Funerals are a way for us to find closure for ourselves and to show our love for the departed one last time. All cultures have funeral rites of some kind, because we all feel the sting of death. These ceremonies help to cope with that pain and give respect for our departed loved ones.

Sometimes, though, those loved ones aren’t necessarily other people. We aren’t the only things that need to be mourned when we die. The following are ten funerals held for the passing of something that was not human.

10 Funeral For Departed Gaming Machines

Pachinko is a popular kind of arcade machine in Japan that is like a combination between a slot machine and a pinball machine. The player launches small metallic balls into the machine, and on rare occasions, the ball will find its way into a special spot that initiates a slot-machine style randomizer that can reward countless more metallic balls, which double as a currency that can traded for prizes. If you’re trying to get around local gambling laws, you can even exchange those prizes for money at a nearby counter.

These machines are so popular that one manufacturer had to retire and replace roughly 500,000 machines every year that broke from wear and tear. In 2001, the manufacturer, Heiwa, arranged for a fitting farewell—a funeral for all of those thousands of machines was held at a popular Buddhist temple. This funeral included incense, mourners in black suits, and chanting monks with flowers. Above the temple’s altar, where a photo of the deceased is usually displayed, was a golden Pachinko machine that represented all of its deceased brethren.

“As a manufacturer of pachinko machines, we want to offer our thanks to machines that have completed their work,” said a company representative at the event, Takayuki Uchiyama. He also added that the rites were not just for the machines themselves but for all those who used, worked on, or made them. “It’s a way of praying for all the people who are dead who were involved in pachinko.”^[1]

9 Decommissioned Navy Vessels

Since 1775, more than 15,000 US Navy ships have outlived their usefulness and have been decommissioned from active use. But decommissioning a ship isn’t like tossing out a used toothpaste tube or placing a piece of furniture on the corner to be taken to the dump. These retired vessels were friends forged in battle, homes, and the setting for their sailors’ most rousing adventures and terrifying tribulations. The ships are inanimate objects, but they’re so much more than that. When a ship is decommissioned, it has a ceremony, not unlike a funeral. One such decommissioning ceremony took place in 2015 for the USS Rodney M. Davis, named after a sergeant who sacrificed his life for his fellows while in battle in Vietnam.

The ceremony was attended by the ship’s last serving crew, as well as past crew members, the family of Sergeant Davis, and Marines he served with, including some he personally saved. The last serving crew departed the ship in dress uniforms, Sergeant Davis’s daughters helped the crew bring down the colors, which included the American flag and a long commissioning pendant, and finally, the family of Rodney M. Davis was given a tour of the ship.

The final commanding officer of the ship, Commander Todd Whalen, wrote of the occasion, “By valor and arms, USS Rodney M. Davis and her crew have answered the call for 28 years. We honored Sgt. Davis by working together to boldly execute the mission, and we’ll carry his Bold Runner spirit with us for the rest of our lives.”^[2]

8 Crows Hold ‘Funerals’ For Their Dead Brethren

When a crow dies, its body becomes the center of a gathering of its fellows. They surround the corpse, call out to each other, and give the body extra kinds of attention. This behavior is seen in crows, jays, magpies, and ravens. However, these rituals serve a more practical purpose than mourning the dead.

Crows are very intelligent birds and have been shown to remember threats and actively avoid anything associated with that threat. For example, during an experiment conducted by Kaeli Swift of the University of Washington, a number of feeding locations were set up that attracted crows. Then those same crows were exposed to a masked human holding a dead crow in their hands. These humans were “scolded” by the crows (an alert noise that warned other living crows of a dangerous threat). Later, the masked individuals would return without a dead crow, but the behavior stayed the same. The crows scolded the person and avoided the spot. This suggests that the crows identified the mask with the death of one of their own and that any location the masked person visited could also be dangerous to them.

