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Death Ritual

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When religion seeks to establish a definitive identity, its doctrines for handling immensely significant rituals such as birth or death, become emboldened; seeing how these human occurrences are universal and highly emotional, such rituals provide an ideal opportunity for the structure of religion to provide “Do’s and Dont’s.” As spoken in class, death rituals are as “tenacious” as they are since they are not only inevitable, but drive to the core of religion, our own existential dilemmas and struggle for meaning. In this sense, even traditions which forbid once accepted occurrences (Pagan rituals of wailing, self-mutilation, tearing of clothes, ashes on the head etc) and give guidance of what should be done, still provide comfort since they point at proper procedure and the oneness of God.

I thought that the idea of the spirit was especially interesting, raising the question of once the physical body has died, what can we learn from the spirit, and has the spirit come to teach us something from another realm about our own? In this way, the deceased are not only remembered, but cease to be static altogether, even gaining a mystical sense of power that they have entered a realm other than our own. In this way, they live and those mourning can “actively” engage, despite the dead no longer being physically represented.

The transition of sacrifice in pagan tradition to something that can conform with organized religion and the subsequent rules of halalkhah and shariyah was interesting as well, considering that animal sacrifice was initially intended to feed the spirit and then became part of a more “refined” practice of a mourners meal, as we move from a pagan context into a more monotheistic one. This accompanies Astren’s notions of regulation and reformation, as pagan ritual is adapted and made suitable for honoring one God, and creating individual and community based rituals for believers to depend on in times of distress and tribulation, as epitomized in death ritual.

 


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