GUEST COLUMN

This page is for guest writers to open windows on different death practices in the world we live in, allowing us to consider death in a new light, albeit a harsh or a gentle illumination.

LIFE AFTER LIFE

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"Where do we go when we die? Is there a 'we'? Do we have souls that keep an aspect of our personalities, or are we part of a greater energy that supersedes the concept of self? Various spiritual and philosophical traditions use different metaphorical language to depict the unknowable, but all agree that in the face of the great imponderable, the way you live life in the here and now is most important."

WORDS JACQUI L'ANGE (With thanks to FAIR LADY)

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GUEST VIGNETTES

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Long-sheltered vignettes found their way to my mailbox, a chorus of voices clamouring for attention. Using a simple honest voice the vignettes presented for our attention transcend the personal and speak to our universal human experience.

MEXICO: Moving of the virgins

During one of my visits to Mexico I once was privileged to witness the moving of the virgins in a small rural town. The whole town participated and all the businesses closed their doors. All of the street was covered with herbs (rosemary, mint etc) so the whole town had the scent of crushed herbs – as every one walked over it while following the virgins being carried from one church to another. Every single person in the town brought some flowers which they laid down in front of the churches – from the richest man in the town with a bouquet to the beggars on the street who hand picked some flowers in the fields. This was an amazing experience.

Lize, HADEDA

Our Lady of Guadalupe

MEXICO: Let's hear it for a good burial!

The traditional Western Christian burial is usually a sad affair with the mourners dressed in black, a muted funeral service, hushed voices around the grave and finally the funeral tea where people say nice things about the dear departed.

In our rather boring Western tradition, this would be the end of it. Maybe in the following year an "in Memoriam" notice would appear in the local paper, or a few tearful phone calls would be made between family members.

! Madre de Dios! This is not the Mexican way.

Ginny Swart

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"...and a bottle of tequila."

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