When a murder of crows holds a “funeral,” then, it seems likely that they are sending out warning cries to their still-living fellows and searching the area for threats. Still, when Swift repeated her experiment with dead pigeons, the crows didn’t seem particularly bothered. They cared only about the death of one of their own.^[3]

7 A Farewell For The Departing Souls Of Dolls

Japanese Shinto and Buddhist religions frequently share the common belief that all things have souls, and so when an item is to be destroyed, that soul is honored. Such was the case in 2017, when 20 individuals and a Buddhist monk performed a funeral ceremony for departing souls of dolls and stuffed animals, including Hello Kitty and Disney icons. These dolls were bound for the dumpster. The ceremony included a chant from the former owners alongside Buddhist monk Shingyo Goto, which included heavy incense.

“We believe a soul lives inside dolls, so I perform a service to take the spirits out of them and express the feeling of gratitude to them,” Shingyo Goto said. “All things have a soul in it regardless of what it is, from a needle, a pair of scissors to an egg, and we give thanks to those things. We have to have the feeling of appreciation for all things.”^[4]

6 A Fittingly Green Ceremony For A Tree

On April 1, 2019, a tree’s life was tragically cut short in New York. This may not have seemed like a noteworthy event, as 15 billion trees are cut down in the prime of their life every year, but this tree was a symbol for all of its fallen brothers and sisters and had a name—Will O. Baum. Not only was an obituary written and published in his honor, but a funeral was held. The obituary included these notes on the deceased:

Mr. Baum was born on Arbor Day on April 25th, 1919 in Inwood, NY by Jan and Isaac Prescott. He grew with the Prescott Family and son Marvin. Will-O, as his friends called him, was a pillar of his community . . . literally. In his spare time, he liked to feed the birds, photosynthesize and sunbathe with his best friend Marvin. “Will-O loved helping kids reach new heights and see new perspectives. He also pined for the changing of the seasons . . . except for winter. Christmas always freaked him out.” According to friends, Mr. Baum tirelessly spent his entire life fighting against deforestation and was saddened by the state of the environment.^[5]

A funeral was conducted at Judson Memorial Church in New York City for Will O. Baum and included a 25-part choir, poetry readings, and a New Orleans brass band. It was an event for bringing awareness to the plight of trees everywhere and the environmental crisis worldwide. The invitation included the advice:

Light fare and beverages provided. Please bring your own drinking bottle or cup; this is a zero-waste event. No single use plastic or paper products will be used.

WEAR GREEN IF YOU WANT TO BE FESTIVE.

5 Hari Kuyo, The Needle Memorial Ceremony

This ceremony, started in the Heian period at the imperial household in Japan, is a yearly event celebrated in honor of the service of needles used (and broken) throughout the year. It is largely attended by seamstresses and housewives at Shinto and Buddhist temples. It is the perfect example of the concept of properly and honorably disposing of items, not merely throwing them away. This is a concept seen repeatedly in Japanese culture. At one of many temples conducting the ceremony, four women dressed in traditional Nara period clothes dance in honor of Orihime, the heavenly weaver, and lucky paper amulets are distributed to attendees.

Those visiting the temple on this occasion are encouraged to take one of the needles laid out in front of the temple altar and place it upright into a block of konyaku jelly while offering up a prayer.^[6] This practice is centuries old and brings together professionals, hobbyists, weavers, and tailors in order to symbolically offer thanks to the tools that empower them to work their trade.

4 Goodbyes To Man’s Best Friend

Pets hold a cherished place in the hearts of many people, so it is no small wonder that the pet funeral industry makes an estimated $100 million a year and is growing all the time, with an estimated 700 or more pet cemeteries in the United States alone.

“Sometimes I hear from people who say, ‘I lost both parents and I lost my pet. This is worse.’ ” said Ed Martin III, vice president of the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery and Crematory, one of the most famous of those 700. “ ‘I feel guilty about that. Am I normal?’ I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that comment.”^[7]

One such pet funeral was for K9 unit Kye, a three-year-old police dog who died in the line of duty in 2014. She was stabbed to death by a burglary suspect during an altercation, and her funeral (pictured above) was attended by more than 1,000 people and dozens of other service dogs.

