Though this service is currently the only one of its kind, it’s a heartening sign that end-of-life options are beginning to expand to include ceremonies and processes that are more respectful, personal and environmentally friendly. The open-air cremation service is only open to residents of the county in which Crestone sits, with some stipulations-one being that they must be registered with CEOLP at their time of death.
CEOLP asks for a sliding scale donation of $500 to $800 for each cremation (which helps cover the costs of providing the service, including fire department presence, stretchers, and firewood), but will provide the service regardless. Once the ceremony is complete, the family is presented with the ashes (of both the body and the wood, as there’s no way to separate the two). I wrote about Early Graves music here, and about The Funeral Pyre here. Family members or designated friends place torches on the pyre themselves to start the fire. I didnt know Makh Daniels, but I feel ridiculously depressed. The funeral pyre is often made of corkwood and offerings of camphor, sandalwood and mango. The body of the deceased is wrapped in natural fabric, then surrounded by juniper branches and logs. Men are sometimes cremated face up while women are cremated face down. The pyre itself, a concrete and brick-lined hearth, sits in a large circle marked by a bamboo fence creating a contained, sacred space for the cremations and community celebrations honoring the deceased. It is testing the boundaries of what can be said. The CEOLP volunteers will work with the families or friends of the deceased to plan all types of ceremonies, from small, quiet services to elaborate affairs with music, ritual, prayer and chanting from multiple spiritual traditions. In New Delhi today, each individual loss, each burning pyre is an unspeakable, yet screeching horror.
If you’re unsatisfied with the run-of-the-mill funeral and burial options in your hometown, may we suggest a move to Crestone, Colorado? The town, which sits in the sweeping San Luis Valley at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, is home to the only legal, non-denominational open-air cremation service in the country, operated by the non-denominational Crestone End Of Life Project, a volunteer group dedicated to offering this ancient and inspirational end-of-life choice, “returning the body to its original fire and air elements.”
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