Adieu, the final farewell, an exploration of death!
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Paganism
There are currently 74,000 Pagans in England and Wales, according to the 2021 Census. I found a suggestion that there are 1.2m pagans in the USA, but I could not find any global figure. This is a
term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism.
The Romans, themselves, worshipped twelve pagan gods – Apollo, Ceres, Diana, Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Mercury, Minerva, Poseidon, Venus, Vesta and Vulcan. They also worshipped foreign gods, such as the Egyptian goddess Isis and the Persian god Mithras.
Today, Wicca, aka The Craft, is the largest modern a nature-based, pagan belief system. They worship Mother Earth and Father Sky, and other deities. Wicca has no central authority figure. Its traditional core beliefs, principles, and practices were originally outlined in the 1940s and 1950s.
Spiritualism
Spiritualism emerged in the 19th c as a social-cum-religious movement. It was strong in Europe and Latin America. By the end of that century it flourished, and had eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly from the middle and upper classes.
Spiritualists believe in making contact with dead people still existing in the spirit world, they also believe that they are in some ways more advanced than humans. They seek out ‘spirit guides’ believing that they can provide guidance useful to humans in their many mortal challenges.
It first appeared in the 1840s in the “Burned-over District” of upstate New York. Earlier religious movements such as Millerism and Mormonism had been practised here during the Second Great Awakening.
The incidence of fraud was high and as a result interest waned.
In the UK in 1890, a central organisation emerged called Spiritualists’ National Federation. It was superceded in 1902 by the Spiritualists’ National Union. Today, the Spiritualists’ National Union has 350 affiliated Spiritualist churches or centres, with some 16,000 full members and over 2,000 associate members.
Candomblé
Afro-Brazilian religious cultslikeCandomblé is an African diaspora religion that evolved in Brazil during the 19th century among the enslaved and transported Africans.. It had grown out of the practices of the Yoruba, Bantu, and Gbe, back in Africa. Its god is called Oludumaré, but they also believe in spirits that serve him called orixás, and the spirits of the dead, the egun.
Twelve of the orixás are well-developed figures in the Candomblé pantheon and recognized by most practitioners. They live in the orun, said to divide into nine levels. Death is personified in the figure of Iku.
There are some 170,000 practitioners in Brazil, although smaller communities (terreiros) exist elsewhere, especially in other parts of South America. Candomblé has spread beyond its Afro-Brazilian origins and is practiced by individuals of various ethnicities. A central ritual involves practitioners drumming, singing, and dancing to encourage an orixá to possess one of their members. They believe that through this possessed individual, they can communicate directly with a deity.
Death is personified in the figure of Iku. When a senior Candomblé practitioner dies, their community performs a set of rituals named axexé, to help the soul turn into an ancestral spirit linked to their terreiro. They perform Catholic-style funerals, but for axexé there are additional practices crucial to achieve this transition. A wide range of offerings, including sacrificed animals, are given both to the dead individual and to accompanying orixás and other spirits during the axexé.
Santeria
This is another African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It came from the traditional Yoruba religions of West Africa, the Catholic form of Christianity, and Spiritism. Santería is polytheistic worshipping both a supreme god and hundreds of orichas, divine mythical gods and goddesses that communicate with humans to help them live a life of wisdom, prosperity and morality.
Santeria means ‘way of the saints’. Its alternative name is Regla de Ocha meaning ‘the rule of ocha’ – ocha is a term for their deities.
Practitioners often believe that everyone has a specific destino (destiny) or camino (road), although their fate is not completely predetermined.
Funerals called itutu follow the Roman Catholic tradition, usually held nine days after death. There are rituals that run throughout the following year. ended with the levantamiento de platos, the breaking of a dish, to symbolise the deceased’s final departure from the realm of the living
Chinese Folk religion
A range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese. These usually centre around ancestor worship and this did inspire Confucianism and Moism. It draws upon religions such as Buddhism and Taoism.
These also include the veneration of shen (spirits), exorcism of demonic forces, and a belief in a universe and reality that is able to be influenced by human beings, their rulers, as well as by spirits and deities. Its practices include feng shui (geomancy), acupuncture, and traditional Chinese medicine. There are sacred books of texts describing the belief’s cosmology, history mysticism and mythology. There is a basic concept called Tian this defines the physical heavens, the home of the sun, moon, and stars, and also the home of the gods and ancestors.
Funerals last around seven days. The service begins with a shou ling (wake) where members of the family take it in turns to sit with the person who has died as they prepare for their transition into the afterlife. It takes place either in the home of the family of the deceased or at a local temple. At the shou ling, mourners bring food, incense, joss paper, white envelopes of money and more to leave as an offering.
The ceremony has a eulogy, the family of the deceased then give guests a red envelope with a coin inside to make sure that guests get home safely. They may also be given a red thread which is to be tied to a door at the guest’s house to keep evil spirits away. The funeral is then held after the wake.
The mourning period can last up to 100 days following which there can be a final ceremony.
Cao Đài
Caodaism is a Vietnamese monotheistic syncretic religion that retains many elements from its folk religion such as ancestor worship. It includes elements of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. Its theories of karma and rebirth come from Buddhism, and its organisation from Roman Catholicism.
It dates back to 1921 Ngô Văn Chiêu, a manager of the French administration, was the first to worship and receive messages from Cao Đài, the Supreme Being. Cao Đài, is believed to have communed with men since the beginning of times, revealing his will. It has three major prophets. The Divine Eye serves to remind Cao Đài believers that their God witnesses everything, everywhere, constantly. The religion was formally founded in 1926. The central body has 4.4m followers, add in related branches and it grows to more than six million. There are a number of scriptures.
Its full name is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (The Great Faith for the Third Universal Redemption).
