While on the deathbed, there are numerous actions preformed to alleviate the pain and enable the soul to pass to the other side. One such practice is laying the moribund on ground. By doing so one is brought into contact with the earth, which is regarded as one of the dwellings of the dead. Thus moribund is brought in contact with the ancestors enabled by the patronage of Mother Earth. It is interesting that this custom, preformed at the end of life, is also found at it’s beginning, at birth. Namely the first act after a child is born is its laying on earth or the birth itself would be preformed on the ground. Thus the birth of a human being is equated with procreation of nature. However, simultaneously the chthonic nature of a child is emphasized because it comes from the otherworld. In this way the same ritual practice connects the beginning and the end of human life.
Sources:
Душан Бандић - „Народна религија Срба у 100 појмова“, Нолит, Београд, 1991
Бојан Јовановић - „Магија српских обреда“, Просвета, Ниш, 2001
Illustration:
Максим Сухарев - Навь