Alternative Death Rituals
Alternative funerals, such as ceremonies which might mix Buddhist, American Indian, and Egyptian rituals, are becoming more common as Baby Boomers transform the American way of death. The Baby Boom Generation will translate in to at least 10 million Americans over the age of 65 by the next decade. Having spent most of their lives challenging authority and conformity, they see their last moments as a final act of self-expression and rebellion. The result has been a rapid growth of interest in mortality from a generation that until recently, appeared reluctant to grow old.
Besides funerals, where Americans die is also changing. Up to 70 percent of Americans currently die in hospitals and nursing homes, but just as the home birth movement took hold in the late Sixties, so home deaths are becoming the latest trend for Boomers. In fact, San Francisco now has its own "Zen hospice" which will soon begin training "professional death companions." Graduates will be known as "midwives for death." (from Mortuary Management, May 2000).