Many ancient traditions of the past are still honored today, but many are not. Each one is steeped in the ways of the people of the past, while modern techniques are based on the cultures that we have now. We’ll show you some differences to see how the past shaped the future. You’ll see that a funeral home in Maple Shade, NJ still does some of these today.

Rosemary Wasn’t Just For Cooking

Rosemary wasn’t just for cooking in the older times. Back then, the embalming process wasn’t as advanced as today, and the bodies would smell. As a result, many funeralgoers would bring rosemary to the funerals as it would mask the smell of the body and help protect the noses of the people coming to mourn.

Now, we have a better system for the body, but people still bring flowers and other items to funerals to honor the deceased’s body. It is said to be a touching and loving gesture. It isn’t just fragrant flowers that are brought out anymore, either. A wide variety of flowers show up at funerals these days.

Touching Someone Could Heal You

Throughout history, until about the nineteenth century, if you were touched, a murderer could heal you from illness. However, that was only considered valid if the person died by hanging. It was thought that only this would be the cure. Of course, now we know this couldn’t be further from the truth, but people would line up for miles hoping that the person dying would touch them.

Humans Have Always Wanted To Honor The Dead

Throughout the period, people have always found unique ways to honor their dead, and there is still evidence today of those signs. For instance, Stonehenge is widely known as one of the monuments constructed for ancestral burial. Another is the Bronze Age burial grounds known as the round barrows.

When the Anglo-Saxons arrived in Britain, they, too, had unique ideas for burying the dead. They would bury their deceased close to the Iron age monuments or dig into them to reuse them for their dead. Another thing that these people were known for was cremating their dead. History has discovered many groups of urns buried together, and coffins were found with urns inside that were thought to be their relatives or loved ones that had passed before them.

Today, we respect preexisting grounds and have one modern cemetery burial near a medical ridge or furrow. That means the peaks and troughs are still present in our landscapes because the plowing is done centuries earlier. Everyone experiences grieving, but not all recover.

Tradition Has Taken Lessons From The Past

Tradition has taken many lessons from the past, and you’ll find that there are many things that we do now that directly result from that. In doing so, we carry the best of the past into a bright new future that honors the dead and their life. Families can see that history may repeat itself, but in a way that’s different from what they think, and a funeral home in Maple Shade, NJ will follow what you want. Did our list surprise you? What methods for funerals do you think you will use?