Friday, March 15, 2013

Embalming World Leaders, Long-Term


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Embalming is the act of preserving a body for a short period of time so that the remains may be placed on display at a viewing or funeral.

Egyptian Embalming
Embalming has been practiced since ancient times. The Egyptians are best known for their embalming (mummification) customs.  The embalming process is similar to pickling food – a way to keep something preserved for a short period of time.

King Tut
King Tutankhamen’s tomb was discovered in 1922, in the Valley of the Kings.  The fact that his body had been preserved by mummification presented an opportunity for governments to consider the same being done for certain world leaders, with the goal of preserving them for thousands of years.


Sister Bernadette Soubirous
Placing a body on long-term display became a tradition with Catholic saints and popes.  But the bodies did not last, and therefore did not remain on display permanently.







Civil War Embalming
Civil War Soldier
The necessity of finding a way to preserve remains for a certain length of time became crucial during the American Civil War.  Families wanted their soldiers returned home for burial.  Dr. Thomas Holmes, a surgeon with the Army Medical Corps began the process of embalming dead Union soldiers so their remains could be sent back to their families.


Lincoln's Funeral Train
Embalmed Lincoln
These embalming methods made it possible for the body of President Abraham Lincoln to be viewed enroute across the country, as it was returned to Springfield, Illinois for interment. When Lincoln’s coffin was opened 36 years later, his features were still recognizable.


19th Century Embalming Fluids
The main ingredients used in embalming during the Civil War were alcohol and arsenic salts.  Then in 1867, a German chemist discovered formaldehyde, and the process of modern embalming began.


Crowds Wait to see Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Long-term embalming for public display became accepted when Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin died in 1924. Over 3-million showed up to say farewell to their leader.




The exact techniques used by the Russians for long-term embalming have remained secret. However, it is known that the procedure involves removing the organs, dissolving the veins, and extracting blood from the tissues.  The body is then placed in a vat of embalming fluid where the temperature and humidity levels are closely watched and controlled. After six months, the body has soaked up enough of the embalming fluid to preserve it for a longer period of time.  The formaldehyde-based embalming fluid changes the chemical composition of the body and gets rid of bacteria so that mold can’t grow. This helps prevent decomposition from occurring. 

Mortuary Artist at Work
Once the body has been embalmed, mortuary artists are brought in to make the deceased look more lifelike with the use of cosmetics, hair, and clothing.  The products used are in keeping with the local climate, and conditions that the body will be subjected to.


Climate Controlled
Long-term embalming does not stop decomposition; it only slows it down.  The embalming process must be reapplied periodically in order to keep the body maintained, and the remains must be kept in a climate controlled, sterile environment.


Lenin's 'Bath'
Lenin in 1991
Lenin also has his own embalming maintenance team at the Research Institute for Biological Structures in Moscow.  His body is inspected twice a week, and his hands and face are then cleaned with a special solution.  Every 12 to 18 months, Lenin’s body is immersed in an embalming solution bath to soak for 30 days.  It is then placed back on display in a glass sarcophagus that protects it from bacteria.

Since Lenin’s embalming, several Communist and Socialist leaders have been put on public display.  The list includes:


Argentinean Vice President Eva Peron in 1952.






Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1953.



Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Ming in 1969.




 

Leader of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976.





Exiled Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1989.






North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in 1994.






His son, Kim Jong-il in 2011. 







Chavez at Funeral
Hugo Chavez
Now plans are underway to embalm Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died on March 5th, 2013.  Once embalmed, Chavez’s remains would lay in a glass case on public display, permanently.


Lenin's Mausoleum
Ho Chi Ming Museum
Most embalmed leaders were laid to rest in a mausoleum or military museum where generations of the faithful could visit.  Only Lenin, Ho Chi Ming, Kim Il-sung, and Kim Jong-il are still in presentable condition and on display.  (Ho Chi Ming is also treated to a special ‘bath’ once a year in Moscow.)



Stalin at Kremllin Wall
Lenin and Stalin
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was embalmed and put on display next to Lenin in 1953.  The Soviet government ordered Stalin’s body removed from the mausoleum in 1961 as part of the de-Stalinization of the country.  He was quietly interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, outside the walls of the Kremlin.

