Tag Archives: Cultural Perspectives

Guatemalan Funeral Traditions

A look into traditional Guatemalan beliefs about death and funerals

Guatemalans follow many traditional Catholic customs regarding death and funerals. When a person dies, there is a sense of urgency to prepare and bury the body. Shortly after a death, someone arrives to prepare for a burial by bathing and … Continue reading

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The Tulafale’s Role: Samoan Oratorial Traditions for Death and Funeral

Appointed family orators facilitate the process of death and funeral in Samoan culture

The Samoans, one of the largest Polynesian populations in the world, cherish the importance of storytelling and tradition by appointing a select family member as an orator chief, known as a “tulafale.” The tulafale holds the major responsibility of spreading … Continue reading

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“The Drowned Brother” by Brendan Constantine

Brendan Constantine looks at how bureaucracy helps us cope with loss in "The Drowned Brother"

“The Drowned Brother” is a eulogy-like poem that explores the revelation of the death of a brother in Brendan Constantine’s latest poetic novel “Calamity Joe”. In the poem, the narrator Calamity Joe relates the impersonal actions of the police and … Continue reading

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Funeral Rites in the Buddhist Tradition

Exploring the ways Buddhists embrace death

Buddhists take a positive stance when it comes to death: the best way to approach it is without fear.  On Buddhanet, you can find an abundance of information focusing on the beliefs about death and dying in the Tibetan Buddhist … Continue reading

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Afterlife Beliefs in Africa

Traditional African perspectives on afterlife and burial

In some traditional African perspectives on afterlife and burial, it is believed that the dead are nearer to a “singular supreme being” than the living. Certain afterlife beliefs in Africa hold that reward and punishment are experienced in this life … Continue reading

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Tibetan Buddhist Burial Ritual

Exploring jhator, the Tibetan Buddhist burial practice of sky burial

In a Tibetan Buddhist burial ritual, it is believed that the physical body is just an empty vessel after death, which is then followed by rebirth. For Tibetan Buddhists, heaven is believed to be a place where soul or spirit await reincarnation. Though … Continue reading

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