Some people decide to
pay their respects via
drive-thru. Others hang
coffins from cliffs. Despite
the variety of their
methods, the rituals are
based in the same idea:
communities want to
remember and honor their
dead.
Funeral rituals vary
tremendously. Whether in
the same country or on
opposite sides of the
world, people find unique
ways to send off their
family and friends who
have died. Here are 10
fascinating funerals found
around the world.
10
Drive-thru Funeral
In many ways, the United
States is a land of
convenience. Fast food
chains sit on many street
corners throughout the
country so that anyone
can drive through and
grab a bite to eat, no
matter their schedule.
Some places in the US
have taken this concept
and applied it to rituals
for the deceased. Parking
is no issue, as you can
view the body and sign
the guest book without
ever leaving your vehicle.
It is truly a fascinating
example of common North
American burial practices
mixed with America’s
culture of convenience.
9
Webcast Services
People are scattered
throughout the globe more
than ever, and many
people do not have
enough disposable income
on hand to drop money on
a pricey plane ticket with
little notice. That can
make attending funerals
difficult for family and
friends who are
thousands of miles away
from the service of a
loved one. Some are
electing to stream funeral
services as webcasts so
that location does not get
in the way of a person
being present for the
service, even if it is from
the other side of the
globe. Webcasting funeral
services serves as an
interesting mix of tradition
and technology.
8
Fireworks Burial
Some people are just
dying to go out with a
bang. Cremation fireworks
make that possible in a
new way. Some companies
offer services where they
packcremated remains
into firework shells and
then launch them into the
heavens, creating a
stunning fireworks display
over land or sea. The
results are a vibrant,
powerful testimony to
anyone who led an
exciting life and wished
for the same kind of
excitement during their
funeral.
7
Strangulation
A traditional funeral
ceremony on the South
Pacific Island of Fiji can
get really grim. When
someone dies, those
closest to the deceased
are then killed too, often
through strangulation. The
idea is to ensure that the
dead is surrounded by
family and friends even
after death. People would
seek to kill female widows,
in particular, believing that
the god Ruvuyalo would kill
the spirit of a man who
was not accompanied by
his wife. This murderous
ritual has since been
phased out in modern
times on the island.
6
Cliff-hanging
When many people think
about coffins, they
imagine a casket that
rests deep underground.
Some communities hold a
different view: they
believe that coffins need
to be close to the sky so
that their dead can be
closer to heaven. You can
see this practice in
minority groups from the
Philippines as well as
southern parts of China,
where the deceased are
placed in coffins and then
left suspended from the
sides of cliffs.
5
Cannibalism
In the Amazon rainforest,
parts of the indigenous
population go a step
further than honoring and
remembering their dead –
they eat them, too. Up
until the 1960s, for
example, a group called
the Wari’ would engage
in mortuary cannibalism.
They would eat their kin,
anthropologists reported,
as a way to emotionally
detach from memories of
those who pass. The
group considered the act
a respectful way to
dispose of bodies. It was
less cruel, to them, than
leaving it to rot in the
ground. Contact with
outsiders eventually put a
halt to the practice; the
Wari’ needed food and
medicine, which affluent
outsiders would often
withhold from participants
in mortuary cannibalism.
4
Sky Burial
The Tibetan funerary
ritual called sky burial is a
practice designed to
dispose of remains while
allowing a person’s flesh
to nourish living beings. In
a sky burial, a person
dissects a corpse and
leaves it in the open,
often on raised land like a
hill or mountain. Carrion
birds like vultures then
descend on the corpse
and consume its flesh.
Remaining bones are later
ground up and usually
given to animals like hawks
and crows.
3
Diamond Transformation
Humans are carbon-based
life forms. Due to that
trait, bodies can be used
to create a wide variety
of things. Now, companies
are using that fact to
shake up burial practices
– it is possible, for
example, to get a
person’s remains
transformed into a
diamond. A combination of
heat and high pressure
changes human ash into a
shimmering jewel. This
practice is not cheap.
Customers looking to
preserve a person’s
remains in the form of a
large diamond could be set
back around $25,000.
2
Tree Burial
Aboriginal groups in
Australia sometimes use
trees in their funerary
traditions. They take the
deceased’s body and
place it in a tree. There, it
is left to decompose.
Months or even years
later, members of the
group retrieve remaining
bones. These bones are
painted with red ochre
and placed in a decorated,
hollowed-out log during a
ceremony complete with
dancing. Those involved in
the ceremony transport
the log containing the
bones to the main camp
and, after more singing
and dancing, they leave it
to endure the elements.
That completes the burial
cycle.
1
Space Burial
People who want their
physical remains to leave
the planet can opt for a
space burial. Here, a
company collects a tiny
fraction of your cremated
remains, packs it into small
containermade to
withstand the demands of
space travel, and sends it
out into space. One
problem with this practice
is that, in many cases, the
remainseventually return
to earth. For a hefty price
tag,you have the option
of a more permanent
placement: your remains
can take a one-way trip
to the moon.
The world is full of
fascinating funeral rituals.
Whether inspired by the
trends of modern America
or ancestral traditions
dating back thousands of
years, funerals help reveal
howvaried communities
and their cultural
practices can be.

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