Communist Leaders
The decision to embalm Chavez is considered to be an endeavor to elevate him to the ranks of the high communist.  As to who will do the embalming process – no one has yet been officially announced, although a Filipino mortuary artist, Frank Malabed has volunteered. 


Attending Lenin
The Russian specialists who care for Lenin’s body are considered to be the best at this type of long-term preservation, and have also sent word of their interest to help. 

Lenin On Display
Lenin’s embalming process is still one of the best examples of long-term embalming ever done.  But since the fall of Communism in 1991, the government no longer funds the preservation work.  Now the continued maintenance is paid for by private funds and donations. There has even been talk of deconstructing Lenin’s Mausoleum and burying his remains in a tomb. 

As they say, “Nothing lasts forever…”

~ Joy



To view the process of Lenin’s yearly ‘bath’, 


Friday, March 8, 2013

Gaming Memorials - When Death Becomes A Reality Online


Gamers
Game Cemetery
There are an estimated 300-million gamers online in the world today.  And anything can happen in an alternative world; even death can become a reality. 



Gamers Convention
Although players may never have met, they still share a social life within the game, develop complicated and lasting relationships, and learn to care for their own. When a fellow gamer dies, the most human desire to memorialize them occurs.



Over 900-million online games exist, and many of these game designers allow for the development of grave stone monuments and memorials. In the massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, World of Warcraft (WoW), the deaths of players have been memorialized since the game’s release in 2004. The way the gaming world handles real life death allows us a look into how society may respond to death, on the internet, in the future.

Michel Koiter
In WoW, the Shrine of the Fallen Warrior is a memorial to nineteen-year-old Michel Koiter.  Koiter worked for Blizzard Entertainment as an illustrator on World of Warcraft.  He died of heart failure during the game’s development in 2004.


Shrine of the Fallen Warrior
Spirit Healer
The Shrine of the Fallen Warrior memorial is a stone monument, inscribed with the letters MK, located on top of a mountain.  There, the body of an Orc warrior is laid to rest. A spirit healer floats above the warrior’s body. The Orc warrior was the beta character that Michel played during the first test phases of the game.

In honor of Michel Koiter and his WoW persona, his twin brother, Rene Koiter, wrote the following poem:

Shrine of the Fallen Warrior in World of WarCraft

Where once a hero set foot on his native soil a monument has risen
Where now part of his essence resides a mystical boon will be given

Upon the monument the runic initials MK have been engraved
To honor all the journeys and battles the fallen one has braved

A hero’s enduring spirit transcends many worlds beyond our own
Only those with steadfast dedication find a bond with this unknown

Travel the continents and scour the lands for the shrine standing tall
For in the presence of the monolith the warrior will be with you all

~Rene Koiter


Development Team
Jesse Morals Marker
Another Blizzard employee, Jesse Morales also died while the game was being created. A headstone, inscribed with the epitaph, “In loving memory of Jesse Morales”, was created and placed in a village cemetery in the game.  




Ezra & Micah Chatterton
Then there is the story of Ezra Chatterton. After a devastating house fire that left the family with nothing, Ezra’s father, Micah took some of the insurance money and purchased a computer and subscription to World of Warcraft for his son.  The game became something for them to do together – a way to bond.


Blizzard Headquarters
In 2007, Ezra was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  He told the Make-A-Wish Foundation that he wanted to visit the headquarters of Blizzard Entertainment, designers of World of Warcraft.  The Blizzard team brought the father and son to their Irvine offices and put Ezra on the development team for the day. 

Ahab Wheathoof
Kyle
During his seven-hour visit, Ezra designed a weapon, a quest, and a non-player character named Ahab Wheathoof, and his dog, Kyle. (Ezra’s dog was named Kyle.)  Ezra then provided the voice for several phrases Ahab Wheathoof says. Wheathoof is one of only a few characters in the game that has a voice. Ezra was the first person outside of the company to be allowed to create a character.

