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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
🇮🇳 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 2 moreLibation The ritual pouring of liquid as an offering to spirits or the deadRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇮🇳 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 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreAinu religion The animist spiritual beliefs and ritual practices of the Ainu people of Japan and RussiaTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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 🇲🇽 MexicoCalavera A sugar or clay skull used in Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations.Charm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreCairn A human-made stack of stones used as a marker, memorial, or religious symbol across many cultures.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇩 IndonesiaPenjorᬧᬾᬜ᭄ᚚᚚᭀᬃ A curved bamboo pole marking prosperity in Balinese Hindu ceremonyTradition · Luck and prosperity · Power and authority Living 🇯🇵 Japan and 3 moreObonお盆 A Japanese Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of ancestors through dance and offeringsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreUkrainian folklore The folk traditions of Ukraine and its ethnic communitiesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇨🇿 Czech RepublicCzech folklore The folk traditions of the Czech people, from seasonal rites to music and craft.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreSoul cake A spiced cake given to soulers during Allhallowtide to remember the dead.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreFeng shui風水 A Chinese geomantic practice for aligning structures with cosmic energyTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇰🇷 South KoreaJesa제사 A Korean ancestral memorial rite involving food offerings and ritual bowsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Luck and prosperity Living 🇲🇱 MaliDogon religion The traditional spiritual beliefs of the Dogon people of MaliTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇻🇺 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 🇲🇽 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 🇰🇷 South KoreaGut굿 Rites performed by Korean shamans to commune with spirits and ensure community welfare.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreChinese fortune telling算命 (Suànmìng) Reading faces, palms, birth hours and places to map a person's luck through lifeTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living 🇳🇿 New ZealandKarakia Māori recitations used for spiritual guidance, protection, and formal greetingsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇭🇹 HaitiGedeGuédé A family of spirits in Haitian Vodou who guard the dead and grant fertility.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇬🇹 Guatemala and 3 moreMaya religion The living spiritual practices of the Maya peoples, shaped by centuries of contact with Catholicism.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreCowrie A sea snail shell used as currency, divination tool, and charm across many culturesSubstance · Seeing and foretelling · 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 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreGood Luck Flag寄せ書き日の丸 (yosegaki hinomaru) A Japanese national flag signed by loved ones to wish a soldier safety and victory.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇯🇵 JapanJapanese superstitions Common beliefs in Japan about luck, numbers, and omens rooted in language and customBelief · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living 🇯🇲 Jamaica and 3 moreDuppy A Caribbean term for a ghost or malevolent spirit, rooted in West African folklore.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Living 🇨🇳 ChinaSuperstition in China A broad category for folk beliefs and rituals dismissed as backward by modern Chinese authoritiesBelief · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreLock of hair A piece of human hair kept for symbolic, sentimental, or superstitious reasons.Substance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

Photo credits on this page

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

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