Most people today do not practice the customs of the older cultures that have been mentioned previously. But, many of today’s religions’ practices are tied into those of the past. The majority of all of today’s religions are monotheistic, meaning they believe in one supreme being or God which created and governs everything.
The Christians of Ireland are one of these such religions, and their practices are similar to all other Christian burial practices. When someone dies, they are kept in a "wake house", which is traditionally the house where they lived and died (Turner, 110). Traditionally people placed salt on the bed, which was believed to keep evil and ghosts away from the mourners (Turner, 110). Candles are also traditionally placed around the bed (Turner, 110). Friends and family walk into the room where the dead is laying, and say a prayer for the soul of the dead. In Irish custom, everyone shares a smoke - the tobacco was important to have at a wake (Turner, 111). The mourners later put the body in a coffin and carry it to the graveyard, taking a long route. This was done to fool the "other ones" (fairies and the dead who have died before) (Turner, 114). If anyone was walking along the road and met the procession, they would walk along with it for a ways and say a prayer. After the funeral rites are done, people leave the grave one by one. The men go to the pub, and the women to home. They believed that too much mourning was not good for the dead (Turner, 116).
Another major monotheistic religion is Islam. Islamic people believe in a peace from "total submission to and acceptance of the One and Only God (Allah) and His will" (Sedki Riad, 1). People who submit themselves to Allah are called "Muslims". Muslims believe that their lives on this earth are only a transition that precedes their afterlife.
Muslims ancestors were ancient Arabs. "The ancient Arabs had no conception of either resurrection or the existence of another life after death" (Said Ennahid, 1). Even so, they seemed to believe that the dead continued on after death. It has been shown that they had ideas of wandering and thirst associated with dying. They believed that the dead who were left without burials and those whose death was not avenged were left with their spirits wandering and thirsty (Ennahid, 1). With the advent of Islam, they believed that life and death were divine decrees, given by god, not by events or parents (Ennahid, 1). They also believe that their God judges them after death and that the spirit continues on after death. Said said, "by embracing Islam, Arabs substituted the notion of community of faith to the previous notion of community of blood".
Muslims have their own set of funeral rites, which somewhat resemble the rights practiced by other religions. "According to the Sunna, it is preferable to whisper the shahada in the ear of a dying man whose face is turned to Mecca" (Ennahid, 2). The "Sunna" is the teachings of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, and the "shahada" is an Islamic prayer (Ennahid, 4). This act is similar to the sacrament of anointing of the sick, which is practiced in the Catholic and other Christian religions (The anointing of the sick was traditionally known as the "Last Rites").
After someone dies, they wash the body several times, but always an even number (Ennahid, 2). "Muslims have this common tendency to start everything from the right," commented Said. Even after they have died, they are washed starting from the right side (Ennahid, 2).
When placed in the grave, a white shroud is commonly worn. Other colors are allowed, but not red. The eyes of the dead are closed, they tie up the jaw, and the clothes are tied tightly, but then loosened once the body is placed in the grave (Ennahid, 2). This is similar to many other religions. Both the Islamic and Christian religions close the eyes of the dead. Many religions in the past have bound their dead. They may have bound their dead for the reasons of fear of the dead, but it is more likely that they do it now more out of tradition than out of any real fear.
When an Islamic funeral procession passes along a street, the people sitting along it are obligated to stand as it passes, as a sign of respect (Ennahid, 3). This is similar to the tradition in some Christian religions where passers-by walk along with the procession or say a prayer. People in both of these cultures show respect for other people’s loved ones when they die.
There are other, non-monotheistic religions, such as that of the Native Americans. When someone dies in a Dakota Indian tribe, there is mourning and wailing. The women gash their legs and arms until blood flows (Turner, 79). The men blacken their face with ash. After the wailing, the Dakotas prepare people for a scaffold burial. The deceased is dressed in fine clothes. They also paint the dead’s face red, the color of life (Turner, 80). They also believe that the dead are reborn, or have a life after death, as shown by their coloring the dead red.