On October 20, 2008, Ezra died. The gaming community reacted by organizing an online gaming event to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Ezra’s honor. Over 1,000 players responded.  The server crashed and the event was cancelled, but Ezra's spirit will live on in the game.






Benghazi Raid
On September 11, 2012, the U.S. Consulate was attacked in Benghazi, Libya.  Gamer and Foreign Service Information Management Officer, Sean Smith died in the raid.

Sean Smith
Smith was well known for his diplomacy skills for the U.S. government, and in the game EVE Online.  An enthusiastic gamer, Smith was known as “Vile Rat” in the EVE community. 

The Iceland-based game developer, CCP (Crowd Control Productions) created EVE Online as a player-driven massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). (EVE Online has over 500,000 subscribers.)

Sean Smith & His Avatar Vile Rat
Smith, or Vile Rat, was a member of the EVE Online Guild Goonswarm.  He acted as a senior guild diplomat. Many players say he actually shaped the way the politics work in EVE Online. Smith was well known and well respected in the gaming community.

Smith was in contact with EVE players just before the raid, sending a message, which said, ”Assuming we don’t die tonight. We saw one of our ‘police’ that guard the compound taking pictures.”  Smith was remembered in a tribute on the EVE online community as “one of the best and most effective diplomats this game has ever seen.


An actual memorial for Sean was discussed but gamers decided that the player-made tributes and remembrances were more in keeping with the spirit of the game.  The EVE Online community held a fiery tribute for Sean on September 15th.

In the end, it doesn’t matter if the memorial is in a game or in a cemetery.  What does matter is being able to pay tribute to someone special.   In this life and the gaming life, it's about finding a way to honor those we feel have left the game too soon.  

Joy


Thanks to Charles Kivlehen for encouraging this post.


Friday, March 1, 2013

Neptune Society Memorial Reef – A City of the Dead




Archways in the City
Just three miles off the coast of Key Biscayne, Florida, lay a mystical underwater world – A recreation of Atlantis, the Lost City.  But this Atlantis is a destination for marine life, scuba divers, and the dead. 


One of Two Lions
Also known as the Atlantis Memorial Reef, or the Atlantis Reef, the Memorial Reef began in 2007 when the Neptune Society decided to create a ‘replica’ of the Lost City of Atlantis.  The Reef is located 40 feet below the ocean’s surface and was originally designed as an artistic project.  The focus of the venture soon changed and it was developed into the world’s first underwater “cemetery”, actually a cremation memorial park.

Diagram of Finished Reef
Entrance Gates
Although technically not a cemetery, the Memorial Reef does contain the cremains of over 200 people, with room for another 600 during the first phase.  The goal of the society is to eventually provide a resting place for over 125,000 remains that will spread over 16 acres of ocean floor.


Diver Places Cremains on Reef
Ashes Mixed with Cement in a Mold
The Neptune Society, the largest cremation-only provider in the U.S., takes cremated remains and mixes them with cement before placing them in a mold. Once the mold is formed, the shaped piece is then taken down to the City and placed on the Reef with a memorial plaque.  There, the molds become a permanent part of the ever-changing man-made reef.


A Diver Visits
A Stairway
The Memorial Reef opened in 2007.  It is the largest man-made reef in the world.  Statues, gates, columns, benches, and roads make up the underwater city. Divers, researchers, marine biologists, and students are encouraged to visit the area, but fishing and lobstering are not allowed here.

A marine study conducted in the area reports that the Memorial Reef is developing faster than originally expected, and is attracting a multitude of marine life.




 
Molded Memorials
The Memorial Reef is a natural green burial option, certified by the Green Burial Council.  The Reef promotes coral and marine organism growth, thus allowing you to become part of the underwater ecosystem.  Placement on the Reef begins around $2,000.


To learn more about the Neptune Society Memorial Reef, visit their web page @ http://www.neptunesociety.com/memorial-reef.

To visit the Reef in person, the GPS coordinates are N25º 42.036', W80º 05.409'The Memorial Reef is free and open to the public.

~ Joy
 
*Photos from the Neptune Society Memorial Reef webpage and Facebook page