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EveryJaadu

Death and remembrance: practices that mark them

Guiding, honouring and warding the dead, and the rites of mourning.

Death and remembrance bring some of the most elaborate rites in the world, aimed at guiding the dead, protecting the living and keeping the bond between them. They include the Hindu cremation and Pitru Paksha offerings, the Tibetan Buddhist bardo teachings, the Jewish shiva, Islamic burial customs, the Irish wake, Chinese ancestor offerings, the Mexican Day of the Dead, the Ghanaian fantasy coffin and Aboriginal mourning rules. This page describes them as customs.

Guiding the dead

Many traditions see death as a journey that needs help. Hindu rites are said to carry the soul onward, Tibetan Buddhist texts guide the dead through an intermediate state, and ancient Egyptian rites prepared the dead for judgement. In many Chinese and Southeast Asian families, paper money, houses and goods are burned so the dead are provided for. Many such customs came from a time when disease and decay posed real danger, and the rules about touching and washing the body reflect that.

Protecting the living

The dead can be feared as well as loved. Customs aim to keep them from returning wrongly: covering mirrors in Jewish and some European homes, leaving by a different door, throwing salt, and cleansing after a funeral. Some Aboriginal communities do not speak a dead person's name for a time. Mourners often observe set periods and then rejoin ordinary life. In Judaism and Islam, burial is quick and simple, and mourners follow a defined period of grief that gradually returns them to normal life.

Remembrance and ancestors

In Mexico, families set out an ofrenda with photographs, marigolds and the favourite foods of the dead. In China, the Qingming festival sees graves swept. In West Africa, the dead are honoured as ancestors and consulted. In Madagascar, the famadihana turns the bones of ancestors in fresh cloth. Such rites are an active relationship. Rites for the dead continue after burial: remembrance days, annual visits to graves and prayers that mark anniversaries keep the memory of each person present.

Law, cost and exploitation

Funeral cost can be heavy and open to exploitation, and fraudulent mediums prey on the grieving. States regulate disposal of bodies, and some traditions, such as sky burial in Tibet and Hindu open-air cremation, have been restricted at times. Grief support from friends and professionals matters beside any rite. Grief takes many forms, and a rite does not replace mourning, though many mourners find that a shared ritual gives the first days a shape and gives friends and relatives something to do.

Death and remembrance on EveryJaadu

The entries written up so far, best known first.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
KindTraditionRiteCharmOracleSubstanceBeingFigureTextIllusionBelief
PurposeProtectionHealingSeeing and foretellingLuck and prosperityLove and attractionCursing and harmCleansing and purificationSpeaking with spirits and the deadChange and initiationBinding and oathsPower and authorityWonder and entertainment
WhoShamansFolk healersPriests and ritual specialistsWitches, sorcerers and cunning folkDiviners and readersMediums and the possessedCeremonial magicians and alchemistsHouseholds and ordinary peopleStage magiciansScholars and sceptics
BeliefHindu and TantricBuddhistJainMuslim and SufiJewishChristianSikhZoroastrianShinto and TaoistIndigenous and shamanicAfrican and Afro-diasporicPagan and NeopaganEsoteric and occultFolk and village customSecular and stageOther traditions
StandingLivingRevivedFadingHistoricalLegendaryPerformed
OrderBest knownA to ZNewestLiving first
🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreDay of the DeadDía de los Muertos A Mexican holiday honoring the dead with altars, food, and humor during Allhallowtide.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇶 IraqKispu An ancient Mesopotamian ritual to feed and honour the dead ancestorsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Historical 🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreLibation The ritual pouring of liquid as an offering to spirits or the deadRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreJoss paper金紙 Paper burned as money and goods for ancestors, gods and the deadCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTelling the bees A Western European custom of informing bees about major household eventsRite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇪🇬 EgyptAncient Egyptian afterlife beliefs A system of rituals and texts guiding the soul through the underworld to eternal rebirthTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAncestor worship Rites of respect for the dead that maintain family bonds and seek spiritual guidanceTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇲🇬 MadagascarFamadihana A Malagasy ritual to rewrap ancestors and celebrate their return to the spirit worldRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Fading 🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHalloween A Christian vigil on 31 October for the dead, now marked by costumes and carved vegetablesRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreSacred dance Movement used in worship to honour deities, heal communities, or connect with the spirit world.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇦🇺 AustraliaSmoking ceremony A ritual using herbal smoke for cleansing and welcoming among Aboriginal AustraliansRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇪🇬 EgyptOpening of the mouth ceremonywpt-r (Egyptian) An ancient Egyptian rite to restore a deceased person's senses for the afterlifeRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka and 2 moreParittaපිරිත් (Sinhala), ปริตร (Thai), ပရိတ် (Burmese) Pali verses recited in Theravada Buddhism for protection and blessingsText · Protection · Healing Living 🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreAstragalomancy Divination by casting marked bones, carved rods, or numbered diceOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreŚrāddhaश्राद्ध A Hindu rite of ancestor worship involving food offerings and fire ritualsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cleansing and purification Living 🇮🇳 IndiaTarpanaतर्पण A Vedic offering of water and seeds to gods, sages, and ancestorsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇮🇳 India and 1 morePitru Pakshaपितृ पक्ष A sixteen-day Hindu period for honoring ancestors through food offerings and death ritesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreAncient Egyptian religion Polytheistic worship, divine kingship, and funerary rites along the NileTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇨🇳 China and 4 moreSky burialབྱ་གཏོར་ A Tibetan funerary rite where human remains are offered to scavenging birdsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living 🇰🇷 South KoreaJesa제사 A Korean ancestral memorial rite involving food offerings and ritual bowsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇬🇧 United KingdomDeath knell A church bell rung to announce a person's death and mark the funeral.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead Fading 🇻🇺 Vanuatu and 5 moreKava culture A shared ritual across Oceania where a root brew marks ceremony, respect, and social gathering.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 moreAncestor veneration Rituals of respect and offerings for the dead across many culturesTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreAncestor veneration in China中國傳統宗法性宗教 Rites for dead kin who are thought to watch over the familyTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇭🇹 HaitiVodou veve (sample)Vèvè Ground drawings that call the lwa.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.