The Order of The Good Death

Tibetan Sky Burial and its Whiskey Drinkin’ Practitioner

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, Tibetan Sky Burial is my favorite death ritual. The tearing apart of the dead body and consumption by vultures high in the mountains of Tibet, your corpse soaring into the sky in every direction.

I talked about it in Ask a Mortician Episode 3.

Since my description doesn’t really do it justice, here is a great video of the process sent in by Sara Thomas (thnx gurl).

Two things are great about this video (beyond the beautiful soaring shots of the vultures).

1)  The narrator’s accent: “Nombe-la’s ccuurrppsaahh…”

2)  The corpse cutter himself. They call him the undertaker, but it’s really more of a specialized position where he slices the corpse and prepares it with spices for the vultures to consume.

A+ for his honesty. I would watch a TV show about this guy, oh yes I would.

Posted on July 2, 2012 by caitlin
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  • http://www.facebook.com/MizWednesdayBlack Wednesday Black

    Beautiful short on the ritual!

  • E T

    That’s what I want too! It’s so beautiful it made the hair on my arms stand up.

    Thank you for your blog!

  • Michelle Lewis

    I also enjoyed the way he pronounced disease “deh-ZEEEEEZE.”

    It’s a poignant ritual, even though I could have used some whiskey when I saw the cutter wielding the axe. That was a little…unnerving. 

  • Jed

    Narrator is actor John Hurt I believe, a fellow Brit. This blog is such a time thief, but thank you !