Return to the Earth: The Circle of Life Series

Meredith Price

Through the excavation of burial grounds, archeologists divine a huge amount about the belief systems, social customs and class hierarchies which make up a society. The way a culture chooses to treat the body after death and where they decide to place the remains indicates much about their vision of life beyond death. Despite very different belief systems regarding the afterlife, some form of preparation and ceremony has surrounded death throughout known human history.

For the Egyptian royalty, thought to be mediators between the common people and the Gods, much of life on this earth was spent ensuring their departure into the next. Death was a temporary interruption rather than a complete end to their life. The gigantic pyramids and elaborate tombs of the Pharaohs were filled with treasure, food, means of transportation and any other personal items deemed necessary for their journey. These material possessions guaranteed a continuation of status to the pharaohs for eternity, and the pyramids were designed to preserve their bodies and souls, the vessels they needed intact in order to pass into the hereafter. Their internal organs were removed and treated separately as the heart had to be weighed against a feather that represented justice in order to determine whether or not the soul may pass into eternity. If the heart was lighter than the feather, it could pass into the next life, but if it was heavier from evil deeds and rotten conduct, it was eaten, condemning the soul to oblivion. In the ancient Inca society, after the chief died he was buried with his greatest treasures. Those treasures often included his wives, children and good friends. The Inca firmly believed that after death they would be reunited in the afterlife, where they could eat and drink together again. "Some women who feared there wouldn’t be enough room for them in the tomb would hang themselves by their own hair so that the Inca would value their services more and they could lay more of a claim on the chief," explains www.shastahome.com.

Past traditions in Korea required that death take place in the home to prevent the spirit of the dead from roaming aimlessly and becoming a ghost. According to www.asianinfo.org, "many precautions were taken to ensure the transport of the weak and weary back to the comfort of their own homes if it was thought death was near or imminent." Like the Egyptians, the Aztecs believed that death was merely a step between this life and the next. For them, the manner of death was critical in determining where they went in the afterlife. How they had behaved in life on earth was of no importance. Warriors and women who died in childbirth went directly to the eastern paradise of the sun, while those who died of old age or of natural causes went to the underworld. The Aztecs who were buried have often been found in a crouched or fetal position with useful material belongings. According to one archeologist, Eduardo Matos, the reason for this is a belief in a return to the womb. "Just before birth, water is released from the womb. The uterus is a dark cave, with no light. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Aztecs arranged a dead person’s body in a fetal position, with legs drawn up, and sprinkled water on the corpse. In this way an individual might return to the same position and environment as in the womb" writes Mr. Matos.

The practice of placing worldly possessions with the body for the afterlife or immolating servants to ensure proper service in the hereafter has faded in modern society, but preparations for the soul and the body are still of utmost importance in every community. The beliefs about where the spirit goes and what happens to the body, however, are far from unified between different religions and communities. Yet, despite the diverse burial rites and beliefs, some underlying human components never change. The need to say farewell and to go through the grieving process is universal, and most people choose to remember the dead with a memorial service of some kind.

In most Christian communities, people can choose either burial or cremation as it is the resurrection of the soul that matters. The earthly body decomposes and the soul either ascends into heaven or hell, depending upon the judgment passed on the goodness of the life lived on earth. This belief system is very complex and varied depending on the branch of Christianity, but all Christians agree on the existence of the soul and the promise of eternal life. Christians believe that like Jesus, they too will be resurrected and enjoy life everlasting. Christian ceremonies sometimes include a viewing of the departed. "Facing the body of the deceased and closing the coffin bring home to mourners the reality of death and are times when the support of pastor and Christian community is important," writes a pamphlet on services of death and resurrection. "A funeral is a celebration of life. We typically have a committal service where we read scripture and pray. Prayer is part of the healing process," explains Sam Storey, a minister at the First United Methodist Church in Marietta.

