Culture · 152 essays
Essays on memory, family, and the slow work of keeping a life coherent.
Festivals and ritual, AI and memory, family and generations, privacy and ethics, healing and grief. Each one hand-written, archived, and kept under the same commitments as the product itself.Hand-written, one at a time, since the very first essay.
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Three to start with
Private Social Media AlternativesRead the essay ->
Dikgafela: Botswana's First Fruits FestivalRead the essay ->
Toraja Funeral Traditions of IndonesiaRead the essay ->
All Souls' Day: Christian RemembranceRead the essay ->
The Adae Festival of GhanaRead the essay ->
Boun Khao Padap Din: Laos' Festival of the DeadRead the essay ->
Kucios: Lithuania's Christmas Eve FeastRead the essay ->
Famadihana: Madagascar's Turning of the BonesRead the essay ->
Toro Nagashi: Japan's Lanterns for the DeadRead the essay ->
Chuseok: Korea's Festival of Ancestral ThanksRead the essay ->
Dziady: Belarus' Night of the AncestorsRead the essay ->
Pastele Blajinilor: Moldova's Easter of the DeadRead the essay ->
Benin's Vodun Festival and the AncestorsRead the essay ->
Ancestor Veneration in ChinaRead the essay ->
The Egungun Festival of NigeriaRead the essay ->
Anthesteria: The Greek Festival of the DeadRead the essay ->
Antam Sanskar: Sikh Funeral RitesRead the essay ->
Antyesti: Hindu Funeral RitesRead the essay ->
Ars Moriendi: the Art of DyingRead the essay ->
Egypt's Beautiful Festival of the ValleyRead the essay ->
Best Platforms for Family History PreservationRead the essay ->
Best Social Platforms for Family ConnectionsRead the essay ->
The Egyptian Book of the DeadRead the essay ->
Boon Para Wate: Thailand's Merit for the DeadRead the essay ->
The Capuchin Catacombs of PalermoRead the essay ->
The Chinchorro Mummies of ChileRead the essay ->
The Cold Food Festival (Hanshi)Read the essay ->
How to Preserve PhotographsRead the essay ->
Cultural Heritage Conservation and EducationRead the essay ->
Danse Macabre: the Dance of DeathRead the essay ->
Day of the Dead in MexicoRead the essay ->
Death Masks: the Face Kept After DeathRead the essay ->
Decoration Day in AppalachiaRead the essay ->
The Double Ninth FestivalRead the essay ->
AI in Memory CareRead the essay ->
What Does Family Mean Today?Read the essay ->
Ghana's Fantasy CoffinsRead the essay ->
Fayum Mummy Portraits: the Oldest FacesRead the essay ->
Fèt Gede: Haiti's Festival of the DeadRead the essay ->
The Forty-Nine Days: Buddhist MourningRead the essay ->
Fravashi and the Muktad DaysRead the essay ->
How Different Cultures Remember the DeadRead the essay ->
Gen Z to Alpha: The Culture of Each GenerationRead the essay ->
Native American Memory PreservationRead the essay ->
Gai Jatra: Nepal's Festival of Cows and GriefRead the essay ->
Galungan and Kuningan in BaliRead the essay ->
Gio: the Vietnamese Death AnniversaryRead the essay ->
Griots: West Africa's Keepers of GenealogyRead the essay ->
Gule Wamkulu: the Chewa Masked DanceRead the essay ->
Higan: the Japanese Equinox ObservanceRead the essay ->
Homowo: the Ga Harvest FestivalRead the essay ->
Pchum Ben: Cambodia's Ancestors' DayRead the essay ->
Kapu Svetki: Latvia's Cemetery FestivalRead the essay ->
Qingming Festival: Tomb-Sweeping DayRead the essay ->
The Kalash People and Their AncestorsRead the essay ->
AI and the Digital Family AlbumRead the essay ->
Preserving the Memory of Humanitarian HeroesRead the essay ->
Recovering Memories Through StorytellingRead the essay ->
Memory Preservation in Multicultural SocietiesRead the essay ->
Data Migration in Digital PreservationRead the essay ->
How to Preserve a Personal WebsiteRead the essay ->
How to Preserve Your Digital MemoriesRead the essay ->
The Hungry Ghost FestivalRead the essay ->
ʻIe Sāmoa: the Samoan Fine MatRead the essay ->
Irish Wake TraditionsRead the essay ->
Islamic Funeral Rites: the JanazahRead the essay ->
The Japanese Obon FestivalRead the essay ->
The New Orleans Jazz FuneralRead the essay ->
Jesa: Korean Ancestral RitesRead the essay ->
Jiapu: the Chinese Family Genealogy BookRead the essay ->
Joss Paper: Burning Money for the DeadRead the essay ->
Keening: the Irish Funeral LamentRead the essay ->
