I Lived, I Mattered. Dont Put Me In The Closet!

I want more then a party when I die!
Americans are embracing cremation as their preferred choice when making funeral plans today. About 45% according to the Cremation Association of America. Working in Hospice Care or the funeral biz, we hear it all the time. “Just scatter my ashes and have a party”.

Good Bye Whatcha Face
Here's to Who?

I don’t want all that fuss involved with a funeral. It sounds good and simple, but does not create a very healing environment or a carefully planned ceremony that will shine a positive light on your life. Most people want to feel that their life mattered and that the things they believe in and the projects they have started will be remembered and hopefully carried on. A funeral should express what the deceased valued in their life and help instill those values in others so that the dream may continue.

These selfish half ass plans to just have a party in my memory just don’t cut it today or any time in history. Opportunities to remember and heal takes thoughtful planning. That’s what Funeral Directors and Celebrants do! Cremation should allow for even more opportunity then burial, because it give us the freedom of more time to create what should be the most important event in your life. To take what mattered most to us to our grave without ever sharing is just a sad, sad shame.  What’s even worst is, as a result of not having a real funeral plan, is the final disposition of your earthly remains are not being fulfilled.  The ashes of many are ending up stowed away at home in “the closet”. How and why are the sacred earthly remains of our loved one’s ending up in such a non-flattering shrine.

Mom, Uncle Fred, Johnny......

It sounds simple “just scatter me”. But to make this request can often lead to these closet internments. The request to scatter me is  apparently not enough. The survivors who want to do the “right thing” but are often unsure of exactly what to do with the cremated remains or what people usually refer to as “the ashes”. You choose scattering because it’s a very natural way to go back to the earth and continue the cycle of life. But when no one really knows the specifics it just might be put off so long that not doing becomes easier then not doing.

The lesson here is to just take some time and think about your legacy and how and where do you want things done. People that do participate in scattering have said they feel a huge sense of relief and that the scattering can conjure feelings of completing the natural cycle of life as they are giving the ashes back to nature.

Selecting a location to scatter is what should be an important life decision. For spiritual Christians the mountains, lake or golf course just seems to be sanctified then the sacred grounds of a cemetery. For these spiritual Christians there is now a way to choose scattering yet also be laid to rest on beautiful sacred grounds.

Ash Scattering
Memorial Scattering Garden in Israel

The Ash Scattering Society now offers a service called Holyland Ash Scattering in response to people’s desire to be scattered in worldwide locations of particular beauty and meaning. Their Holy Land Ash Scattering service, provides the ultimate location for scattering ashes. Their memorial scattering garden is in Israel along the Jesus trail, overlooking the beautiful Sea of Galilee, where Jesus once walked. It’s easy to ship the ashes to them and you even get a video of the complete scattering ceremony!

With new options like Holyland Ash Scattering it’s time to get many of those poor abandoned souls, out of the closet! and laid to rest. Spiritual Americans have begun to embrace this new option. For many the pilgrimage to the Holy Land has been a lifelong dream. Some do get to visit this very meaningful region and have a life changing experience. Now with the services of Holyland Ash Scattering anyone can rest eternal for all time for less than the cost of a plane ticket.

WWW.HOLYLANDASHSCATTERING.COM

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Cremation Business is For The Birds

Scattering ashes is now the preferred choice disposition for the majority of people who choose cremation. Places of natural beauty and special meaning are often selected as the final resting place for those scattered near and far. Locations are limitless but two popular choices stand out. Into the sea is very popular throughout the world. Closer to home, scattering into the garden is the preferred choice. If you think about it the garden is a micro world where the full cycle of life continues year after year. It is hard to feel more connected to the earth then when we work with nature in our gardens. Working the soil is a deep rooted and natural cycle that humans have benefited from since ancient times. As we reap the harvest and admire the beauty of the garden, a spiritual connection is ever present. Its no wonder why so many choose the garden as their final place of rest.

Just like when the funeral industry created biodegradable scattering urns for those who scatter at sea, a new way to scatter in the garden will now harmonize with nature to memorialize the dead. Introducing Birdhouse Memorial Urns!

Birdhouse Urns

These urns serve as beautiful and functional scattering urns, that following the scattering ceremony, convert into a memorial birdhouse, providing a true “Living Memorial”

Birdhouse Urns Provide:

•    A dignified vessel to hold the ashes and display at funeral ceremonies.

•    A functional scattering urn that will easily disperse our loved one’s remains back to the earth.

•    A lasting living memorial that will give survivors a necessary place to visit, remember and heal for years to come.

Birdhouse Memorial Urns are the natural choice for many:

They are a natural way to go back to the earth and continue the cycle of life. As birds come and go with the seasons to build their nest and raise their young, the cycle of life continues. These memorial not only provide shelter to our winged friends, but also give comfort to the survivors when they come to these places of rest. Birds often remind us of a sense of freedom and oneness with nature that many of us yearn for. Watching the birds provides us with tranquil moments in time that help us reflect on the lives of our loved one’s for generations to come.

