Death rituals in your conworld

[Viktor77]

Since death is almost inevitable in all conworlds, I thought I'd ask about your death rituals.

In Falgwia, death rituals are very similar to Baltic rituals and Christian rituals intermingled with German rituals. The first step when a family member is deceased is to display the body. The body is dressed in the fanciest traditional costume of the deceased. Since traditional costumes are tailored as you age (for the most part, once you hit adulthood you maintain the same main traditional costume), this is usually the costume the deceased are dressed in. Sometimes the family might make a new dress if this is necessary or if they wish to pass down the deceased's dress. The headdress is included in this. Unlike in some Baltic countries (though this does differ based on region, being less likely in cities), the deceased is still laid on a wooden batten in the home of the deceased or the home of a family member. In cities, this may be done at a funeral home, but this is only moderately common and not usually seen in the country. The body was traditionally covered with a white cloth, and this depends on region and family. Some families will cover the deceased, some will not. A candle is kept lit and friends and relatives are invited to pay their respects, always approaching the deceased in even numbers. A showing may last a day, usually the day before the funeral. Flowers are given and grieving is shared. All of the family in attendance dresses in traditional dress, even the children. This same dress is used for the funeral and burial. Thanks to modern technology, obituaries can be found online, though in the country are still published in newspapers.

The funeral day begins with the body brought to a church. Since Christianity has been common in Falgwia since the days of East Prussia, the Falgwian people are overwhelmingly christian, mostly Lutheran with a Catholic minority. If the funeral will not be christian, the church is simply skipped. At the church, the body is displayed before the pews, now encased in a closed casket. The caskets can be bought but in the country they are handcarved and decorated according to tradition by the family and the town. Sometimes, very traditional families give the deceased tools for use in the after life, which are included in the casket. The funerals are typical of christian funerals. Afterwards a processional may lead the deceased to the cemetery where another small ceremony will occur. Usually the casket is not lowered into the ground at this point since logistics make it easier to do after everyone leaves (if the casket is lowered, there are some traditions to how it is done). Instead a small chapel is usually selected for final words. Cemeteries are marked with headstones and flowers are placed around the grave.

Then comes the most important part of the death ritual. Falgwians see death as inevitable and the beginning of a new life far away, across the ocean, in the sky (or in Heaven). So to celebrate the life of the deceased there is a banquet with food and all are invited from the cemetery. Usually a family member holds the banquet, at a home or at a hall (or occasionally the church). Traditional food is cooked, traditional songs are sung, and everyone dances in traditional dress. Circle dances are common, with a small accompanying band of traditional music. Stories are shared while everyone drinks to the deceased and the festivities usually last far into the night. The Falgwian people will continue to mourn a lost loved one for up to a year. Immediate family are not expected to host societal functions within the next few weeks.

Two things to note:
Cremation is unusual, and only seen in rare circumstances.

Falgwia also has a large Russian minority, who are usually Orthodox. They have their own customs which are by and large those of the Russian Orthodox church.

[Jerian]

Most of the first world regions on my conworld are much the same with regards to death rituals.

As my conworld is post-modern, nihilism is the majority belief in much of the world. So most death rituals consist of a funeral, with mourning, people reading, etc..., much like on Earth. The body is then put in a casket and buried in a cemetery. Cremation is just as popular.

In some religions, a recently dead body is considered to be a pathway between this world, and the next, and thus worshipped.

In a situation when someone dies at a critical time in their life, such as a ruler, or scientist in the middle of research, the body is frozen cryogenically, with their research kept in a nearby safe. Treatment is done on the body, and after a complicated process, they can be brought back, however they only have a few months of life. (bio-cryogenics have not been perfected; after the process, the body is significantly less powerful, and will not live much longer). Occasionally, the body is kept frozen indefinitely.

In poorer countries, funerals are conducted, and bodies are put in caskets and buried much the same.

In Hudesonia, (my conworld's equivalent of North Korea), the bodies of deceased free people are burned and cremated (as the families likely cannot afford a proper ceremony), however those enslaved by the government are thrown in massive pits alongside thousands of others. Deceased important figures, such as royalty, or military leaders, are thrown massive, citywide funerals.