Sometimes, if the dead is a child and was very treasured, the parents will keep a "ghost lodge" for the child’s spirit (Turner, 82). There are a lot of ceremonies involved in this, and the parents must devote a lot of time and effort if they decide to make a ghost lodge, but the Indians feel it honors the spirit, and helps the tribe. In the lodge is kept a lock of the dead’s hair, along with their favorite possessions and a feeding bowl (Turner, 82). The poor and starving of the tribe can also eat from the bowl (Turner, 83). Generosity is the way of the Dakotas. In this burial practice, they not only honor the dead, but also help the less fortunate of the tribe.
The Tsimshian Indian people of the west coast consider the world to be like a huge box, in which all the souls of the universe start and end. A family group is contained in a house constructed like a box, having the living people enter through the front and sides, and the dead leave through the back (by removal of planks). The souls leave through the smoke hole above the hearth in the center of the house (Andrea Laforet, 1). They believe a house is like a living form of a box. Like a house, the universe is believed to be like a box, with the sun coming in the front (symbolizing life), and leaving through the back (symbolizing death) (Laforet, 2).
Almost all cultures have beliefs in ghosts. To primitive societies, a ghost was like a "bomb" to the living. All of their rites and ceremonies were to keep the "bombs" from going off (Turner, 119). They wanted to make sure the spirits stayed in the next world, safely away from the living. People feared that they "could ‘catch’ death from the jealous dead" (Turner, 119). Certain ghosts were believed to be more powerful and feared more than others, especially leaders and strong men who died in their prime. The people felt that those people had the most to lose when they died, so they became more envious as ghosts. People believed that those would become the most powerful ghosts, since they were the most powerful people (Turner, 120).
In early cultures, they bound their dead, figuring that the spirit would also be bound, and unable to harm the living. The Saxons of early England cut off the feet so their corpses could not walk (Turner, 122). Some aborigine tribes cut off the head of the dead, thinking that the spirit would be too busy searching for his head to worry about the living (Turner, 122). Some of this may seem extreme, but we can be sure that they did not have any dead corpses walking around after these practices!
Some cultures believed that a ghost could only come back through the way that they left. This led to bearing the dead through windows, and sealing them afterwards. Some houses in Italy and Denmark had special doors for the dead, which would keep the main doors "clean" from death. In some extreme cases, people would make a hole in the wall of a house, move the dead out through it, and then wall it up again, insuring the spirit cannot reenter the house (Turner, 122).
Another method of protection from ghosts is trying to confuse the spirit. One way of doing this is rushing the coffin around before burying so that the spirit will be confused so as to not find its way back. If an old person died, the belief is that they treasured their grandchildren and may want to take them with them to the next life, so the grandchild is whisked around the coffin, getting the spirit’s attention, and then hid away, causing the spirit to be too busy to look for it’s grandchild to bother with the rest of the living (Turner, 123).
The custom of leaving gifts at a grave is practiced today, and there is evidence of it being practiced in Neanderthal times. This practice goes back to "niceness for the ghost", in order to keep them happy and, more importantly, away (Turner, 124). But this practice also has the effect of showing respect for the deceased, not just trying to bribe their spirits. Romans and Greek even had tubes running to the inner tomb where they bury leaders, so that they could "feed" the spirits (Turner, 124).
There are multiple purposes to building a tomb, or just placing a tombstone. The one thought of most in recent times is for respect, but the original purpose of a tomb(stone) is just as likely to have been to hinder spirits in affecting the living. Tombstones may go back to the belief that ghosts may be "weighed down" (Turner, 124). The spirit would be bound to the tombstone, and be unable to affect the living. Many tombs, walled up with boulders and mounds of earth may have been for the same purpose (Turner, 124). Another purpose of tombs is to confuse the spirit. An example of this is placing a maze in the entrance (or exit, from the ghost’s point of view). This was believed to be very effective since it was also believed that ghosts can only travel in a straight line. Another way used to keep a ghost way was to build it a nice, comfortable "house" (Turner, 124).
Although there have been exceptions, the general rule has always been to keep spirits away from the living, and avoid them at all costs. Ghosts were thought to be stubborn and mean (Turner, 125).
Every culture has some things in common with some of the other cultures, and all cultures include the same type of humans, with the same type of fears, needs, and all descend from the same ancestry cultures. Along with understanding the beliefs and customs of other cultures, we can obtain better understanding just by understanding and learning about our own culture and heritage.
