I had a cemetery close to where I lived in India. In the summer months, to get respite from the oppressive heat, people from a nearby slum would sleep on the graves at night.
I was a kid at that time and would find this freaky cool!
When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
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Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#52Why not pop-up restaurants or glamping in the graveyard? Spooky experience this Halloween anyone?
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds very similar to the Spanish Día de los Muertos.
Does it? I don't know much about the Day itself, but I know that there's a ton of commercial marketing around it coming from US companies, making it feel like the Day is some kind of party. I was startled by it at first, and then assumed maybe Mexicans prefer the observances to be joyful rather than solemn. I'm from Poland, and it's like 'gambiting describes: the cemeteries are sacred, All Saints Day is a time of sol…
From my outsider perspective it’s a mix of somber and celebration. I don’t think that comes from commercialization as they’ve done massive parades forever in Latin countries.
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
I lived for 30 years in what you would call Spain and never heard about that.
It’s Mexican - although perhaps it’s observed by Mexicans living abroad as well? I think the commenter just meant the name was in Spanish, though
I thought it extended beyond Mexico and existed in most Spanish-speaking/latin countries but this isn’t my culture so I’m much less familiar with the details.
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have two enormous cemeteries on either side of my neighborhood. However where I live, just going for a walk there would be considered disrespectful. It's outdated in my opinion. Cemeteries are a terrible waste of space and horrible for the environment too. Like you said, go ahead and have a beautiful ceremony. I've told my wife to cremate me or turn me into one of those tree things that people are talking about now…
Cremation also makes a significant carbon footprint, afaik. Best eco way to get rid of the body is to drop it to the sea floor.
I've heard we've made great advancements in human composting. Specifically composting combined with tree planting sounds like a great use of public spaces to rebuild some of our forest commons as opposed to traditional cemeteries.
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#56Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#57> One of the reasons why eating in cemeteries become a “fad,” as some reporters called it, was that epidemics were raging across the country: Yellow fever and cholera flourished, children passed away before turning 10, women died during childbirth. Death was a constant visitor for many families, and in cemeteries, people could “talk” and break bread with family and friends, both living and deceased. It's fascinating…
There is a Chinese holiday, Qingming ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingming_Festival ), devoted to caring for ancestors' graves. Obviously, there is heavy cemetery traffic on that day. The major ritual involves burning (fake) money for the deceased to use in the afterlife, but food offerings are also made. The food is not burned - it is recovered and eaten by normal living people, though I don't know whether people…
I find the idea very natural too, and there is precedent for this in Western tradition as well. In the times of ancient Rome, people would eat a meal with at their gravesite of a dead relative. This meal was called "refrigerium". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerium
Interestingly enough, some necropoleis in those times were literal cities of the dead, made of structures with rooms where the dead were interred, and people could do the regrigerium in those "houses". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necropolis mentions this style of necropolis for the Etruscans, but it is my understanding Rome had these too at some point.