Birdhouse Memorial Urns Are:

•    A memorial that will live on
•    Earth Friendly
•    Creates Wildlife Habitat
•    A place to come where spirits will soar and memories will fly
•    A place where life goes on
Birdhouse Memorial Urns come with everything you need to convert them into a memorial birdhouse. They also come with a handmade cast paper heart that is embedded with seeds. You may plant this heart in memory and beautiful forget me-not flowers will grow year after year.

Jeff Staab, a funeral director and owner of Cremation Solutions got the idea a few years ago when he was selling a traditional scattering urn to a client family in rural Vermont. The family wanted to scatter the ashes of their father in his favorite meadow on their property. They like the idea of the scattering urn and the way it functioned, but asked what would they do with it after the scattering. Jeff suggested that they screw it to a tree and drill a hole in the side so that the birds that lived in the meadow could use it for a home. The family love the idea. A year later the mother died and they requested the same scattering urn so that mom could also have her own memorial birdhouse. These were the first birdhouse memorial urns. Now their are several unique styles to reflect on one’s individual taste and style. Please don’t tell the birds why they are getting such classy new homes, we wouldn’t want them to fell guilty about their new dwellings.

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Going Back to Blueberry Mountain

Here at Cremation Solutions we know that the scattering of ashes just comes naturally to some families. A favorite swimming hole, ski trail, the 18th hole. Especially places that are already a traditional visit for a family may one day become even more sacred when our earthly remains one day become one with the special places we love.

To have the insight to say “This is my special place” often does not come natural. Just scatter me is just not enough! So as you are getting along in your life and sharing and exploring for your “Special place”, be sure to share it with other so they will know to grant your final wish.

By, Mark Harris author of Grave Matters

On Blueberry Hill

On a bright, sultry morning a few weeks ago, my family hiked up the small, blueberry-topped mountain that lies a few miles from the summer home my in-laws own in the wilds of New Hampshire.

When we reached the summit, Theresa set her pack on a granite boulder, looked out to the forested horizon and made the announcement that’s become a standard feature of our annual trek into local blueberry territory: “Now don’t forget,” my wife said to me, our two teenage daughters and, seemingly, the universe. “This is where I want to be buried when I die.”

We hardly needed the reminder. Theresa has talked long and openly about her final wishes. Even in grade school our daughters could (and sometimes did) recite the brief of her burial plans to their astonished classmates: My Mama wants to be cremated, have her ashes put in a paper bag and buried under a blueberry bush in New Hampshire.

The blueberry mountain is, our girls know, Theresa’s special place. From early childhood on, my wife has been coming to this lush and verdant hill, to hike, pick blueberries, and for at least a few hours commune with a natural world that couldn’t look any more pristine and untrammeled. Stand at the peak beside the lone fire tower here and all you’ll see is a hilltop overrun in blueberry and raspberry bushes and, beyond, stretching into the far distance in every direction, an undulating and unbroken landscape of trees.

For almost fifty years, Theresa has absorbed this place. Its clean air has filled her lungs; its colors and calm and rhythms have filled her being. In all that time, this wooded corner of the Granite State has, metaphorically but also quite literally, become a part of who she is. Of course, she would want to return here at the end.

When it comes, my wife’s Ash scattering / burial on blueberry mountain will rejoin her with the elements that so infused and inspired her in life. At the last, she will simply be one with her beloved patch of earth. And when she is, her children can come and find their mother in Mother Nature — in these blueberry bushes and red maples, on the winding trail up this mountain and at its peak — where she lives on.

A green scattering or burial of her ashes can save us money. It’s good for the planet, hews to honorable tradition, and celebrates our loved ones. More than all that, it returns our departed to the natural cycle of life — of life and death, decay and rebirth — that turns forever. And in that way, gains them immortality.

Often people do not specify where they want to be scattered and survivors who want to do the right thing will ponder forever just where is that special place. Ashes go into storage as this now gets put off because no one can agree or conclude the place of final rest. As result guilt and lack of closure may eat at  the conscious of our family for years to come.

Holylnd Ash Scattering
The Holy Land

Now for many that have been interred to the closet the answer is easy. What better a place then the land where Jesus lived and taught. A very special memorial scattering garden has now been opened to the public to scatter the ashes of their loved one’s in the Holy Land. This protected garden has been set aside just for this purpose by Holyland Ash Scattering. This professional service in now available through any funeral home. Millions of Christians make the pilgrimage to this sacred land for a truly life changing experience. Now they have the option of becoming one with this land for all eternity.

Scattering Garden for Ashes
Private Memorial Scattering Garden

Its not too late learn how you can have a professional and dignified scattering ceremony in the holiest of all the lands. Survivors will receive and DVD of the entire ceremony that will be cherished for generations and start new traditions that will take away the guessing game of just what is the perfect place.