3 A Goodbye To Man’s Robotic Best Friend

In 1999, Sony released a futuristic new product called an AIBO (Artificial Intelligence Robot), which was a robotic dog that would wag its tail, dance, and even speak in later models. It was an expensive product, costing roughly $3,000 by today’s standards, but the first run of 3,000 units was sold out within 20 minutes.

In 2006, Sony announced that they would cease production of AIBO, which never attracted enough attention to be anything more than a niche item. Still, some 150,000 units were sold over those seven years. In 2014, Sony made a sobering announcement for all remaining AIBO owners: It would no longer support the product. No more repairs, no more spare parts. For AIBO owners who had grown attached their their robotic dogs, this meant one frightening thing—their dogs would eventually die.

However, great lengths were gone through to keep these robotic pets running, and a small but thriving business was started to repair failing units, but it was only possible by cannibalizing parts from other AIBOs. To honor these “organ donors,” Nobuyuki Norimatsu, the founder of an AIBO repair company named A-Fun, arranged for a funeral for the departed.

This funeral was held at a Buddhist temple for 17 sacrificed AIBO units, but as his business grew, so, too, did the number of AIBOs needed for parts. These robot funerals became a regular occurrence, and in 2018, one was held for 800 AIBOs. The head priest of the temple, Bungen Oi, said that the funerals were in line with Buddhist philosophy, “Even though AIBO is a machine and doesn’t have feelings, it acts as a mirror for human emotions.”^[8]

2 A Funeral For A Fictional Character

Walter White is not a real person. He was a fictional character played by actor Bryan Cranston in a television series titled Breaking Bad. In the series, White is a high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable cancer who is motivated to make and sell methamphetamine so that his family will have money after he inevitably passes away.

Eventually, White died (or so it is generally assumed) in the series finale. Unlike most television deaths, this particular death resulted in a real-world landmark when fans of the show raised funds for and bought a grave site, an (empty) coffin, and gravestone for the character in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Breaking Bad is set. In addition to raising money for the funeral, these fans raised an additional $17,000, which they donated to the health care of Albuquerque’s homeless. However, there were some in the city who were unhappy with the increased foot traffic the grave has brought to the graveyard that is the final resting place for their real-life loved ones.^[9]

1 A Memorial For A Glacier

A glacier is a mass of snow and ice formed after years of excess snow accumulates. Basically, it’s a large snowdrift that never disappears because more snow is added to it faster than the snow can melt. After the snow and ice build up to a height of about 30 meters (100 ft), the huge accumulation typically begins to flow under its own weight. At this point, it qualifies as a glacier.

Iceland is a country of glaciers, with 269 named ones. In fact, around 11 percent of Iceland’s total surface area is comprised of these giant, flowing masses of ice. However, that is changing. As the world warms, glaciers are beginning to die off because more snow is melting from them than is added, causing them to shrink. In 2014, for the first time ever, a glacier was officially declared dead in Iceland—the iconic Okjokull, also referred to as “Ok.”^[10]

To commemorate the life of this once-proud Icelandic natural feature, dozens of people from all over the country, including the prime minister, hiked to its former location on August 18, 2019, to leave a memorial for the dead glacier as well as a message for future generations. A copper plaque was installed at the location. It reads in both Icelandic and English:

Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and know what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it.

The old adage goes that there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes. Death is inevitable, and once you’re gone, you’re gone, but there are a million different ways to send our loved ones into the great beyond. Funeral parlors may not be top of most people’s lists of “most comfortable places to hang out” but they are an essential part of the end-of-life process, providing a time and place for our last goodbyes. These funeral homes are some of the most unusual we’ve come across.

