Close Encounters: Tereza Kostková and Oleg Vojtíšek, Czech Radio: We’ve Shielded Young People from Death
😱“Are most deaths here really without a funeral?!” Tereza Kostková asked in astonishment on the program *Blízká setkání* on ČRo Dvojka, where our Oleg was a guest.
We often see people who still break down in tears even twenty years after the death of a loved one.🥀 Without a funeral, you won’t be able to find closure, and it will torment you for the rest of your life—especially if the death was sudden and unexpected.
The reasons vary: from traumatic experiences at the crematorium to financial considerations. And sometimes it’s also due to a well-intentioned idea that actually leads to disaster—so as not to traumatize children 👶. We’ve raised an entire generation of people who have completely blocked out the idea of death. And when it does eventually hit them, the impact is all the worse and more profound. 🔪
So how can we conduct funerals with integrity?
🏡A beautiful spot that will lift your spirits.
👨👨👦👦On a day that works for everyone who should be at the funeral and wants to be there.
💌So that it can help you let go of your guilt or finally say what you’d otherwise keep thinking about over and over again.
Burning messages or sending them via balloons or paper boats is not esoteric at all. On the contrary, it is a very tangible and easily understandable way to bring our relationship with the deceased to a close and then watch as they leave us—because that is the reality. ⚫
👂If you want to explore the topic of Czech funerals the way Tereza Kostková did, tune in to our show “Blízká setkání” on Český Rozhlas.
What does All Souls' Day mean to us today? Benedikt Mohelník and Oleg Vojtíšek, Czech Radio, Vertikála
“From a believer’s perspective, we are indebted to our ancestors; it is thanks to them that we are here. We live on credit from what we receive from previous generations. Saying goodbye to that person is the bare minimum we can do to repay that debt, and at the same time, we are creating value for the future—for those who will come after us and live on our credit,” said Benedikt Mohelník, director of the Dominikánská 8 platform and editor-in-chief of Salve, a journal of theology and spiritual life.
Our Oleg Vojtíšek was in a debate with him on the program “Vertikála” on Czech Radio.
And they discovered something interesting: religious rituals and our alternative ceremonies can go hand in hand. After all, the purpose of art is not to destroy traditions, but to update them.
Take All Souls’ Day, for example. It’s typically observed at a cemetery by laying flowers in a small family gathering. But you can also invite friends and colleagues—perhaps on the anniversary of a loved one’s death—so you won’t be alone. After all, tradition calls for remembering the deceased—it doesn’t have to be on that specific day at that specific place.
For traditions to serve us well, it is a good idea to adapt them to our needs in the modern world. Neither we nor modern church leaders are opposed to this.
How does Halloween help our children?
Why is it necessary to arrange a funeral?
And last but not least: Did they cut Oleg out when he completely forgot what he actually wanted to say?
Find out in the new issue of Vertikála.
Czech Radio Radiožurnál: Adriana Kábová as a guest on Lucie Výborná’s show. After a bizarre experience with a funeral home following the death of my child, I decided to change the funeral industry in the Czech Republic.
Adriana Kábová is an anthropologist and funeral guide.
While researching Indonesian cultures, she came across traditional funerals in which animals are sacrificed. “Although my research topic wasn’t originally funerary practices, in Indonesia I attended funerals first and foremost,” she explains.
After experiencing the death of her own baby, she decided to change the funeral industry in the Czech Republic and became a funeral director.
What does this job entail?
And how did she cope with the loss of her child?
"Death is not the opposite of life; it is part of it," says funeral director Oleg Vojtíšek on Český Rozhlas Plzeň
The Funeral Guides Association routinely organizes funerals in nature, but also in places like a villa or a lounge. “Planting trees has become a long-standing tradition. A tree is a beautiful, living memorial; it provides us with shade and moisture. We have to care for it a little, and as it grows, we come to terms with our loss. Or we have clients write down on paper what they didn’t have time to say to the deceased; we fold the papers into little boats and set them adrift on the river. Messages can also be written on balloons that we release. One of our specialties is that we can release the deceased’s ashes into the stratosphere inside a balloon,” explained Oleg Vojtíšek.