Merrie-Ellen Wilcox - After Life: Ways We Think about Death

Page numbers refer to print edition

8 of grief,

Adam and Eve,

advance directive. See living will

Africa: cultural beliefs,

afterlife,

aging process,

ancient cultures: and birds,

Anglican Book of Common Prayer,

Aristotle,

atoms, cycle of life,

Australia, Yolngu people,

autopsy,

Bali, cremation ceremony,

bereavement,

bioethicists,

bioethics: life support systems,

birds, as symbols,

black, as color of mourning,

Black Death,

Book of the Dead,

brain death: and end of life,

Buddhism,

burial practices,

Canada: Camp Erin,

candlelight vigil,

Capsula Mundi,

catacombs,

cells,

cemeteries (graveyards),

Cerberus, three-headed dog,

Charon, ferryman of the dead,

children: death of babies,

China: mourning clothing colors,

Christianity,

clothing: colors of mourning,

coffins (caskets), . See also shroud

colors,

columbarium,

corpse,

cremains,

cremation,

crematorium,

cryonic suspension,

Davidson, Hugh,

Day of the Dead festival,

death: autopsy,

death doulas,

decomposition,

disease: contagious,

doctors: Hippocratic oath,

do-not-resuscitate ( DNR ) order,

dying: hospice,

Eastern Europe folklore,

Egyptians: mummification,

embalming,

England, mourning clothing,

Epic of Gilgamesh, The,

epitaph,

eulogy,

euthanasia,

families: experience of death,

feeding tube,

feelings of loss. See grief

festivals,

food and water, need of,

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,

funeral homes,

funeral rites,

Gandhi, Mahatma,

garlic and vampires,

ghosts,

Gilgamesh,

gravestones,

graveyards (cemeteries),

Greece, ancient: funeral rites,

green burial,

grief,

Grim Reaper,

Hades,

Haida people,

Haiti, cultural beliefs,

healing after loss,

hearse,

heaven,

Hinduism,

Hippocratic oath,

hospice,

human body: basic needs,

hunger, chronic,

immortality,

India: cremation in,

Indigenous cultures: African,

industrialized countries,

Irish wake,

iron lung,

Islam,

Japan, Obon festival,

Judaism,

karma,

Khufu, Pharaoh,

Kbler-Ross, Elisabeth,

Learning Through Loss website,

legal rights: to end suffering,

Lenin, Vladimir,

life: cycle of,

life expectancy,

life span,

life support, decision to end,

limbo,

Lincoln, Abraham,

living will,

livor mortis,

Madagascar, funeral procession,

mausoleums,

medicine: cryonic suspension,

memorial service,

memorial tree,

memorials,

memory stones,

Mexico, Day of the Dead festival,

Middle Ages: Black Death,

miscarriage,

Montreal, Camp Erin,

morticians. See undertakers

mortuary poles,

mourning,

mummification,

music: ceremonies,

Muslim, burial practices,

mythology: ancient civilizations,

natural mummies,

near-death experiences,

New Orleans, jazz funeral,

New York City, candlelight vigil,

nirvana,

North America: cultural beliefs,

Nuer people,

obituary,

Obon festival,

omens,

organ and tissue donations,

Orpheus in the Underworld,

Oscar the hospice cat,

Osiris,

oxygen, lack of,

palliative care,

Pandoras Box,

Parsis,

Parsons, Rehtaeh,

pathologist,

peat bogs,

pets: euthanasia of,

phoenix (mythology),

physician-assisted death,

plague,

Plato,

pregnancy, miscarriage,

psychopomps,

putrefaction,

pyre,

Qin Shi Huang,

Qingming festival,

Quinlan, Karen Ann,

reincarnation,

resurrection,

rigor mortis,

rituals,

rivers: Ganges,

Rope to Heaven,

sarcophagi,

Saunders, Cicely,

Seven Days, The (film),

Shoshone people,

shroud,

skeleton,

sky burial,

soul (spirit),

stardust,

stars, cycle of life,

stillbirth,

suicide,

suspended animation. See cryonic suspension

symbols: birds,

Taj Mahal,

technology: impact on medicine,

terminal illness,

Terracotta Army,

Thailand, funeral rites,

thanatology,

Todd, Amanda,

Tollund Man,

tombs,

Tower of Silence,

Tsimshian people,

undead,

undertakers,

underworld mythology,

United States: cremation in,

vampires,

Varanasi, India,

vegetative state,

ventilator,

Victoria, Queen,

vigils,

wakes,

West African cultures,

widow/widower,

will,

Wolf and Coyote,

Yolngu people,

zombies,

Zoroastrianism,

afterlife: the continuation of life after death

autopsy: an examination of a body by a pathologist to find out why the person died

bereavement: the loss of a loved one through death

bioethicist: a person who studies the difficult decisions that have to be made in medical science

Black Death: an outbreak of plague that killed as much as half of the population of the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Asia in the fourteenth century

Book of the Dead: in ancient Egypt, a collection of spells that the soul needed to recite on its journey through the underworld

brain death: a state in which there is no electrical activity in the brain

burial: the act of placing a dead body in the ground

catacomb: an underground cemetery consisting of large chambers and long passages lined with niches for the dead

cell: the smallest unit of living matter, which works with other cells to perform the many functions of life

cemetery: a special place where people bury the dead; a cemetery at a church is known as a graveyard

coffin (or casket): a box in which a body is placed for burial

columbarium: a building where people place the cremated remains (or cremains) of the dead

corpse: a dead body

cremains: the ashes and bones that are left after a body has been cremated

cremation: the burning of a dead body

crematorium: a place with a special furnace (a crematory) for cremating bodies

cryonic suspension: the freezing of a dead body in the belief that medical science will someday bring it back to life

crypt: a chamber or vault for the dead, usually under a church or churchyard

Day of the Dead: November 2 in Mexico, when people honor the dead by visiting and decorating graves

decomposition: the process of breaking down all the molecules and cells in a body so the atoms they are made of can be used again

do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order: a document that tells medical staff not to try to keep a person alive if his or her heart stops