Sky burial is still practiced by the Jains, and in parts of the Tibetan plateau. It involves dismembering the corpse, and leaving if for the vultures.

In Mumbai, where there's a large community of Jains, there's currently concern that the vulture population is dwindling to the point that there won't be enough to perform the burials.

It's generally looked at, as being able to pass along what you no longer need, to creatures who do.

In the Tibetan Plateau, it's also saves wood, which is rare, and needed for things other than cremation. Many cooking fires there, are made with dried dung.

Chmara wrote...

"The real magic is in the power to enchant with belief that we can make things better -- often by undetected means -- called magical."

That's a really great way to see what Magic should be about.

Thank You, Sir...

Thank you. If enchantment and belief go hand in hand in our craft a magical world becomes possible - if craft and enchantment go hand in hand -- we have magic.

I bought my first human skull many years ago at the Abbotts Get Together in Colon MI for 35 dollars. It freaked my current wife out to have it in the house. I sold it to a magic friend for the same price I paid for it. Now I have serious regrets.

And yes, Baba is very pretty.

KOtah

What a bunch of pandering wind chiming wimps. Other cultures suck.


Unless they buy something.

Close Gregg, But even when funerals were held in the home, embalming was often performed in another room, usually the kitchen, with gravity feed bottles and limited drainage.



In "todays urban culture" in most states stillborns are treated as medical waste and unless the family requests otherwise they are disposed of as such. Even when the family requested burial, I have went to numerous hospitals where they have wrapped the fetus in newspaper and put it in a discarded diaper box. In which case I would immediatly removed him/her, wrap it in a blanket and carry it out as the child it was. As I feel they deserve the respect as much as anyone else.

Also for some strange reason I can't get Baba's link to work.

Nice link. Too bad it doesn't have a vid or anything other than advertisements.

Look at the date of Baba's link. It is now over three years old!

Bill

Too bad. I would like to have read the story.

And with only one good eye awesome!!!

Only one eye, but a looooong memory.

Bill