The rise of Christianity put the brakes on the practice in the West. By 400 A.D., around the time that the Emperor Constantine Christianized the Roman Empire, Rome had outlawed cremation as a pagan practice. The theological reason for the ban was related to the resurrection—it was good to keep the body whole and in one place. Jewish law also banned the practice. By the 5th century, cremation had all but disappeared from Europe.


Authorities had difficulties dealing with the large numbers of bodies, and as a result, thousands of bodies were cremated together out of fear that decaying bodies would cause disease. Many of these bodies were not identified or viewed by relatives prior to cremation. A particular point of objection was that the bodies of Westerners were kept separate from those of Asian descent, who were mostly locals. This meant that the bodies of tourists from other Asian nations, such as Japan and South Korea, were mass cremated, rather than being returned to their country of origin for funeral rites.[citation needed]
Cremated remains may also be incorporated, with urn and cement, into part of an artificial reef, or they can also be mixed into paint and made into a portrait of the deceased. Some individuals use a very small amount of the remains in tattoo ink, for remembrance portraits. Cremated remains can be scattered in national parks in the United States with a special permit. They can also be scattered on private property with the permission of the owner. A portion of the cremated remains may be retained in a specially designed locket known as cremation jewelry, or even blown into special glass keepsakes[66] and glass orbs.[67] The cremated remains may also be entombed. Most cemeteries will grant permission for burial of cremated remains in occupied cemetery plots that have already been purchased or are in use by the families disposing of the cremated remains without any additional charge or oversight.
I’d gone to his funeral but hadn’t made it to the cemetery—the one in which I now found myself. I’m surprised to see nothing marking the spot where he’s buried. It’s just a patch of dirt with a number “83” handwritten in concrete. There are big marble headstones on one side of him and on the other side, a pile of plastic flowers, bits of light blue ribbon, and Styrofoam crosses that say “I Love You.”

We recently loss a family member to a car accident so it was very devastating for all of us. However, we are very thankful to have worked with the National Cremation & Burial Center in Oviedo. Mr. Chris Rhodes who is the director here was very patience in listening to our family's wishes and accommodating them (even the unusual wishes due to our cultural beliefs). We also worked with Mr. Steven who was just as compassionate and helpful. Both Chris and Steven have went out of their way to make this event as painless for our family as possible. Thank... Read More

How long does it take for a body to decompose in a coffin?


We recently loss a family member to a car accident so it was very devastating for all of us. However, we are very thankful to have worked with the National Cremation & Burial Center in Oviedo. Mr. Chris Rhodes who is the director here was very patience in listening to our family's wishes and accommodating them (even the unusual wishes due to our cultural beliefs). We also worked with Mr. Steven who was just as compassionate and helpful. Both Chris and Steven have went out of their way to make this event as painless for our family as possible. Thank... Read More
In movies, characters are always scattering the ashes of a loved one over the side of a boat or off the top of a mountain. In reality, cremation rarely ends that way. The Cremation Association of North America estimates that 60 to 80 percent of cremated remains go home with people who intend to place them in a cemetery or scatter them at a future date. But scattering is not as popular as people think.
The magnitude 9.0–9.3 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake triggered a series of lethal tsunamis on 26 December 2004 that killed almost 300,000 people, making them the deadliest tsunamis in recorded history. The tsunamis killed people over an area ranging from the immediate vicinity of the quake in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, and the northwestern coast of Malaysia), to thousands of kilometers away in the Indian subcontinent (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives), the Horn of Africa (Somalia), and the African Great Lakes (Kenya and Tanzania).

What debts are forgiven when you die?


A cremator is not designed to cremate more than one human body at a time. Crematoria may occasionally make exceptions for cases such as still-born twins, or a baby and mother who died during childbirth.[citation needed] The chamber where the body is placed is called a cremation chamber or retort and is lined with heat-resistant refractory bricks. Refractory bricks are designed in several layers. The outermost layer is usually simply an insulation material, e.g., mineral wool. Inside is typically a layer of insulation brick, mostly calcium silicate in nature. Heavy duty cremators are usually designed with two layers of fire bricks inside the insulation layer. The layer of fire bricks in contact with the combustion process protects the outer layer and must be replaced from time to time.[45]
A few years later, when her stepfather passed, she couldn’t bring herself to pick up his ashes, even as the funeral home kept calling. One day, she returned home to find her dad’s ashes sitting on her doorstep. She now has two boxes of remains in storage, though she doesn’t know exactly where. She asked her husband to hide them. “Not the healthiest reaction,” she admits.
We are the Curry family out of Lakeland, Florida and my dad had made pre-arrangements with National Cremation in Oviedo, Florida years ago. He recently passed rather suddenly so the shock and sadness as to be expected was a big blow to our family. I made the call and decided to schedule a sit down meeting in person so we could grasp all of the details of what we needed to expect and do plus we needed an understanding on how this entire process works. We met with Stephen Barreto on 5/1/17 and I have to say he handled himself... Read More
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to the burial or interment of an intact dead body. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre is an ancient tradition. Starting in the 19th century, cremation was introduced or reintroduced into other parts of the world. In modern times, cremation is commonly carried out with a closed furnace (cremator), at a crematorium.
My dad had a contract with National Cremation and when he passed away, we called them. We spoke with Mallory and she answered all our questions. She was super nice about everything, knowledgeable and put us at ease with the process. She made the whole thing a lot better than it would have been had she been not as accommodating to our questions. Nobody was prepared for a tough time such as this and she made a difference as well as the receptionist who already knew my name every time I called. It takes a special person to do the... Read More
Through history and up to the philosophical movements of the current era Modern Orthodox, Orthodox, Haredi, and Hasidic movements in Judaism have maintained a strict biblical line against cremation, and disapprove of it as Halakha (Jewish law) forbids it. This halakhic concern is grounded in the upholding of bodily resurrection as a core belief of traditional Judaism, as opposed to other ancient trends such as the Sadducees, who denied it as well as the clear wording of the Torah in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 21:23 "Bury, you will bury him the same day; for the (unburied body) is a curse to God" with both a positive command derived from this verse to command one to bury a dead body and a negative command forbidding neglecting to bury a dead body.[118] Some from the generally liberal Conservative Jewish also oppose cremation, some very strongly.[119][120]

