Man has had to deal with the issues related with death since the first man died, a believer would say since Adam and the non believer would say since the caveman had to drag the smelly corpse of his mate and throw it over the ledge out of sight and smell perhaps the first belief that the body is returned to nature, perhaps to be eaten by wolves and carrion eaters such as vultures.Today a coffin can cost to the tune of a few thousand dollars and the plot of earth where one's body will be laid to rest will cost another small fortune as even death has become an expensive affair or a lucrative affair for those who manage the funeral business. Such is the world we live in as it evolves on its own exist, everything from birth to death or cradle to grave and in between cost money in one form of another and very few indeed can match the Chinese in their funeral rituals where 'Paper money is burned or strewn along the funeral route to the cemetery to accompany the dead along with paper constructions of cars and houses, and mourners are employed to wail along with the rest of the family to assure the dead that he or she was missed already.
Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday observed throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico where the day is a bank holiday. The celebration takes place on October 31, November 1 and November 2, in connection with the triduum of Hallowtide: All Hallows' Eve, Hallowmas, and All Souls' Day.[1][2]Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas, honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased.
Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddessMictecacihuatl. The holiday has spread throughout the world. In Brazil Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain there are festivals and parades and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.
Wikipaedia
"The Toraja live in the mountainous southern region of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Most are now Christian. However, elements of the traditional religion,aluk to dolo ('the law of the ancestors'), are still followed, especially in rural areas.
- See more at: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Burial-Toraja-Sulawesi#sthash.3eAmwikJ.dpuf
There is a belief in Toraja that when you die you won't be separated directly from the family - you are expected to bring them good luck and so the family must respect you. When we think of our ancestors, we respect them as individuals, rather than as a group.
When a small baby dies, one who hasn't grown teeth yet, they used to be buried in a tree. It had to be a living tree, so that as the tree grew it continued the baby's life. Nicolaus Pasassung, 41, Linguist. Sa'dan, Rantepao, Toraja.
Ancestor spirits can be harmful or protective depending on how they died. People who have died an unnatural death, such as through suicide, accidents or in childbirth, will not go easily to puya, the land of the dead. Ancestors must be treated with appropriate esteem or they will become unhappy, impoverished spirits.
The most important ceremony in a person's life cycle is the funeral. For this reason, there is often a lengthy interval between a person's death and their burial. Time is needed to ensure that all family members can attend and to save money to buy buffalo. In some cases, the deceased may be kept in the house for years, injected with formalin and placed in a temporary wooden coffin. In the past, the body would be laid on a mat in a special room, with bamboo pipes under the floor to catch and divert body fluids.
Death is a gradual process rather than an abrupt event. The deceased is referred to as to mamma (sleeping person) or to masaki (sick person) until the commencement of funeral rites when they are called to membali puang (person who has become one of the gods) or to mate (dead person).
- See more at: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Burial-Toraja-Sulawesi#sthash.3eAmwikJ.dpuf
The more you dig around the more you will discover all kinds of burial grounds and rituals suggesting of how important death is in a human society and how man since beginingless time has honored the dead out of Love respect and mostly fear. The grave yard is the last place one would want to spend the evening at with one's loved ones and the when walking pass by one most societies has adopted ways and means of making sure that the spirits of the dead know we pass by in peace as the Muslim is taught to give the Salam. and the Hindu would place his palms together and say Namaste or as most Christians would make the sign of the cross over their chest, yes and the native Americans in the old days would never be caught crossing a burial ground on their horses or on foot. Where the dead RIP or rest in peace in the final journey on this earth let no living desecrate with impunity.
Have you thought much about how or when or where you would end your days and what will become of you when it is all over?
Have you thought much about how or when or where you would end your days and what will become of you when it is all over?
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