I've been intrigued for some time now in how today's society deals with death, in that its something we brush under the carpet and only warrants a discussion when "grandma dies" as it were.
We view the living and the dead as two very distinct entities, but this was not always the case and there are still some exceptions such as the Mexican ' día de los muertos' day of the dead where departed loved ones are celebrates and in some parts of Mexico relatives clean the bones of their descendants hence keeping an interaction between the living and the dead and the memory of ancestors alive.
From the outside looking in- this behaviour can appear cult like and very unchristian... But is it?
practises that were Christian and catholic fell by the wayside by general society as the way we became to view death changed
How we see death as an end was once seen as merely a transition and the charnel houses -although of course serve as a reminder of mans mortality that we will alll become bones and dust- highlighted this belief aswell.
" what we were you are what we are you will be" often wrote in German as " Was wir sind, das werdet Ihr/Was Ihr seid, das waren wir"
Variations of this phrase once adorned many of the charnel house walls in Europe with the exact phrase used in the ossuaries of Naters and St. Peter Mistail, Switzerland.
I think exploring this theme could make for an interesting project.
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