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Here Lies...

© Virginia Marin

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Burning flame - A funerary symbol of life or resurrection

Are you faced with the prospects of a weekend with nothing to do? You could while away the time as a couch potato and spend the hours watching television and munching, or you may have visions of spending the day surfing the Internet, which may be better than being in front of the television. But wait! There IS an interesting alternative. Dress comfortably. Don sturdy walking shoes. Grab a bottle of drinking water and let's go. Come on! You'll have fun!

"Oh that my words were carved with an iron pen in the rock forever," rejoiced the Biblical prophet Job more than 3500 years ago. With Job, let us talk of graves, worms, and epitaphs.

Unusual monuments in Edisto Island Presbyterian Cemetery

I like to wander through cemeteries, especially old ones. The newer ones hold little facination for me as they are void of the headstones, monuments, and inscriptions for which I am seeking, while the older ones reveal many facets of the lives and cultures of the residents.

As a preamble, good examples of cemetery elegies can be found in legends, folktales, and Gothic literature. These writing categories are often rich with images of the lone bed of everlasting sleep. Favorite literary epitaphs have found their way to tombstone inscriptions which speak in some way of the deceased persons. This leads one to believe that many authors were also fond of cemeteries. Judging from the greatness of Gothic authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, for example, the company is choice.

When I visit old cemeteries, I am always armed with camera, and grave marking supplies to document sayings, lore, and stones which are noteworthy.

However, a cautionary blip is inserted for those who visit cities of the dead if they are not free of overgrowth and debris. Snakes! In my state of South Carolina, one must avoid cemeteries located in close promimity to creek banks, drain ditches, heavy leaf covered areas, and woods. South Carolina has one of the largest variety of poisonous snakes in the entire United States! In the Low Country, several miles south of Edisto, many snakes are captured that are used for extracting venom for snake-bite serum. Here, also, snakes are collected for zoos, carnival shows, and by those FEW Pentecostal Churches that have managed to elude the law and continue in their practice of snake handling. I, therefore, avoid some old cemeteries that I would dearly love to explore if they are entangled with liana.

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