Andrea was born in Botevgrad, Bulgaria and moved to the United States at 3 months. She grew up in Seattle Washington and took swimming lessons till the age of 9. Andrea then moved to Wisconsin where she struggled with school but eventually was able to adapt to her environments. She now plans on being an orthodontist and someday traveling the world.
Introduction
I have always been interested in the mummification process of a pharaoh. The whole burying process was different from what I was used to. All the different rituals that had to be done were so complex and unique. My interest in the burial process of mummies made me begin to wonder what the burying process is like in other countries/cultures and why they were so different. Was it solely religion-based? Or something more? As I began my research, I leanred of what other culures would do in the past with their dead. For example, if an important Viking is killed, he is put onto a ship that is set aflame and a slave of his or his wife would accompany him on the ship into the afterlife. In ancient Greece, if a warrior died they buried his body, leaving his head showing and putting two coins on his eyes which would signify a bribe for the ferryman that takes the dead to the afterlife. Death is something that everything goes through, its inescapable yet different cultures treat it differently. My main question was, "Why are we so fascinated about death?" My goal to answer this question was to research different rituals from around the world, explain them, and try to understand why they are so different.
Move 1: 6 Feet under
There are many different customs to death rituals, I decided to talk about the westernized funeral customs that many are familiar with. I began my research on funerals that all of us know about, just to give a bit more detail on what we are getting into. I was able to find a very detailed website that explained the exact order of things. The website talked much of God and said things like, "give praise and thanks to God for Christ's victory over sin and death, to commend the deceased to God's tender mercy and compassion, and to seek strength in the proclamation of the Paschal Mystery.” and “expresses the hope that, with all those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, the deceased awaits the glory of the resurrection. The Rite of Committal is an expression of the communion that exists between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven.” I then looked at some of the common branches of religion on what their rituals on death were. I found that Catholic rituals are very similar to but Jewish religons had a bit of different rituals dealing with mourning.
Move 2:living after death
This move talks about how some cultures celebrate death rather than mourn it. There are certain African tribes, tribes in the Philippines, tribes in Eastern Indonesia plus others that think that death is not something to grieve over and they all have very interesting way of commemorating the dead and preparing them for the afterlife. An example would be what the people of Ghana do for a loved one. Special coffins called fantasy coffins are created which are, “designed to represent the life of the deceased person, often referencing his or her work, dreams, and even vices.” Another culture would be in Madagascar where Every seven years, the bodies of the dead are brought back up to the surface. The body is wrapped in new cloth and sprayed with wine so as the slow the decomposition process. This ritual is a great way to stay connected with the deceased that still play a big role in the day to day lives of the Malagasy. It is also belived that, “Women who are having trouble conceiving will take fragments of an ancestor's old shroud and place them under their mattresses (or even eat them) to induce pregnancy.” Another example would be how the Bali would cremate all the dead together and make a huge party/festival out of it.
Move 3:a violent death
My third move is about the darker side of death. I focus on death rituals around the world that are less celebratory and more violent. Although the rituals I talk about are rare, they do still happen in our world today. I will begin with the self-mummifying monks. They are,“The most famous practitioners of self-mummification to modern readers are the sokushinbutsu—the Buddhas in the flesh—whose bodies have been found in Japan, primarily in Yamagata Prefecture.” They do this to gain wisdom and to ascend. Another example is Sati where the wife of the deceased is sacrificed. The purpose of Sati was to, "show to commitment and pureness of the widow to her deceased husband." And the last example would be the tibetan sky buriels. the dead is offered up to vultures on a mountain. The vultures are believed to be angels called Dakini that bring the soul up to the heavens and at the same time give the vultures food in order to help sustain lives of animals.“Tibetans are encouraged to witness this ritual, to confront death openly and to feel the impermanence of life.”
