In Repose Blog

Our Human Heritage

--Jamie Sue Austin for In Repose

Having been raised in a household dominated by folk lore and superstition I find it very interesting to observe others in their foray into the supernatural or occult.  Concepts so inherent in my upbringing are considered “out of the box” for many others and it is fascinating to watch people slowly come to terms with their “human heritage.”  I say “human heritage” because until recently in human evolution our co-existence with the supernatural was non-debatable.

  Perhaps our newfound reliance on the scientific in opposition to the metaphysical was best described by Edgar Allan Poe in his poem Sonnet to Science:

Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise?
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?
Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car?
And driven the Hamadryad from the wood
To seek a shelter in some happier star?
Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,
The Elfin from the green grass, and from me
The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

I feel that we are coming full circle.  Growing numbers of individuals are finding that science, the drab colored bird that it is, does not explain all… nor do they want it to. Ask any adult what they miss most about their childhood and their answers will most often correlate to the sense of wonder and amazement that they once felt in response to ordinary events.

Even in my own mind I can remember the disappointment I felt when I realized that the plastic birds that so gracefully skid across the mirrored surface of my mother’s music box did not fly by some magical means, but were operated by ordinary and uninteresting magnets.  Such is the rest of our lives…ordinary and uninteresting… fully explained by the “great minds” of others, leaving us no freedom to interpret our own experiences and create our own explanations.  In the metaphysical we find freedom to explore.  We find the joy of discovery.  We find the unique human experience of creating the myth instead of debunking it.

I congratulate you on your journey and wish for you a unique and thrilling adventure.

Jamie Sue.

Hell Notes and Flowers: Offerings to the Dead

An article for In Repose, by Jamie Sue Austin

In the United States, like in much of the world, offerings or tributes to the dead are quite common. Wreaths and flowers laid across tombstones during Memorial Day are a form of ancestor worship we are all accustomed to. The term “ancestor worship” tends to dredge up images of primitive pagan cultures worshiping their grandfathers as God, but the practice of showing respect and honor to the dead is alive and well in the 21^st century. From candlelight vigils to roadside shrines, ancestor veneration (a more apt term) is all around us, and an integral part of society and the grieving process.

 

The intensity of belief in the power of ancestors to affect the physical living world varies from culture to culture. Offerings vary as well depending on the region. In the US flowers, wreaths, candles, even small plush animals or toys are common forms of tribute given to the dead. In the southern United States offerings of food, jewelry, and incense can be seen. Statues and monuments to the dead are common as well. In fact, some of our most famous national monuments, such as Mt. Rushmore and the Lincoln Memorial are colossal displays of ancestor veneration. Memorial Day is a nationally recognized holiday for honoring the dead. Easter, All Soul’s Day, and Candelmas are commonly respected days for ancestor veneration in the US as well.

Outside of the US ancestor veneration is just as common. In China, long thought of as a place of strong ancestral and filial ties, tributes to the dead come in a variety of forms. Depending on the belief system, some group offer tributes as a means of caring for their elders in the after life. Paper versions of common everyday objects are often burned as offerings to ancestors who in turn are believed to act as “guardian angels” by preventing serious misfortune. The belief that those who have passed before us are somehow looking over our shoulders and protecting us from harm is common even in the United States. A common Chinese offering is Joss paper, a form of spiritual money, burned to provide wealth for those living in the afterlife. Joss paper is often red or yellow with a foil stamp in the center.  Hell Notes are another form of spiritual money commonly used in China. They are bills, sometimes fashioned after western money, in excessively large denominations.  Aside from paper money, other objects are often offered to the dead such as paper mâché  cards, boats, houses, credit cards, and electronics. Incense, candles, and small food items often accompany these offerings. All through China and Singapore the Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated, much in the way that Halloween is celebrated in the US, with the addition of offerings to the dead and lots of food. Vietnam has similar customs using incense, candles, and Hell Notes as offering. Often Vietnamese families will prepare large meals for family gatherings and as an offering to the dead.

Traditions of ancestor veneration are not confined to eastern societies. In Egypt the influence of ancestors is very great. Large, expensive tombs were created to protect the remains of the departed. Bodies were ritualistically purified then mummified to preserve them for use in the after life. Food, money, furniture, spices, clothing, and sometimes even pets and servants were buried with the dead to ensure their comfort on the other side. During Samhain, in Ireland, it is believed that the veil between the living and the dead is thin. Food, light, and incense are left for the dead. A place is set at the table for any relatives who have passed within the last year. Samhain is observed by neo-pagans in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia as well. Modern Halloween customs have their origins in the holiday of Samhain. Other popular holidays celebrating death include All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and Day of the Dead.

