Now don’t get me wrong, I am very partial to a quick ‘Gingang Goolie Goolie Goolie Watcha’ round the camp fire, as the best of us. But I am not “like totally” into bonfires. Mr P on the other hand just loves his bonfires, and any excuse to set fire to a bunch of old wood, and he is ‘heaven sent’. I was thinking about bonfires just the other day as an old friend sent me some pictures of someone we used to know, who had been, at their ending, burned  on a pyre in India. Loved ones  attended the ritual and danced around the pyre (there is a very strong smell for a bit). At the end of the process, all that was left was tinder and bones, and a clear picture of the person’s skull. I thought this was magnificent and think it would be much nicer to have someone’s skull when they were gone than a carton of ash that could be any old ash. Worth reading the hindu man in newcastle, BBC article that forbids him from having his body burned in a funeral pyre with all his family watching in the UK.  I can really see the wonderment of being burned on a big bonfire and your soul flying off in the flames…sounds rather good to me. And then my skull could be put on the mantle piece with a flower in it!  I found a cool site called the Good Funeral Guide that has a great little blog about funerals around the worlds and different traditions.