Can Cremation Jewelry Help You Overcome Grief?

Losing someone you love or care for is never easy. Grief sets in differently for every person. Some people know that a suffering loved one is no longer in pain, and while they mourn the person, they also know that they're somewhere better.

For other people, and depending on the circumstances, death means continual grief, pain and suffering,

Unexpected deaths or the death of a younger individual can be especially taxing on a person's mental health. From making arrangements to the burial or the cremation process, grief will exist.

The good news is that there are ways to overcome this despair, and this includes cremation jewelry.

History of Cremation Jewelry

The exact date of the first piece of cremation jewelry being made is lost to history. However, we know that the jewelry was made before the Ancient Egyptians, so it dates back thousands of years in some form.

Tribes in both Myanmar and India are known to have made jewelry with the bones of their loved ones.

While bones are not ashes, these necklaces were used to remember the deceased. It was also thought that the necklaces held a type of healing and warding power. More precisely, it was thought that wearing these necklaces led to:

• Warding off sickness
• Healing powers for the sick

Rather than traditionally wearing the necklace around the neck, it would be wrapped around the part of the body that needs healing. Little is known about these practices during or after these times, but it was a glimpse into the beginning of jewelry made from a loved one's bones.

Fast-forward a few thousand years and we land in the 16th century, which kept much better records that allow us to delve deep into cremation jewelry.

• 16th Century: "Momentos" of the dead were made, and these jewelry pieces weren't for grieving. Instead, people created these momentos to remember the dead and pray for the dead. You would find tokens, often with skulls, used for these momentos.
• 17th Century: When Charles I died, he asked people to remember him. His final words led to a massive change in jewelry. Jewelry was made to remember Charles, and there are fine examples of rings with his portrait on them to remember the King.
• 18th Century: During this century, jewelry took a turn towards emotion, sentiment and mourning.
• 19th Century: The 19th century was an interesting time when people popularized the "death photo." Families would gather around the dead and take a photograph. Queen Victoria lent her popularity to mourning jewelry when she mourned the death of Prince Albert for four decades. She mandated that mourning jewelry be worn at court, which led to the wealthy memorializing their loved ones with jewelry. This period is also when we see jewelry containing locks of hair become popular.

Today, we're seeing a new trend where more people cremate their loved ones instead of burying them. Multiple forms of expression are coming out in the 21st century, from tattoos to artworks and more using a person's ashes.

However, more people are keeping a small portion of their loved ones' ashes on them.

You can choose from rings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants and other types of cremation jewelry.

Reasons Why People Purchase Cremation Jewelry

Why do people purchase cremation jewelry? This is a question many people ask, and the answer is almost always: I want to keep the person close to me. It's a sentiment that has been around for thousands of years.

You can purchase cremation jewelry for any reason, but the most common are to:

• Overcome grief
• Remember your loved one
• Keep the person close to you
• A final "honor" to the person

You don't need a reason to buy jewelry to remember your loved one. If the jewelry makes you feel closer to the person or brings you some kind of relief, it's a worthwhile investment.

How cremation jewelry May Help You Overcome Grief

Grief comes in multiple stages, and in every stage, you'll go through an assortment of emotions. The many stages of grief include:

1. Denial. The first stage includes isolation and denial. You may be thinking, "this isn't happening," and you're still very much in shock. Often, you'll feel numb and may even be questioning the purpose of life.
2. Anger. Once denial starts to fade, you'll begin to feel angry. This anger may be toward the deceased or maybe even towards God.
3. What If. A "what if" stage occurs when you sit down and go through numerous scenarios in your head. "What if” the person sought medical treatment earlier, you helped them, they didn't stop for a cup of coffee, etc.
4. Depression. Coping with depression after losing a loved one is hard. And everyone reacts differently to loss. Depression sets in when you finally realize that the person is gone and not coming back.

Finally, you'll reach the end stage of acceptance. You may still grieve and be upset about your loss, but you realize that death is a part of life.

cremation jewelry can help through all of these stages. As you've just read, cremation jewelry has been used by mankind, in some form, for thousands of years. The idea is that you can keep a piece of your loved one with you always.

You don't need to be alone.

Whether you purchase a piece of jewelry with the person's birthstone to remember them by or choose a necklace, your loved one's ashes will remain with you. For people who feel close to someone they lost, keeping the person's ashes close is a way to grieve.

You'll feel more connected to the person, even if they're no longer in the material world.

People continue to revolutionize the cremation process. While cremation jewelry remains a mainstay in remembering your loved ones, people are starting to:

• Create artworks with their loved one's ashes
• Getting tattoos with the person's ashes

And others are still relying on urns for ashes to keep their loved one's remains close. How you keep your loved one close to you is a personal choice. A beautiful necklace, ring, pendant or another type of cremation jewelry may help you overcome your grief with the deceased close by at all times.