luke: yeah i was but then i accidentally knocked over this vase on the mantle and dude,, that thing was FILLED with dust, i don’t think mom has ever cleaned it. anyway she got really upset for some reason after that so i left
Hey Sweets sorry to hear your under the weather so I made an art piece that incorporates red since I know it’s your favorite color. You asked why do I do a lot of skull art . Skull art is very popular, I see a lot of people selling there’s on instagram but besides that I like the way skeletons look. I’m even considering having my body cremated just to where the flesh burns from my bones til my skeletal remains are present. I think this looks more aesthetically pleasing in a coffin then the typical dried up body look. That’s .one of the things I like about death, you get to become this cool skeleton. Such an incentive when you die, I like to do various subjects ,I alternate from something sweet to something sinister but I try to keep things fresh. I do a lot of flowers, crucifixes, and nautical themes as well. I hope you get better soon , try drinking in some electrolytes. It’s inexpensive and it makes you feel better. Talk to you later alligator. Bye
Thank you! I am starting to feel better and that's despite the hectic weekend I just had. And I like your perspective on death and cremation. Great that you aren't scared of that whole process!
DEATH & DYING: Mandalorian Funerary Practices, Burial, Remembrance & Grieving
"Mando'ade usually bury in mass graves anyway. We all become part of the manda. We don't need a headstone." / "Collective consciousness. Oversoul. We don't do heaven." ―Mirta Gev
In ancient Mandalorian religion: “Arasuum is the god of decadence and idle consumption, battled in the creation myth in the War of Life and Death by Kad Ha’rangir, the destroyer god of change and growth, a force of creative destruction. If to live is to adapt, then something that remains forever, eternal, must be constantly adapting, never stagnating. To remain the same is to perish.”
Metaphysical Understanding of Life & Afterlife
Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la: “Not gone, merely marching far away.” - (Tribute to a dead comrade.)
This struggle between idleness and change was reflected in the ancient Mandalorian belief in the afterlife: existing as a plane of spiritual energy in constant conflict between stagnation and growth, every Mandalorian who perished was believed to join the army of the afterlife, defending their families that dwelled in the eternal, peaceful homestead. Mandalorians believed that this home beyond death was the only place they could truly reach a non-transitory existence.
The ancient gods were largely forgotten in contemporary times.
The concept of a literal afterlife waned, in favor of a belief in the Manda. The Manda was described as an oversoul, a collective consciousness, and the very essence of being Mandalorian.
To join with the Manda after death, a Mandalorian was required to be knowledgeable of their culture, and practice its tenets in their daily lives.
Practices: Funeral rites, Burial, & Cremation
Cremation:
The Mandalorian "kote kyr'am" or glory death was an event where Mandalorians honor their fallen warriors who died facing Jedi, or impossible odds.
This was done to ensure that their warrior’s spirit may join their ancestors. The body was burned on an elevated pyre.
Clan members would shout war-cries to the sky, and speak loudly of the dead’s great feats in life. This goodbye ceremony was a night of mournful celebration; drunken feasting, and brawling, was common. Telling stories about the deceased’s life was important.
It doesn’t matter what side a Mandalorian was fighting on, friend or foe; if one died in battle, they were due a warrior’s funeral.
Ashes are scattered & not kept.
Burial:
Mandalorians are pragmatic people. On Mandalore, most Mandalorians were buried as simply as possible within mass graves that had no markers.
Private, single-plot burials for the dead are uncommon.
Exceptions and Outliers:
Among nomadic communities of Mandalorians, those currently fighting a war, or those who live on planets unsuitable to the practice of mass burial, cremation may be the accepted burial method even if one did not die in battle. Sustaining a cemetery and transporting corpses en masse can present a great challenge.
Some highly placed individuals, such as Mand'alor, were offered the option of having a marked grave.
Boba Fett wished to just set the Slave I on autopilot and allow the vessel, carrying his body, to drift in space. After removing his father's remains from Geonosis, Boba Fett buried them on Mandalore.
A notable exception:
“The helmet [of Fenn Shysa] was all he’d brought back. It was an apt memorial for a populist leader, to be commemorated in the same way as any ordinary Mandalorian.” - His helmet was displayed on a pedestal.
Philosophical Understanding of Death, Grieving & Remembrance
Philosophy:
Death is another step in the process of life. For those left behind, it offers the chance for change, growth, and adaptation to life without your loved one. For the dead, it is but another step in the path.