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10 For Pets

Why should humans be the only creatures to be honored by a proper send-off? Samsara Eternity crematory in Soignies, Belgium, agrees. Clients at Samasara can have a memorial service where their beloved pets are surrounded by decorative fabrics and soft lighting. Those who do not want to have their furry friends cremated may opt for a burial in a nearby pet cemetery or choose to have their best pals stuffed by trained taxidermists to eternally keep them at their master’s sides. The services are arranged by Animatrans, started in 1995 by founder Patrick Pendville. Pendville says his company claims it is the first of its kind in the country, and presents it as an alternative to “no-frills” disposal of pet remains.^[1]

9 Irish Pub

When the “last call” lights come on in a bar, it’s usually time to settle your tab, find your purse and make your way to the exit. But last call at McBride’s Irish Pub in Providence, Rhode Island is a little different. When the bell rings, it’s time for last respects, not last martinis. The pub is adjacent to Monahan Funeral Home, and, since it opened in 2011, “tears and cheers,” a ceremony where the name of the deceased is read aloud, happens nightly at 10 sharp. The restaurant was once a garage that housed Monohan’s cars and hearses, and is owned by the same family. The two establishments share a building. Owner Mark Russell says that many that choose to have their family funerals at Monahan do so because McBride’s comes as a part of the package. But you don’t have to have a relative lying in the next room to take advantage of the unique service. Anyone can request the bell be run in honor of a loved one, have the name be placed into a memorial book kept in the pub, and have all patrons in hearing raise a glass for one last toast.^[2]

8 Drive Through

Americans spend so much time in their cars that almost any service that can be is offered as a drive through option, from fast food to cupcakes to liquor. But Oliver & Eggleston Funeral Establishment in Farmville, Virginia kicks it up a notch by offering drive through funerals. Funeral home president Carl Eggleston cites the convenience of the service for mourners who may be too eldery or otherwise unable to attend a more usual service. The drive through funerals are set up much as the interior services, only in an adjacent room with a large picture window, so the casket can be seen from vehicles. The casket is illuminated with lights, on a timer, for as long as the family wishes the viewing to last. Virginia is not the only state to boast a drive through funeral parlor, though, they also exist in California and at parlors in Chicago and Louisiana.^[3]

7 Wine Cellar

A classy, wood-paneled room, redolent of leather and littered with tables made out of wine barrels, might convey more “fancy hotel bar” than “funeral parlor” but Hodges Funeral Home in Naples, Florida, wants to change your perception of mourning. For this reason, the owners gutted and remodeled an existing community room to make way for a wine cellar, and instead of services full of crying family members, they encourage “celebrations of life” complete with a couple glasses (or bottles) of wine. Seth Minso, funeral director and general manager, says he’s never, in his quarter century in the business, seen such a service, and that more and more people are requesting it. In fact, Hodges doesn’t want any trappings of the Victorian funeral home environment at all, shooting for a high-end restaurant feel instead, with flat-screen televisions and plans to switch out the pews for “lounge areas” full of relaxing couches and squishy chairs.^[4]

6 Very Modern

Most funeral parlors are built after the Victorian concept of funeral architecture, with tall, bone-white Gothic columns, dark carpets, and gold sconces, with very few windows. The Funeral Home and Garden in Pinoso, Spain, couldn’t be further from this concept. It looks like a chic, mid-century-modern-style home with a low, square, profile located on the side of a hill, complete with generous courtyards. The glassy black exterior boasts copious amounts of windows that let in floods of natural light. The interior is also shockingly modern, bright white, and thoughtfully designed with stylish furniture scattered about. Even the chapel is rendered in a pure, bright white, with a very minimal look. The whole place feels much more like a trendy art museum rather than a place for the dead.^[5]

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5 Most Haunted

All funeral parlors are fertile ground for haunting stories, so to boast the title of “most haunted,” is really saying something, though Cleveland’s House of Wills is a strong contender for the honor. The building dates back to 1900, and was named for founder John Walter Wills. It was one Cleveland’s longest running African-American businesses when it shut for good in 2005, and fell into disrepair. The building, with its elaborately themed rooms, was rumored to be a speakeasy during Prohibition and a meeting hall for Freemasons at one time, bulking up its haunting potential. “I don’t believe in ghosts,” says, Eric Freeman, current owner. “I didn’t before, and I still don’t. But I have seen stuff here that can’t be explained.” There are many stories connected to the property, all of which you can hear in detail, as the Cleveland Paranormal Society hosts ghost tours at The House of Wills. The parlor was also featured on season 2 of “Ghost Brothers.”^[6]

