Religion And Culture : Rituals That Families Must Follow During The Burial And Funeral Service

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.

Death rituals, known as funerals, which have been a ritual that has dated back to 60,000 BC. A Catholic funeral is conducted in three different sections, Arnold van Gennep’s theory of rites of passage can be implemented when discussing the three phases in a Catholic funeral. The Pre-liminal stage of a funeral can be seen as a pre vigil, this is where family and friends gather in the home of the deceased, in the funeral home, or in the church to pray and remember the deceased (Everplans, 2015). The liminal stage of the ritual is at the funeral itself and the Post-liminal stage being the wake that is set after the funeral, in an act of celebration to a wonderful life. Throughout the funeral ceremony, symbolism is represented right

Different cultures, countries, religions, and community with various behaviors and rituals that guides their belief and action when a loved one pass away. Religious and spiritual belief, type of life after death, superstitious beliefs after death and beliefs towards the meaning of life are all based on tradition and death ritual.

Death is inevitable part of human experience, which is often associated with fear of unknown, separation, and spiritual connection. Death is an individual experience, which is based on unique perceptions and beliefs. Fear of death and dying seems to be a universal phenomenon, which is closely associated with apprehension and uneasiness. Death is allied with permanent loss, thus personal experiences of grief are similar in many different cultures. There are different mourning ceremonies, traditions, and behaviors to express grief, but the concept of permanent loss remains unchanged in cross cultural setting. With this paper I will identify cross-cultural perspectives on death and dying, and will analyze

Every individual experiences the act of death, and most persons experience the death of someone they know of. Whether family, kin, or someone infamous, the living deal with the process of dying. Anthropology seeks to understand the universal process of death ritual and how different cultures deal with death differently. An anthropologist can extract social values of a given culture, past or present, from how death ceremony is practiced. Such values could be regarding political hierarchy or an individual’s status in a society, and about a culture’s spiritual or religious faith. By exploring death ceremony in ancient Egypt, contemporary Hindu death practice in India, and current North American funerary rites, it can be illustrated that

Once death is pronounced, many Modern Americans begin preparing for the funeral. A blog on decorativeurns.com states that the actual funeral can take place between three to seven days after death (“When to Schedule”). Jewish traditions differ from Modern Americans at this point. Maurice

The text Burial Rites written by Hannah Kent focuses on the true story of the last woman to be executed in Iceland, her punishment for playing part in the murder of two men. She is sent to wait out her days on the farm of a district officer, Jón Jónsson with his two daughters and wife. Naturally, the family are horrified to have a convicted murderer in their midst. Borne from this, the family refuse to talk to her. A young man, Toti is appointed as her spiritual guardian in the last days of her life, throughout the text, he attempts to redeem her soul by asking her to recount her life.

Death has always been and will be a topic that just a few want to talk, but since time immemorial man has worshiped their dead, and this is reflected in the various rituals and forms of burial. The anguish of death has been considered the deepest anguish of man. Death is the inevitable companion of life, is the final stage. It can occur at any age, suddenly or after a long illness. Despite knowing that someday we will have to die the death of a loved one is a terrible fact, very difficult to accept, that affects everyone around the deceased person. When the link with the deceased breaks, the suffering is so great, that they put into question the fundamentals of being, of human existence and our deepest beliefs, affecting significantly the basic family and social relationships.

Instead, they believe the body must be cremated quickly after death. As Lama (2004, p. 1) maintains, “The belief that once it sheds its body, the soul prepares to depart immediately on its karmic journey, and as such, it’s very important to cremate the body as soon as practical so as not to provide any allurement for the soul to linger on this side of the world.” In such cultures there is little relating to the bargaining or depression stages of Kubler-Ross’ theory, but acceptance certainly applies to both Hindus and Buddhists. In fact, for the gerontologist, increased cultural understanding of the death and dying process aids overall quality of care. As Barker (1999, p. 161) reports on one study conducted on Hindus in a British community, “…poor communication due to linguistic and cultural distance between relatives and hospital staff, as well as lack of sensitivity involving the latter, may be most distressful to the dying and their relatives.”

When an individual dies, their death can greatly impact the loved ones they leave behind. Each mourner may feel and perceive the death differently from one another, but one common factor that can influence the mourner’s beliefs, values, and views about a person’s death is their culture. Their culture can regulate the way the mourner copes with the death of a loved one, what they do with the physical deceased body, and how they may honor the dead afterwards (Cartaret, 2011). For me, my culture is relatively related to the Catholic, Hispanic American culture, which is a broad and subjective category, but it is what I believe that guides my views towards life and death. I have additionally chosen to learn about the cultural practices of Hinduism of Indians on death

One of the most telling parts of a society is how they handle the traditions that surround one of the hardest things that humans experience: death. Northern Ireland is a prime example of how a group of people can build up a set of traditions that help the morning process and how those traditions can be a healing experience that helps a family and community celebrate the life of the deceased. Washing and preparing the body is an important part of the process that has been mentioned in several works of poetry. The traditional Irish Wake is also extremely important in celebrating the life of the dead and all they accomplished, complete with drinking and laughter and being with family and

Death in different cultures Death is often times very different if you compare separate cultures. The Mexicans and Asians both have different ways of celebrating and mourning death. Asian’s views on death are more similar to the U.S because they mourn the dead, but instead of crying and going over memories, they chant and have rituals to help guide the people into their new life. Mexicans have a different way of dealing with death than Americans. Instead of mourning, they celebrate death with big family parties and they even have a holiday that use to visit their family and friends that are deceased.

In rare circumstances, various cultures do not embalm the dead. Islamic and Jewish cultures refuse to embalm the deceased. It is seen as disrespectful to the body. Bodies are buried within 24-48 hours of their deaths. Hindus do not bury the dead at all; rather, they are burned.

Judaism is a religion that celebrates life in the here and now, and the living. Life is valued above all else, however, death is not necessarily a tragedy. It is viewed as just another milestone that all Jews one day reach. It does not cause fear or anxiety and is considered to be calm and peaceful, somewhat relieving (4). As the religion is rich in history, it is also rich in tradition and ritual following the death of a loved one. The purpose of these rituals are to pay respect to the deceased and offer comfort to his or her loved ones.

Funeral customs vary according to the religion, culture, and ethnicity. Religion is the foremost thing that plays an important role in a funeral event. From a cultural perspective when a person dies they must be buried with two weeks in the Nigerian culture. This is because it allows the family to heal faster and get over their loved one and also move into the next chapter. Well, here I am going to describe my experience and observation of attending a funeral of my friend’s aunt.