In Mexico, Day of the Dead celebrations include decorating gravesites and leaving gifts. Gifts range from flowers and toys to bottles of alcohol and candy. The home is also decorated for the event and offerings of food and drink are left out. Images of skulls are popular Day of the Dead decorations, though most skeletons and skulls look less scary than whimsical.  Skulls made from sugar and decorated with icing are given to both the living and the dead. Images of the Virgin Mary are also very popular. Overall the decorations and mood are much more colorful and bright during Day of the Dead than other during similar holidays.

Regardless of the tradition, almost every individual is accustomed to some form of ancestor veneration. It is hard to imagine a world in which no amount of care or concern was given to the dead. Perhaps it is an important part of the human psyche to believe that a connection with a loved one can remain after death. Or maybe, in honoring others, we ensure that ourselves will not be forgotten.

Many fine articles by Jamie Sue and others can be found at the Resource Forum on In Repose

Traditional Mexican Death Customs and Beliefs

Frances Toor, a folklorist who wrote the classic book “A Treasury of Mexican Folkways,” researched a variety of death and burial customs among traditional Mexicans, who are influenced both by their Indian and Spanish Catholic heritage.

Catholics obtain the services of a priest or one of his assistants to help the soul “die well.” The Mayans leave a hole in the thatch above the dying person so the soul can exit the house.  Most Mayans believe in reincarnation because they feel there are not enough souls to keep repopulating the earth, so they need to be recycled.

Mexicans believe that the personality endures after death.  This means that the dead need the same things as the living.  The survivors cultivate an acute awareness and even fear of the dead and perform the proper ceremonies in order to appease them.  Since the dead are conscious of what’s going on until they receive the last rites, if their relatives do not comply with their dying wishes, it is believed that they will return at night and beat them.

The news of a person’s death travels via word of mouth or the village church bells, whereupon relatives and friends come with gifts of food, drink, candles, and even cash.  The women prepare the food while the men arrange for the burial.

Traditional Mexicans do not embalm bodies, and burial takes place 24 hours after death.  The body is laid out on the ground with something hard under the head for a pillow, like bricks.  Lighted candles are placed around the body, which is sometimes covered with flowers and an image of their favorite saint.  In the villages around Mexico City, the body is laid on a cross of lime that is left on the floor during the novena (nine days of prayers) after the burial, and then the cross is buried in the grave.  The Zapotecs believe the lime cross shortens the stay in Purgatory.  The Mixtecs add finely ground charcoal on a background of sand, with little red stars, branches, and vases with flowers drawn with pulverized brick, similar to a Navajo sand painting.

Wakes are held in which mourners socialize with food and drinks, play the guitar, dance, tell stories about the deceased and get drunk.  Wakes for children are usually festive, with music and dancing, because Catholics believe children are free of sin and will go to Heaven.

The corpses of children are dressed in saints’ costumes or like Virgins.  There is a belief that if you treat angelitos (the bodies of children) well they will help you when you get to Heaven.  They have fancy coffins with food, flowers and toys, or a clay jar so a baptized child can water flowers in Heaven. A small cross of wax or palm is placed in the hands, along with a crown or wreath of flowers.  A band playing happy tunes and shooting off firecrackers usually accompanies the burial.

Burials for adults are more somber. They are dressed in their best clothes with the remainder rolled up under their heads.  Other possessions, like working tools, are included.  The local band plays funeral dirges or other slow tunes.  Most are buried in coffins but some are wrapped in petates (reed mats) or serapes or placed on boards.  There is a belief that the road to the next world isn’t easy, so new sandals with heavy soles are provided.

Mexicans have a generally fatalistic, stoic attitude toward death.  Some groups, such as the Zapotecs of Oaxaca, weep and wail at a funeral.  Others, such as the Mayans of Chan Kom, will not, because they believe a display of grief will delay the soul’s departure.  Prayers are said to prevent demons and supernatural animals from gaining power over the soul.

The Mayans believe that a good person goes to Gloria, where St. Peter waits at the gate with keys.  If a soul has not been kind to children, the angelitos tell St. Peter and the soul will not be admitted.  Men received in Gloria need to have led chaste lives before marriage and practiced faithfulness and gentleness in their marriage, obedience to their parents, kindness to animals, and piety.  If they do not fulfill these moral requirements, they will go to Purgatory to be burned white—the color of purity—and then they will be received in Gloria.  Very bad souls go straight to Hell.  If a man has slept with his wife’s sister he’s transformed into a whirlwind that fans the flames for clearing cornfields for new crops.  Anyone who leaves money behind without telling somebody cannot get to Gloria until he informs someone on earth.  If a man dies without paying his debts, he may have to become a wild turkey or deer until his creditors meet and shoot the animal and sell the meat to recover the debt; only then he can go to Gloria.

