Blair-Mazzarella


Funeral Home

723 Coney Island Avenue

Brooklyn, New York 11218

718-282-1164

   

 

 

 

 

Funeral Rites

 

Home Page


 

Modern & Ancient Funeral Rites on the Internet

Below are links to sites on the Internet covering the Funeral Rites of various modern and ancient cultures. If you find that one of these links is not functioning, would you be so kind as to notify us via email at admin@blairmaz.com and we will investigate promptly. Use the links on the left-hand side of this page to jump to a link of interest.


The Art of Death - Momento Mori: Death and Photography in Nineteenth Century America

A memento mori is a form of image that urged a European person of the late Middle Ages to "remember thy death." To do this, a memento mori might represent death as a human skeleton--perhaps as the Grim Reaper gathering his harvest--or it might depict human bodies in an advanced state of decay....

Ars moriendi read more about it here - Wikipedia

Top


African

Rites Of Passage

There are a huge variety of different customs associated with death. Many of them are concerned with the transition of the soul, and laying the soul of the dead person finally to rest. This may take some years. Considerable thought is devoted to burial places. Some bury their dead underneath the compound or house. For others, it is important to remove the body to a burial ground some distance away. The Baganda, in Uganda, prepare a grave for each individual when they are still children.


Top


African American

Cross-Cultural Funeral Rites

Within the African-American community, there exists a wide array of burial rituals which are specific to ancestral roots in West Africa. Funeral rites of the Caribbean tend to be elaborate, steeped in religious ceremony (usually Protestant), and grounded by cultural heritage. Despite the declining economy, the last rites are considered the final rite of passage for those whose elders passed down specific customs from the West Indies. The funeral is a communal affair in which each person has explicit duties to perform.

Top


American Funeral Rites: A Historical Perspective

People have always died at all points in history and the living have always mourned the death of loved ones with some type of ceremony. The typical funeral that is popular in modern day America is, however, a very recent happening. In the past, funerals tended to be very plain, a pine box, family and friends caring for the body, and simple burial. This is in dramatic contrast to the modern funeral that is carried out by professionals who transform the dead body into a living memorial.

Top


Ancient British

Littering the countryside of the British Isles are thousand upon thousand of barrows. They can be seen standing alone on a windswept hill or clustered together in a farmers field. Sometimes you will find them miles from anywhere on a deserted moor and other times they might stand beside a busy road. For centuries they have been steeped with legend and folklore and, more often than not, have been associated with dark forces of magic but what exactly is a barrow?...

Top


Ancient Roman

Lycia, as a coastal region, was an integral part of the Roman empire, but never supported a great population...

Top


Ancient Greek

According to Homeric belief, when a person died, his or her vital breath or psyche left the body to enter the palace of Hades, king of the dead. The psyche once it had fled the body existed merely as a phantom image, perceptible but untouchable. The wall separating the living from the dead was virtually impenetrable...

The Greek Cemetery

Most Greek cities placed their cemeteries along the main roads outside the city walls in order to avoid disease and religious pollution, and perhaps even to avoid wasting valuable urban space.

Top


Antebellum Period in Louisiana

The most deadly diseases to strike Louisiana during the antebellum period were cholera, smallpox, malaria, and yellow fever. In an epidemic year the mortality rate could reach as high as sixty percent of those who contracted a disease...

Top


Aztec

Death in ancient Aztec Mexico formed an integral part of daily life and was considered just a further stage in the continuation of life towards the individual’s final resting place. Death was to be found everywhere in the form of sacrificial rites, religious rituals, mourning celebrations and funerary festivities...

Top


Buddhist

BuddhaNet™ is the result of a vision to link up with the growing world-wide culture of people committed to the Buddha's teachings and lifestyle, as an on-line cyber sangha. In this way, an ancient tradition and the information superhighway will come together to create an electronic meeting place of shared concern and interests...

Most Japanese funeral services are held in a Buddhist style. The following is a description of a Japanese funeral. Of course, there exist many variations...

Top


Celtic Customs on Death

As the ancient festival of Samhain was held in honour of the Sun God's death and transition to the dark lands of Under wave where he then resides as Lord of Death, this is the time that the old Celtic peoples came to terms with death and pondered on their own meeting with the Dark Lord...

Top


Chinese Customs on Death

The burial of the dead (cremation is traditionally uncommon) is a matter taken very seriously in Chinese societies. Improper funeral arrangements can wreak ill fortune and disaster upon the family of the deceased.

Having Money To Burn

The Ching Ming Festival or Tomb-Sweeping Festival in Taiwan, is a traditional festival and a national holiday (as it coincides with the date of death of the famed President Chiang Kai-shek) and is usually celebrated on April 5, although the dates may vary from district to district and even within family heritage.

Top


Christian Worship

Rationale Of Funeral Rites. These are not to serve as the primary funeral liturgies of the church. Normally, a congregation is invited to gather and participate in the funeral liturgy as it does with the one provided in Christian Worship...