Holyland Ash Scattering
Watch a Video of our Sacred Scattering Garden Here

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Vatican Prefers Burial and Opposes Scattering Ashes

Lord knows Christians are scattering ashes in locations that are both meaningful and beautiful. Favorite fishing holes, golf courses, mountain vistas, parks and beyond. It doesn’t seem to matter where they as far as the Vatican is concerned. no where is good enough!

The second Italian-language edition of the ‘Funeral Rites’, produced by the Vatican Publishing House, was presented recently at the headquarters of Vatican Radio. Among other things, the new edition contains fully revised biblical texts and prayers.

The first innovation refers to the visit to the family, which was not part of the earlier edition. Msgr Angelo Lameri of the National Liturgical Office of the Italian Episcopal Conference, explained how “for a priest this a moment to share in the suffering, to listen to the mourning relatives, to learn about certain aspects of the deceased’s life with a view to a correct and personalised presentation during the funeral”.

Thou Should Not Scatter!

Another change involves the revised and enriched ritual for the closing of the coffin; with a number of different texts for various situations: an elderly person, a young person, or someone who has died unexpectedly.

Other changes involve the pronouncement of words recalling of the deceased at the moment of the committal, and the introduction of a broad range of possibilities for the prayer of the faithful.

However the most significant new departure, contained in the appendix of the book, concerns cremation. Msgr Lameri explained that the issue of cremation had been placed in an appendix to highlight the fact that the Church, “although she does not oppose the cremation of bodies, when not done ‘in odium fidei’, continues to maintain that the burial of the dead is more appropriate, that it expresses faith in the resurrection of the flesh, nourishes the piety of the faithful and favors the recollection and prayer of relatives and friends”.

In exceptional cases, the rites normally celebrated at the cemetery chapel or the tomb may be celebrated at the cremation site, and it is recommended that the coffin be accompanied to that site. One particularity important aspect is that “cremation is considered as concluded when the urn is deposited in the cemetery”. This is because,
although the law does allow ashes to be scattered in the open or conserved in places other than a cemetery, “such practices … raise considerable doubts as to their coherence to Christian faith, especially when they conceal pantheist or naturalistic beliefs”.

The new ‘Funeral Rites’ also focuses on the search for the meaning of death. Concluding the presentation, Bishop Alceste Catella, president of the Episcopal Commission for Liturgy, explained that “the book is testament to the faith of believers and to the importance of respect and ‘pietas’ towards the deceased, respect for the human body even when dead. It is testament to the pressing need to cultivate memory and to have a specific place in which to place the body or the ashes, in the profound certainty that this is authentic faith and authentic humanism”.

Here at Cremation Solutions we understand people are going to do what they want and often for disregard for the the rules of their church leaders. In the Jewish faith for example, cremation is strictly forbidden, yet I recent spoke recently to the owner of a Jewish funeral home in Florida who said he is now cremating 35% of the Jews he serves. He does not promote cremation at all, yet people continue to request it. Next thing you know dogs will be living with cats and watching kitty porn!

Christians now can choose to be scattered in the holiest land in all the world. Funeral homes are now working with a company called Holyland Ash Scattering. The company makes it easy to be scattered in their own private memorial scattering garden in Israel. Right along side the Jesus trail, where Jesus lived and taught his followers. People you use this service to return to the holy land are thrilled to be able to lay to rest the earthly remains of their loved ones on such sacred and protected grounds. Survivors can make the pilgrimage in the future and visit the memorial garden and reflect on the life that was, as they gaze out over the sea of Galilee. A popular trend now for people who choose to scatter, is to retain a portion of the ashes. With so many using cremation jewelry to keep and hold their loved one close to their heart and keepsake sized urns. I wonder what the Vatican thinks of people wearing jewelry that holds a portion of ashes. We may have to wait a couple hundred years to find out.

Scattering Ashes in the Holy Land
Serving Funeral Homes Everywhere

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Scattering Ashes is No Longer The Exception

We hear it a lot these days. “Just scatter my ashes and have a big party”.

Well that sounds pretty easy and parties are fun, right?  It should be easy, but without some thoughtful planning, survivors are faced with many unanswered questions. Often the scattering is put off because of all the questions and the ashes often end up on the top shelf in the hallway closet indefinitely.

Scattering Ashes in Alaska
Places of Natural Beauty Are Often Selected

Helping people learn how to have a creative and meaningful scattering ceremony is a large part of the reason that Cremation Solutions exist. Families are grateful to learn that they can create a meaningful event and still follow the persons request to “just scatter me”. Scattering ashes is often the final act of love survivors can participate in. Scattering is nothing less than a committal service, it is an event that should contain ceremony and ritual. It is important for family and friends to experience a meaningful and memorable final tribute. In some cases it is the only tribute, so let’s do our best. People who choose to have their ashes scattered do not consider scattering to be any less respectful or meaningful than any other disposition option. In fact, families that have scattered are experiencing a higher level of satisfaction. They consider scattering to be a more natural way to return to the earth. Scattering also allows families the flexibility of choosing a site that is personable and has special meaning to the deceased and the survivors. Sites with natural beauty are also often selected.

