Death has marked our existence since time immemorial. Perhaps to alleviate the sensation of loss, to keep alive the power of the deceased or who knows the reason, human remains have been preserved throughout our history. And it is not a practice that dates back thousands of years, there are more contemporary examples than you can imagine.
For example, the author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, brought with her to the end of her days the heart of her beloved dead husband, a love story that we told you earlier in Supercurioso. Your case fits perfectly in this list of because I know they have preserved human remains in history, although Shelley's would be the most "pink" motif, by far, in the following list, since some of the ones you will meet next are absolutely amazing ... Know the reasons that have led to carry out this macabre practice!
Why human remains have been preserved in history
1. As relics of Christianity
The head of St. Catherine of Siena was separated from her body in the year 1381 by followers who wrapped the limb in a silk blanket to outwit the Roman Guard. As the Saint had died in Rome, these men set out to send her back to her native Siena, on the sly. Nowadays the mummified relic is in sight of all his faithful inside a reliquary decorated in the Basilica of Santo Domingo, in Siena.
Like the head of St. Catherine, there are other parts of the body of the saints that have been preserved by the Catholic Church for centuries to extend their veneration.
Among the huge collection of relics there is also the language of San Antonio de Padua, the blood of San Jenaro, the foreskin of the baby Jesus and the entire body of Saint Bernadette de Lourdes, who died in 1879, remaining intact even these days. But this practice is not exclusive of the catholic religion, in the temple Sri Lanka you can find the tooth of Buddha, for example, or the beard of Muhammad in the Museum of the Palace of Topkapi, in Istanbul.
2. As simple decoration
If you know the Ed Gein case , the butcher of Plainfield, not only will you know about his fame as a murderer, but also that he used to elaborate accessories , from slippers to armchairs, from human remains. Undoubtedly, a horrible practice that in the past was too common, as in the France of the eighteenth century, when Honoré Fragonard elaborated sculptures from corpses , combining anatomy and art to show how our body is composed, in a way that nobody could ever forget.
Another way to preserve human remains in history, consisted of glasses made with human skulls known as Kapalas, which were decorated with precious metals and jewels to beautify the Buddhist altars in the tantric ceremonies. Pretty gloomy, do not you think?
3. As an amulet to prevent death
The amulets for good fortune They have been used since time immemorial in various cultures, and many of them are harmless, such as the famous Chinese coins or Buddha bracelets that you surely know. However, in other parts of the world, the issue of attracting luck and prosperity through gadgets has reached a daunting dimension with the sacrifices of children in Uganda and Africa .
Practitioners of this terrible ceremony, which implies that human remains have been preserved, have the belief that the spirits drive away disease and death, by offering them the blood of an infant or any part of their body as an offering. This has caused that the sacrifices of children became so popular in the region, where they have found 700 bodies of youngsters murdered by sorcerers who have been in charge of selling these secret ceremonies in rural areas. Since the first sacrifice of this kind was carried out in 1998, no one has been able to stop them.
4. As proof of homicide
This is another of the disturbing reasons why human remains have been preserved throughout history. During the Second World War, American troops decapitated their enemies to take home a trophy of war: their skulls . While in the sixteenth century, one of the reasons why human remains have been preserved corresponds to the killings at the hands of samurai warriors, who, in the Japanese invasion of Korea, sliced noses or ears of the opposing side as evidence that someone had been killed, and so collect the reward.
The number of victims was so impressive that in the 1980s these were found "Nasal tombs" with more than 20 thousand noses.
5. As an architectural ornament
A Catholic church that has used the remains of 40 thousand corpses as a decorative motif, would you dare to visit it? He Sedlec ossuary in the Czech Republic No matter how dark it sounds, it is an interesting place to look at. Inside it is a huge chandelier and a cross made of human bones. Basically, the place is almost entirely covered by skulls belonging to the victims of the Black Death and people who were accidentally dug up from the cemetery on which the small chapel was built.
Other churches that welcomed this unique concept They are the church Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins, in Rome, where they are the remains of about 4 thousand friars , exposed in rooms and walls. And the most bizarre of these, the Czermna chapel in Poland, in which there is not a single bone. It was created by a local priest named Vaclav Tomasek, whose skull occupies a special place, on the altar of the chapel.
Now that you know part of the reasons why human remains have been preserved in history, how about you tell us which one made the most impression? We invite you, if you know another interesting reason why human remains have been preserved, add it in the comments. We will love knowing your contribution!