From a letter to the Natural Death Centre.
Thank you for the Natural Death Handbook which I have spent the day absorbed in. It is excellent! Since coming across Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's work in the mid seventies, I have been interested in a more personally responsible approach to dying, and, in my work as a Jungian therapist, the issues of the 'soul' are ever before me. I value your book for its wealth of real information, warmth and humane cheer.
A turn of phrase is oft repeated in the book which I am left wondering about and, though it belongs to the standard vocabulary of death, seems to me oddly out of place in this book. It is the phrase "viewing the body". I know this to be what one does and what one asks to do. But I wonder why we only use that word "view''. It is coldly impersonal and conveys a sense of distance and slight distaste. It perpetuates the 'keep at a distance and do not touch' inclination, which runs against the mother's instinct so movingly illustrated in one of the stories in the book. To "see" the body, or "look at the body" imply more interest than is culturally normal and is a bit too explicit perhaps, but for me is nearer to what we are keen to improve.
An absorbing interest in cabinet making lasting many years has enabled me to furnish a respectable workshop of woodworking tools and the occasional coffin would not be difficult for me to supply to suit the pocket of any needy enquirer who might want for encouragement in organising their own funeral. I would be glad to assist now and then within the constraints of a very busy life, so I am willing to help if you know of any who are particularly stuck.
Stephen Briggs, 42 Vanbrugh Park, London SE3 7AA (tel 020 8293 3365).
Perhaps "visiting the body" might be better than "seeing" or "looking at", since visiting could include touch.
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