HEALING PRESENCE
THE RE-EMERGENCE OF
HOME FUNERALS
IN AMERICA
MOST PEOPLE’S CONCERNS…
• Are home funerals legal?
• What are the costs?
• What are the environmental
benefits?
• Are there health risks?
• Is there anything to fear?
• Who will take care of me?
• How can I make sure what I
want will happen?
FUNERAL HISTORY BEGAN…
• with families and communities caring for their own…
• the world over since time began…
• until the Civil War’s primitive embalmers…
• turned death care into a profession…
• that is now a $20B a year industry…
• in the U.S…
• and we can still do it ourselves as before.
A HOME FUNERAL MAY INCLUDE…
• a loved one being cared for after death…
• guided by family and friends…
• or in concert with professionals…
• bathed, anointed, and dressed…
• in a home, church, or other space…
• often lying in honor for 1-3 days…
Courtesy of Crossings Care Circle
• with personally meaningful gatherings…
• at home, in a house of worship, or elsewhere…
• before being transported to final rest.
HOME FUNERALS ARE HEALING…
• by allowing more time and flexibility…
• creating a natural flow of events and emotions…
• normalizing and diminishing fears…
• teaching children about the life cycle…
• embracing grief and loss as part of life…
• giving people a chance to be useful…
• and find meaning in the experience.
Courtesy of Olivia Bareham
Sacred Crossings
HOME FUNERALS ARE LEGAL…
• in every state and province…
• with 9 states that require a funeral director…
• to be involved in some way…
• though embalming is never required by law…
• nor are coffin vaults…
• home burials are permitted within parameters…
Photograph by George Sakkestad
• cremains may be scattered anywhere, including
national & state parks…
• and with permission on private lands.
(CT, IL, IA, IN, LA, MI, NE, NJ, NY)
HOME FUNERALS ARE AFFORDABLE…
• when family and friends share tasks…
• file necessary documents…
• hire musicians, clergy…
• make cemetery or crematory arrangements…
Chuck Lakin, Courtesy of New York Times
• keep body care noninvasive and eco-friendly…
• use locally sourced and crafted funeral goods…
• file online or newspaper obituaries…
• transport the body…
• care for and feed children, visitors, and pets.
Courtesy of Shine On Brightly
HOME FUNERALS ARE ECO-FRIENDLY…
• encouraging organic, natural methods…
• noninvasive procedures…
• caskets, urns and shrouds made by local artists…
• out of native materials…
• rather than dangerous, toxic chemicals…
Courtesy of Crossings Care Circle
• or depleting rainforests for exotic woods…
• or burying non-biodegradable metals and concrete…
• or increasing production and transportation footprints…
• and body to earth burial.
Courtesy of Marion Spadone
HOME FUNERALS ARE SAFE…
• for caregivers and the deceased…
• according to the CDC “…a dead body does not pose an increased
[health] risk”…
• when kept cool with ice or air conditioning…
• or in a 70° room for up to 3 days…
• with no need for embalming or disinfecting…
Courtesy of Order of the Good Death
• and universal precautions are used when necessary or desired.
WITH PROPER CARE…
• fluids and odors, if present, are managed easily…
• by thoroughly washing with soap and water…
• anointing with essential oils if desired…
• cooling with dry ice or Techni-ice…
• dressing by caring helpers…
• transferring with many loving hands…
• providing healing energy to all those present.
Courtesy of Thresholds of Life
GOOD PLANNING INCLUDES…
• completing advanced directives for health care…
• writing down your funeral wishes…
• designating someone to carry them out…
• informing doctors, clergy, family, attorneys…
• and organizing a core care group.
HOME FUNERAL GUIDES…
• educate families and the public about choices…
• provide support and information...
• including how to complete paperwork…
• and care for the body of a loved one…
• while keeping the family in charge…
• respecting personal choices…
• honoring diverse spiritual traditions…
• and partnering with others involved with care.
Courtesy of Crossings Care Circle
FOR MORE INFORMATION…
{Your name and website information, logo and phone}
www.homefuneralalliance.org