on by Suzanne Whitby

The Work That Reconnects

Interesting for my facilitation work, work with groups, and in helping people think about climate and environmental disruption. The Work that Reconnects helps people discover and experience their innate connections with each other and the self-healing powers of the web of life, transforming despair and overwhelm into inspired, collaborative action.

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on by Suzanne Whitby

Filthy cities with Dan Snow

Historian Dan Snow gets down and dirty the filthy cities of revolutionary Paris, medieval London, and industrial New York. No, not ancient, but interesting nonetheless!

Episode 1: Medieval London

https://vimeo.com/214645639

Episode 2: Revolutionary Paris

Episode 3: Industrial New York

https://vimeo.com/199364552

It’s hard to believe now but this beautiful city used to stink.(Dan Snow, Filthy Cities, Revolutionary Paris)

Better him than me!

Sources:
Snow, D (2011), Filthy Cities [Online]. Accessed at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z8r9l. [Accessed on 25 June 2021]
on by Suzanne Whitby

A recipe for cremation

A recipe for cremation

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Barlow Bonsall, Cook @ 1700 to 1800 degrees for 2 to 3 hours

This is the text of a tattoo surrounded by a yellow and orange flame. It belongs to Army veteran and cancer survivor Russell Parsons, who was quoted in NBC News as saying, “It’s a recipe for cremation.”

Barlow Bonsall, the addressee of the tattoo, is the name of the Funeral Home and Crematorium that will carry out the cremation.

This unusual form of will or epitaph ensures that Parsons’s corpse itself will communicate directions for a proper disposal to the crematorium staff. The tattoo doesn’t mention what will happen to his remains after his cremation, rather the words describe the process of cremation that will perish during the cremation process.

Why this piqued my interest:
As part of my MA, I’m doing some research into death rituals and in particular, how helpful Van Gennep’s theory of ‘rites of passage’ is in understanding the evidence for ancient practices surrounding death. Thinking about Parsons’ tattoo made me think about how a living body might be “branded” (tattooed) with a symbol of an individual’s mortality that allows the living to interpret wishes for the handling and disposal of the body after death.

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