When someone is dying or dead, relatives must organise an official ceremony at the Cao Dai temple. Only after this ceremony is completed, can they chant the Prayer for the dying soul of the Cao Dai believer. The ritual for last rites is chant the Prayer for guiding the dying person (at the point of death) three times. After the chanting, one must bow and recite the name of the Cao Dai Divine Master three times.
There are rituals and a series of prayers, most are recited three times – one for guiding the dying soul, one for the for the ascension of the spirit, one for placing the body in the coffin; one for the burial procession; one for the interment of the coffin; and one for Postmortem rituals.
Cremation is not considered traditional in Vietnam. Attendng mourners wear white.
Its tradition for the mourning period is 581 days from the date of death. Within this period, the family are required to hold a series of ceremonies at home or at the Cao Dai temple. These seek for the ascension of the soul. Tuan Cuu ceremonies are arranged nine times, once every nine-day period, from the date of the death; Tieu Tuong (or Small Ceremony) is held 200 days after the Ninth requiem or ninth Cuu, so 281 days after the date of death; Dai Tuong (or Great Ceremony) ends the mourning period, 300 days after the Tieu Tuong, thus 581 days after the date of death.
Animism
We cannot ignore a belief in animism. This is a belief that plants, inanimate objects and natural phenomena have souls, that objects, places, and creatures all possess a spiritual essence. that a supernatural power organises and drives the material universe.
Each culture has its own mythologies and rituals, yet animism appears to describe the most common, fundamental thread of indigenous peoples spiritual and supernatural beliefs.
Animists often have shaman who enables access to the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits. A shaman typically enters into a trance state during rituals, and practices divination and healing.
Today, there are said to be two million animists in the world, 0.02% of total global population.
The animists’ view of death is that when a life turn into a corpse this is a departure into an afterlife of the soul (or anima) that once gave life to the body. No particular funeral rites are pursued, this tends to be the prevailing country or region’s cultural practice.
Inuits
Inuits, once referenced as Eskimos, are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples who inhabit arctic and subarctic regions. They are found in North America, including Alaska, Canada (Yukon, North West Territories Nunavut and Labrador) and Greenland. They are also in Chukotka in Russia.
They are the descendants of the Thule people who came from the Bering Strait area in around 1000 CE, then spread eastward. They have developed a number of languages
Traditionally Inuit men were the hunters and fishermen, while women took care of the children, cleaned the home, sewed, processed food, and cooked. Also, traditionally relationships were not monogamous, with most marriages arranged. Culturally Inuit women are keen on facial tattoos to display aspects of that women’s life, where they came from, their family, their life achievements, and their status in the community.
There have been suggestions that Inuits euthanised senior and unproductive members of their family groups by stabbing or hanging. But to counter this, the elders were usually considered as a repository of knowledge, maintaining an oral history.
Their general beliefs are a combination of shamanism and animism, and heavy on ritual. Humans and animals are believed to have souls. Tribe members, livestock, trees, water, celestial bodies all have spirits. The anirniit, is the name for a soul or spirit.
The anirniit persists after death. Dead animals are thought to have knowledge of how their remains are treated, and the power to take vengeance on the hunter. Which means when hunting the Inuit shows appropriate respect for their prey and the environment. Inuit work with gods and supernatural powers to provide their day-to-day living.
The Inuit spirit is eternal and after death goes to Adlivun, situated beneath the land and the sea. Souls are purified there, in preparation for their journey to the Land of the Moon, Quidlivun, where they find eternal rest and peace. Only those who have lived a pure life or otherwise became purified make it to Quidlivun, the others are reincarnated on earth. Part of their belief is that humans may be reborn as an animal, and vice versa.
At death Inuits believe that the soul passes from the physical to the spiritual world. The body of the deceased is placed overnight in the house wrapped in animal skins. The next day, the body is taken through the back of the house, because to leave through the front this was believed to bring bad luck to the hunters. Then, family members carry the body to the grave.
During the period of mourning, called Naasiivik, of five days, individuals in the community follow specific rules to ensure a safe passage between the worlds. Family members of the deceased bring all their belongings outside and let them air well. The women of the household do not wash themselves or dress well. Some food items are not permitted during the mourning. Sometimes the members of the community carry weapons in case they encounter with an evil spirit.
Funeral rites vary by region. Asiatic Inuits burn their dead, Greenlanders send them off into the sea, though most Inuit bury their dead beneath stones. The dying person usually tells relatives where they want to be buried. Though one old Inuit tradition is to be buried at where they were born. When an Inuit is buried, a white rock (white feels contra-indicated!) is placed above the head of the deceased to guard the body against roaming spirits.
Satanism
Satanism existed only as the subject of accusations by various Christian groups toward those it perceived as an ideological opponent, rather than a self-identity or expressed religious belief. There was a long history for these, used by people against those whom they dislikes and wished to discredit. Even today they are routinely accused of committing sexual abuse, murder, and cannibalism in its rituals, and vilified for including children among the victims of its rites.
In 1966 the atheistic Church of Satan was founded by Anton LaVey in the United States. He also published the Satanic Bible in 1969. The Satanic Temple is an American religious and political activist organization based in Salem, Massachusetts. The organization actively participates in public affairs taking political actions and lobbying for recognition.
The inverted pentagram contained in a circle (aka pentacle) is often used to represent Satanism. There is no real central body or agreement as to what the religion believes and practices, but they agree that Satan is an actual deity or force to revere and worship, though many Satanists are atheist. It has found a fellow-traveller in Metal and Rock music.
Satanists don’t have an elaborate belief system around the afterlife, they don’t care how funeral rites are conducted, and they actually prefer to focus on how people lived, rather than how they died.
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Other faiths: Forward to Famous Cemeteries - Back to Secular
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