Death Customs

Published in the year 2007, Death Customs is a valuable contribution to the field of Asian Studies.

You'¬?ll think you'¬?ve died and gone to heaven when you sample the delicious fare laid out in DEATH WARMED OVER, a unique collection of 75 recipes typically served at funeral ceremonies, alongside descriptions of rituals and traditions from cultures around the world. One part sociological study and one part cookbook, DEATH WARMED OVER explains the background and proper timing for such culinary rituals as passing a hen and a loaf of bread over a grave as dirt is shoveled onto the coffin, serving chocolate caskets and skull-shaped cakes at a funeral, and baking up a Funeral Pie to acknowledge the passing of a loved one. Whether you'¬?ve been asked to provide food for a funeral feast or wish to bring an appropriate culinary contribution for the extended mourning period, look no further than DEATH WARMED OVER.A unique cookbook that shows you how to incorporate long-standing ethnic and cultural traditions-from the Amish and Eskimo to Greek and Polish-into the planning of a well-rounded celebration of life.With detailed mail-order resources for specialty and ethnic foods.Features suggestions for ways to incorporate recipes and traditions into nonfuneral parties or gatherings.Cover image title, "Post-Mortem Club with Past Member" (August 3, 1934). The Post-Mortem Club, an organization of naprapaths, held its annual breakfast with all chapter members present although the president, J. M. McAdou, founder, had died during the past year. One of the rules of the club is that each member will his skeleton to it, for atttendence to club meetings despite death."Lisa Rogak'¬?s recipe-enriched approach to funeral customs around the world reminds us that these rites are for the living. Digging into her slow-cooked jambalaya dish meant to be served after a New Orleans jazz funeral would make anyone feel happy to be alive."-Barbara Haber, author of From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American cooks and Meals

Jewish customs and traditions about death, burial and mourning are numerous, diverse and intriguing. They are considered by many to have a respectable pedigree that goes back to the earliest rabbinic period. In order to examine the accurate historical origins of many of them, an international conference was held at Tel Aviv University in 2010 and experts dealt with many aspects of the topic. This volume includes most of the papers given then, as well as a few added later. What emerges are a wealth of fresh material and perspectives, as well as the realization that the high Middle Ages saw a set of exceptional innovations, some of which later became central to traditional Judaism while others were gradually abandoned. Were these innovations influenced by Christian practice? Which prayers and poems reflect these innovations? What do the sources tell us about changing attitudes to death and life-after death? Are tombstones an important guide to historical developments? Answers to these questions are to be found in this unusual, illuminating and readable collection of essays that have been well documented, carefully edited and well indexed.

A New York Times and Los Angeles Times Bestseller “Doughty chronicles [death] practices with tenderheartedness, a technician’s fascination, and an unsentimental respect for grief.” —Jill Lepore, The New Yorker Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty embarks on a global expedition to discover how other cultures care for the dead. From Zoroastrian sky burials to wish-granting Bolivian skulls, she investigates the world’s funerary customs and expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with dignity. Her account questions the rituals of the American funeral industry—especially chemical embalming—and suggests that the most effective traditions are those that allow mourners to personally attend to the body of the deceased. Exquisitely illustrated by artist Landis Blair, From Here to Eternity is an adventure into the morbid unknown, a fascinating tour through the unique ways people everywhere confront mortality.

Death is universal, but each culture has found a different way to deal with it. This wide-ranging book examines the compelling subject of death, funeral rites and burial in different cultures and societies and balances grim facts with intriguing details drawn from many cultures and epochs, revealing how we define our lives through our passing.

The forms by which a deceased person may be brought to rest are as many as there are causes of death. In most societies the disposal of the corpse is accompanied by some form of celebration or ritual which may range from a simple act of deportment in solitude to the engagement of large masses of people in laborious and creative festivities. In a funerary context the term ritual may be taken to represent a process that incorporates all the actions performed and thoughts expressed in connection with a dying and dead person, from the preparatory pre-death stages to the final deposition of the corpse and the post-mortem stages of grief and commemoration. The contributions presented here are focused not on the examination of different funerary practices, their function and meaning, but on the changes of such rituals _ how and when they occurred and how they may be explained. Based on case studies from a range of geographical regions and from different prehistoric and historical periods, a range of key themes are examined concerning belief and ritual, body and deposition, place, performance and commemoration, exploring a complex web of practices.

Do Funerals Matter? is a creative interweaving of historical, sociocultural, and research-based perspectives on death rituals, drawing from myriad sources to create a picture of what death rituals have been; and where, especially in the Western world, they are going. The Classic Edition includes a new preface from the author reflecting on changes in the field since the book’s initial publication. Death educators, researchers, counselors, clergy, funeral-service professionals, and others will appreciate the book’s theory- and research-based approach to the ways in which different cultural groups memorialize their dead. They will also find clear clinical and practical applications in the author’s exploration of the five ritual anchors of death-related ceremonial practice and help for professionals counseling the bereaved surrounding funerals. Based on nearly four decades of research and teaching on funeral rites, this volume promises to fill an important gap in the cross-cultural literature on bereavement, while answering an important question for our generation: Do funerals matter?

Built on original ethnographic research conducted by the author, this book offers a highly detailed and comprehensive account of funerary history and practices in Russia. Death and Funeral Practices in Russia provides rich data on mortality statistics, trends in the funeral market in contemporary Russia, the legal framework of funerary practices, as well as regional and demographic disparities. The first part of the book presents an in-depth account of the historical development of funerary practice in Russia, charting the emergence and evolution of funeral traditions and customs in the country from the Russian Empire to the collapse of the USSR. Having explored the wider historical context surrounding funerary culture in Russia, the second part of the book explores the key features of the funeral industry in post-Soviet times, highlighting critical changes and areas of continuity. Topics explored include the death care industry in Russia, the key features of the typical funeral in the country, cemetery and crematorium provision, the technicalities and legalities of burial and cremation, and the illegal practices within the funeral market. A truly unique offering, the book is essential reading for academics, policy makers and practitioners interested in the history and legal, technical and professional aspects of the funerary industry in Russia.