Funeral rites/Bereavement traditions
On this insomnia-ridden night and being that I am a graveyard-witch, I am immersing myself in reading up on funeral rites and bereavement traditions. I picked the religions to study at random- my only requirement was that they were religions whose funeral rites I was not already familiar with. (TW for frank talk of funeral preparations and rites) Here are some interesting facts I found during my study the funeral rites of each religion. They are by no means a complete summary- merely things I felt like sharing.
Judaism
1.) It’s considered an honor to be the gravedigger for the deceased, as well as prepare the body. 2.) When a body is prepared, if there is a wound (i.e. bleeding), the blood is collected after cleaning to be buried with the body. 3.) Traditional Jewish funeral rites forbid cremation or embalming, as the goal is that the body naturally decompose after burial. 4.) There is this beautiful tradition of “levayah”, or escorting/joining/bonding used to refer to the procession of persons with the body on the way to the burial site. The mixture of these meanings is a beautiful way to convey the emotional aspect of funerals and saying goodbye to a loved one. 5.) When visiting a Jewish grave, it is polite to place a stone on the gravestone (with your left hand), even if you did not know the deceased. It is a way to mark the deceased as visited and participate in the mitzvah of burial.
Jainism
1.) The body is cremated- it is carefully taken to an area without any vegetation or living creatures so as not to harm others. Once the body is cremated, the soul is considered departed and the remains are basically an inconsequential “husk”. 2.) Jains reject most of the standard stages of grief due to their negative karmic nature (denial, anger, bargaining, depression). 3.) The belief is that the soul leaves the body through the “best possible” orifice. There is a correlation between where the soul leaves the body and the degree of sin the person committed. I.e. a deep sinner’s soul will leave the body through the anus. A Jain who is considered extremely pure will have their head sutured after death so that their soul may leave through their crown, as a point of honor. However, the average person may “cheat” by having their eldest son crack their skull right before cremation.
Hinduism
1.) In Vedic times/tradition, only a male could perform last rites. However, there was an exception for female-only-child household in the case of “putrika”- a daughter who could assume the role of a son. 2.) Before cremation, flowers are placed on the body and rice in the mouth, to nourish the departed soul. Coins are also placed in the hand. 3.) There is a saying in Hindu households that “the fire in the house is not lit until the fire in the cremation pyre has gone out”. Meaning no cooking is done in the family house after the person passes, until the cremation is complete. 4.) A lit lamp is left with water where the person died, in order to light the way for the soul and provide nourishment.