Scattering a friends ashes
Some Take Turns Scattering a Friends Ashes

The decision to scatter ashes is no longer unique. With more than half of all cremated Americans and Canadians as well choosing the scattering of ashes, scattering is NOW the #1 disposition of cremated remains in the United States and Canada and continues to grow. Funeral professionals are the only ones that aren’t catching on. Most funeral professionals consider scattering a dirty and unprofitable choice of final disposition. They will help you get buried or interred. They will help you create funeral and memorial events, but when the choice is to scatter, they will help you as far as the door! Some of the more progressive funeral homes now offer special urns for families that choose to scatter the ashes, but that’s about as far as it goes. Cremation Solutions was started when our founder, a funeral director for over twenty years noticed how those who choose to scatter have been neglected by the funeral professionals in general. Cremation Solutions has grown to become the #1 resource for those choosing to scatter.

Here are some things to consider when planning a scattering ceremony. Hopefully a funeral or memorial event will take place before the scattering ceremony. Planning these events are what funeral professionals are really good at. Even if you’re not having public viewing and or visitation, you should still give survivors the chance to gather and celebrate the life that was lived. This helps survivors not only with the healing process but also to continue important relationships with each other and to support those who really need it. Now for the scattering ceremony you should consider first if you want a public ceremony or will it just be the family gathering. For a public ceremony, you might want the scattering to follow the memorial event, just like when a procession follows to the cemetery for committal services. Will more than one person scatter the ashes or will there be a chance to share in the scattering of ashes. Will the gathering be at the place of the scattering or somewhere else, either before or after? Will they do more than one scattering if there are relatives or friends in another part of the country? If people know the date and time the scattering will occur, they can then take that time to honor the memory of the deceased in their own way.

Because of the popularity of scattering ashes, suppliers to the funeral industry have been inventive and prolific in providing ways to remember. Three popular product types that relate specifically to families that desire to scatter are scattering urns, keepsakes, and keepsake jewelry. Scattering style cremation urns can be displayed at services, creating a focal point and sense of reality. They allow the cremated remains to be easily disbursed while adding dignity to the process. The location of the ash scattering sometimes determines the style of scattering urn to be used. The most popular location is over water and there are many water soluble urns that are specifically designed for this purpose. The second most popular location is on the family property. Birdhouse memorial scattering urns are a great option for these families because they are scattering urns that will convert into a memorial birdhouse, providing comfort for the years to come. Some scattering urns can be kept as an art piece or provide a place to keep mementos of the deceased or be used as a vase. Because scattering is irreversible, keeping portions of the ashes is even more important to the family that chooses to scatter. If families relocate, they can be left with feelings of abandonment. Keepsake urns and jewelry help provide the comforting knowledge that part of the earthly remains can always be kept close. They come in many sizes and styles and often match the style of the scattering urn. Keepsakes can be used to contain the ashes as well as jewelry, hair or other mementos of the deceased.

Scattering is nothing new, it has been happening for over a thousand years, but it has lost much of its ritual, most of which never made its way into modern times. Research tells us that today’s families still want meaningful celebrations of life with ceremony and personal memorable tributes. The people of today just won’t settle for the cookie cutter, insert name here funeral service anymore. Many are hiring or consulting with funeral celebrants to help create and a more meaningful and memorable event.

Funeral Celebrant
Celebrant Reading For Scattering Ceremony

Funeral celebrants are ceremony specialists who have a sound background in the history of ritual, ceremony and funeral traditions in many cultures and religions. Funeral Celebrants have been drawn to this work by a strong realization that every life has meaning and deserves to be celebrated and celebrated well. Many have experienced grief themselves. All are convinced that funerals can be a valuable source of healing. Nothing can take away the grief, but a genuine, well prepared tribute may ease the pain. Whether your family is secular, religious, spiritual or interfaith, or if you simply wish to express yourself in a manner of your own, choosing a Celebrant can help to create a meaningful, memorable, fitting end of life tribute.

As a response for so many wanting to scatter in the perfect location, a new company has risen from the ashes. You can now hire a professional ash scattering service that will scatter the ashes in the holiest of all locations. In their private memorial scattering garden Holyland Ash Scattering will scatter your ashes on the land where Jesus lived and taught his followers. Now anyone can follow Jesus for all eternity by arranging their final tribute in this very special location. This service is available through any funeral home. Survivors will even receive a video of the actual scattering in Israel. To have final rest where our spiritual roots were set in the beginning is to be truly blessed.

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A Fitting Farewell: Marines Scatter the Ashes of Their Fallen Comrade in a Daring Skydive

A group of high flying Marines recently paid tribute to their daredevil colleague in a spectacular group sky dive as they scattered the ashes of Sergeant Brett Jaffe in mid air, while in a group free fall thousands of feet above the Arizona desert. People have been getting increasingly creative with the final act of scattering ashes. Appropriately this group of brave marines choose the Phillips drop zone on the Yuma proving grounds in Yuma Arizona.

