They call it "ash", but it is really just the ground up remains of what had once been bone. The bone has been thoroughly desiccated by the immense heat, and the organic content is completely burned away. What you're left with is a very dry to the touch, gray in color mineral, which looks like a granular material with a consistency like dusty sandy pea gravel. The powdery part looks and feels like dry cement powder. If you throw it into the wind, the heavier "gravelly" pieces will fall to the ground, while the wind carries off the lighter part of it.WildBill wrote:How are you going to scatter someone's ashes if there isn't any ash?Oldgringo wrote:Does it make any difference?WildBill wrote:I believe that the funeral director told you this, but I think he is misinformed.Abraham wrote:I had a Funeral Director advise me that the heat of cremation is so intense there's no ash, just bone salts left.
The first time I ever handled human ashes was when my dad passed away. It was a very strange thing to hold, what had once been my dad, in my hands and drift it over the side of a boat.