Funeral Types

African-Caribbean

Afro-Caribbean funerals tend to be elaborate, steeped in religious ceremony (usually Protestant), based on a strong cultural heritage and considered to be the final rite of passage for those whose elders passed down specific customs from the West Indies.

There can be a period of more than a week from the time of death to the burial, possibly to accommodate the arrival of family from overseas. The few cremations that are requested by Afro- Caribbean families place only after the same traditional viewing and funeral service. The lowering of the body and covering of the grave is considered mandatory, which might explain the reason for small numbers of cremations.

There are several remaining vestiges and aspects of traditional West Indian culture surviving among the British Caribbean community. In traditional Afro-Caribbean communities a very high premium is placed on age and the extended family/clan. Wisdom is closely associated with ageing as in African cultures. Death is also generally associated with age as well. It is not surprising therefore that death is treated with the dignity that is reserved for the aged.

The inhibitions which so often surround death in Britain can appear strange to the Afro-Caribbean person who has been brought up in a tradition of family and community involvement in death and bereavement. In the Caribbean the family will wish to participate as much as possible in caring for the dying and the community will offer every possible support in the bereavement.

• On the first night of the death a wake is held. This consists of an all-night vigil involving members of the family and the community. There are special traditional activities which are done at wakes. The types of activities undertaken are determined by the social class of the bereaved family. The range of activities includes traditional games, wailing, hymn singing, prayers, dancing and drum beating. These activities take place in the house where the deceased is ‘laid to rest’.
• Earlier, on the day of the wake, the body of the deceased is washed and prepared by the family. She/he is then dressed in his/her best clothing and laid out on the bed. During the wake, friends and relatives file past the bed to have a last look at the departed person before the burial takes place during the following day. In many cases some personal possessions are destroyed after the funeral.
• The Afro-Caribbean attitude to death emphasizes the need to involve the whole community. The funeral is sometimes held on a Saturday so the maximum number can attend.
• Funeral dress-code is likely to include bright, sparkly ‘celebratory’ attire.
• Large ornate caskets are a likely choice of coffin.
• The funeral is likely to include joyous singing of favourite hymns, including ‘How Great Thou Art’ and ‘Amazing Grace’ and at the end of the service mourners are often invited to pass by the open-casket, to pay final respects to the deceased, before the lid is sealed down.
• The funeral is seen as a farewell thanksgiving service because a loved one is ‘going home’.
• On some occasions relatives and friends will speak at the graveside; often relatives and friends will want to fill in the grave themselves. Public and often hysterical weeping may be observed.
• The funeral for the Afro-Caribbean people is a time at which all friends, neighbours; associates within an area would come together and support the final interment of the dead person. It therefore consists of an enormous procession of people who follow behind the hearse. In the Caribbean this procession is generally on foot, in the UK it may be specially-arranged Double Decker London Route master Bus or coach. In addition to the foot procession there may be vehicles following as well.
• As in other Christian funerals flowers bedeck the coffin and members of the procession walk along with their contributions of wreaths to the dead person. At the grave these wreaths would be placed by the various contributors.
• Following the wake the corpse is buried.
• After the funeral relatives and friends will continue to support the bereaved. This community support will continue for some time afterwards.

Traveller

There are several Traveller traditions and superstitions related to death and the burial of their loved ones. Because Travellers are very family orientated, many family members and friends from miles around will visit the person who is severely ill and the patient will never be left alone.

It is traditional for a dying person to be allowed to die outside so it has been known for hospital patients to be wheeled outside for their last moments of life. Customarily candles are lit near the bed of the dying person to light the way to their afterlife.

Traveller funerals are commonly arranged and conducted on a ‘Grand’ scale:

• Attracting mourners from around the country
• Including elaborately designed and created floral tributes, often transported in a separate flower-hearse.
• Bringing traffic in the local town to a standstill

When a Gypsy dies a vigil is kept over the body by family members and candles are lit to guide the deceased person to the afterlife and kept illuminated until after the funeral.

Traditionally, when a Traveller dies away from home, it is customary to take the body home.If they died in a trailer, its walls were hung with clean white sheets and decorated with fresh wild flowers. It is common for a bonfire to be lit outside the home of the deceased:

• The deceased is dressed up in their best clothes
• The coffin of a deceased Traveller is usually considerably larger than their body as they are buried with any possessions which may be useful to them in the afterlife.Traditionally, food has also been buried with the coffin to provide the Gypsy with sustenance for their long journey
• As part of some Traveller burials, mourners toss coins into the burial plot as the coffin is lowered into it.It is believed the coins are used for payment into heaven
• In Romany tradition, when a person dies, family and friends gather round the body and ask for forgiveness for any bad deeds they have committed against them.They are concerned that if grievances are not settled, the deceased may come back as an evil spirit

Oriental

Oriental funeral traditions vary depending on where the deceased person and his or her family are from but some basic traditions still apply. Oriental funerals of elders are arranged and co-ordinated by children or younger family members, part of the Confucian principle of filial piety, devotion to parents.

Family members must consult the Almanac to determine the best date to hold the funeral ceremony. Funeral homes and local temples help the family prepare the body and coordinate the funeral rites.

