Rituals from other cultures around death

How we deal with death and grief is so wide and varied across different cultures across the world. Every culture views death differently.

But regardless of the approach, the way in which we mourn is constantly changing as we become more and more multicultural. People are choosing to grieve in different way sometimes acknowledging or including traditions from different cultures.

For many cultures, rituals are a very important part of the grieving process.

Rituals are a “serious of actions carried out for a specific purpose”.

They give us familiarity and shared experiences and bring us comfort at a very difficult time. Regardless of religion or culture, rituals build communities. They are an expression of our emotions.

Some people don’t realise that they are engaging in ritualistic behaviours. For example after Princess Diana died, thousands of people left floral tributes outside Kensington Palace.

Whether rituals come from family, culture, religion or spiritual tradition they give us meaning, familiarity, comfort and connect us to others in a world that can feel upside down when someone we love dies.

Below are some of the beautiful rituals from other cultures. At the heart of them all is community.

Perhaps we can draw on some of these ancient traditions to help us keep our loved ones close and to honour and respect their memory.

Aboriginal Culture

We don’t have to look too far to lean into some beautiful and rich rituals around death. The Aboriginal culture have many and important rituals around funerals and mourning. To this day, these rituals are still a very important part of their culture.

Family, friends and other members of the community all come together to support and grieve together in the name of “sorry business”.

The putting up “flags” is another important act of symbolism. This ritual is used to notify the community that this is the house of someone who has died.

Often there is more than one funeral ceremony including a smoking ceremony which is a ritual conducted to drive away the deceased’s spirit.

Then a feast is prepared where mourners paint ochre as they share food and dancing.

Mexico

Death is a big part of Mexican culture. It is ingrained in their culture and celebrating their dead is big part of their live.

Every year on the 2nd November, Mexican’s come together to celebrate “the day of the dead”.

The Day of the Dead is when all Mexican’s come together to remember, honour and celebrate those that have passed.

Mexican’s consider this a day of celebration, not one of sadness.

More and more, death has become hidden from public view. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could incorporate some of this celebrating as we remember our loved ones on occasions outside of their birthday and anniversary?

Ireland

I grew up in Ireland - a country with rich customs surrounding death.

The traditional “wake” has been a part of the Irish culture for generations. It came about because it was important to be sure that the deceased person did not wake up, and that no one got buried alive accidently. This custom of waiting for the person to “wake” soon became a time to celebrate and mourn together. This was an opportunity for friends and family to come together, to eat, drink and remember their loved one’s life.

I can’t imagine the idea of Funeral strippers is something that will catch on in Melbourne. But you never know. To ensure that people will turn up to the funeral, some families in China, hire strippers, host dances and put on elaborate feasts to encourage people to attend.

Experiencing the death of a loved one, is probably one of the most traumatic experiences any of us will encounter.

Rituals regardless of where they come from, bring us together as families, friends and communities. And these rituals can play an important role in helping to alleviate grief, loss and isolation.