Funeral Customs Around the World
Depending on your customs, country of origin, and the era in which you live, funeral customs can vary greatly. Cultures and civilizations attend to the suitable care of their dead. There are three things every culture and civilization has in common connecting to death and the nature consist of funeral rights, rituals and ceremonies, a sacred place for the dead, and memorialization of the dead. Many cultures have strict customs and others celebrate the dead as if they were still alive. In some cultures, men and woman are treated differently. Religion plays a big role in funeral customs of the present day and the past. There are different customs for different religions you believe in, such as Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Some funerals are held in a church or temple, or some religions require that you wait until the sun goes down. It’s all a matter of what religion you deem in. There are also military funeral customs and different national customs. In some cultures, these sacrifices were meant to be used by the deceased in the future world. Self-mutilation, such as removing of toes or fingers was another form of sacrificial symbol of respect for the deceased.
The ancient Greeks conceived of death as one of the harsher lots on mankind. After death, the body was covered with perfumes and spices and laid in state. A coin was placed in the The American Funeral has three to four types of gatherings, which included the sociable wake, the religious ceremony, the committal service (casket is lowered into grave), and possibly the gathering at the home after the more formal and public sessions are over. The sociable wake is the period in which the embalmed body lies in the casket to be looked at by family and friends. This is also called “lying in state” which originated in a custom that is hardly ever ever practiced. Large numbers of flowers or woven into floral designs are surrounded the casket. Sermons will be said frequently from a speaker’s vantage point without indication to the situation of the body. The words of a visiting delegation, the prayer of a clergyman, or the service of a fraternal organization may make up a formal ritual. Suicide was considered the ultimate show of respect and sacrifice in some cultures. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, consider suicide a sin. They believe God is the one who decides when one’s life shall end. In the Middle Ages in Europe, those who took their own life were linked with murder and could not be buried in churchyards. Often suicides and criminals were buried in a crossroad so the movement of passing wagons would confuse their spirits and their spirit would not be at rest. There have been Christian cultist groups that have committed many suicides in the belief that God would reward them with a better life. Reform Jews often don’t follow the same practices as the other Jews. Instead, the rabbi tears black ribbons and hands them to the family members, a torn black ribbon to pin on their clothes to symbolize their loss. After the Psalms are recited and then a memorial prayer, the casket is carried out in the room by the male members of a Chevra Kaddisha. n a Jewish person dies the first thing the family does is contact their rabbi or another synagogue leader. Traditional Jewish funerals are very simple and usually brief. The relatives of the deceased tear their garments to symbolize their loss. They wash the body with warm water and then dress the body in white burial shrouds. Men prepare men, woman prepare woman. From the moment of death, the body is never left alone. The deceased is buried in a simple pine coffin. After the burial, it is a custom for the family to sit Shiva. This was traditionally done for seven days, although it is usually done for three days. Jews cover all mirrors during this time and it is done at home. Upon hearing about a death, a Jew recites the words “ Baruch dayan emet” meaning, blessed be the one true judge. When a Muslim dies, the exposed parts are washed in ablution a few times. It then is wrapped in one or more white cotton sheets that cover the whole body. If the deceased is a man, a man washes him. If the deceased is a woman, a woman washes her. A woman can wash her husband and she may was the young. The body is then placed on a bier or in a coffin and carried to the place of prayer. The grave should not be erected high above the ground. All the numbers
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