Taphophile Corner – An Introduction
Yes, I am a Taphophile, or as some may say, a
Tombstone Tourist. This is not a disorder of some sort, in fact far
from it. It is more of an appreciation for a vast category of topics.
A Taphophile simply stated, is a person who has a fascination in all
things cemetery related.
For some background on the term, the etymology of
the word Taphophile comes from two Greek words…
Taphos – meaning tomb or sepulcher
Philia- an attraction or affinity for.
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| Pine Grove Cemetery - Brunswick, Maine |
In studying Taphophilia, I have needed to research
many topics including, history, religion, architecture, geology,
Greek & Egyptian culture, iconology, poetry, stone carving,
and much more. The more I learn, there more I realize there is to
know. During the summer months, I lead tours cemetery tours. I travel
to some of the more notable cemeteries in Maine. The tour is known as
the Sunday Cemetery Series. Typically at each location I focus on an
aspect of my love of these open air museums. One location may deal
with scribe identification, while at another spot we may learn about
the art of stone rubbings. We are so fortunate here in Maine to have
some of the most beautiful and historic cemeteries in the country.
Every grave has a story and I do exhausting research to bring those
stories to life. Did you know for instance, there is a woman
buried only a few feet away from Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain
who's stone reads simply "BORN A SLAVE" as her birth date?
You can find both of these members of history in the Pine Grove
Cemetery located in Brunswick, ME.
Now you may be wondering how I become drawn to such
an odd interest? For some reason, isn't the truth always stranger
than fiction? As a child I grew up in a house that had a stray
gravemarker under the front porch. That very fact fascinated me to no
end. I often wondered if the spirit of the girl named on the stone
was sad because her stone was missing.Once as teenagers, my
sister and I tried to use a Ouija board to see if we could speak to
the little girl. Lets just say it was quite a night and I have never
used a Ouija again.
During summers and school breaks I would spend my
time on a small Canadian island off the coast of Maine. There was
literally nothing to do except watch the tide change. One day I
decided to go for a walk in the woods. I thought how lost could I
get? It was an island. To my surprise, I seemed to find what looked
like a path, I began following it. If it sounds kind of like an
"Alice in Wonderland" moment, it was. Believe it or not it
lead to a small woodland cemetery that I knew well. The small
cemetery was the resting place of many of my relatives, including my
great grandparents, who's home we always stayed in while on the
island. This cemetery became my secret place. I
would go there and play or just sit and read. At times I would weed
the graves and tidy things up. The feeling there was always the same,
simply peaceful.
That is my story. It is my passion
to appreciate cemeteries and share my knowledge with others. People
who attend the Sunday Cemetery Series are always amazed at the my
specialty and all that I have learned. So during these cold winter
months I will be sharing some of this information with you, the
reader of this blog. I will focus on a different topic of interest in
each posting. The topics will be varied but so very interesting (if I
do say so myself!)