42 Funeral and Burial Rituals from Around the World

42 Funeral and Burial Rituals from Around the World ::=:=:=: Parsi Towers of Silence Sky Burial Ship Burial Iran and India Tibet Scandinavia A Tower of Silence is used by those of the Zoroastrian faith for ritual In most forms of Buddhism, bodies are meant to be cremated or given over to animals in an act of charity. Since there is little wood for If you're familiar with a "Viking funeral" then you know about this one. A body, along with "grave goods" like swords, armor, jewelry, and prized possessions, is put into a boat made specifically for the occasion. Sometimes the boat is decay. Rainwater washes the bones clean, the bones are ground up and sent to sea, other times it becomes a kind of sarcophagus and is entombed. Fire is not always involved, but sometimes others are sacrificed to act as servants to the exposure of the dead. The dead are laid out on the tower to be devoured by buzzards, and their burning bodies in Tibet, a practice bones are collected and placed in a of allowing vultures to pick the bodies clean evolved. Once picked pit at the center of the structure to through chambers in the tower that fed to crows. purify and return them to the soil. deceased in the afterlife. Mummification Funerary Cannibalism Bog Bodies Ancient Egypt, The Americas, Africa, South America, Oceania Throughout Europe, Mainly in the North Asia The Egyptians are best known for this practice, but mummies can be found in the Americas and Asia as In this practice, the dead are eaten by mourners as an act of compassion or to absorb the life-force of the deceased. The A bog body is a specific type of mummy. The deceased is buried in a peat bog, which naturally mummifies the corpse with its unique chemistry. It is thought to be a form of ritual sacrifice. well. Some of the oldest mummies are from The Spirit Cave in Fallon, Nevada, and are estimated to be 9,400 years old. In mummification, the organs are removed or the body is otherwise desiccated and protected against pests. Yanomami of the Amazon rainforest are one famous tribe that still practices this. They cremate the dead and mix the ashes with a banana paste. Jazz Funeral Catacombs Cenotaph New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Worldwide Worldwide A funeral procession unique to New Catacombs are any underground Orleans, Louisiana and Cajun A unique monument that commemorates the death of a place reserved for common burial culture, this funeral practice blends of the dead. The word originated to group of people or stands as an describe the Roman catacombs, which were outside of the main traditional European and African culture. A jazz procession leads the deceased from the funeral home or "empty grave" for someone buried elsewhere. The Tomb of the city. Some catacombs may be within city borders, though, like in Paris. The unique nature of the Roman catacombs allowed for Unknown Soldier is a good example. The Cenotaph is a monument in Whitehall, London church to the grave, playing dirges and sad music all the way. Afterwards, the band plays merrier music at a post-funeral party where mourners of even traitors, martyrs, the life of the deceased is celebrated. that acts as a monument to all UK's soldiers - but primarily those who died in WWI. or heretics to gather and mourn without fear of city authori Cecceee Runestones Burial At Sea Charon's Obol Scandinavia and Elsewhere Unknown Ancient Greece Norsemen erected runestones in This is an ancient tradition with In ancient Greece, an obol was 1/6 memory of the dead. These tall stones were carved with exquisite and intricate runes telling of the decease's deeds. They weren't always erected near a grave site - it could also be a place of religious or personal significance. roots so deep, they're difficult to trace. Most major religions have their own specific customs for performing a burial at sea. Sometimes, when a body cannot be In some traditions, the coin was left located, a cenotaph, rather than a body, may be symbolically thrown into the sea. of a drachma. This coin, or a symbolic coin of similar weight and shape, was left with the dead to pay a fee to Charon, ferryman of Hades. on the eyes. In others, it is placed on the tongue. A persistent tradition - it spread from Greece to Rome and from there into Christian Europe. Pope Pius IX was buried with an obol in 1878. Ecological Burial Worldwide, Late 19th Century In the modern era, some people Jade Burial Suit Antyesti Han Dynasty China India Royal members of the Han dynasty were buried in ceremonial suits of This Hindu practice literally translates to "last sacrifice" Depending on the caste, gender, wish to be buried in a more eco-friendly way. Instead