Marines Scattering Ashes
How did they do that with the American Flag

Speaking to Home Post, The Military Life, Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Marty Rhett said: ‘It was an honor and privilege to take this Marine on his last jump and give him a proper hail and farewell.’

Ashes Scattered in Perfect Location
He Would Approve

Sergeant Jaffe had served in the Marines for 11 years. While stationed in Reno he met his wife Elizabeth and married in 2005. Together they traveled the world and enjoyed action adventures including jet skiing, snowboarding, motorcycling and hiking.

Sgt Jaffe, 41, was killed in a Jet Ski accident on July 15 at the Boca Reservoir in Northern California. The skydive took place just last week. Brett would have done the same for one of his buddies.

What would you do for a friend or family member that wanted to be scattered to the four winds. Here at Cremation Solutions we are hearing more and more stories of adventure on the road to final farewells. Often survivors can not choose just one special and meaningful location, so they scatter the ashes in multiple locations. Its a win win! Often a small amount of ashes are saved for other memorial options such as cremation jewelry and mementos of eternal meaning. Their really is no wrong or right way. With ash scattering even the sky is not the limit as demonstrated by these creative comrades.

Their are even professional scattering services now that can fulfill your scattering wishes. Boats, planes, balloons and space are all options. A new company called Holyland Ash Scattering can even scatter your ashes in the land where Jesus taught and performed miracles of biblical proportions. Now your ashes can rest eternal on this sacred ground.

Where and how would you want your ashes scattered. Its OK be creative, we love to hear from you at Cremation Solutions

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The Circle of Life. Returning to the Holy Land Is The Final Pilgrimage.

It is estimated that seven percent of the world’s Christians, over 150 million people make the pilgrimage to the Holy Land every year. Since the 1950s, millions of Christians have traveled to the Holy Land to visit the historic sites associated with Jesus’ life and death.  The Holy Land is one of the most popular tourist destinations on earth.

Looking Across the Sea of Galilee to Mt Beatitudes

Why do so many visit the Holy Land? The Holy Land has witnessed the origins and early history of three of the world’s great religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. With earth that has been walked by Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Jesus, the apostles, and the Prophet Muhammad, the Holy Land has been a sought-after destination from ancient times until today.  History stands still here.  In Jerusalem, Jews still pray at the Western Wall, Christians still visit the place where Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb, and Muslims still worship at the ancient Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque

Some Christians are spiritual and therefore more place-centered, whereas Catholic pilgrims are more focused on the Bible and a “personal relationship” with Jesus. There are also those whose pilgrimage is initiated by life cycle transitions such as the death of a spouse, retirement and the birth of grandchildren.  For all it’s the journey of a lifetime.

Pilgrimage is both ordinary and extra-ordinary, since pilgrims leave home in a dramatic way, often for the first time. Pilgrimage to the Holy Land is the one way Christians travel with the purpose of stabilizing and preserving their faith.

Most pilgrims report that their journey to the Holy Land was a life changing experience. Some feel transformed and at peace with themselves. Still others report a renewed awareness of their spiritual roots. For each traveler, the experience is different.  In the words of Martin Buber -“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”

Behold the Spectacular Beauty of the Holy Land

For the Christian, a pilgrimage to the Holy Land is the ultimate spiritual journey to the birthplace of Christianity, to the place where “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”. Attesting to its’ powerful impact on the visitor; William Johnston, author of the acclaimed handbook on the Holy Land, says: “Here the pilgrim who is open to God’s grace will be deeply enriched in the Faith, for the mind will be filled with the awesome wonder of so many sacred shrines and this will be cemented in the heart never to fade”.

If a pilgrimage to the Holy Land changes lives and is the ultimate spiritual journey for millions of people during their lifetime, returning to this sacred place after our lives are completed would be the ultimate final destination.  For those choosing cremation, your final resting place can be the Holy Land. Your ashes can be placed in a private garden overlooking the Sea of Galilee.  HolyLand Ash Scattering can place your ashes in the most spiritual place on earth, for all eternity.

Private Memorial Scattering Garden

Holy Land Ash Scattering has a private garden overlooking the Sea of Galilee, near Tabatha, the Mount of Beatitudes. It is the traditional site of Jesus’ delivery of the Sermon on the Mount, probably the most famous sermon of all time. Pilgrims have been drawn to this historic place since the 4th century.  After your journey in life is complete, you can choose to return to the birthplace of civilization for all time.

HolyLand Ash Scattering can make your final pilgrimage to the Holy Land possible.  Your ashes can only be scattered once.  Let HolyLand Ash Scattering  perform a sacred ceremony and honor your memory. Complete the circle of life and find your forever home .

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Scattering Service Produces Profits for Funeral Homes

Holyland Ash Scattering, a division of Ash Scattering Society LLC, the leading provider of ash scattering services partners with Funeral Directors to offer a unique option of returning ashes to the earth in Holy Land.