Some members of the Thai community also believe in the existence of a soul, but for them, the soul is re-incarnated and returns to live on earth in another form after the death of the body. "If the body is not cremated, the soul cannot be born again. I don’t know if I believe it, but this is the traditional thought among the Thai people," explained Varinee Sangmalee, president of the Thai association world center in Cobb County. After someone passes away in Thailand, the family takes the body to the Buddhist temple and says prayers for the soul to be at peace. The prayers can last anywhere from three nights up to 100 days, or even years in the case of high officials. The body is embalmed but not buried. "One of my grandmother’s was dead for twenty years before we cremated her because her last request was that the family be all together again before her cremation," says Ms. Sangmalee. At the temple, family and friends bring food and flowers and light candles and incense for the soul. The monks ensure that the soul receives their offerings while it is in transition. After cremation, the ashes are placed in an urn and kept in one room. "Some people believe that part of the soul remains in the ashes," says Ms. Sangmalee. People who have reached a high social status, such as royalty and politicians, are placed inside of a full-body urn but not cremated. "They no longer need to go through re-birth as their soul has reached its uppermost level," explains Ms. Sangmalee.

Most of the Indian community also cremates the deceased, but they do not believe that the soul returns to earth. Rather, the fire purifies the soul and allows it to rest in peace in the next world. "Antyeshti, literally seeking to go towards an end, are the funeral rites. They dispose of the body, equip the soul with what it needs for its journey and free the soul’s earthly survivors from the pollution caused by death. Until this ritual is performed, the soul is not sent on to the next world and remains on earth," writes www.gurjari.net. "Once the body is cremated, the soul is released by the burning and it then rests in peace," explains Geetha Vinod, a former systems analyst from Southern India who lives in Smyrna. Some prayers are said for the soul by the family and friends, and after cremation, the ashes are collected in an urn. For 11 days after the death, offerings of food are made to the deceased as it is believed that the soul departs from earth on the 13th day following the demise. Unlike the Thai and Indian communities, the Jewish and Muslim faiths both require a burial in which the body is shrouded in white but not embalmed. These groups also traditionally believe in the existence of a soul and of an afterlife. "We believe that the body disintegrates, but there is a resurrection of the exact same body at around the age of 30 when the soul returns to the body," explains Imam Muhammad Ninowny from the Al Madina mosque in Norcross. It is believed that the body returns at age 30 and not as an infant because infants are not accountable. "We go through three worlds. The first is life on this earth, the second is when the soul is in transition, alive but awaiting for its return to the body, and the last is the hereafter, or resurrection," says Imam Ninowny.

The Islamic tradition is very strict about burying the body only in a shroud with no other barrier between the earth and the body. Family and friends observe the burial and offer prayers for the departed. As in other communities, close relatives and loved ones provide food for the grieving family and help them mourn their loss. On the 40th day after death, people attend the graveyard and offer supplication for the deceased. Traditional Judaism also requires a simple shroud be wrapped around the body and that it be buried within 24 hours of the death. "Most people have a service where they pray and read scriptures and then they take the body to the gravesite," comments Jason Adler, a member of the Orthodox Jewish community in Cobb County. The dead must be buried in a simple pine box with no metal of any kind. "The soul returns to God and the body disintegrates. As soon as the body returns to its original form, the soul is released" says Irvin Pearlberg, the senior assistant to the district attorney in Cobb County and a member of the Jewish community. The requirements surrounding the preparation of the body are very strict in Judaism, and a special team of trained professionals, the havra kadisha, wash the body and prepare it for burial. "We say prayers for the deceased and then commit the body in the pine box to the earth. Usually people will shovel dirt on top of it to show respect and say goodbye," says Mr. Pearlberg. The shiva, literally derived from the number seven, is a mourning period that lasts for seven days. Family members and friends stay with the mourners constantly, bringing food and helping with daily chores until the initial shock of the loss has subsided.

According to Terry Pendley, the owner of Mayes-Ward Funeral Home, "each family has personal touches that are very important to them, and things are a little different in each community, even if they are all Christian or all Buddhist." But even amidst the different beliefs and burial practices, similarities abound. The desire to care for the deceased, to carefully lay the body to rest either through cremation or burial, and the need to hold a farewell ceremony exist in every human society, no matter what their faith, culture or background. Even those who do not believe in an afterlife usually place some importance on a final resting place for the body. The rituals surrounding death are an essential part of accepting the loss and mourning the dead. "Those families who have a ceremony of some kind, no matter what it entails, are more able to go on with their lives than those who go straight to burial or cremation without any kind of farewell," says Mr. Pendley. Perhaps part of being human means needing rituals to initiate the grieving process and promote healing.