About Me

I'm a PhD student researching the role of the archaeological dead in contemporary British society. Think of this as a scrapbook of all the interesting links, snippets of information and random bits and bobs I come across pertaining to death, dying and the dead. Enjoy?!

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    Orthodox Jewish man photographed covering himself in plastic bag during flight because faith forbids him to fly over cemeteriesA startling photo of a plane passenger who wrapped himself in a plastic bag for his flight has hit the internet.   The man dressed entirely in black beneath folds of plastic, sightly bows his head beneath the tied ends seen piled on his head. The passengers behind him strain to catch a look.  The photo was posted to Reddit on Thursday amid suggestions that the man is a Kohein, religious descendant of the priests of ancient Israel, who are banned from flying over cemeteries. Many wrap themselves in plastic bags as a compromise measure. ‘In orthodox and Conservative communities, Kohanim,’ plural of Kohein ‘are expected to abstain from coming in contact with the dead, which includes a prohibition on visiting cemeteries except for the funerals of close relatives,’ Rabbi Jeffrey W. Goldwasser writes in an article for About.com. As a controversial solution - not entirely agreed upon even by those in the Jewish Orthodox - the plastic bag used by the man here, would create a kind of barrier between the kohein and the surrounding tumah, or impurity. Some flights also go to great lengths to take specific paths to avoid cemeteries. Passengers can also be made aware in advance if a body will be aboard the plane in cargo. (Source: The Daily Mail)

    Orthodox Jewish man photographed covering himself in plastic bag during flight because faith forbids him to fly over cemeteries

    A startling photo of a plane passenger who wrapped himself in a plastic bag for his flight has hit the internet.  

    The man dressed entirely in black beneath folds of plastic, sightly bows his head beneath the tied ends seen piled on his head. The passengers behind him strain to catch a look. 

    The photo was posted to Reddit on Thursday amid suggestions that the man is a Kohein, religious descendant of the priests of ancient Israel, who are banned from flying over cemeteries.

    Many wrap themselves in plastic bags as a compromise measure.

    ‘In orthodox and Conservative communities, Kohanim,’ plural of Kohein ‘are expected to abstain from coming in contact with the dead, which includes a prohibition on visiting cemeteries except for the funerals of close relatives,’ Rabbi Jeffrey W. Goldwasser writes in an article for About.com.

    As a controversial solution - not entirely agreed upon even by those in the Jewish Orthodox - the plastic bag used by the man here, would create a kind of barrier between the kohein and the surrounding tumah, or impurity.

    Some flights also go to great lengths to take specific paths to avoid cemeteries. Passengers can also be made aware in advance if a body will be aboard the plane in cargo.

    (Source: The Daily Mail)

    Can gawping at disaster be good for us?

    Mainly, I just wish I’d never encountered the website Serial Killers Ink, which showcases terrible artworks by the perpetrators of some truly terrible crimes. I don’t like to think about the kind of person who’d pay, say, $175 for a portrait of Jennifer Love Hewitt by Elmer Wayne Henley, who is serving six life sentences for mass murders in Houston in the 70s, or $60 for a cartoon panda by a man with the soubriquet of “the internet’s first serial killer”. It’s all very depressing. But I can’t deny it: I kept clicking. The flicker of fascination was there.

    A great article on ‘morbid curiosity’ - check it out now!

    Living on death in Zambia: 'Dead bodies can't harm you'

    Undertakers are often almost invisible - and in some societies they are stigmatised because of their job.

    In Zambia strong cultural beliefs mean that they are feared and avoided by family members and neighbours.

    So what inspired a Zambian man to challenge traditional and to work in a mortuary?

    Hudson Mabwe Kapemba told the BBC World Service about his life as a mortuary attendant.

    The 58 year old has been doing the job for more than 25 years.

    He is one of the longest-serving morticians at Zambia’s University Teaching Hospital in the capital, Lusaka.

    A great piece by the BBC - click through to read the rest.

    Sheffield memorial removed after threat from objectors

    A MEMORIAL gate to help mourners grieve has had to be removed - as people said it ‘reminded them about death’.

    Volunteers at Your Good Mourning shop, in Walkley, were ‘gobsmacked’ to be told to take down the gate or it would be torn down by objectors.

    Tributes, ribbons and memorial doves had been tied to the gate, which had permission to be attached to the tree outside on South Road, in memory of lost loved ones.

    Its aim was to help people come to terms with a death as part of the Dying Matters national campaign.

    Glenda Kirkby has founded the shop, which acts as a chatroom to help people dealing with the death of a friend or loved one.

    She said: “We want to make people aware that to be able to grieve and talk about it does help the process of losing somebody.

    “The gate was up there for two days when a woman came in the shop and said ‘can you take it down because it’s upsetting people’.

    “We were gobsmacked so asked why and she said it was reminding people about death.

    “She said there was a group of people who don’t like it and they will rip it down if you don’t take it down.”

    Hours later, posts at the side of the gate had been ripped down and Your Good Mourning volunteers felt forced to remove the memorial.

    Glenda, who set up the shop after finding a lack of support when her father died, wants Star readers to give their views on what happened.

    She added: “We were worried that some of the tributes people had left might be taken which would be far more disrespectful.

    “The only problem we possibly thought could happen with the gate is that somebody take it for scrap, that’s why we secured it.

    “We never thought people would complain because it reminded them of death.

    “The situation we have faced is crazy. This just shows there are still a lot of taboos about death.”