We all have different traditions when it comes to commemorating and paying tribute to our loved ones who have passed away.
In today’s world, honoring the customs of others while commemorating the lives of the departed ought to come as standard practice. Some may choose to follow traditions or practices that the rest of us are not familiar with, but it doesn’t make them any less legitimate.
The same is true with gravestones and the ornamentation certain families choose to place over their loved ones’ last resting places. Coins being placed on headstones is one custom that is widely practiced and that you have probably witnessed at some point. However, why is this even a thing? And from whence did it originate? Continue reading to learn more.
Coins are traditionally placed on gravestones in cemeteries around the United States and other countries. When I was a little child, I first observed it when I was at my grandfather’s tomb, and even then, I started to wonder what it was all about.
Luckily, finding the beginnings online doesn’t need much research. Although it was previously thought that the practice originated with Roman military troops, a number of sources have disproved that theory in recent years.
Still, there’s a military connection to leaving pennies on gravestones. The American Legion Website states on one of its pages that it can be linked to the Vietnam War.
“Leaving a coin was considered a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the soldier’s grave than contacting the soldier’s family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war, due to the political divide in the country over the war.”
There are other reasons why veterans leave pennies on gravestones in memory of their fallen friends; occasionally, they do so in order to purchase a beer for them. Each coin represents a different meaning, according to reports.
For instance, a nickel is left by someone who served in boot camp with the deceased, whereas a penny just indicates that someone was present.
On the other hand, a dime represents a combined period of military service. Next are quarters, which inform the family of the presence of whoever left the coin at the moment of the loved one’s passing.
Ever notice a penny left on a gravestone? Were you aware of its meaning? Tell us in the comments below.
Scientists Say the ‘Soul’ Does Not Die, it ‘Returns to the Universe’
Since the beginning of time, humans have asked the question: “What happens to us after we die?”.
Religious or spiritual people often believe in a heaven or afterlife. Some believe that nothing happens to us; we just die. Others, however, believe that our souls live on after we die. A couple of researchers say that they have the science to that this might be a possibility. (1)
The Soul Doesn’t Die When Our Bodies Do
After extensive research, two experts are saying that while our bodies die, our consciousness – or our soul – lives on forever. Quantum mechanics, they say, makes this possible. Quantum mechanics is the science dealing with the behavior of matter at the atomic and subatomic levels. It accounts for the properties of molecules and atoms, and the things that make them. (2) This includes (2):
Neurons
Electrons
Protons
Quarks
Gluons
Other esoteric particles
Scientists Stuart Hameroff and Sir Roger Penrose say consciousness is simply information stored at this quantum level. (1)
Orchestrated Objective Reduction
The pair say that this storage process is Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR). This is via a structural component of human cells, protein-based microtubules, that carry quantum information. (1, 3)
“Let’s say the heart stops beating, the blood stops flowing; the micro-tubules lose their quantum state,” explains Dr. Hameroff. “The quantum information within the micro-tubules is not destroyed, it can’t be destroyed, and it just distributes and dissipates to the universe at large.” (1)
He says that if the person is resuscitated, then the information just goes back into the microtubules, and the person becomes conscious again. This is what we call a “near-death experience.” If, instead, the patient dies, then their consciousness can possibly exist outside of the body as a soul. (1)
Our Physical Universe Is Just Our Perception
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich say that there is an infinite beyond after death. According to them, the world we live in is just our perception and that our souls go into this infinite beyond when our bodies die. (1)
“What we consider the here and now, this world, it is actually just the material level that is comprehensible,” says Dr Hans-Peter Durr from the institute. “The beyond is an infinite reality that is much bigger.” (1)
Hameroff and Penrose’s research shows that consciousness comes from deeper level microtubule vibrations. This not only helps us to better understand what the human consciousness is, but may also help treat mental, neurological, and cognitive conditions. (3)
What do you think? Do you think our souls live on after we die?
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