Speak with the Dead: Understanding Cemetery Symbolism

In this class, led by writer and cemetery tour guide Allison C. Meier—author of Grave—you will learn how to decipher and understand cemetery symbolism in a graveyard near you, whether it's an atmospheric colonial churchyard or a Victorian landscape filled with soaring angels. With a focus on the United States and Europe, we will explore some of the most common cemetery symbols, what they mean, and where they come from.

The four sessions of the class will each cover a different era of cemetery symbolism and how it evolved from the visual expression that came before. Each session will include recommended readings and a prompt for exploring symbolism on your own, perhaps to consider what message you might like to leave behind as a final statement:

Ancient Rites: The early beliefs about the dead that shaped our memorial rituals

Memento Mori: How the churchyard became a landscape of the macabre

Death Is Not the End: The Victorian symbolism of the 19th century, from floral meaning to signs of transition

Art of the Afterlife: A look at modern and contemporary memorials that transmit new ideas about what a grave can be.

For more information and to register for this event please click on the click below.

https://www.morbidanatomy.org/classes/p/speak-with-the-dead-a-crash-course-in-understanding-cemetery-symbolism-with-author-allison-c-meier
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