Top


Classic Athenian

In the ancient Mediterranean world there was hardly room for choice: not only was marriage destiny, but so was death. The identity of the Classical Greek world is established through the traditional sacrifices and rituals that were practiced in these times of bliss and mourning...

Top


Contemporary English Cemeteries

Graveyards can be attractive yet unsettling places. They are often quiet enclaves in a town, havens for wildlife in the countryside, and romantic monuments in decay; but also places which evoke fears of our inevitable fate, and which remind us of sad losses from our past...

Top


Cross-Cultural Funeral Rites

For the past two decades, the traditional funeral rite has been in transition for various reasons: changes in social stratification due to a declining economy and shrinking resources; increased immigration to the United States; neolocal spread of the family to many geographic locations; increased demand for cremations; decline in religious practices and increased secular observances; and a shift from ancestral to contemporary funeral rites...

(Contains Information on an African American Funeral)

Top


Guanches

When a Guanche died, especially if he were an achimencey or noble, a long period of mourning and preparation for the afterlife began...

Top


Hawaiian

Speculation ran rampant after two ancient caskets containing the bones of Big Island ali'i, King Liloa and his great grandson, Lonoikamakahiki, disappeared from O'ahu's Bishop Museum in February 1994...

Top


Hinduism

A Hindu approaching death works diligently to finish all his business of this lifetime, the allotted portion of his total karma carried into this birth to face and resolve. If death comes while loose ends remain (misunderstandings unresolved, misdeeds unatoned for or obligations unfulfilled), another lifetime may be required to expire that karma...

How I Sent My Father to Heaven
Proceedings of Hindu Death Ritual

Frequently Asked Questions on Hindu Funerals

Top


Incan

A widespread custom throughout Peru was to bury the bodies of the dead with all of their most prized possessions and with their most beautiful and best-loved women...

Top


Islamic

Islamic Rituals at Death

http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=question&qid=732

Burial is a Collective Obligation: There is a consensus that burying a dead body and covering it is a collective obligation (fard kifayah). If some Muslims bury the dead body, it would absolve the rest of them from this obligation. Allah, the Almighty, says: "Have We not caused the earth to hold within itself the living and the dead?" Qur'an 77.25-26...

http://www.isgkc.org/Fiqh_Death.htm

For followers of Islam, as with many other faiths, death is the end of life on this earth and the beginning of a life hereafter. For Muslims "Death is not final, but a temporary separation from the beloved person, who will be brought back to life on the Day of Judgement and, if God wills, be reunited with his family once more"...

http://www.globalideasbank.org/LA/LA-26.HTML

Death Rituals Among Muslims
The burial: Muslims bury their dead as they believe that the dead body must be respected and not harmed in any way. At the point of death, a chapter from the Quran is read and a few drops of holy water are given to the dying person. After death, the body is bathed, anointed with scents and draped in a seamless white shroud. The Muslim custom states that the body should be buried within 24 hours of death.

http://festival.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2577228.cms

Top


Japanese

After the dying hour: Water to moisten lips of a deceased; Phone to notify the family and relatives of death; Contact the ceremony hall Life Care...

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2060.html

Contrary to the wedding custom, the funeral ceremony is conducted completely in a Japanese way...

Article by Billy Hammond - http://tanutech.com/japan/jfunerals.html

Top


Jewish

Jewish Funeral and Mourning Customs
I have been to funerals for family members and friends who passed away. All funerals have different procedures depending on the deceased persons religion and desires. Each religion has its own customs. When my mother passed away recently, I became aware of my friends wanting to pay respect but felt awkward as to what customs and procedures were being used. Several readers suggested that an article be written in JDCC News on these customs and what readers need to be aware of.

The Jewish Funeral–A Celebration of Life By David Techner. Every segment of society has its social traditions, including funeral customs. Even if we have not been exposed to these in person, most of us are aware of the "Irish Wake," or the Jewish practice of "Sitting Shiva." Although we may have heard or seen these rituals, too many of us are unfamiliar with the meaning behind the actions....

http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/hw/jewish.html

Web site of the Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington, including material on Jewish Funerals, Burial, and Mourning Jewish Mourning Customs...

http://www.jewish-funerals.org/mourning.htm

Properly understood, death is a stage in the journey of life. The recognition that life is finite and that death is a reality that must be anticipated and accepted is one of Judaism's most profound insights...

http://www.utah.edu/hillel/mourning.htm

Because we love, when a loved one dies we feel sorrow and grief. These reactions are both normal and healthy. When death takes a loved one, life seems empty and the future dark. Jews have guidance at sad times in our lives, because tradition has outlined ways to deal with death and its grief. Modern psychology has recognized the therapeutic value of the Jewish rituals and practices which help us to express our grief rather than repress it, to talk about our loss with friends and to move step by step from inactivity to normal living. This booklet was written to provide an understanding of customs as observed at Beth El. It is offered to guide our members and explain our traditions...

http://www.vbs.org/religious/mourning.htm

Top


Korean

Korean funeral rites reveal a great deal about how Koreans view death, and in particular, how they cope with the death of a close family member. Koreans held that if a person had succumbed to either illness or from natural causes outside the comforts of the home, the deceased spirit would roam aimlessly to eventually become a ghost or, kaekkwi....

http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/cel/funeral_rites.htm

Top


Mayan

The ancient Maya believed in recurring cycles of creation and destruction and thought in terms of eras lasting about 5,200 modern years. The current cycle is believed by the Maya to have begun in either 3114 B.C. or 3113 B.C. of our calendar, and is expected to end in either A.D. 2011 or 2012...

