The Little Known Ritual of Endocannibalism

A topic typically reserved for anthropologists, endocannibalism is an ancient ritual that involves eating the flesh of a family member or friend who’s passed away. As opposed to eating human flesh for survival, endocannibalism is performed as a ritual and sanctioned by the tribe or participating group. Oftentimes, tribe members eat the flesh of the dead out of respect, believing that they can absorb the loved one’s wisdom through the ritual.

In Papua New Guinea, the Fore tribe passed down the cannibalistic funeral rite over many generations, placing a heavy focus on women and children consuming the flesh of Fore males. Those who consumed had to follow certain protocol; for example, a woman had to eat her brother’s brain or the hands of her brother-in-law. Of course, the consumption of each body part symbolized a different attribute the consumer could take on. In India, for example, certain tribes were known to consume human flesh in an attempt to gain supernatural powers and immortality. Some Native American tribes, while they didn’t consume flesh, ingested small bones and ashes from loved ones as a way to mourn their loss.

Mount Tarvurvur in Papua New Guinea

The Wari tribe from the Amazon practiced endocannibalism as a way to transform their ancestors’ bodies into spirits. From there, the spirit could become an animal that would provide food for generations to come. Anthropologist Beth Conklin studied the Wari tribe and believed this served as a way for them to process their grief. By consuming the flesh of their loved ones, she believes, they changed their surroundings and rid themselves of painful memories. In this way, the act of cannibalism is much less aggressive than we might have thought. While cannibalism usually comes across as repulsive in Western societies, the Christian practice of communion is not a far stretch by stimulating the consumption of Christ’s flesh.

“…there are a number of subtleties when it comes to cannibalism as a ritualized practice. As opposed to popular belief, it does not always occur out of necessity or malice.”

After studying some of the funeral rituals in endocannibalistic cultures, it seems as though there are a number of subtleties when it comes to cannibalism as a ritualized practice. As opposed to popular belief, it does not always occur out of necessity or malice. In many cultures throughout the world, endocannibalism evolves out of a strong desire to grieve the loss of a loved one. While this might be one of the stranger forms of grief we’ve encountered, it stands as a testament for the human necessity to mourn the loss of loved ones.

Related Articles:

• The Anthroposophical Perspective: Acceptance of Death in Life – The anthroposophical philosophy’s relationship Christianity and de-stigmatizing the dying process (sevenponds.com)
• Choosing to Die at Home – SevenPonds’ ongoing Pondering the Last Taboo talk – An informal chat with SevenPonds: Let’s open the conversation on end-of-life! (sevenponds.com)