4 For the Rich and Famous

If asked what John Lennon, Jackie Onassis, and Philip Seymour Hoffman have in common, other than being famous (and late), you might have a hard time coming up with it. But all of had glitterati goodbyes at the same funeral parlor: Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home in Manhattan, which provides send-offs for the rich and famous. If you want to die like the stars, though, you need to have a bank account to match. Campbell sells a $90,000 casket and, in one case, the bill came to $150,000 in total. In order to conduct one-percenter funerals with dignity, this Upper East Side parlor has to deal with some really bizarre circumstances, such as being ready for uninvited fan break-ins, and conducting services with utmost secrecy, not to mention strict guest lists.^[7]

3 Oldest

Bucktrout of Williamsburg, Virginia is the oldest funeral home in the United States, opening in 1759, making it 261 years old. It didn’t start as a funeral home, strictly, but Benjamin Bucktrout and Anthony Hay made wooden caskets and provided burials on their farm, which, over time, transitioned into a more formal funeral parlor. Through the years, Bucktrout changed hands many times. It was also the first funeral home to own and operate a crematory. In 2011, it was purchased by the Altmeyer family who have restored and renovated the historic location.^[8]

2 Museum

Marietta, Ohio might be the only small town on earth that can claim a funeral parlor/museum mash-up. Cawley & Peoples Funeral Home/Mortuary Museum is the brainchild of William “Bill” Peoples, current owner and funeral director. The museum, located in the former garage of the funeral parlor, opened in the early 2000s as a place for Peoples’ collection of vintage vehicles, specifically hearses, and has grown to include burial garments, caskets, and antique tools of the trade. The jewel of the collection is a fully-restored Henney hearse, dating from 1927, affectionately referred to as “Miss Henney” (Miss Henney has appeared in several movies, including Radio Days and Get Low). The Mortuary Museum regularly hosts guests from all over the United States, and has already outgrown its current space. Peoples plans to expand the museum in the near future.^[9]

1 “Standing” Funerals

In 2008, Angel Luis “Pedrito” Pantojas Medina died. And then, he stood, silently, for three days at his own wake. Such is the specialty of the Marin Funeral Home in Puerto Rico, which has popularized “standing funerals.” While the family of the deceased may choose the more traditional route, having the corpse laid out in a casket, Marin also offers to pose the body in tableaus that include sitting or standing, and even more elaborate scenes like playing cards or driving an ambulance (for a man that was an EMT in life). The funeral home even constructed a boxing ring for a young man who wanted his athletic skills known even in death. Included with the service are elaborate costumes, if requested, such as one man whose family dressed him as his hero, Che Guevara, or a woman who wanted to be a guest at her own funeral wearing her wedding dress. The practice is legal, though controversial, with some folks believing that it’s downright sacrilegious.^[10]

Top 10 Ways To Dispose Of Your Body After Death

About The Author: A.L. Montone is a teacher, playwright, and magician in Baltimore area.

This is a list of some interesting and weird rituals in which people belonging to different cultures disposed their loved ones to the God, after they have ceased to live. Some bury their loved ones while others burn them. But there are some never heard of most bizarre funeral traditions in the world that you are going to be shocked after knowing. Read ahead to know about these shocking death rituals and traditions from around the globe.

Here is the list of some most bizarre funeral rituals from around the world.

10. Famadihana

Famadihana is a funerary tradition of the Malagasy people in Madagascar. Known as the turning of the bones, people bring forth the bodies of their ancestors from the family crypts and rewrap them in fresh cloth, than dance with the corpses around the tomb to live music.