Arlington, VT, May 15, 2012:  Holyland Ash Scattering was started in response to the public’s desire to have their sacred earthly remains scattered to the four winds. The company has now made it possible for funeral homes to profit by offerScattering Gardening professional scattering services. A new website www.holylandashscattering.com will help guide and educate families. Funeral Directors struggling with declining revenues due to the rise of cremation, now have a unique opportunity to help those that they serve by offering a very  special scattering service. Holyland Ash Scattering has developed a private memorial scattering garden in the Holyland. They will take care of all of the details to arrange safe and secure shipping of the ashes to their office in Israel. The ashes will then be scattered in the most spiritual place in the world. Overlooking the Sea of Galilee, in the hills where Jesus lived and taught, their private memorial garden is a sacred place for a secure, final disposition for all time. To further commemorate the sacred scattering ceremony, the company professionally videotapes and preserves this event on DVD as well as a You Tube download, to give  your client families added piece of mind,  and as keepsake to watch and share with friends and family. A handsome framed certificate of scattering is also included as an heirloom gift from your funeral home.

  • Cremation is increasing at an alarming rate, reducing funeral service revenues. Partnering with Holyland Ash Scattering is one way to help reclaim some of your lost revenue while distinguishing your funeral home and your product offerings.
  • Many families are choosing cremation and more than half of them are considering scattering. You can assist them in providing a professional scattering service that will make the event more meaningful and spiritual, while taking away the burden of trying to figure out the perfect sendoff.
  • Baby Boomers are seeking new and innovative ways to memorialize their lives and passing. They have already embraced scattering as their preferred choice. Now you can offer them the option of being returned to the earth in this special place that marks the birth of civilization.
Scattering Garden
Our Memorial Scattering Garden

Ash Scattering Society LLC has over twenty years experience working in the funeral service industry. We understand the shrinking margins that funeral home’s face today. We know today’s client families demand up to date options. General Manager Jeff Staab say’s we have developed this service based on 3 core principles:

  1. 1. Comfort: Funeral Directors can provide added comfort to their client families by offering the best possible option for scattering their loved one’s ashes, utilizing the most professional and caring people to perform the service.
  2. 2. Confidence: Often client families are not comfortable handling the scattering of ashes. Plagued by the desire to do it right and not knowing the options is the main reason so many put it off indefinitely. As a result the liability of storing ashes often falls on the funeral home. Offering a professional service will help give families the confidence they need, knowing they made the best choice.
  3. 3. Closure: Making the choice to use a professional scattering service and returning their loved ones to their spiritual roots will provide the much needed closure for client families. Eliminating the need for second guessing and guilt about doing the right thing is a gift that Funeral Directors can give their client families.

The Process:

  • Holy Land Ash Scattering  partners with Funeral Directors in offering the best scattering options to their client families and compensates them well for their recommendation.
  • Holy Land Ash Scattering takes care of shipping the ashes and then performs a dignified scattering ceremony in our own private memorial park in the hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee; an area rich in history & spirituality.
  • Holy Land Ash Scattering will also assist in decreasing funeral home’s inventories of ashes. The families you have served in the past can now be given an option. Remove your funeral home from the liability of storing ashes indefinitely. Even if they do not choose our service, you have opened the door to discuss other options and hopefully get them out from under your roof!.

Who We Are:

  • Ash Scattering Society LLC is the industry leader in Ash Scattering worldwide. They are the most trusted, professional and experienced service provider in the funeral service industry.
  • They use  proven marketing strategies and apply them to funeral service for an optimal outcome. They make it easy for funeral professionals and supply all the need professional marking materials and documents to offer their services. Services are very affordable to client families and provide a new and needed stream of revenue to Funeral Directors.
  • Their first brand is the Holyland. This was the obvious first choice due to the high percentage of the Christian market who embrace this sacred location. They will be launching other unique brands/locations, utilizing both sea and sky scattering services. Future brands will include sports venues, golf courses and women centric locations. All brands will be professionally managed with a focus on quality, integrity and trust.

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Providing client families with cremation choices is what you do. Partnering with Ash Scattering Society LLC gives you the ability to offer families the best scattering option available. By scattering in the Holy Land, families are able to have comfort, confidence and closure knowing that they have assisted their loved ones to complete their journey on earth and return to their spiritual roots to rest undisturbed for all eternity.

For more information visit: www.HolyLandAshScattering.com

or contact Jeff@holylandashscattering or call #888-720-1961

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In the UK and the USA Every Funeral Home Has a Room for Unclaimed Cremation Ashes


Unclaimed cremation ashes sitting in storage.

Why are so many ashes being left at the funeral home? Here at Cremation Solutions, we believe that the funeral directors who are making arrangements are not going into enough depth with families as to the final disposition of their loved one’s ashes. The question is WHY?! Do you see rooms full of caskets waiting for families to make a decision? Of course not.  It would be illegal and a health hazard. With urns of ashes though, funeral directors tend to be lax in finding a home for them.  Then, they get bothered as the urns of ashes pile up. If they would just talk about the ashes and all the options available, such as cremation or keepsake jewelry in addition to traditional urns, as well as doing a little follow up with the family, we believe that the storage problem can be avoided and the survivors granted the piece of mind they need deserve. When cremation ashes are left in urns at the funeral home it can cause unresolved grief. The longer you wait the harder it becomes to deal with.  As time goes on, what could have been a ceremony turns into disposal.