of taking up space in a graveyard or releasing and age of the deceased, they are jade. The jade was cut into square, rectangular, and triangular shapes and threaded with wire to cover the toxins harmful to the environment entire body, like a suit of armor. They were extremely expensive and emphasizes quick decay of the took years to complete. symbolically returned to the elements of creation in a specific ritual. It is common that a funeral pyre is used in at least one part of this practice. with cremation, this form of burial body and dissemination into nature Cremation Body Positioning Important in Many Traditions The position of the body in the grave or coffin is important in many being planted around a grave to traditions. Christian burials have Flowers and Stones Worldwide Worldwide Cremation is popular in religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, and has historically been practiced Cicero of Rome describes flowers purify the ground of human all around the world. The Christian been oriented with the head remains. reverence for the physical body led pointing west and the feet pointing The Jewish tradition of leaving to cremation being outlawed in many Western countries, but those laws have since been discarded. east, according to the coming of Christ on Judgment Day. In Islam, bodies are perpendicular to Mecca, with the face looking towards it. In some cases, assassins, thieves. suicides, and other disrespected dead may be buried upside down or at crossroads. small stones on a grave is ancient. It can be traced back to a time when gravestones were not used - instead, small stones were piled to mark a grave. As long as visitors tended the grave and left stones, the dead would be remembered. Hanging Coffins China, The Philippines Hidden high up along Air Sacrifice Sati Mongolia India Similar to a Sky Burial, but still An old practice, outlawed in 1861, whereby a widow would throw herself alive onto her husband's mountainsides and in difficult to unique. A holy man, a lama, guides reach places. The people of Sagada, the family and body of the in the Philippines, believed that the closer a coffin was to the sky, the deceased to its "source." There, the family lays the body out in the open and makes an outline of it with stones. Then they allow hungry dogs and birds to devour the corpse, leaving only the outline -a representation of its spirit. funeral pyre. It mirrors the story of the goddess Sati, a consort of Shiva. closer the deceased was to heaven. Spirit Offerings Kiribati Skull Burial Burial Beads The Republic of Kiribati in the Central Pacific Worldwide South Korea Offerings such as alcohol, rice, food, A few months after burial, the body Since there is such limited space for money, cars, and other things are sometimes symbolically or literally given to the dead. "Hell money," a specific kind of counterfeit currency, is often burned for the dead during East Asian funerals. Edgar Allen Poe's "Poe Toaster" was famous for leaving a spirit offering of roses and cognac at Poe's cenotaph. is exhumed and the skull is taken. The family of the deceased will burials in South Korea, they have to get creative with the bodies of the polish, oil, preserve, and display this deceased. In this practice, the body is cremated and pressed into jewelry-like beads. They are often colorful and kept in an urn or skull in their home. Sometimes offerings of food and tobacco are made to it. bottle. Tinguian Funeral The Philippines Famadihana Fantasy Coffins Madagascar Ghana Known as "The Turning of the Bones." The Malagasy people dig up in Ghana is famous for creating their dead every 5 -7 years to take care of them. They re-wrap the dead, perfume them, dance with them, and share stories. The Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop The Tinguian people dress the dead in their finest clothes, sit them in a chair, and give them a smoke. There the dead sit smoking for several "fantasy" coffins that are fun ways to celebrate life at a funeral. Some are shaped like cars, others like chili weeks. peppers, airplanes, or fish - they always have something to do with the life of the deceased. -t---- Haida Totem Funeral Eternal Reefs Strangulation Funeral North America Florida, USA Fiji The Haida people gave this honor to shamans, chiefs, and warriors. The ashes of the dead are mixed Family members who were close to the deceased were murdered, usually by strangulation, in this now outlawed funeral rite. Widows into a concrete material with a nearly natural pH. The concrete is then shaped and textured into a The dead would be clubbed to a pulp and put in a box, then the box itself would be placed on a high totem pole to decompose. were the ones most often