Funeral Rites: Honoring Life’s Transition

Funerals all across the world look different from each culture to culture, community to community and setting to setting. There is no universal method of performing certain rites in the funeral. Still, the commemoration of the dead and grieving the void lost love one leave behind is a universal practice. Therefore, regardless of the community and culture, funerals are arranged in every society. They reflect the reverence that society has for their dead and how they prefer to commemorate their memories in death. For certain communities, a funeral is a part of religious faith, rites performed in the ceremony are sacred and universal. However, others interpret a funeral as a necessary obligation. However, all people from all social backgrounds perform funeral rites and proper ceremonies to bid a fitting farewell to society. Funerals provide a collective grieving experience to those who mourn their loss and are also an opportunity to re-affirm communal and social attachments.

According to Anthropologists, funeral rites are also known as the rite of passage since it dramatically influences the social status of the dead and his immediate family members. For instance, the status of dead changes from being an active member of the community to only a memorable one. The status of the immediate family is decided by reviewing how death has affected one another. Hence, anthropologists see an only befitting way of carrying out and accepting this transition in status by performing due rites. The essential rationale behind funerals is to acknowledge change and to accept death. Human alone, finds it hard to assimilate massive changes, independently. Nonetheless, within a communal setting, the loss can be grieved with integrity among friends, peers, and family.