[Foolster41]

for Salthas, a midievilish desert-dwelling lizard folk, when someone dies, their body is first displayed on a cart which is pulled through the city, and drums are played. The body is then taken to a temple and is burned, since they believe their spirits rise to their god Santh in the smoke. No images of the deceased is displayed, since the focus is on their next life. Instead an image of the person's spirit is made by a person called a "spirit artist" (Salthan: Shasoselsana) draws an image based on the person's personality and past life. At the ceremony there is a telling of the life of the dead person including the bad things the person did, called "bitter truth" (Salthan: uleska).

After the body is burned, the ashes are scattered in the wind. It is considered a grave insult to be burred, or to have a part of the body removed, especially the head.

[Colonel Cathcart]

After the body is burned, the ashes are scattered in the wind. It is considered a grave insult to be buried

In Icastria, it's the opposite. Icastrians are big on the natural cycle of birth-life-death-rebirth, so it is important for the body to be buried, to return to the earth to allow new life to grow (though they do not believe in reincarnation). Cremation is seen as destroying the body, which is religiously impermissible (vanjáisi) because it disrupts this cycle and is seen as deeply disrespectful to the person's memory.

Icastrians do not embalm their dead, as this too interferes with the cycle, so the remains must be buried within a day or two of death, before decomposition becomes apparent. The dead are generally buried in sacred ground outside the city or town; when choosing a site for burial, the mourners must consider factors including proximity, the person's family history, and their profession (for example, it is better religious orthopraxy (jáis) for a sailor or fisherman to be buried at sea than in even the most sacred ground). The burial takes place at sunset, as this is the time of day associated with death. Winter burials are considered especially auspicious, as this is the time of year associated with death; individuals who are buried on the winter solstice are considered to become very powerful ancestors. Burial is accompanied by ancestor-worship rituals commending the deceased to the spirit realm, as well as rituals venerating gods associated with life, death, and rebirth, including the Celestial Physician, the Hound of Winter, and the Vernal Maiden.

After the body is buried, the mourners proceed to the nearest Temple of the Heron King; if there is not a temple nearby, they go into the woods. Here the mourners perform the ritual of Testimony (Ardastamath), the most important ritual in the Icastrian funerary tradition. When an Icastrian dies, it is believed that her spirit leaves the body and enters the Liminal Court, presided over by the god known as the Heron King or the Governor of Heaven, whose earthly dominion is the harmonious functioning of political, legal, and social institutions; in the spirit realm, he is the judge of the dead and the ruler of the afterlife. The Heron King decides whether the deceased has led a worthy existence and deserves to go to the afterlife, or whether she is irredeemable and deserves to be cast out of the universe and into the Abyss (i.e. become spiritually nonexistent). He consults the deceased's Book of Life, a tome compiled by three minor goddesses called the Clerks. The book consists of three sections: the first details every good/selfless deed and material sacrifice ever offered by the deceased, and the second every bad/selfish deed and sin. The third section is a sort of amicus curiae section in which the deceased's surviving family, friends, and colleagues can testify to assist the Heron King in his decision. In the ritual of Testimony, the mourners go one by one into a small booth resembling a Catholic confessional (or, if not in a temple, a private spot in the woods). They speak in total confidence to a priestess representing and acting as a conduit to the Clerk of Testimony, and testify as to whether the deceased should go to the afterlife or be wiped from existence.

After Testimony, the mourners proceed to the home of the deceased and celebrate something akin to a wake, where they eat, drink, sing, and trade stories about the deceased. They stay up all night while the Heron King deliberates; at dawn (the time of day associated with birth and rebirth), the Priest of the Heron King comes to the house and (customarily) tells the mourners that the Heron King has passed his judgment and the deceased has entered the afterlife. (Very rarely, if the deceased was thoroughly despised by all who survived her, the priest may say she has gone to the Abyss; if testimony was uniformly ambivalent, he may say she was sentenced to wander the earth as a ghost pending atonement and retrial.)

The priest's visit marks the end of the funeral period and the beginning of the mourning period. Family, friends, and colleagues may wear black armbands or black ribbons for a time following the funeral. Traditionally, widows and widowers wore all black during the mourning period, but this tradition is dying out. At some point during the mourning period, a picture of the deceased is added to the family's Wall of the Dead, a wall in each family home where they keep small icons, portraits, and photographs of ancestors and deceased family members. Pictures of the more recently deceased typically occupy more prominent places on the Wall.

