Funeral Rituals

Rituals, spells, prayer, meditation and magical acts.
Gangleri

Funeral Rituals

Post by Gangleri »

I have for long thought that the most glorious way to go would be with ancient Nordic funeral pyre ship rituals. In my wild teenage I made my friends to swear an oath that they should eat me somehow when I have died. The next to that I have have had fantasies about going as an old man into the wilderness of the north and let the animals eat my body after I have taken my last hiking step, going with nothing (without food or drink) and with boots on.

Have you thought about the way you would like to buried or dealt with after your death? Does it involve multifarious ceremonies and pomposity, or would it be a feast of minimalism?
Gangleri

Re: Funeral Rituals

Post by Gangleri »

In relation to this funeral subject, I have had a long dream that I'd establish a private cemetery in my home back yard / forest. Some friends have said that that would be the place where they would like to be buried with their ashes etc.
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Polyhymnia
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Re: Funeral Rituals

Post by Polyhymnia »

Yes, I think about my death rituals all the time. It is my greatest wish to be able to step through the veil fully knowing I'm going to die, i.e., some form of suicide. In my case, the best case scenario will be euthanasia once my body has fully decided to give up. Ideally, I would like time to prepare for the journey, like a period of several months or even weeks where I could spend most of my time in prayer. I would like to be surrounded by those who love me the most both physically and astrally, and I would like there to be music. And lilacs. I've said this before in this forum, but a spring death would suit me just perfectly.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Polyhymnia
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Re: Funeral Rituals

Post by Polyhymnia »

Gangleri wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 9:00 pm I have for long thought that the most glorious way to go would be with ancient Nordic funeral pyre ship rituals.
I think this is a pretty epic way to go out. A close friend of mine really wanted this type of funeral, but his family was not willing to entertain the idea, and since he left no will and chose to die abruptly, he was buried in a cemetery beside no-one familiar.

Also I just reread your question and saw it asks about the body post-mortem. I really want to be cremated, but I also really want a tombstone. I love reading tombstones, so it would be nice to bring joy to some other tombstone lovers from beyond the grave. But having both just seems greedy. I've told my kids I want to make diamonds out of my ashes for them to set in silver and pass down the bloodline, but they both hate that request.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Nahumatarah
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Re: Funeral Rituals

Post by Nahumatarah »

Polyhymnia wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:52 am Ideally, I would like time to prepare for the journey, like a period of several months or even weeks where I could spend most of my time in prayer. I would like to be surrounded by those who love me the most both physically and astrally, and I would like there to be music. And lilacs. I've said this before in this forum, but a spring death would suit me just perfectly.
I share your wish almost word to word, soror. Although if I could choose i would wish to die as close to winter solstice as possible, as it is my favorite time of the year.

I would also like time to say goodbye to my loved ones, write a couple of long letters for some dear people, and then withdraw to a constant state of prayer.

One of my greatest anxieties is dying by accident.
"The time has come to turn your heart into a temple of fire."

- Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī
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Polyhymnia
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Re: Funeral Rituals

Post by Polyhymnia »

Nahumatarah wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 5:37 pm I share your wish almost word to word, soror. Although if I could choose i would wish to die as close to winter solstice as possible, as it is my favorite time of the year.

I would also like time to say goodbye to my loved ones, write a couple of long letters for some dear people, and then withdraw to a constant state of prayer.

One of my greatest anxieties is dying by accident.
That sounds so beautiful. Dying by accident (or by something totally stupid) is also one of my biggest fears. I wonder what that says about our temperaments in regards to control. Do you consider yourself one who needs it? I know for sure I do. I hear tell of some people who just live by the seat of their pants, and I can't get my head around their flouncy ways. Or when people say, "I don't care how I die, as long as I don't feel it and it's quick."
What a nightmare. There's a show I really like called Dead Like Me, and the protagonist dies by a space station toilet falling from the sky and killing her. Also nightmare.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Nahumatarah
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Re: Funeral Rituals

Post by Nahumatarah »

Polyhymnia wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 9:05 pm
wonder what that says about our temperaments in regards to control. Do you consider yourself one who needs it?
Oh most Definitely. I very much feel that I need to be in control of most aspects of my life. I am on the spectrum though so I bet that's one of the reasons.

I follow my personal routines very stricly, and enjoy all sorts of domestic work most people would consider menial. I use considerable amounts of time and energy rearraging the furniture and decor around my apartment to allow for optimal energy flow and keep the atmosphere fresh. Same goes for my home altar and other personal belongings. I am also a minimalist when it comes to owning things, and feel like I almost have to discard any items that don't have some function in my life or they become a burden to me mentally.

I've been sort of on the fence about whether i would prefer to be cremated or buried. Right now I'm leaning towards cremation. I think it also relates to this need for control. The idea that someone would dig up my body and do something with it against my will is also very anxiety inducing to me.
"The time has come to turn your heart into a temple of fire."

- Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī
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Polyhymnia
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Re: Funeral Rituals

Post by Polyhymnia »

Nahumatarah wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 11:39 pm I follow my personal routines very stricly, and enjoy all sorts of domestic work most people would consider menial. I use considerable amounts of time and energy rearraging the furniture and decor around my apartment to allow for optimal energy flow and keep the atmosphere fresh. Same goes for my home altar and other personal belongings. I am also a minimalist when it comes to owning things, and feel like I almost have to discard any items that don't have some function in my life or they become a burden to me mentally.
I wish I was more like this. I have a hard time not attaching sentiment onto things, so it is hard for me to be a minimalist, but I bet it would help me feel less stressed a lot of the time. I think for as controlled as I like to envision myself, it's more of a controlled chaos of sorts. But I also don't know what my space would look like if I lived on my own. Probably full of stuff, but at least tidy and orderly.
Nahumatarah wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 11:39 pm I've been sort of on the fence about whether i would prefer to be cremated or buried. Right now I'm leaning towards cremation. I think it also relates to this need for control. The idea that someone would dig up my body and do something with it against my will is also very anxiety inducing to me.
Interesting! That makes me wonder about the ethics around archaeological exhuming. I wonder how many people have we dug up in the name of history and science who felt the same as you?
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Nahumatarah
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Re: Funeral Rituals

Post by Nahumatarah »

Polyhymnia wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:49 am Interesting! That makes me wonder about the ethics around archaeological exhuming. I wonder how many people have we dug up in the name of history and science who felt the same as you?
Yes indeed this subject fascinates me quite a bit. I follow with great interest news about exhumed mummies. I'm also very interested in concepts such as incorruptibility and sokushinbutsu.

This reminded me of my latest trip to the church of St. Michael in Keminmaa during last summer. It is the northernmost medieval stone church in Finland and the latest one from the catholic era, built somewhere around in 1520-1553. Many mummified corpses have been found from under the church, most famously the one of a local vicar Nicolaus Matthieu Rungius, who died in 1629. Visitors may see his mummy during summertime, when the church is open for tourists.

Like the other "mummies", excavated from under the church the body of the vicar has not been intentionally protected from decomposition, but it has naturally dried up underneath the church floor. According to folk tradition Rungius has been claimed to have said during his life: "If my words are not true, my body will decompose, but if they are true, it will never decompose."

His body is almost completely intact. Only parts that are missing are some of the cervical vertebrae and a right hand that was presumably stolen as a relic sometime after 1875. According to rumours the culprits for stealing the hand where German soldiers who during WWII held base nearby. They say they also caused the head to fall off while drunkenly waltzing with his body resulting in the missing vertebrae.

Some of the locals report to have experienced hauntings in the vicinity of the church, especially during astrologically significant dates on the darker half of the year. Some even claim to have seen the spectre of the vicar himself amongst other apparitions. I discussed about this phenomena a bit with a local priest who said that he has had to discourage local kids from coming to the churchyard at night. They seem to have come up with a sort of "challenge" of daring each other to circle around the church during midnight in hopes of summoning these spirits.
"The time has come to turn your heart into a temple of fire."

- Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī
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Nefastos
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Re: Funeral Rituals

Post by Nefastos »

Nahumatarah wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 9:58 amHis body is almost completely intact. [---] Some of the locals report to have experienced hauntings in the vicinity of the church, especially during astrologically significant dates on the darker half of the year. Some even claim to have seen the spectre of the vicar himself amongst other apparitions.
Nahumatarah wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 11:39 pmI've been sort of on the fence about whether i would prefer to be cremated or buried.

Everyone modern person who has read one's share of tales of vampires must have wondered why the terrorized people never do the most obvious and burn the cadaver until as the last resort, when everything else has failed. (Finns can enjoy the new translation of Dudley Wright's Vampires and Vampirism right now, to check out many such tales.) For nowadays it is hard to understand the taboo of defiling the body in the times when it was factually believed that one can only meet one's final destiny in the factual physical body that gets resurrected by God in the Day of Judgment. Jews can even name the bone from which this resurrection starts, and which never decomposes. Burning the body was seen something like killing one's immortal soul, and since the ghost is tied to the remnants of one's physical body, it can appear as long as those are even remotely intact (see Fosforos Appendix II). So, one more reason why Hinduism trumps Christianity: less vampires...!

Polyhymnia wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 9:05 pmThat sounds so beautiful. Dying by accident (or by something totally stupid) is also one of my biggest fears. I wonder what that says about our temperaments in regards to control. Do you consider yourself one who needs it? I know for sure I do. I hear tell of some people who just live by the seat of their pants, and I can't get my head around their flouncy ways.

I often tend to joke at my own expence because of my neurotic behaviour, because of which it is so often impossible to relax. Yet our way of need for control might be the better possibility than the opposite.

I once had a friend who was outwardly in a good control of his life: rewarding work, family, widely respected, enough money, good friends, the whole deal. But in a way he seemed constantly to thist after losing control. One evening he gave me an extempore gift: J.G. Ballard's "Crash," a novel about being pathologically drawn to car crashes. His inscription was: "With open greetings, not knowing about the outcome." Not long after that, he died in a crash.

After that I have been even more careful how exactly I contemplate my own death, not to feed the subconscious in ways that are not completely healthy.
Faust: "Lo contempla. / Ei muove in tortuosa spire / e s'avvicina lento alla nostra volta. / Oh! se non erro, / orme di foco imprime al suol!"
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