Remembrance:
"The armor I wear is five hundred years old. I reforged it to my liking, but the battles, the history, the blood all lives within it. And the same goes for every Mandalorian."
"This armor is part of our identity. It makes us Mandalorians who we are."
―Sabine and Alrich Wren
The dead’s possessions, often their armor, are kept in memorial. If a full set of armor couldn't be recovered, it was commonplace to retrieve smaller parts such as helmets, gloves, or plates instead.
Beskar’gam is passed down bilineally. (A bilineal system is one in which two lines of descent, matrilineal and patrilineal, are both socially significant.)
Possessions have value. Jedi may value the metaphysical qualities of the universe, but Mandalorians see the physical as significant. The armor is a part of you. To pass down a part of you is a way to live on forever.
Even if the Beskar itself is melted down and reforged, the metal itself does not lose the power of its inheritance.
Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum.
“I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.” [Followed by repetition of loved ones' names.]
It was a Mandalorian custom to recite the names of loved ones and friends who have passed each night before sleep. This was a means of keeping their memory alive.
The uncertainty of life meant that most Mandalorians celebrated the time they had at every opportunity, taking part in communal singing, drinking, and enjoying time with family.
The concept of aay'han was a Mandalorian term that encompassed the joy of time spent with loved ones while remembering those who were no longer among the living, relatively similar to the Basic term "bittersweet".
Headcanons & Conclusions
Death is not demeaning - is not shameful.
Despair is something one must look in the eye.
In death, you become one with the masses. Whether cremated or buried in a mass plot, you become nameless, faceless. You don’t get a “Here lies...a good mother and friend..”. This is part of the point.
By giving descendants your Beskar, you will be remembered as a protector. They will be safe, thanks partially to you. This is enough.
The meaning of life is that it ends. Death is a creative motivator. What better way to avoid stagnation than to live while you can?
The living may get a tattoo or engrave a symbol on their Beskar that was important to the deceased, to remember them by.
The Mass Graves might be something more akin to an underground catacomb, so more can be added over time.
Children are buried with the same gravity and respect as Mand’alors and war heroes.
Death is known. It is respected and known as an arduous mental, physical, and emotional process, both for those who succumb to it and those left to remember. Among Mandalorians-- to whom arasuum, the act of never adapting, is a sort of spiritual death-- physical death is not the end, only another part of growing and changing.
- Any Mandalorian would be perfectly willing to ask, and be asked, what their own wishes for death are. Depending on their clan, home planet (or lack of) and condition of their life, they may prefer a certain type of burial or have specific requests. It’s not embarrassing or scary.
- Mandalorians do not swaddle the grieving in their sadness. They are allowed to feel it powerfully, vividly, but they are also given tasks-- expectations -- rituals and practices to follow, so they might find a sense of purpose in death.
- They do not believe in the practice of beautifying a body for viewing. The mere idea of modern American standards of burial being applied to Mandalorian corpses would most likely be seen as deeply sacrilegious! Using embalming methods and protective caskets would be seen as a futile attempt to ignore the reality- it would be seen as an act of avoidance.
- Mandalorian clans often gather around the dead to wash, dress, and speak to them before they are taken away to be buried or cremated. This process can take anywhere from hours to weeks. (Corpses are not an inherent health threat. They would know this.) Spending time with the body is powerful and helps to process grief. They do not see the body as a cursed, diseased object, but a vessel that once held their loved one.
People spend time with their mothers, their brothers in war, their children. One might spend time brushing the deceased’s hair, telling them stories.
Sociologically, Mandalorians are staunch believers in the idea that it takes a village to raise a child. They take it quite literally. A neighbor, clan member or acquaintances death may be taken just as seriously as the loss of a very close loved one.
On the war-torn planet of Mandalore, where even before the purges the unwelcoming, life-resistant desert overtook the landscape, the only places with much lush greenery are the areas that are fertilized by the mass graves of Mandalorian people. These places are regarded with gratitude and to damage them or wage fights in them is seen as an unforgivable act. Death can be restorative.
(anything above headcanons & conclusions is canon, all below is my own interpretation)
material i reference here:
Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice
Legacy of the Force: Revelation
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire
General EU/SW Legends
Wookiepedia
Caitlin Doughty, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death
Caitlin Doughty, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory
Hey, everyone. I just wanted to let my partners know that I haven't forgotten anyone or my drafts. Things have just been really stressful at home, and my dad's rarely ever here, so I can't get onto the laptop. And I'm not typing 43 pages worth of replies on the phone. I don't have the energy or the patience for that.