After the unexpected death of a family member, we were overwhelmed with the process of laying her to rest. Like anyone on a budget, I started calling around to get prices. It felt like an insensitive thing to do but cremation/burials is a competitive business, and believe me, the costs are startling. But then I called Oviedo’s National Cremation & Burial Society and their direct cremation option were surprisingly affordable – literally thousands less than the other local providers. Our family member made it known she wanted her ashes scattered at sea so a direct cremation worked for us. They even had biodegradable urns for sea burials. I had made my decision. Elizabeth Franco was the service manager who held our hands through this distressing time. She was kind, informative, and efficient. She maintained communication with us throughout the process and ensured we knew about all the keepsakes/services that their business provides to help preserve a memory. When we opted in, she offered guidance. When we opted out, she didn’t push. She replaced our stress with a sense of calm and that in itself was priceless. Elizabeth exemplifies what it means to serve during a time of crisis and hardship. I highly recommend Elizabeth and National Cremation & Burial Society.
Hinduism and Jainism are notable for not only allowing but prescribing cremation. Cremation in India is first attested in the Cemetery H culture (from c. 1900 BCE), considered the formative stage of Vedic civilization. The Rigveda contains a reference to the emerging practice, in RV 10.15.14, where the forefathers "both cremated (agnidagdhá-) and uncremated (ánagnidagdha-)" are invoked.

We use a variety of flowers in our funeral arrangements, like:●       Daisies●       Lilies●       Orchids●       Roses●       HydrangeasThese are popular funeral flowers because they have symbolic meaning pertaining to loss. However, any arrangement of flowers may be appropriate at a funeral. Although white flowers are most commonly associated with loss, colorful flowers may be helpful in brightening up the atmosphere. Flowers with springtime colors are optimal because spring is often associated with rebirth and hopefulness.
Traditionally, Zoroastrianism disavows cremation or burial to preclude pollution of fire or earth. The traditional method of corpse disposal is through ritual exposure in a "Tower of Silence", but both burial and cremation are increasingly popular alternatives. Some contemporary adhererents of the faith have opted for cremation. Parsi-Zoroastrian singer Freddie Mercury of the group Queen was cremated after his death.
^ Robert Pasnau, in the introduction to his translation of Summa Theologiae, says that Aquinas is "...quite clear in rejecting the sort of substance dualism proposed by Plato [...] which goes so far as to identify human beings with their souls alone, as if the body were a kind of clothing that we put on," and that Aquinas believed that "we are a composite of soul and body, that a soul all by itself would not be a human being." See Aquinas, St. Thomas (2002). Summa Theologiae 1a, 75–89. trans. Pasnau. Hackett Publishing. p. xvii. ISBN 0-87220-613-0.
Neptune Society is the largest provider of affordable cremation services in the nation. Thanks to the loyal support of generations of families, we’ve now grown to 45 locations nationwide with continued expansion in the future. Over the past 47+ years, our experienced team has assisted families, their loved ones, and caregivers in carrying out final wishes more affordably, with dignity and respect. Please contact your local Neptune Society office for cremation prices, and to learn more about our cremation service.
The appearance of cremated remains after grinding is one of the reasons they are called ashes, although a non-technical term sometimes used is "cremains",[3][4] a portmanteau of "cremated" and "remains". (The Cremation Association of North America prefers that the word "cremains" not be used for referring to "human cremated remains". The reason given is that "cremains" is thought to have less connection with the deceased, whereas a loved one's "cremated remains" has a more identifiable human connection.[61])

Can you have a funeral without a body?


This place is called the columbarium, and at first, the very existence of this vast chamber full of urns can come as a surprise. In the movie version of life and death, a cremated person’s remains sit up on the shelf at home, or friends scatter the ashes over a sacred locale. In the real world, many cremated people stay in the cemetery, just like their buried counterparts.
In early 2002, 334 corpses that were supposed to have been cremated in the previous few years at the Tri-State Crematory were found intact and decaying on the crematorium's grounds in the U.S. state of Georgia, having been dumped there by the crematorium's proprietor. Many of the corpses were decayed beyond identification. Some families received "ashes" that were made of wood and concrete dust.[127]
After my father’s passing from an accidental fall, my sister and I were not only hurting profoundly but were very confused as to what was going to happen in the next few days. The day after his passing we reached out to Ms. Mallory Johnson with the Oviedo, FL branch of National Cremation & Burial Services. After answering a lot of our immediate questions, we scheduled an appointment for the next day. It takes a special person to put you at ease at a moment as difficult as your father’s passing. Mallory did just that. My sister, my cousin and I had the whole process explained in detail and every one of our questions was answered with patience, compassion and a clear understanding of the pain we were going through. We could not have chosen a better person to help us get through what we thought was going to be a horrible process. With Mallory’s help, we understood exactly what was going to happen, who was going to be involved and when it was going to take place. With a job like Mallory’s you have to have a vocation and a deep love for what you do, and she certainly does. I also have to say that I was deeply touched by the fact that every time I called, Miranda at the front desk would greet me by name. That was a special and personal touch that I appreciated very much. You guys did a wonderful, special job that we will always appreciate and remember. You were all there for us when we needed it the most. Thank you so, so much. Scott, Michelle, and Jackie

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