[GrinningManiac]

It is considered a grave insult to be buried.

Was that a pun? On the Zompist?

[Pogostick Man]

It is considered a grave insult to be buried.

Was that a pun? On the Zompist?

An acute observation, if true.

At some point during the mourning period, a picture of the deceased is added to the family's Wall of the Dead, a wall in each family home where they keep small icons, portraits, and photographs of ancestors and deceased family members. Pictures of the more recently deceased typically occupy more prominent places on the Wall.

One of my more nebulous concultures does something similar, except with the actual skulls of their deceased ancestors. In homes in more modern and urban locales these are often placed in a display case.

Most times when someone dies the typical ritual is to dress them up, then tie long poles to their arms, legs, torso, and head, and then basically throw a big celebratory feast where the friends and relatives of the deceased grab the poles and dance around until the body falls apart. The remains are then usually skeletonized; families typically get to keep the skull, as mentioned before, and often bones are put to other uses. When a Renewer (basically a priestess) dies, typically the Renewer's bones are incorporated into an outfit to be worn by that Renewer's apprentice, the idea being that the deceased Renewer has passed on her power to the apprentice.

(In the interests of full disclosure, some aspects of the religion came from a Seventh Sanctum generator. The death rites are, for the most part, my own creation though.)

[Torco]

is cremation a blazing violation of protocol?
the taboo against inmurement is strong as a brick wall
cannibalism? nah, that's just unsavory.

[Foolster41]

Darn it! This is the second time I've done an accidental pun here.

Torco:

[maıráí]

Everyone in the Center of Node the West goes to the same place when they die. There is a massive mountain of in some large oasis; a major river flows into a cave in the side of this mountain, and apparently never resurfaces. Bodies are floated down this river, into the cave. The most common method:
-The body is kept on display in the local church, temple, etc, before going down the river. This is really only done long enough for the family to make arrangements for the ceremony.
- It is wrapped in some cloth, and left otherwise bare. The poor, rich, common, and noble all go the same way. (Cloth wrapped around more cloth is used when there is no body.)
- The body is place on the edge of a dock; family etc. gather on the shore, and walk out one by one to pay respects. This is typically a small prayer. It's something of a cliche for women to hold up the proceedings by crying and taking ages, and for men to rush out to clap their hands together and say a short word before rushing back.
- Two people from the family that owns the land walk out to lift the body up and set it onto a small boat. The family that owns the land surrounding the river is not payed to do this, but receives a fortune in donations. And the boat is just a shallow, curved, wooden board, with a place to hold a candle in front.
- The body floats down river, and into the cave. The body, and eventually the candlelight, fade from view.

Cremation is considered horrific, mostly employed as a sort of slander against the dead.
Burial is employed in various other rituals and celebrations; while bodies themselves are not buried, it is pretty common for, say, a strand of hair to be taken from the recently deceased and buried with some general sort of charm.

[Mornche Geddick]

I haven't thought much about death rituals, apart from one detail. My kuzeidi are often buried in hexagonal coffins.

[prettydragoon]

Death in Rireinu

Typically, a funeral is held within three days of death. All mirrors are covered or turned to face the wall in the house that a person has died in, as well as the home of the deceased. The chief mourners, the widow and other immediate family of the deceased, shave their heads and paint their faces ash white, the colour of mourning. In smaller towns they may paint their whole heads, in some rural areas even their whole bodies. The guests at a funeral also paint their foreheads ash white.

Traditionally, the body is wrapped in a shroud, covered in flowers by the mourners, and burned on a pyre. The (oldest) daughter of the deceased lights the pyre. The ashes are scattered in a sacred grove or temple garden. Nowadays the funeral is usually held in a crematorium, especially in cities. After the mourners have paid their respects to the deceased, her daughter presses a button to convey the body into the furnace.

When two full moons have risen after the funeral, mirrors may be uncovered in the house of the deceased, and her estate may be settled. The chief mourners may also stop painting their faces, if they so desire.

The Book of Deaths at the District Registrar's Office is traditionally bound in leather that is dyed ash white, the colour of mourning.

[legolasean]

The Anashnashi people are barbarians which live in the Rassasur valley. Though they're barbarians, their medicine is very developed. They use artifacts called Relics of Err. There are 3 kinds of relics, and they can heal everybody using telomerase viruses. Though, their medicine can't solve all of the problems.