killed in this way. It was believed that the god Ruvuyalo would destroy the spirit of a man who did not enter "reef ball" and lowered into the ocean where marine life and coral reefs will take root. the afterlife with his wife. Funeral Strippers Burial in Space Mayan Rituals China, Taiwan United States Latin America Having a well-attended funeral is a subject of great concern in Taiwan. To attract a crowd, some families hire strippers, host dances, and set out elaborate feasts to entice Companies, like Celestis, Inc. and Elysium Space, offer to take your ashes into orbit around Earth. For a The Maya buried their dead with maize, a symbol of rebirth, in their mouths. Grave goods, like food, more expensive price, you can send jade, whistles, and statuettes were a loved one's ashes on a one-way trip to the Moon. provided to guide the dead through the afterlife. people to attend, Totenpass Death Masks Memento Mori Ancient Greece, Egypt, North- Ancient Egypt Victorian England eastern Africa Initiates of ancient cults to Orpheus Death masks come in many and Dionysus, or members of certain Egyptian or Semitic religions, would carry "passports of the dead." These tablets made of metal or stone would have a picture of the deceased on one side Europe, death masks were made and instructions for navigating the afterlife on the other. The Victorian era saw a particular different styles. The earliest, found in ancient Egypt, were not direct casts of the face, but rather stylized photographs were common. "Spirit carvings. Later, Romans would cast the faces of the dead in wax. In fascination with death and mourning. Postmortem photos" were popular and created using a double exposure that created a ghostly image of the deceased next to the solid image of the mourning. Jewelry and tokens with the hair of the dead were also with wax or plaster. The masks of the famous and powerful were preserved and displayed in churches or places of political importance. prized and often given as affectionate gifts. :=:=: The Tumulus Etruscan Cities of the The Ka-Statue Dead Worldwide Ancient Tuscany/ltaly Ancient Egypt Otherwise known as a burial mound. Some have entrances, while others look like large hills. There is a carefully constructed burial chamber, or several, within. The tremendous "pyramid of Anatolia" is a 69 meter high Imagine a graveyard, with every grave being an elaborate tomb. This kind of "necropolis" exists in Egypt, and especially interesting varieties were created by the ancient Etruscans of Italy. Their "cities of the give the statues (and the spirits that dead" had many chambers, with each corpse having its own room complete with furniture. Chambers were connected by "city streets" in a careful grid. These stone or wooden statues were used as conduits for the spirits of the dead. A ritual called the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony would be performed by priests to inhabited them) the ability to see, tumulus with a diameter of 355 meters. A whole era of Japanese history is named for their unique tumulus, the kofun. The Daisen Kofun is 400 meters in length and designed like a keyhole. breath, smell, and hear. Sometimes they were carved into a particular likeness, but other times general statues were created for roving spirits to partake in festivals. The Ancestral Altar Psychopomps Funerary Art Worldwide The Philippines, Worldwide Worldwide In societies that practice ancestor worship, namely China, people maintain household shrines to the Since the time of Neanderthals, we have decorated the gravesites of our dead. The Terracotta Army, the Taj Mahal, and the pyramids are all elaborate forms of funerary art. These works of art don't just tell us about the single deceased - they also reveal much about a society's Psychopomps are spirits, angels, or deities who guide the souls of the deceased to the underworld. In deceased. Tablets, urns, or other objects are used to represent each deceased ancestor. In China, some ancestral temples were converted into schools or granaries during the Cultural Revolution. Since the Filipino culture, dead relatives act as psychopomps. On a person's deathbed, if they call out for a relative, it is said that the spirit of that relative is waiting for them at the foot of their bed to guide them into the afterlife. attitude towards death 1980's, many shrines have been rebuilt or returned to their original function. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/ http://matadornetwork.com/bnt http://ideas.ted.com/ http://www.scoopwhoop.com http://listverse.com http://www.nerdygaga.com AvasFlowers Better Flowers Lower Prices - .. .. . .-.-. =:=:==:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=: - ---------.-.