There are different myths about supernatural animals.  The Otomís of Huixquilucan believe that a goat tries to prevent the dead from crossing the river, so they put hay in the coffin at the funeral and little boys throw stones at the imaginary goat.  Another practice is putting a piece of prickly pear or maguey bark in the coffin for the dead to throw at the wild bull that tries to prevent them from crossing the plain to reach Purgatory.

A popular Mexican story about the journey after death describes walking eastward for three years to a lake and being carried over by a black dog.  After crossing the lake, the soul travels for three more years to the house of Jesus Christ.  The man at the door tells the soul to wait until sunrise, whereupon the soul is given a letter to return to this world.

For all Mexicans, the dead are a part of life and are never forgotten.  They are honored every year during the fiestas of All Saints Day (November 1st) and All Souls Day or Day of the Dead (November 2nd), when they return to visit the living.

New Orleans Jazz Funeral

The tradition of the New Orleans jazz funeral has fallen away somewhat in the wake of Hurricane
Katrina, but has not been forgotten. Although the wild music and dancing has, historically, flown in the
face of prevailing sentiments about the required solemnity of the traditional memorial service, the New
Orleans jazz funeral grew throughout the 20th century to achieve its own respected standing among the
many ways to commemorate the passage of a loved one.

The music and dancing of the jazz funeral were intended both help the deceased find their way to
heaven and to celebrate the final release from the bounds of earthly life, which had, in the past, included
the release from slavery. The call-and-response style of music and chant, coupled with tambourines,
drums, music and dancing were elements of African funeral ceremonies which crossed the seas with
captive slaves. In American culture, this type of funeral caught on among the African- American
population of the deep south, but, as the tradition was not welcomed by the Catholic church, was
restricted largely to the black Protestants of New Orleans and came to be the funeral of choice
particularly among impoverished people and musicians. Towards the middle of the 20th century, as the
movement caught on more, social clubs and insurance policies arose to help the underprivileged afford
these funerals, giving rise to the most celebrated of funerary jazz bands, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
Over time, the jazz funeral tradition grew to become New Orleans’ most honored of funeral ceremonies,
with horse-drawn hearses and parades for fallen police officers, well-known musicians and other pillars
of the community. In its final days, the traditional hymns, gospel, rock and r&b music of the jazz funeral
began to fuse with influences from the funk and hip-hop world as street gangs and rappers adopted this
style for honoring their dead. One of the last jazz funerals, that of rapper James "Soulja Slim" Tapp,
drew a crowd of thousands.

Historically, the New Orleans jazz funeral could last up to a week and sometimes even included a
parade. A typical funeral began with a slow march from the home of the deceased to the church or
funeral home. During the march, the coffin may have been carried by a horse-drawn hearse and was
accompanied by a brass band playing somber dirges and hymns. After the memorial service, the march
would proceed to the cemetery and the tone would remain somber until the coffin had been placed in
the ground or until the group was out of sight of the church. People on the streets where the march
passed were welcome to join in and go along with the mourners to the cemetery. This group was
referred to as the “second line.“ The brass band would play a couple more hymns, though these were
played with a swing beat, to alert mourners that the mood was about to change, then would launch into
wilder music with tambourines and drums. The music and dancing were both a cathartic release for
mourners and a celebration of a life well lived. In this state of jubilation, the group would then march
back to the location of their reception.

Perhaps the jazz funeral of the highest honor was held on August 29, 2006 in memory of the 1,700
victims of Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi and Louisiana. The memorial was held at the Ernest N.
Morial Convention Center, where thousands were stranded without food or water just one year earlier.
Led by Mayor Ray Nagain and Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, the procession included a horse-drawn hearse
carrying an empty coffin, a brass band, fire trucks and the National Guard. There was a moment of
silence in the small community where the hurricane first made landfall, tolling bells at 9:38 a.m. to
commemorate the breach of the first levee and an interfaith prayer service. Many residents found the
ceremony to be a beautiful and tasteful way to remember their many losses. Today, New Orleans has
made great strides in restoring its native culture.

Carrying vestiges of African funeral rituals and originally intended to celebrate the new-found freedom
of a departed slave, the jazz funerals of New Orleans evolved throughout the 20th century to come to
be recognized as one of the most respected ways to exalt the life of a loved one. Musicians, police
officers and African-Americans in particular have been remembered by this style of funeral and finally,
those many victims of Hurricane Katrina were paid high tribute as well, New Orleans style. A symbol of
life, a symbol of death and a symbol of re-birth, the New Orleans jazz funeral salutes a life well lived and
the passage of a departed soul into a better world.