OLD BURIAL GROUNDS

For as far back as I can recall I have always held a fascination for old cemeteries. I find the epitaphs on gravestones most intriguing along with their intricate detail and symbolic meanings. Two of the most interesting cemeteries (in my opinion) are located in Salem and Deerfield Mass. In Salem there is an area designated as the "Salem Witch Trial Memorial." You will view the grave site of Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Wildes, Elizabeth Howe, Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin and Sarah Good all condemed to death as witches with the date June 10, 1692 and the word HANGED on each epitaph. In the Old Deerfield Burying Ground which was started in 1637 holds a mass grave of 56 men, women, and children. All victims of the Feb. 29, 1704 attack on their village by French soldiers and Indian cohorts. The photos below are of two cemeteries located in Maine, one in York and the other in Pemequid. The angel face with wings represents "rebirth" or "resurrection" A angel is the guide to Heaven.

The pointing finger on this stone is interpreted as being "heaven sent"....

The Willow tree represents sadness and mourning.... A bud or branch broken represents an untimely death, most often a young person. A Thistle earthly sorrow... Lily purity.... Dogwood resurrection, sacrifice, and eternal life. Rose beauty... Poppy eternal sleep...Lily of the Valley purity, innocence, virginity...Grapes the blood of Christ. A Fern humility and sincerity.

an Urn represents the soul...

A winged skull symbolizes an ascension into Heaven....

A women's face with Ivy represents immortality and friendships.

The gravestone below is a craving of a women who was believed to be possessed...

thus the stone placed over her resting place was to prevent her soul from leaving it's grave.

A skull....death and mortality

Angel guide to Heaven.... Another variation of a winged skull....

winged skull with cross bones....mortality and death.... And this angel....well, I discovered her at the craft show I attended the other day. She is a cast from an old original gravestone....

I figure when my time on earth comes to an end, I'll follow her to Heaven.

What's on earth is shadows,

all beyond is substance.

~Mary Stickney~