And, some of you guys already know. But for those of you that don't, my oldest cat Mollie died about a week and a half ago. I'm trying to take it as best as I can. And other than a few minor episodes I've been ok. But we picked up her ashes today and I've just been losing it since. I don't know why. Maybe just looking at this tiny box that used to be my buddy and my nurse for 10 years got to me. Idk.
In any case, I've been too depressed really to do much. Even before she died. My replies don't feel right. My icons don't feel right. Nothing feels good enough anymore and I'm just kind of feeling like maybe I just shouldn't come back? Idk. I have no idea when I'll be able to post replies. But if anyone wants to plot something or do something small, iconless, and doesn't mind the fact that the app isn't letting me trim posts anymore, then maybe it'll help at least make me feel semi creative again. Because honestly I can't remember the last time I did.
I'm in a lot of pain too. I fell last week while we were looking at a house and landed on my knee. It's still bruised and I still can't walk.
But at least they gave us a pretty box and put Mollie's ashes in a nice little drawstring bag.
After locking the front door to the crematorium, Isabella bent down and picked up her duffel bag, swinging it over her shoulder with ease. She’d confiscated the corpse’s ID and personal affects, and was going to destroy them at home. His name had been Daniel, and he’d been 35 years old. He was outside the Longwood Art Gallery at the wrong time, and had seen her acquiring her latest painting. He had died quickly, from a single gunshot wound to the forehead, before he’d even reached for the cell phone in his pocket.
Burning the body had been a lengthy process -- it had still been dark when she’d entered the crematorium, and it was dawn now. She’d taken her time checking the bone fragments for anything identifiable, after the body had burned, but she’d been lucky. There had been nothing metal within the charred remains. It had been easy to crush bones by herself, with a hammer, and then she’d sealed the dust in a Ziploc bag to take home and dispose of. She’d slipped the Ziploc bag into her duffel bag before leaving the crematorium.
She turned to walk away from the building, and heard footsteps. She froze immediately. Without even thinking, she pulled out her gun from her holster and clicked the safety off, but didn’t move yet. Perhaps it was just an animal. It had sounded like a person, but she couldn’t be sure, so she waited. She couldn’t see anyone nearby, but the footsteps had sounded like they’d come from round the corner.
If someone did come across her, she hoped they shared her immorality, because there was no legal explanation as to why she was outside a crematorium at dawn, in her Query costume, with her police cap pulled low over her forehead, her hair tucked beneath it, and her black eye mask hiding her identity. If it wasn’t another criminal, then she hoped they wouldn’t pick a fight, or get in her way, because it would be a lot of effort to dispose of two bodies in one night.
With Feferi’s help Aradia slides open the sarcophagus lid, revealing John’s ancient skeleton, dressed in the traditional blue vestments of the Heir of Breath. Aradia took her place before an enormous stone mortar, decorated with carved skulls, and removed the heavy pestle from it. Feferi meanwhile began her duty of removing his bones and depositing them with the massive mortar. As the last of John's bones had been gathered up, Aradia looked to Feferi, who cleared her throat and began to read from a small black book. "Ashes to ashes…" The normally bubbly fuchsia heiress intoned solemnly as Aradia lifted the gigantic pestle in preparation to begin grinding. She brought the pestle down harshly into the massive stone mortar, smashing fingers and ribs into powder. "Dust… To dust." Feferi continued as she saw John's skull crushed into a fine meal. Using both hands, Aradia harshly worked the stone pestle against the bones, leaving nothing but dust. After many minutes of grinding, John's skeleton was soon reduced to mere ashes. Feferi then placed a funnel within a grand, tall hourglass and set it before Aradia, who, effortlessly lifting the more than 150 pound basalt mortar, emptied John’s remains into it. Feferi then corked the hourglass back up and once more read from the black book, her voice still grim. “Our time in this world is brief.”, she said as Aradia swiftly raised the hourglass above her head and watched the sand trickle downwards. “With each fallen grain…” She looked up from her book. "We grow closer to the final slumber." She finished as Aradia sat it down harshly upon John’s sarcophagus lid.
Do you wanna get married? I think there’s something wrong with you
