HW 46- Initial Thoughts on the Care of the Dead

When I think of the Care of the Dead, some of the bubbles that pop into my head are; funerals, wakes, Egyptian mummies, hospice, Milads, graveyards, and the ever so egregious question as to why we should respect the dead. 

                Funerals. I think every common and extraordinary person thinks of funerals when they are asked about the Care of the Dead. Why is that? Maybe it’s because funerals and funeral rites are as old as the human culture itself, predating modern Homo sapiens, to at least 300,000 years ago.⁽¹⁾ Funeral rites vary from culture to culture. The first funeral I attended was my grandfather’s which was when I was around 6-7 years old. I do not remember much but I do remember that my grandfather’s body was placed in an open casket and I also remember seeing his body, from my balcony, being taken to the graveyard after all the funeral rites had been performed. That was the first time I had seen a dead body and he didn’t look any different from what he looks like when he slept. Milad is an Arabic term and the closest translation I can come up with is “wake”. The difference is that Milads are ceremonies for death anniversaries instead of just a ceremony for the deceased before he or she is buried. In a traditional Milad, food is distributed to the poor so they pray for the deceased that come judgment day, the deceased is provided a safe and easy passage to Heaven. There isn’t a lot of mourning in Milads, at least not that I recall any (the last Milad I attended was when I was 10), it’s a ceremony to remember the deceased as a community rather than an individual and if prayers are affective, then the prayers of a whole community will probably do a lot more good than the prayers of a few individuals. 

                I was never too fond of funerals. Not because of the common reasons kids or teens might give such as; scared of dead bodies or because they don’t care but because I believe that they are pointless. By pointless I don’t mean that no one should attend funerals, no, only the deceased’s closest kin should attend and maybe a Priest or Imam or whoever is authorized in performing the sacred rites of their religion. Guests at a funeral seem pointless because I doubt the deceased’s family feels any better just because the nth person just told them for the nth time that they are sorry. I know I wouldn’t feel any better. So if I ruled the world, I would make it so all funerals are private ceremonies. No need to make the rest of your community depressed because of something that is a natural part of life. Maybe that is a bit too harsh but, my blog so my thoughts. Another dominant social practice that I do not agree with is the whole ordeal with people yelling at other people who speak ill of the dead. When asked why we cannot speak ill of the dead, the common answer is, we should respect the dead because it is rude to do otherwise. To those people I always say, so you’re saying we should speak ill of them when they are alive so they can hear us and feel bad?  

                Like almost  everything else, many rituals are performed differently in other cultures. Since I was blessed with parents who were not only capable of traveling around the world, but it was their job to do so. Having traveled around the world, I got to witness many different cultures and their traditions. I even got the privilege to take part in many of their rituals. Even though Milad is a very Islamic ritual, it is not practiced in many Muslim dominated countries such as Syria. In Syria, the dead "cared for" in a very Christian way. Except for the hearse, it is the norm to carry the coffin on the shoulders of the deceased's next of kin (males only). the coffin is the lowered into the grave (dug by a machine) by a machine. Mourners mourn, and preachers preach. The End.

                In India, and this is mostly just in India since other countries have banned this practice because it is considered unsanitary, the dead are usually burnt (this is strictly a Hindu practice). This is slightly different from cremation in some ways but the end result is the same. The dead are usually placed in a platform that is around 4ft high made of wooden logs. The logs are drenched in oil and "holy water". The eldest son, or the father, or the husband or any male family member usually sets the platform on fire with a long wooden torch. The "holy water" is supposed to help the deceased's soul's journey to the next life easier. The ashes of the dead are treated in two different ways, the traditional way is to scatter them in the "holy" river Ganges but Indians who are more modern sometimes place the ashes in vases as urns. I don't consider my self extremely educated because here are A LOT of things out there that I do not know about but I also don't want to be stuck in the category of the common people. To do this, I must broaden my knowledge on other rituals and customs of more cultures. Old and forgotten along with new and bizarre, that is what I want to achieve by the end of this unit.

    Some of the questions I would want answered in this unit are:
 
-  What are some of the ancient funeral rituals, other than Egyptian, that are no longer  
   practiced?

-  What is the best thing to say to someone who has recently lost a loved one?
-  Why is death both stigmatized and respected?