New Philosopher – July 2019

NewPhilosopher

toask you “How do you feel?”be-

causetheyknowyoudon’tfeelwell,

butthey aretherefor youandthey

areservingfoodforthewholevillage

and they are preparing the coffin.

What do you think countries such

as Denmark, the US, and Australia –

where death is sanitised and commercial-

ised – can learn from alternative ways of

dealing with death and grief?

It’s a big question, and not easy to

answer. First of all, I wouldn’t call it

alternative ways. The rituals usually re-

flect the society and the culture we are

living in. In our modern growth socie-

ties there is no time for rituals lasting

days. We cannot take off three days of

work – everything would stop. But I

think we can learn something about

being more together in these hard

times when we lose someone. To sup-

port each other and to talk more about

our loss. And maybe it is a good idea

to implement some rituals. In Den-

mark people are slowly beginning to

implement their own rituals and per-

sonalise the funerals – slowly. A friend

of mine recently covered his father’s

coffin with printed pictures from his

Dead and alive

Manila, Philippines. Due to poverty and

overpopulation, an estimated 10.000+

people are living at Manila North Cem-

etery. The owners of the graves allow peo-

ple to live among and on the graves – and

even inside the mausoleums – if they keep

the graves clean. Photo: Klaus Bo.