Witch Path Forward
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Introducing Rose >
      • Articles - Rose
    • Introducing Debi >
      • Articles - Debi
    • Introducing Sarah
    • WPF Founder pictures
    • Media Kit
    • FAQ
  • Our Offerings
    • Ask a Question >
      • Ask a Witch a question >
        • Ask a Witch
      • Ask a Healer a Question >
        • Ask a healer
      • Ask a Pagan Parent a question
      • Question Archive >
        • Questions 2018-2020
        • Questions 2015 - 2017
        • Questions 2012 -2015
    • Readings >
      • Email Tarot Reading
      • Email Rune Reading
      • Email Dream Reading
      • Dowsing Reading
    • The Elemenpals
    • The Spinney Online School
    • Resources >
      • Grimoire >
        • The Witches Rune
        • Sabbats >
          • Imbolc
          • Ostara
          • Beltane
          • Litha
          • Lammas
          • Mabon
          • Samhain
          • Yule
        • The Wiccan Rede
        • The Elements
        • Moon Calendar
        • Moon Phases
        • Correspondences >
          • Herbal Correspondences
          • Oil Correspondences
          • Colour Correspondences
          • Incense Correspondences
          • Crystal Correspondences >
            • Crystals A - B
            • Crystals C - D
            • Crystals E - G
            • Crystals H - K
            • Crystals L - M
            • Crystals N - Q
            • Crystals R - S
            • Crystals T - Z
          • Food correspondences
          • Tree Correspondences
          • Day Correspondences
          • Celestial Body Correspondances
        • Different types of Witchcraft >
          • Kitchen Witchery
          • Ceremonial
          • Green Witchcraft
          • Hedge Witchcraft
          • Christian Witchcraft
          • Eclectic Witchcraft
          • Other Paths
          • Hoodoo
        • Different Craft Paths >
          • Traditional Witchcraft
          • Asatru
          • Satanism
          • Druidism
          • Shamanism
          • Wicca
          • Kemetism
          • Hellenism
          • Neo/Paganism
        • Witchcraft on a budget >
          • Items you find in nature
          • Items you already own
          • Items you can acquire cheaply
          • Items you can make or craft yourself
        • Tools of a witch
        • Consumables of a witch
      • Healing >
        • Healing Paths
        • Subtle Anatomy
        • Healing Tools
      • Divination >
        • Runes >
          • Frey and Freja ætt
          • Heimdall and Mordgud ætt
          • Tiwaz and Zisa ætt
        • Tarot Cards >
          • Major Arcana
          • Pentacles
          • Cups
          • Swords
          • Wands
        • The Crystal Tarot
      • Blogs >
        • Journal
        • Guest Blogs
        • Reviews
      • Our Favourites >
        • Witch Blogs
        • Books and Forums
      • Glossary
  • For Fun!
    • Nature Photographs
    • Memes >
      • More Memes
    • Guestbook
  • Shop
  • Contact Us

Fighting the law on bones

3/15/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
Warning: Slightly more graphic and potentially more offensive than most of my blog posts….

This may sound a bit macabre but I have been giving it some thought recently and I don't think it is fair that I can't have my husband's skull when he dies.

Now ok, you may think the Degu Witch has finally (and some may say inevitably) flipped but bear with me. You know I'm a witch. I have a hundred and one uses for a human skull but with the average price fetching over £2000 that's quite a financial investment. Why shouldn’t I have one for free if my husband is willing?

And he is willing. We had the conversation over breakfast one morning. I pointed out that being a lot older than me he is likely to die a lot sooner and therefore would he mind awfully if I kept his skull? Being married to a witch, I don’t think the question phased him and he was remarkably accommodating with my request.

So I looked into it. And you know what, it’s actually illegal. I have no right to my husband’s body when he dies. None at all. Now, I wasn’t suggesting that I lop his head off and bury it six months in the garden as per the method of cleaning roadkill.

Even I may balk a bit at the thought of digging up my decomposing husband. And it would be the height of disrespect to stick his head in a pan on the stove and boil him (a la dead badger…). But why can I not pay someone (some open minded pathologist perhaps) to cut off the bits I want to keep, give them a bit of a spit and a polish and let me have them for the mantelpiece?

I rather like the thought of keeping him around. I could continue to chat to him about my day, shine him up with a bit of Mr Muscle, even take him to bed and pop him next to me on the pillow if I felt a bit lonely. I could store stuff inside his skull. He could be my handy paperclip holder. Or a paperweight. I could take him to work and whack him on my desk to keep my papers flying about… The possibilities are endless.

From a witch perspective, having his skull would make any communication in the afterlife a lot easier. And he would look great in the witch room with a couple of tea lights behind his eye cavities.

The thing that really annoys me about all this is the waste. Why should something I want so much that has no purpose to anyone else be destroyed simply because its not a conventional desire for a spouse to keep a skull around the home. It frustrates me that neither he nor I have the say in what happens to his body. I’m happy to donate his organs, any bit of my husband that is any use to anyone else can be plucked out or picked off and go to the deserving. So why can’t I have the bit I want?

I’m happy to pay. I don’t expect anyone to prepare the skull for free. I’m happy to pay a moderate cost to make it hygienic to be kept in the home. I mean, give me a wire wool and some bleach and I’ll do it myself, but I appreciate the law would prefer me not to do this. That is fine, but it feels completely unfair that I can neither do it myself nor pay someone to do it.

So what am I going to do about it? Well (nearer the time – he’s very much alive and kicking at the moment) I’m going to make some preliminary enquiries at the hospital and see if they have ever had a request like this before. I may offer them a swap for the bits they want. Should the law be adamant, I will write to my MP. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going on a one woman crusade with this one, I don’t want to end up certified…I’m not entirely sure the world is ready for a trend in husband polishing. But I intend to make my views known.

I suppose I could always wait a few months before actually telling anyone he’s passed on and then just confess I lost a few bits while tidying up. That might be going too far. Who knows, maybe the whole thing is going too far…? I’ll keep you posted.


Image http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=1083010 (svilen001)

2 Comments
Bellatrix link
3/15/2013 10:56:36 am

I am really shocked by this as well. You might want to talk to some forensic anthropologists. They often have fully articulated skeletons for references and may know about what legally needs doing to retain human bones. I wonder if he could put it in his will that his skull is to be returned to you? Would thta wish needs to be honored legally? I wish you luck in this and I hope you and your hubby have a long time left to figure this out.

Reply
Buddhagan link
3/21/2013 11:19:32 am

I'm running into a sort of legal thing as well. I want to be burned on a funeral pyre. Legal cremation releases way too many chemicals in the air. Also, the cremains can be mixed with other cremains. It's not like they clean the oven out completely. But yeah, about bones or any other remains, why shouldn't the surviving family be able to specify if they want a skull, heart, liver, or any other body part?

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.


    Picture
    Join the Witch Path Forward Facebook community. (Click the icon).


    Picture

    Archives

    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012



    RSS Feed

    Picture