An Introduction To International Funeral Customs

By Alta Alexander


Plans for funerals are not unique to western cultures or in the United States. Rites and ceremonies in celebration and honour of those who have died have always been around. They have been present in the time humans man has existed. Numerous rites and customs have roots on the religion the deceased observed. Customs of international funeral today point to unique celebrations varying by country and culture.

Whereas all funeral planning differ in accordance to individuals, there are no culturally universal demands for funerals to be the same. There are differing funeral customs observed internationally. In China, the number of people attending a funeral apparently increases the levels of luck a family will have. It represents how well a deceased will prosper in their afterlife. Professional hired mourners attend some funerals to increase attendance numbers in this regard.

Where Philippines is concerned, funeral rites honouring the deceased take between three and seven days. Many people come for the ceremony and stay for entire ceremony. For the Haitians, the deceased family members have the sole responsibility for the large part of the planning of the funeral. This covers preparing and dressing the deceased in preparation for the burial. Expressions and displays of grief remain suppressed until all possessions the deceased owned leave their home.

All the members of the Amish community in a town or village come out to share every aspect of the ceremony. The family takes full responsibility in as far as every traditional plan is concerned and where most rites happen in the funeral home. Simplicity is the basic tenet where even a wooden but simple box is often used. Very little work in cosmetic form happens on the body. Flowers and ornate stones are discouraged. Mourners observe bare minimum mourning dressing codes.

Within the Thai community, cremation is almost universal. Customs include preparing a body for the rites with members of the family placing coins onto a deceased mouth. A white thread ties hands and feet of a deceased. Flowers, money and candles go into the hands. Additional flowers and monetary gifts adorn a deceased pyre as it goes into cremations.

For the traditional Bolivians customs, there are certain unique traits not seen elsewhere in the world. These include having entirely separate cremation ceremonies for the deceased clothes. This rite releases the soul of the departed deceased into the after world according to Bolivian believes.

In most cases, funeral rites observed internationally are merely extensions of plans most people know about. There also exists a collective reverence for deceased as well as close attention personal items they left behind. The ceremony gives friends and families an opportunity to get together as they mourn despite where everyone shall be respectively traveling.

Incorporation of traditional and religious rites is a means for personalizing funeral-planning efforts. In most cases, the ceremony helps families place bigger emphasis on wishes and beliefs held by the deceased. In efforts to adhere to the time-honoured rites and practices, people sometimes instruct their families on how to go about their funerals. Other incorporate them in their wills.




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