I didn’t know you could go out in a shroud!

Recently I reviewed workshops I ran in 2021. All were get-togethers that focused on planning, and increased people’s knowledge of what is available to them. A frequent informal comment during the classes, which was repeated in the evaluation was: ‘I learned you can be buried in a shroud.’

I had taken a shroud made from a blanket to each event and laid it out to be seen and touched. This tangible demonstration is part of my advocacy for a wider range of options for funerals and end of life care.

Advocacy for choice in the end of life care space.

Indigenous architect Jefa Greenaway listed what he believes an advocate does, at a talk in 2019 (see below), and I found a resonance in each of the points he suggested about challenging mainstream design.

Demonstrates a value proposition

The value of a shroud is in its simplicity, and the intimacy it creates in the end of life care process. ‘It’s so cosy,’ said participants in the course. The shroud invites connection and touch. For those who love textiles and have skills in making, the shroud invites collective making. For example, Lois, a woman who did home funeral training with me in the U.S., a great knitter, invited women in her knitting group to go into their stash, and select wool they thought she’d like and make a section of her shroud.

Shrouds are environmentally friendly, since they’re made from natural materials that transform in a short time.

Showcases value of engaging in conversations

The shroud I carry to talks and workshops invites people to chat about what they do understand to be options for end of life care. These conversations bring to light people’s values and priorities. Everyone is different. Everyone sees this terrain differently. By having the shroud present I highlight that there may be options beyond those that have been considered before.

Explores cultural considerations

Each community has its own cultural considerations when it comes to appropriate end of life care. In Melbourne, the Muslim community initiated advocacy that influenced the major cemetery trusts to change regulations to allow shrouds. See my book Death, a love project for more on this.

The rest of the Victorian population has benefited from the introduction of more flexible regulations.

Highlights the importance of relational rather than transactional approaches

Those in the funeral industry speak of and pitch their work as relational. Yet, to consider the question ‘How would we use a shroud in practice?’ highlights that shrouding is an intimate and highly relational process corporate funeral directors are largely unfamiliar with. Few of the larger funeral chains would be able to provide a room in their facility in which a family could shroud the person who has died. It’s more often the case that shrouding happens in the home, as part of a ‘home funeral’, or with the support of a niche or independent funeral director.

Provides access to alternative signifiers

The shroud is itself an alternative signifier of being more hands on at end of life. The softness is created through the skills of the craftswoman - sewer, stitcher, weaver, felter - where the coffin is a product of the carpenter. Suffice to say that early Australian funeral businesses often had carpenter or builder as their first or second business listing.

Shrouds expand the repertoire of ritual. Ritual engages the senses. In ritual we step in wholehearted, receptive to life as it is.

Shroud with flowers at Kathleen Syme Community Centre 2021

In the past, end of life care was more hands on, including the use of shrouds. Glorious shrouds denoted status. Blankets were used by the poor. There would have been the same sense of wrapping someone up warmly, but also negative status connotations around not being able to afford something better. Can you imagine how much people in these circumstances would have aspired to purchase a coffin?

Today it’s most likely that a shroud takes its place in end of life care through faith traditions, both Muslim and Jewish. For those who make a specific choice for one, it is to celebrate relationships with a beloved person, and to reduce impact on the environment. Let’s talk if you’d like to explore shrouding further.

Finally … on Jefa Greenaway … here is an interview covering the content of the lecture I heard in 2019.