Announcements of the funeral are sent in the form of invitations. For most Oriental funerals:

• The invitations are white
• If the person was age 80 or older the invitations are pink as living until 80 or beyond is considered an achievement to celebrate rather than mourn
• It includes information about the funeral’s date, time, and location as well as a small obituary that includes information about the deceased that may include his or her birth date, date of death, age, family members that survived them and sometimes how the person died, The invitation may also include a family tree
• A phone call or in-person invite may precede the paper invitation. Either way, an RSVP is expected. If a guest cannot attend the funeral, flowers and a white envelope with money should still be sent.

Guests at an Oriental funeral wear sombre colours like black. Bright and colourful clothing, especially red must be avoided as these colours are associated with happiness. White is acceptable and, if the deceased was 80 or above, white with pink or red is acceptable as the event is cause for celebration. The deceased person wears a white robe in which white envelopes with paper money are tucked inside.

The funeral includes key elements:

• Often a wake precedes the funeral, at the family’s home, a local temple (if the deceased was religious), or a funeral home and may last several days with family membersexpected to keep an overnight vigil for at least one night in which the person’s picture, flowers, and candles are placed around the body and the family sits in wait.
• During the wake, family and friends bring flowers, which are elaborate wreaths that include banners with couplets written on them, and white envelopes filled with cash. Traditional Chinese funeral flowers are white. Irises are a traditional Chinese funeral flower.
• The white envelopes are similar to red envelopes that are given at weddings. White is the colour reserved for death in Chinese Culture. The amount of money put in the envelope varies depending on the relationship to the deceased but must be in odd numbers. The money is meant to help the family pay for the funeral. If the deceased person was employed, his or her company is often expected to send a large flower wreath and sizeable monetary contribution.
• At the funeral, the family will burn joss paper to ensure their loved one has a safe journey to the netherworld. Fake paper money and miniature items like cars, houses, and televisions are burned. A eulogy may be given and, if the person was religious, prayers may also be said.
• The family will distribute to guests red envelopes with a coin inside each one to ensure they return home safely. The family may also give guests a piece of candy that must be consumed that day and before going home. A handkerchief may also be given.
• The envelope with coin, sweet, and handkerchief should not be taken home. One final item, a piece of red thread, may be given. The red threads should be taken home and tied to the front doorknobs of the guests’ homes to keep evil spirits away.
• After the funeral ceremony, a funeral procession to the cemetery or crematorium is held, with marching band leading the procession and playing loud music to frighten spirits and ghosts.
• The family wears mourning clothes and walks behind the band and a hearse or sedan containing the coffin and adorned with a large portrait of the decreased hanging on the windshield follows behind. Friends and associates complete the procession.
• The size of the procession depends on the wealth of the deceased and his or her family. The sons and daughters wear black and white mourning clothes and walk in the front row of the procession. Daughters-in-law come next and also wear black and white clothes. Grandsons and granddaughters wear blue mourning clothes. Professional mourners who are paid to wail and cry are often hired to fill up the procession.
• Depending on their personal preference, Chinese are either buried or cremated. At a minimum, families make an annual visit to the gravesite on the Qing Ming or Tomb Sweeping Festival.

Mourners will wear a cloth band on their arms to show that they are in a period of mourning. If the deceased is a man, the band goes on the left sleeve. If the deceased is a woman, the band is pinned to the right sleeve. The mourning band is worn for the duration of the mourning period which can last 49 to 100 days. Mourners also wear sombre clothes. Bright and colourful clothes are avoided during the mourning period.

Hindu

Most Hindus are cremated as it is believed that this will help their soul to escape quickly from the body. The exact details of the funeral ceremonies, which form the last of the samskaras (antyeshti samskara, final reincarnation), vary according to tradition and place.

Funerals are usually conducted by a priest and by the eldest son of the deceased and various rituals may take place around the dead body:

• A lamp is placed by the head of the body
• Prayers and hymns are sung
• Pindas (rice balls) are placed in the coffin
• Water is sprinkled on the body
• A mala (necklace of wooden beads) may be put around the dead person’s neck as may garlands of flowers

How the cremation takes place depends on where this happens:

• In the UK the coffin is closed and taken to a crematorium.
• In India people hope to have their funeral at the burning ghats on the shores of the sacred river Ganga (Ganges). Here the body is placed on a large pile of wood, then the eldest son says the appropriate Vedic prayers and lights the fire. Incense and ghee (cooked and clarified butter) are poured into the flames.

Prayers are said for the dead person:

‘O Supreme light, lead us from untruth to truth, from darkness to light and from death to immortality’.

Afterwards the ashes of the deceased are sprinkled on water. Many people take the ashes to India to put on the waters of the Ganga; others may take them to the sea near to where they live.

After the funeral the widow or widower will wear white as a sign of mourning. The close family may mourn for twelve days.

On the thirteenth day the samskara (reincarnation) ends with the ritual of Kriya. During this, rice balls and milk are offered to the deceased to show the gratitude of the family for the life of that person. After this, the mourners can continue with their normal lives. It is not wrong to mourn for too long, as Hindus believe that each death brings the atman nearer to moksha.

Every year after the death Shraddha takes place. At this ceremony food such as pindas is offered to the poor and needy in memory of departed ancestors.