as council circles and gathering points.
