Ray Martin | Journalist

Well, let me tell you…The Tarot cards are NEVER wrong. I now know that for “a fact”.

My new best friend, Andy, is “a drag queen fortune-teller”, whom we interviewed for this show in Vegas last month. She shuffled her “Fool’s Journey” Tarot card set…(I don’t know whether it was the “Hermit” or the “Chariot” card)…but, anyway, Andy’s verdict on my future was…”You’re not going anywhere. You’ve got more to do.”

Spot on, Andy. I’ve promised my 6 year old grandson, Arlo, that I’ll be around for his 21st. Promises, promises !!!

I admit, that The Tarot forecast may not be STRICTLY “science” but it’s certainly “truth & consequences”—on the flip of a card. (About as accurate as a priest)…or anyone else.

So. Three months of “hands on” research. What else have I learned?

Well, I STILL agree with Woody Allen, who declared “I’m not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” I STILL agree with the more poetic Somerset Maughan who said “Death is a very dull, dreary affair & my advice to you is to have nothing to do with it.”

But. As they say, along with taxes & South Sydney losing footy games…it’s INEVITABLE.

So, I STILL don’t want to buried…under five and a half ton of Bobcat soil. (Especially if I’m ONLY wrapped in a soft-cotton shroud like the Muslims…although, I do think the Islamic “washing of dead bodies”…three times…is a warm & quite beautiful ritual.)

So, no burial for me thanks!!!

But, I can’t say that I’m mad keen about the alternative either! Having now seen coffins explode in the intense heat of cremations it’s a pretty violent way to go. Can I please have another option?

But—for me—cremation it will probably be…the way to go…

(Although I do like the idea of “composting” the body…Environmentally friendly, at least).

I think I’d probably like my ashes scattered somewhere…WAY out west. Beyond the mountains!! Where we get the most spectacular sunsets—in the world. And my kids could look up & say “Yeh, good on ya, Mondo. What a cracker.”

Talking of “crackers”…I also quite like the idea of my ashes being put into a skyrocket & launched into the night skies. Going out with a big bang!!!

Music? Well, again no changes there…still Bob Dylan or Van Morrison. And lots of blizzardly-cold VB…along with the finest wines.

And the worst stories. (An Irish wake…with an Aussie twist)

As to the way to FACE death…I love the Hunter S Thompson mantra—“Life” he once ranted “should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely, with a pretty & well-preserved body. But rather to skid-in broadside—in a cloud of smoke, highly used-up, totally worn-out & loudly proclaiming ‘Wow. What a ride!!’”

BUT, the biggest question in LIFE remains unanswered—what happens after DEATH?

As a lapsed Catholic I think it’s probably just “Ashes to Ashes”. That’s it!! End of section! See you later! BUT…all the GREAT religions…billions of people (many much, much “smarter” than me) firmly believe in a form of “heaven & hell”…An after life. Certainly, a spirit world.

So, what do they know…or believe…that I don’t? What do the Catholic intellectuals & the clever Rabbis & Imam’s & Lama’s see that I don’t? I refuse to accept it’s just…”blind faith”. (Dr. Tina—for one—in our documentary series argues…”the spirit world” strongly!!)

And over the years, I’ve had many intelligent, credible people tell me detailed stories of ghosts—especially out on Norfolk Island.

If there are ghosts, there are probably spirits, too.

So, for me…DEATH, Like LIFE, is still very much “a work in progress”.

—Raymond George Martin (2023)

Editor’s note: Raymond “Ray” George Martin AM is a veteran Australian television journalist and entertainment personality and five-time Logie Award winner. He is also the host of a recent BBC Studios’ Australian production titled “Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye”, in which Ray plans his own funeral and uncovers how Australia is choosing to say goodbye to our dead. During the production of this 3-part documentary series (in 2023), the BBC organised for Ray to interview me one morning at Waverley Cemetery about the Death Letter Project. Correspondingly, I invited Ray to contribute a letter to the project, which he read out during the live filming at his ‘living wake’ in episode 3—however only a few lines made the final cut. The 3-page letter (below) are the annotated pages he read from.

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