What happens to uncollected ashes?

Feed Me To The Wind (Caleb Parkin Producer)

With more people being cremated rather than buried after death, ash-scattering ceremonies are gaining in popularity. But what happens when it doesn’t go according to plan – or if no-one collects the remains?

There is a moment in the film The Big Lebowski where the Dude (Jeff Bridges) and Walter (John Goodman) take their late friend Donny’s ashes to a cliff top. Walter insists on saying “a few words”, then scatters Donny’s mortal remains from a giant coffee cup.

But prevailing winds mean that Donny, instead of ending up in the “Pacific Ocean, which he loved so well”, ends up all over the Dude.

For a meaningful, solemn occasion to be unexpectedly blown off course is a real and increasing phenomenon. We want to say the right words, in the right place, at the right moment and with all the right people in attendance. But it doesn’t always go according to plan.

Adam Heath, a funeral director from Sheffield, has noticed a shift in how the bereaved treat ashes during his 30-year career.

“It used to be that everyone was scattered at the garden of remembrance [at] the crematorium,” he says. Now, as fictional depictions of ash-scattering are more common, they prefer to take the ashes to a location with personal significance for the deceased. “They would like to be able to do their own thing, too.”

Although some 70% of Britons will be cremated, few specify what they would like done with their remains. Those left behind have to make an educated guess.

“One minute he’s your dad, then the next you’ve got this urn – plastic and disappointing,” says Sally, of Bristol. “You want to do it poetically, like in the movies, but there’s always more of it. And, in the end, you’re like ‘Oh, just tip him out.'”

Kevin Browne, bereavement services manager for Broxstowe Borough Council, says it is part of our national psyche to be surprised by ashes.

“We’re so British, we don’t talk about death, do we? People aren’t aware of the options they’ll have – they haven’t given it any thought at all.

“On TV you just see a token gesture [amount] being scattered – a couple of egg cupfuls. The quantity and weight seem to catch people off guard.”

And that’s if the ashes are even collected.

Funeral directors up and down the country have a room of unclaimed ashes. These can range from tens to hundreds of ashes, some of which date from the late 19th Century. Uncertainty about what to do with these remains is certainly a factor.

Scattering the Ashes of GandI

Gandhi’s ashes – held in secret for decades by a family friend – were scattered in 2010. Many families wait a considerable length of time pondering just the right way on how to scatter ashes. Ashes do not belong to anyone, in the same way as a person cannot belong to another under British law. Ashes will be returned to whoever made the funeral arrangements, not necessarily the next of kin.

Nor do funeral directors press the issue with the recently bereaved, says Heath.

“It’s important, to arrange someone’s funeral, to get some insight into their psyche, to get what’s right for them at the time. But what they want to do with the ashes, collecting them or not, I don’t want to take sides or pick a fight.”

Until recently, there was scant advice for funeral directors on what to do with unclaimed ashes.

In December, the National Association of Funeral Directors published guidelines stating that unclaimed ashes must be stored for at least five years, with efforts being made to locate the rightful recipient, before a funeral company could dispose of them. This includes scattering ashes with a scattering urn in a garden of remembrance or at a beauty spot. Some scattering urns will convert into a memorial birdhouse where life will continue. Always get the landowner’s permission when scattering – or interring them.

Douglas Davies, of the Centre for Death and Life Studies at Durham University, says even Britons who are not religious want to mark a loved one’s passing in a way that reflects that person’s values and preferences.

“In the Christian idea, people thought you would gain a new identity in heaven. But with a decrease in this idea, this ‘looking back’ [at a person’s past] came on – and there were the cremated remains as a symbol.”

Sasha Baron Cohen "The Dictator" Scatters Ashes on the Red Carpet

But death and human remains can have shock value, as the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen showed at last month’s Oscars ceremony. Carrying an urn emblazoned with the image of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, he began scattering the ashes on the red carpet, claiming this to be the dying wish of the leader – who, incidentally, had portrayed himself as a film buff. Security did not take kindly to the gesture.

But fulfilling one’s identity through their ashes is what many hope to do. Famously, journalist Hunter S Thompson’s ashes were fired into the sky – as per his wishes – in a giant firework, paid for by his friend Johnny Depp.

Others want their ashes turned into cremation jewelery or even cremation diamonds . Many get comfort by keeping the ashes home in a simple cremation urns – or perhaps scattered from a specially designed plane.

So the choice is yours. Or at least, it should be.

Original transcript via BBC

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Questions About Scattering Ashes and Scattering Urns and Keepsakes

“Just scatter my ashes and have a big party” We hear it a lot these days. Such celebrations of life are easy and parties are fun, right? It should be easy, but without some thoughtful planning, survivors are faced with many unanswered questions.

