6 unique sendoffs for those who are bored with bog-standard funerals
Why have your ashes stored in an urn, when you could instruct your loved ones to launch them into space or have them made into a diamond?
1. PLASTINATION
Gunther von Hagens developed the process and displays bodies in an exhibit that has toured South Africa called "Body Worlds". Water and fat are extracted from the body and replaced with silicone. The resulting ''mummy", usually with the skin removed to show the muscles, can be used by medical schools.2. SPACE BURIAL
Cremated remains are placed in a container and launched into space. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, and James Doohan, the actor who played Scotty in the Trek television show and movie, have opted for this expensive type of funeral.
3. MEMORIAL DIAMONDS
Why not wear your mother on your finger? Believe it or not, you can have your loved one or pet turned into a synthetic diamond. Some funeral homes offer this service and a small number of companies perform the process. The remains of the deceased are cremated and the carbon extracted. It's then processed over a six- to nine-month period into a synthetic diamond in the colour of your choice, which can be worn in a ring, bracelet or pendant.
4. VINYL FRONTIERS
A UK company called Andvinyl can keep your song playing long after your breath has run out. How would you want your final track to sound? Well, that's up to you. You can settle your original score before you die and have original artwork created, either by providing a photo or sitting for a "pre-death painting". Your actual cremated ashes are pressed into 30 discs, each with 24 minutes of audio. I hear dead people's voices!
5. ENDOCANNIBALISM
What better way of taking care of your recently deceased than to organise dinner at the same time - a classic case of two birds with one stone. Endo means inner, so endocannibalism occurs when members of a group eat their own dead. There are tribes in Brazil that cremate their dead and mix the ashes in a soup eaten by the tribe. It's part of the grieving process, and it keeps the dead alive as part of the living. Fine wine optional.
6. SKY BURIAL
In Tibetan culture, vultures are called Dakinis which means "sky dancers". They're seen as angels who take the souls of the dead to heaven for reincarnation. The body is taken to a mountain top, near a monastery, and fed to vultures after it's been dismembered, the bones broken, and the flesh cut into pieces...
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