Before deciding to get a cremation urn for human ashes, you should determine first why you want this urn and where you will keep it. Urns are used to keep ashes of the deceased person in a safe place. So, will you decide to keep the urn on land, on water or you will keep it at home? Options are different, once you decide which option to select you will be able to determine the best urn to get. After the cremation process, make sure to have the cremation permit and other papers that are related to the process. These papers are essential if the urn with ashes is intended to be moved to another country by a plane. Urns are approved at airports without the need to be scanned, you will only need to show papers related to the cremation process to facilitate the urn approval.
How does the cremation process work?
People may imagine what is happening during the cremation process, but most of them don’t understand the process itself. The cremation process has been applied for 2000 years. However, it is still a mystery for most of people. Maybe because only limited people could attend the process in the cremation chamber. You may feel anxious after hearing anything about this process, but when you understand it you will be able to ease the anxiety.
In a cremation chamber supplied by industrial furnaces customized for cremation, the cremation process starts and lasts for 2 – 3 hours. During the process, the crematory will make sure that the deceased is identified and the operator is safe enough to care about the deceased. Because the space is limited in the cremation chamber, only few members of the family will be allowed to witness the process.
During the process, the body of the deceased is exposed while being in a container to flames and heat to evaporate until having the main elements of the body that are mainly its bones (the cremated remains). The cremated remains are referred to as human ashes that may weight 3 – 9 pounds based of the size of the deceased body. These ashes are gathered with any remaining of the container and then they are put a temporary container until being moved to a cremation urn. Urns types are different and they are selected according to the place where the ashes will be kept. So, what are the types of cremation urns for human ashes?
Types of cremation urns for human ashes
Functional Urns
If you are willing to have an urn that is solid enough to last regardless the decoration, so the functional type is the best for selection. These urns are either buried in a garden or in buried in a family plot. At the place where these urns are buried, the family use something solid to keep the urn safe for long.
Biodegradable Urns
These urns are recommended for people if the deceased will be buried underground because they are made from natural clay or plant fiber that will be broken down over time. People who adopt the idea that the deceased should rejoin the cycle of life instead of staying in an urn for a long period will prefer a biodegradable urn over other types.
Water Soluble Urns
Some people prefer to let their loved one stay in front of their eyes in a floating urn over water while they are saying goodbye to him or her before the water consume the urn and breaks it a part. So, water soluble urns are used for this purpose then they sank after being consumed.
Decorative Urns
These urns are used by people who seek to have a memorial in your home or in any other place where they visit a lot. Costs of decorative urns varies from affordable prices to expensive prices according to different factors:
- The level of talent the craft man has
- The decorative details that are made on the urn
- The material that is used either glass, metal, wood, stone, ceramic or others
Specialty Urns
These are other choices with different shapes that are not supposed to be permanent. They are used only for specific applications.
Cremation urns are now widely used as a substitution to traditional funerals and they has become more popular than these funerals, but what is the criteria by which people may select a traditional funeral of a cremation urn?
Cremation urns VS Traditional funerals
Both cremation urns and traditional funerals are intended to form an unforgettable memorial of the one you loved based on your inspirational ideas. So, what are the factors that should be considered to determine either to use a cremation urn or a traditional funeral?
Plans of the deceased: some people are planning for how they want to be remembered among their family members not to cause confusions among members about either to select a cremation urn or a traditional funeral. So, they decide this matter before death. This make it easy for the family to do what the deceased had previously wanted to be done.
Religious considerations: religious may be the first leader to follow when the family has no idea about how the deceased person wanted to be buried. To select a creation urn or a traditional funeral will totally depend on the religious of the deceased person as follows:
- Catholicism: according to the Catholic Church, the deceased should be kept in a cremation urn that is placed in a mausoleum and it shouldn’t be placed at home.
- Judaism: The Jewish indicate that the deceased should be returned back to land through a traditional funeral. However, there are some Jewish families who use cremation urins.
- Islam: according to Muslims, the deceased should be buried after being washed and there is no use of cremation urns according to the Islamic law.
- Buddhism: cremation urns is the major selection for Buddhists but some families are using traditional funerals.
- Hinduism: according to Hindus, the deceased soul will be celebrated if the physical body was kept in a cremation urn.
- Protestantism: Protestants have many options, either to use traditional funerals or to keep the deceased in a cremation urn and place it in the church.
Another factor that is also considered is the cost, both traditional funerals and cremation urns for human ashes have cost considerations regarding the available services befor