Often the scattering may be put off because of all the unanswered questions (“Do I need a scattering urn?”, “What’s the best way to scatter ashes?”, etc.)and the ashes can end up on that top shelf in the hallway closet indefinitely. Helping people learn how to have a creative and meaningful scattering ceremony is a large part of the reason that Cremation Solutions exists.

Scattering ashes outdoors is on a piece of land with significance to the deceased is often selected by their families.

Families are grateful to learn that they can create a meaningful event and still follow the persons request to “just scatter me”. Scattering ashes is often the final act of love that survivors can participate in. Scattering is nothing less than a committal service, it is an event that should contain ceremony and ritual. It is important for family and friends to experience a meaningful and memorable final tribute.

People who choose to have their ashes scattered do not consider scattering to be any less respectful or meaningful than any other disposition option. In fact, families that have scattered are experiencing a higher level of satisfaction. They consider scattering to be a more natural way to return loved ones to the earth. Scattering also allows families the flexibility of choosing a site that is personable and has special meaning to the deceased and the survivors. Sites with natural beauty or familial significance are also often selected.

Ash scattering is becoming fairly common in North America with more than half of all cremated Americans and Canadians choosing the scattering of ashes. In fact scattering is now the most common disposition of cremated remains in the United States and Canada. And the number of people selecting cremation continues to grow, not only in North America, but also internationally in such areas as Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

However, funeral professionals are the only ones that aren’t catching on. Most funeral professionals consider scattering a dirty and unprofitable choice of final disposition. They will eagerly help with a burial, an interment, or the planning and creation of funeral and memorial events, but when the choice is to scatter, they will help you as far as the door!

Some of the more progressive funeral homes now offer special urns for families that choose to scatter the ashes, but that’s about as far as it goes. Cremation Solutions was started when our founder, a funeral director for over twenty years noticed how those who choose to scatter have been so neglected by the funeral professionals in general. He created Cremation Solutions to be an informative and authoritative source of information for those choosing to scatter.

Here are some things to consider when planning a scattering ceremony. Hopefully a funeral or memorial event will take place before the scattering ceremony. Planning these events are what funeral professionals are really good at. Even if you’re not having public viewing and or visitation, you should still give survivors the chance to gather and celebrate the life that was lived. This helps survivors not only with the healing process but also to continue important relationships with each other and to support those who really need it.

For the scattering ceremony you should consider first if you want a public ceremony or will it just be the family gathering. For a public ceremony, you might want the scattering to follow the memorial event, just like when a procession follows to the cemetery for committal services.

  • Will more than one person scatter the ashes or will there be a chance to share in the scattering of ashes?
  • Will the gathering be at the place of the scattering or somewhere else, either before or after?
  • Will there be more than one scattering if there are relatives or friends in another part of the country? If people know the date and time the scattering will occur, they can then take that time to honor the memory of the deceased in their own way.

As the popularity of scattering ashes has grown, new options for remembrance have been created. Three popular product types that relate specifically to families that desire to scatter are scattering urns, keepsakes, and keepsake jewelry.

Families often scatter ashes over water during scattering ceremonies.

Scattering urns can be displayed at services, creating a focal point and sense of reality. Urns allow the cremated remains to be easily disbursed while adding dignity to the process. The location of the scattering sometimes determines the style of scattering urn to be used. The most popular location is over water and there are many water soluble urns that are specifically designed for this purpose.

The second most popular location is on the family property. Birdhouse memorial urns are a great option for these families because they are scattering urns that will convert into a memorial birdhouse, providing comfort for the years to come. Some scattering urns can be kept as an art piece or provide a place to keep mementos of the deceased or be used as a vase.

Because scattering is irreversible, keeping some of the ashes can be very important to the family that chooses to scatter. If families relocate, they can be left with feelings of abandonment. Keepsake urns and jewelry help provide the comforting knowledge that part of the earthly remains can always be kept close. They come in many sizes and styles and can usually be ordered match the style of the scattering urn. Keepsakes can be used to contain the ashes as well as jewelry, hair or other mementos of the deceased.

Scattering is not new a new practice: it has been happening for over a thousand years, but it has lost much of its ritual, most of which never made its way into modern times. Research tells us that today’s families still want meaningful celebrations of life with ceremony and personal memorable tributes.

Many families are hiring or consulting with funeral celebrants to help create and a more meaningful and memorable event. Funeral celebrants are ceremony specialists who have a sound background in the history of ritual, ceremony and funeral traditions in many cultures and religions. Funeral Celebrants have been drawn to this work by a strong realization that every life has meaning and deserves to be celebrated and celebrated well. Many have experienced grief themselves. All are convinced that funerals can be a valuable source of healing. Nothing can take away the grief, but a genuine, well prepared tribute may ease the pain. Whether your family is secular, religious, spiritual or interfaith, or if you simply wish to express yourself in a manner of your own, choosing a Celebrant can help to create a meaningful, memorable, fitting end of life tribute.

If you have any question about scattering ashes, cremation urns, scattering urns, or anything else, please feel free to contact Cremation Solutions for further info.

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