I have some Zoroastrians on the line, something about âDakhmaâ and questions about local vulture populations. Should I put them through?
Looks pretty cool.
The vultures, they can be shot down with lasers or something : p
Iâll be honest. Itâs cinematic, but far to big a pain in the ass for me to ever want to put my family through or want my family to put me through.
I donât think the Zoroastrians want you to do anything about the vulture population, except possibly start introducing them to the area if there arenât enough.
Hah. âWithout regard to nationality or affluence,â just as long as theyâre affluent enough to leave their trade for several days and drive/fly out to the Dead Sea.
I figured the vultures were part of the deal? I mean, you donât return your body to nature by just sort of mystically sublimating it into the air.
If this ever became a thing, I might have to reconsider my desire for direct cremation.
Either way, some place like this is definitely going to be included in some future D&D game that I GM.
So basically a Tibetan âsky burialâ?
Well, yes, except for the people who take your body apart and feed it piece by piece to the vultures.
Wait, what? Who is taking your body apart? I didnât see that in this article, and I thought Sky Burial you were just left up there for nature to take its course, no need to be hacked apart, vultures can get the job done alone.
Nothing helps the grieving process like huge flocks of vultures, enormous swarms of flies, and the everpresent stench of death, plus the liquified guts dribbling down in the middle of the thing, splashing on people as they climb the stairs. What a beautiful funeral.
Oh hush. The liquified guts are gone in an hour. Youâre so dramatic.
cremation comes pretty close
What if they put circle of mirrors around the edge, which can pivot and focus the sunâs rays onto the body, lighting it on fire!
The phrase ârings of sarcophagi facing one another in concentric circlesâ leads me to believe no such process takes place. It will just be the usual corpses in (now very hot) stone boxes.
I also imagine that âregardless of nationality, race, religion, age or affluenceâ would hold until they reached at most 40% occupancy, at which point affluence would be a larger factor in getting a spot.
As I understand it a traditional Tibetan sky burial includes having your body ritually hacked up for the convenience of the birds. In the videos Iâve seen they used axes.
Native American and Zoroastrian style funeral exposures do not require dismemberment, though.
I would be happy to have any of the three, or even simply to be just buried without embalming or encapsulation. I am totally skeeved by the idea of my body becoming air pollution, fly ash, or toxic sludge after my death. Gives me the willies. I want to remain in the living cycle.
Cremation also âmystically sublimatesâ a shitload of noxious exhaust pollution from the cremator fuel. To me itâs like saying "nothing in nature is going to eat of me, and Iâm going to help spew out some crap as I go.
I read an article once, years ago about a âForest of the Deadâ. Basically you lower your beloved in a cardboard or wicker coffin, then plant a tree on top. An excellent use both of land and the dead methinks.
Why is this not commonplace?
The worms crawl in and the worms crawl outâŚ
I think that a lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of becoming worm food.
Yeah, but becoming worm food is not something you even have to deal with. Youâre dead.
I dunno.
These Romans are crazy.
Which is pretty silly. From dust to dust and all that jazzâŚ