Top


Medicis

Under the rule of the House of Medici, 15th century Florence saw the start of pomp and circumstance accorded to funeral rites, but the first deceased to have been accorded this honour was not a member of this powerful family but a vip from the art world, Michelangelo, whose fame had already spread worldwide...

Top


Methodist

The general guidelines for funerals are contained in the rubrics of the United Methodist Church as found in the Book of Worship (1992), pages 139-141...

Top


Mexican

Death in ancient Aztec Mexico formed an integral part of daily life and was considered just a further stage in the continuation of life towards the individual’s final resting place. Death was to be found everywhere in the form of sacrificial rites, religious rituals, mourning celebrations and funerary festivities. Therefore it comes as no surprise to us that so much attention was paid to the whole idea of death and the implications involved with it. The present paper will deal with one particular aspect of the so-called ‘death cult’ among the Aztecs, which concerns the disposal of the dead and the supernatural and cosmological ideology behind it.

The Day of the Dead
Mexico honors those gone but not forgotten. More here:

http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/muertos.html

Top


Mongolians

(same as Korean)

Funeral Rites

Korean funeral rites reveal a great deal about how Koreans view death, and in particular, how they cope with the death of a close family member. Koreans held that if a person had succumbed to either illness or from natural causes outside the comforts of the home, the deceased spirit would roam aimlessly to eventually become a ghost or gaekgwi. To ensure that their dead would not become wandering ghosts, family members took many precautions; among them, being present during the last moments of a dying relative was particularly important. Korean families went to great lengths to transport the weak and the weary back to their own homes when they felt that death was near or imminent. rest of article here

Top


Native American

A Native American Lesson in Grief
One of the most common questions that family and friends ask is how long does it take to "get over" the death of a loved one. Native American culture holds many lessons about grief and its duration. The Native American legend of the Caterpillar people holds lessons for us all in grief. This legend is traditionally told during funeral services of the Shoshone.  Funeral and grieving rituals from the Native American Culture are diversed and profound. The Lakota, a plains tribe who once inhabited a large portion of the central northern plains, pays tribute to the soul of the deceased with rituals seeped in tradtion.

There are as many traditions as there are tribes in Native American Indian Cultures.  Here are a few links

http://indian-cultures.com/index.html#index

Top


Quaker

My interview was with Ellen Louise Black (a pseudonym) a retired home school social worker. Her cultural difference is Quaker religion, yes, they still exist in Richmond, IN. She is a mother of three and is about 70 years old. She is from a family in Iowa and has a heritage of Quaker beliefs...

Top


Roman Catholic

Catholic Register. Just what are the church’s rules about funerals? Here’s what the 1983 Code of Canon Law has to say on the subject...

http://www.catholicregister.org/1999/special/hallowed/hallowed6.html

The Catholic church may provide funeral rites for those who die by suicide. The church recognizes the delicate situation: We do not condone suicide, but we do pray for the dead..

http://www.rpinet.com/ml/2503bi1.html

Planning the Funeral Rites of the Church. The Church recognizes that the occasion of the family's first viewing of the body of the deceased at the funeral home can be an emotionally difficult time. Accordingly, the Church provides a brief prayer service to support you at the time of the first viewing of the deceased at the funeral home...

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/9699/funeral.htm

Top


Russian

In Russia there is a unique tradition surrounding funeral proceedings. It is as follows:

When a person dies, the family is required to invite many guests to their home to come and say farewell to their friend. If a priest is nearby, he may say a blessing at this event. Most Russian villages are too small to have a priest or a church so the blessing is said by the family.

Top


Singapore

Funeral customs & the wake
The burial of the dead (cremation is traditionally uncommon) is a matter taken very seriously in Chinese societies. Improper funeral arrangements can wreak ill fortune and disaster upon the family of the deceased.

Top


Tibetian

Traditional Chinese

On the passing away of the father, the eldest son becomes the head of the family. If the eldest son passes away, his second brother does not assume leadership of the family. Leadership passes to the eldest son of the eldest son or the grandson of the father. He must assume the responsibilities and duties to the ancestors on behalf of the family...

Top


Victorian Mourning Customs

Victorian Mourning Customs from Collier's Cyclopedia published in 1901. During times of health and happiness, it is perhaps rather trying to be asked to turn our thoughts into doleful channels; but sooner or later in our lives the sad times comes, for "Who breathes must suffer, and who thinks must mourn," and we have perforce to to turn our minds to the inevitable and share "the common lot of man"...

Top


Vietnamese

The Vietnamese attach great importance to two traditional family obligations – to care for their parents in their old age and to mourn them in death...

Top