When a highborn war leader dies, his subjects take his corpse to the Nanasam- the death place. There they burn him with one of his servants (alive). When they do so, they allowing the soul to exit the body. Then they take his dust and put it into a special curves near the Nanasam filled with life crystals. in this cave, something strange happens to the dust- it becomes clay and then crystal. Some tribes leave bottles of beer near the curve, for the respect of their leaders journey. The Anashnashi believe their leaders will born again, as their descendants.

The Anashnashi myths aren't far from the truth. All of the people of Niro (their world) are synthetic life-forms. Their ancesors were technology created by the humans of Err (earth). This technology is activating when in contact with human-blood. Thus, a Niro-human body is a container for an Err-human soul.

[GBR]

beats conworld for 'weirdness' every time...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wari’_people#Cannibalism

EDIT: GAH! apostrophes break url's.

[Monk]

I don't really have a conworld, but since my current confolk are related to my previous confolk, I guess that I can more or less conjure something up for the Brennic people.

There are five types of rituals: common, clerical, war, noble, and kingly.

The common folk receives the common burial (Brennic: bháis [‘wɑ:s]), upon which the corpse is completely eviscerated (entrails and whatnot are burnt, and the ashes stored in a small container placed inside the deceased's skull); the corpse is then wrapped in cotton or leather mantles and buried. It is customary to plant a tree on the mound, but it is up to the family, really.

The clerical burial (Brennic: jaran [[‘jɑ:ɾˠɑnˠ]) is what priests and various holy workers receive. They are completely burnt, and the ashes are stored in ceremonial runes of iron and stone, on which various achievements and information is stored. The urns are placed in the deceased's temple. Each temple has a special hall of the dead of its own, where all the urns are stored. Each two moons, a special prayer is held in the halls (Brennic: gealach [‘ɟjɤ:lˠɑx]), to honor the dead.

The war burial (Brennic: obriadhá [‘ɔbˠəɾʲiəɟɑ:]) is what warriors that fell in battle receive. The warrior is burnt on a pile of sticks, together with his equipment, and the ashes are spread over the battlefield (upon which he died, if possible), or from a cliff to the sea.

The "noble" burial (Brennic: cathuir [‘kɑ:hɰi:ə̯ɾˠ]) is what people of noble lineage receive. It is similar to the common burial, but they are not eviscerated nor burnt, but instead, their remains are entirely buried in linen cloth in the court graveyard (if it has one). If there is no graveyard, the body is burnt and stored in an urn.

The fifth type of burial is the "kingly" burial (Brennic: celgoáidh [‘cɛə̯lˠgɑ:]). Kings, their kin, religious leaders, and national heroes are buried this way. The person is buried on a special hill or even mountain, and an idol, carved in the image of an animal (depends on the person himself) from wood or iron is placed upon the mound.

That's pretty much it.

[WeepingElf]

The Elbi cremate their dead while the Moon is above the horizon within three days after death such that the soul can leave the body behind and fly to the Moon, which is considered the abode of the gods and the dead, at least those who have fulfilled their Purpose (which is to preserve and enrich the world by creating new and beautiful things). If that means that the cremation was to he held at night, so be it.

[Melend]

Eshuonian deaths are followed by a ceremony that invites birds and vermin to consume the body before the next night falls, preventing the dead from rising as unquiet spirits. As Eshuon is a 'magical' world, the ceremony is efficacious at both tasks, but that's incidental. Think Tibetan Sky Burials crossed with Hitchcock's "The Birds".

[Herr Dunkel]

Reviving this thread.

Ktarh death rituals differ depending on where you are, but there are three groups: the highlands, lowlands and insular death rituals.

Highlands death rituals are specific in that they include total cremation of the deceased whose ashes are thus scattered towards the west. With the spread of the usiastikopolis of Tanu, certain highlands regions are even known as the Ashlands due to the health risk the scattered ashes pose - scattering of ashes westwards has been outlawed by three out of four hexarchies that hold highland territory.
Lowlands death rituals are defined by their burial of the ashes of the deceased in the ground.
Insular death rituals are more diverse, but they generally include the scattering of the ashes into the waters, or in some cases burial.

Might seem a bit low on detail, but that's what I have for now.