Air Sacrifice

At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people.

The body will now be covered and stuffed with natron to dry it out. All of the rags and fluids that were used in the process are buried with the body. After forty more days, the body is then washed again and covered in oils to keep the skin elastic. The organs that are dehydrated are wrapped in linen then returned to

Every culture has a unique ideas of the afterlife. This paper will compare how two ancient societies viewed the afterlife. The ancient societies to be discussed are the Egyptians and the Chinese. This paper will compare and contrast the two views in a limited way. It will consider what this suggests about the two cultures. Lastly, it will consider which is closer to modern American beliefs.

This act reflects the strong ties between birth and death because the same act is done to a newborn baby in Ashanti tradition. After washing the corpse, the body will be dressed and laid in state on a bed with corpse dressed in varies with age, wealth and religion. A corpse from a royal family is covered in kente cloth with a cigarette placed between his lips and another between his fingers, follow by a coin on his forehead. While the corpse of a non-royal family will be buried with the objects or symbols that is very significant to the individual placed with dead person in death. When burying women or men, women are often buried with their pot while men are buried with their bows and quivers.

The body should ideally face in the direction of Mecca. It is a religious requirement that the dead be buried as soon as possible and considerable family distress can be avoided by speedy production of the death certificate. The body will be washed and shrouded in simple unsewn pieces of white cloth. A funeral prayer is held in the local mosque, and family and community members follow the funeral procession to the graveyard where a final prayer is said as 138 the deceased is laid to rest. Events occur in rapid succession Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice, Imperial College School of Medicine, Norfolk Place, London W2 1 PG, UK JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF MEDICINE Volume 91 March 1998 and often the dead will be buried within 24 hours.

Souls, spirits, and their purpose regarding humans and life influences different Hmong cultural traditions, such as the Seed Ceremony, the String-Tying ritual, and a Hmong funeral (PBS:1). Each tradition involves souls and their connections to the human body, which establishes the importance of souls in the Hmong culture as they are a continuing theme and belief in many traditions and rituals (PBS:1). The Hmong and this connections to the soul is an example of habitus, unconscious actions and activities individuals in a group do often. The people are believing in spirits and their connection to souls. It is an unconscious and unquestionable belief shared by the Hmong people; therefore, categorizing the active thought and belief in spirits as habitus. Considering the Hmong’s viewpoint on souls in traditional rituals as habitus is critical to understand because it establishes that these views are common and important to the Hmong, thus establishing this view as an ordinary detail of their life. Spirits and their healing powers have a much greater value in Hmong culture over other healing methods, such as western medicine. Due to their large faith and belief in healing with spirits, other practices are not taken as seriously, as evident by Lia’s parents and not following the medication’s directions. There was a language and cultural barrier that also influenced their

It was custom to bury their dead in the village cemetery, and it was assumed that the dead had to be protected when they moved. The ceremony of the Feast of the Dead would take place just before the beginning of spring when a large village migrated. At this time, loved ones would dig up the body of the deceased and the bones would be removed and cleaned in preparation for reburial in the new location (Seeman 2011, 65). The Wendat believed that all humans had two souls. After the Feast of the dead, through the power of the ritual, one soul would separate itself from the body and begin its journey to the village of souls in the sky (Hamilton 2010, 85).

After each execution took place, the victim’s body was cut down and placed in a nearby rock crevice or buried in a shallow grave somewhere on the execution site.

In the Pashupatinath valley region, there is a cremation temple which is a part of the landscape of the dead in Nepal. A landscape of the dead is a place where burial rituals are carried out, which may vary by religion. In Pashupatinath, when a woman’s husband or family dies, she wears white. The attendees of the funeral offer the soul of the deceased body incense, food, and water so that it doesn’t feel troubled on its journey towards a new form. The deceased’s mouth is then lit on fire by the eldest brother, which is said to purify his/her soul. In the landscape, there are also many river cleaners who pan for gold fillings that come from the teeth of the deceased.

The spirit travels to another world where it influences the lives of the Native American people. Although all Native Americans believe that the deceased should be cared for, burial practices differ based on the tribe and the location. A Native American funeral is typically held in a church or a spiritual place. In “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” by Leslie Marmon Silko of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, also known as Kawaik, states, “Why didn’t you tell me he was dead? I could have brought the Last Rites anyway,” which was said by the priest. He believed in this Roman Catholic way of preparing the dying person’s soul for death. The Last Rites is a sacrament where the priest rubs a dying person with holy oil and prays for that person’s salvation. Leon, who found Teofilo’s body, doesn’t believe in the Last Rites ritual and is the reason why he didn’t tell the priest that Teofilo had already died. Leon believes that the deceased body goes back to nature while the priest believes that it is the necessary Christian act of performing the ritual. Deceased loved ones, along with the food supply, allowed Native Americans to stay in the same location to care for the body and soul of their loved

During the first eight days, the participants gathered and prepared the bodies for the reburial. Relatives of the deceased took out their remains, and the corpses, in various degrees of putrefaction. Flesh and skin were removed from the corpses and the bones were individually cleaned. They were wrapped again in another set of beaver furs. Generally women carried out this task, and any sign of revulsion was traditionally discouraged. Wrapped in fur packages, the bones were returned to the homes of relatives, where a feast was held in memory of the dead. Gifts and offerings were placed next to these packages, and visitors were welcomed and treated generously. This was a time to feast, and gather the food and offerings to be used for the main burial event. The village leader announced when all families should transport the bodies. The journey to the new site was often long and was a time for public mourning, punctuated by sharp cries of the participants. When the chief decided and everyone was present, all would gather around the burial pit for the main ceremony. Whenever the relatives of the deceased have food, skin, and other goods to properly honor the deceased. At the same time the namesake of the dead are clothed from head to foot and showered with presents. The feast occurs only at irregular intervals of several years. It is by for the most important event in the life of the Alaskan

In the afterlife myth, Kulunga is the term used to express the world of the dead. Chief Kitamba's wife died, and he wanted to bring her back to life so badly. Frightened he would be taken to Kulunga, he told one of the men from his tribe that practiced medicine to find her and bring her back to Earth. So, he told everyone to cleanse themselves with special herbs before traveling to Kulunga. They found the Queen, Kitamba's wife on a path in Kulunga. Kulunga-ngombe, the ruler of Kulunga, was also present. He explained that when a person dies, he or she is eaten by Kulunga-ngombe.

* What causes a group of people to hold or sponsor this ritual? -most commonly used in Tibet as a rite for turning away demons

Mankind’s history of burial practices and funeral customs are as old as civilization itself. There is no specific way to planning a funeral. Every civilization and culture has provided for their dead in different ways. Religion and personal beliefs play an important role in the burial practices and funeral customs of a given culture or civilization. Furthermore, each civilization and cultured ever studied have three things in common: some type of funeral rites, rituals, and ceremonies; A sacred place for the dead; and memorialization of the dead. As far back as the time of Christ, burials have been noted to take place. In time burial and funeral customs have become very distinct, interesting and

When burying a dead body into the ground there are several processes of decomposition going on that leave out foul odor deep into the ground that can cause diseases spread and completely contaminate the whole area depending on the scope that the cemeteries cover. The effects of these