Kekri: Finland's Harvest Feast of the AncestorsRead the essay ->
Kumina: Jamaica's Kongo Ancestral TraditionRead the essay ->
Everyone Leaves a LegacyRead the essay ->
Manikarnika Ghat: Cremation at VaranasiRead the essay ->
Memento Mori: Meaning and HistoryRead the essay ->
Memory and Historical ArchivesRead the essay ->
The Merry Cemetery of SapantaRead the essay ->
A Misfit's Tale: Resilience and TriumphRead the essay ->
Mizuko Kuyo: Japan's Rite for Lost ChildrenRead the essay ->
Preserving School Achievements and MilestonesRead the essay ->
Victorian Mourning JewelleryRead the essay ->
The Mourning of Muharram and AshuraRead the essay ->
The Natitas: Bolivia's Day of SkullsRead the essay ->
Natural Burial: the Grave That DisappearsRead the essay ->
The Navajo Blessingway CeremonyRead the essay ->
Ngaben: Bali's Cremation CeremonyRead the essay ->
How Memories Help Families ConnectRead the essay ->
Ossuaries: Where Bones Go When Graves Run OutRead the essay ->
Pangangaluluwa: the Filipino Souling TraditionRead the essay ->
Parentalia: the Roman Festival of the DeadRead the essay ->
Pere Lachaise and the Garden CemeteryRead the essay ->
Pitru Paksha: the Hindu Fortnight of the AncestorsRead the essay ->
Victorian Post-Mortem PhotographyRead the essay ->
Technology for Preserving Cultural HeritageRead the essay ->
Recording Your Parents' MemoriesRead the essay ->
Preserving Memories in the Digital AgeRead the essay ->
How to Preserve Your Digital LegacyRead the essay ->
Why Privacy Matters for Cultural NarrativesRead the essay ->
Secure Digital Legacy PlatformsRead the essay ->
Radonitsa: the Orthodox Day of RejoicingRead the essay ->
Photo Restoration: Reviving Old MemoriesRead the essay ->
Samhain: Remembering the AncestorsRead the essay ->
Sat Thai and Sat Duan SipRead the essay ->
Saturday of Souls (Psychosavvato)Read the essay ->
The Scottish Ceilidh TraditionRead the essay ->
Second Burial: Why Cultures Bury TwiceRead the essay ->
Sin-Eaters of Wales and the MarchesRead the essay ->
Sitting Shiva: the Jewish Seven Days of MourningRead the essay ->
Sky Burial in TibetRead the essay ->
Slava: the Serbian Family Saint DayRead the essay ->
Smoking Ceremonies and Sorry BusinessRead the essay ->
Sokushinbutsu: Japan's Self-Mummified MonksRead the essay ->
Spirit Tablets and Ancestral HallsRead the essay ->
Tangihanga: the Maori Funeral RiteRead the essay ->
The Japanese Tea CeremonyRead the essay ->
The Columbarium: Walls for the DeadRead the essay ->
The Complicated Legacies of Famous PeopleRead the essay ->
Ancient Greek Culture and Its LegacyRead the essay ->
The Epitaph: a Short HistoryRead the essay ->
Digital Preservation in LibrariesRead the essay ->
Emotional Legacy and Family Mental HealthRead the essay ->
Social Media and Preserving MemoriesRead the essay ->
Featured
How Alzheimer's Affects MemoryRead the essay ->
The Obituary: a Short HistoryRead the essay ->
Featured
The Proust Effect: Smell and MemoryRead the essay ->
The Tetris Effect and MemoryRead the essay ->
Remembering the Pets Who Shaped Our LivesRead the essay ->
The Tomb of the Unknown SoldierRead the essay ->
Toro Nagashi: Japan's Floating LanternsRead the essay ->
Totensonntag: Germany's Sunday of the DeadRead the essay ->
Towers of Silence: Zoroastrian Sky BurialRead the essay ->
Trunyan: Bali's Open-Air Burial VillageRead the essay ->
Umbanda and the Pretos VelhosRead the essay ->
Undas: Filipino Traditions for the DeadRead the essay ->
Sharing Family History Across GenerationsRead the essay ->
Epe Ekpe: Togo's Ancestral New YearRead the essay ->
Vėlinės: Lithuania's Day of the DeadRead the essay ->
Victorian Mourning DressRead the essay ->
Viking Ship BurialRead the essay ->
Oral History Recordings and Why They MatterRead the essay ->
Whakapapa: Maori Genealogy and BelongingRead the essay ->
What Is Legacy Box? A ReviewRead the essay ->
Why Do We Have Memorials?Read the essay ->
Why Documenting Ordinary Life MattersRead the essay ->
Featured
Yahrzeit and the Mourner's KaddishRead the essay ->
Yizkor: the Jewish Memorial PrayerRead the essay ->
Zaduszki and All Saints' Day in PolandRead the essay ->
'We write for the human who opens this in 2046.'Confinity editorial