This is a way of the Malagasy people to remember their dead relatives and loved ones from time to time. These people dig out the remains of their dead one’s body at regular intervals and wrap them in fresh clothes. They bury them again after carrying them around their villages.

9. Tree-Bound

This tradition simply involved tying the dead to the ancient trees found among the village of the deceased. This ritual is probable to be practiced by people who are atheist and do not follow any certain set of traditions and culture.

This ensures that their dead ones are always in the hearts of the people and the ritual is a way of reminding others that they must prepare for death and the live thereafter.

8. Hanging of Coffins

This ancient ritual practiced by the old Chinese Dynasties involved the displaying of coffins on high rock cliffs. They believe that coffins need to be close to the sky so that their dead can be closer to heaven. The coffins were actually discovered by the archaeologists among the remains of these ancient civilizations.

Setting of coffins meant that the still thought of their dead in the highly respectable positions and their ghosts and spirits are free to roam around the hills and rocks.

7. Mass Scavenging

This ancient ritual practice by the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. The ritual involves throwing all the dead people in a vicinity of town, village or city in one pit and then letting wild animals loose for them to feed on the dead bodies.

This way the relatives do not need to perform any other methods like burial and cremation. Disposing of the bodies through this method lets the dead live only in one form in the hereafter and they have no belongings in the real world, not even their own bodies.

6. Exposing Dead to Vultures

Another bizarre tradition being revitalized by the Parsi community of Mumbai. Mainly a ritual practiced by the Zoroastrian religion, by first preparing the dead by cleansing and bathing them and then setting them up on Towers of their religious temples to vultures.

The idea behind this tradition is that the dead must get rid of their physical forms and must only survive in one being, i.e. their spiritual selves.

5. Cremation

Still practiced in the modern world, the ritual involves setting a proper platform of wood and then setting the dead ones on fire. The cremated body is then filled in a jar to be kept close by the dear ones of the deceased. Some of the dead ones, in their own lives, leave wills as to how they would like their ashes to be disposed of.

Some even wish for themselves to be released in the space, some living in India wish for them to be flown into the River Ganges or any other ocean and some wish for them to be kept close by their relatives.

4. Strangulation

This modern practice has derived ideas from the ancient ritual of Sati. The traditional funeral ceremony on the South Pacific Island of Fiji involves killing of the near and dear ones of the deceased. The practice implies that the dead ones should not be left alone in the other world and must be accompanied by a loved one in the hereafter so as to make the process of death less painful.

See also the list of weird wedding rituals.

3. Cannibalism

One of the most bizarre funeral traditions from Papua New Guinea and Brazil in which the community feasted upon the deceased’s body. Now rarely practiced, this inhuman practice probably arose from malnourished nations who sought other methods to feed themselves. Cannibalism thus left any need for disposing of any body.

The deceased one’s family used to gather around the dead body and used fire and other basic tools to make it edible. It is also known to be practiced in nations who primarily survived in the jungles with not much to eat except herbs and plants.

2. Sky Burial

One of the most bizarre funeral traditions still in practice. Sky burial or ritual dissection is a funerary practice in the Chinese provinces of Tibet, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia. A human corpse is cut into small pieces and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements (mahabhuta) and animals – especially predatory birds.

The function of the sky burial is simply to dispose of the remains in as generous a way as possible. The majority of Tibetans and many Mongolians adhere to Vajrayana Buddhism, which teaches the transmigration of spirits. They believed that there is no need to preserve the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it or nature may cause it to decompose.

1. Sati

Sati is a very old tradition from the religion of Hinduism. It is rarely practiced nowadays. Sati was a sort of punishment given to a woman whose husband has died, i.e. it primarily involved widows. Not only Hindus, but some other cultures are also known to practice this tradition.

The widow was forced to burn herself as a way to sacrifice herself to the mighty powers in respect of her husband’s death. The main reason of this ritual practice could be that an alone woman has no place in this world after her husband’s death and she must sacrifice herself willingly before the Gods.

See also; 10 of the most weird practices still performed.

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