disposal of the dead in various cultures

The Zoroastrian Dakhma-nashini mode of disposal of the dead

DAHKMA-NASHINI - ie. utter destruction of the dead body which is considered most unhygienic and polluting, both physically and spiritually, in this ancient religion of the Aryans - Mazda-Yasna, the worship of Ahura Mazda as revealed to the ancient Aryan prophet Zarathushtra about 8000 years BC., in Iran - the ancient abode of the Aryans.

After a human being dies, according to the Vendidad (ancient scripture of the Zoroastrians) - the evil spirit of putrefaction rushes on the dead body within about three hours after death, ie. in the next Geh (division of time) immediately after the one he dies in. After this time, the dead body cannot be touched by anybody except special corpse bearers (Nassesalars) who live apart from the rest of society. Spiritually and physically, the dead body is most unclean at this time. The body is now bathed in the urine (Taro) of a special white bull - again an ancient Indo-European or Aryan method of purification. The clothes are destroyed. A new Sudreh-Kusti are tied on the body - the Sudreh being a religious garment, the Kusti an ancient mark of the Aryan people, a religious woollen cord tied around the waist (a close parallel being the Janoi of the Indian Brahmins, who too have derived from the Aryan people.)

The body is now tied up in old Sudrehs, only the face is kept uncovered. Any person who touches the body at this time has to purify himself by taking the Nahan (religious bath) with Taro, which he has to pour on his body as well as sip of. The abhorrence the ancient Aryans had for the dead body and its polluting influence is stressed at every step of this ancient ritual. The special corpse bearers now put the corpse on a marble stone. Fire is kept alongside burning with sandalwood, and a Diva (lamp) is also lighted. The Dastur (Zoroastrian fire-priest) now comes and intones special prayers in the ancient Aryan language of Avestan (a sister language of Vedic Sanskrit).

By the evening or the morning of the next day, the Dasturs (priests) pray the GEH-SARNA ceremony. As per the Vendidad, the soul wanders near the body for the first three days and is as a new-born child, very susceptible to the attack of evil spirits. The Geh-Sarna ceremony strengthens the soul and helps it to proceed on its way - it is a well known fact that there have never been any ghosts of Zoroastrians because of the powerful effects of the ancient Avestan Mathras (verses of prayer). In fact no pregnant woman is allowed to be present near the Geh- Sarna ceremony because of the fear that the powerful incantations may have an adverse effect on the unborn child ie. the soul that has recently attached to the child in the womb and is waiting to be born. Such is the power of the Aryan Avestan prayers.

The members of the household then say goodbye to the departed for the last time (without touching the body). The corpse bearers then carry away the body on a special iron bier (iron and stone cannot be polluted, wood can) from the prayer rooms and prepare for its final destruction. In the open, the body is placed on a stone slab and a Dog is brought near to gaze on the face of the dead person. The Dog posseses divine sight, and as per Aryan tradition has the power to see and chase away any evil spirits. The body is then placed by the bearers in a circular well shaped stone structure, called the Dakhma or more recently the "Tower of Silence". Stone like iron is not polluted and so shields the good earth from the evil of putrefaction.

As per the Aryan scriptures, the Sun and the Vulture then work systematically and hand-in-hand to destroy the dead body. The rain then falls and washes away the dried bones into the sea. As much as 1 year is allowed in the Aryan scriptures for this process, and this is contrasted to the burial process where the earth is polluted for at least 50 years, and lies shallow and unused for cultivation - the greatest worship of God being cultivation, as per the Aryans. Burial/burning of corpses are both considered wrong actions in the Vendidad. In an earlier Fargad (chapter), Mazda says that they were actions dreamed up by the evil one and taught to humanity to mislead them to pollute the earth and the Fire. In my Saga of the Aryans Vol IV, I have explained this in some more detail in dramatic prose, when Zarathushtra receives his relevation from Ahura Mazda.

Sacred ceremonies then go on for 4 days. On the morning of the 4th day, by the rays of the rising sun, the soul of the departed person ascends and passes to the "Chinvato-Peretu", the Bridge that separates the spiritual (Minoi) world from the physical (Geti) world. There he meets his own conscience, in the form of a Kainini-Keherpa ie, in the astral form of a maiden. The maiden is as beautiful; or as hideous as his own works in the world. The soul is then judged by the divinity Mithra (Meher) and either passes on to Garodman, the abode of songs where Ahura Mazda (God) awaits him or to drujo-deman, the abode of the evil one. There the soul waits until it is time for the Resurrection of all the dead and the final defeat and expulsion of evil from THIS world, when death and disease and hunger and thirst will be a thing of the past and God Himself will come down to the earth, assisted by the final Saviour (Saoshyant.)

Funerals in the contemporary United States

Within the United States of America, in most cultural groups and regions, the funeral rituals have been divided into three principal parts:

• a "viewing" or "wake" in which the embalmed body of the deceased person is placed on display in the coffin. At the viewing, the friends and relations greet the more distant relatives and friends of the dead person(s) in a social gathering with little in the way of ritual. The viewing often takes place on one or two evenings before the funeral. The only prescribed part of this gathering is that the attendants frequently sign a book kept by the decedent's survivors, to remind them that they have attended; and they are expected to view the decedent in the coffin. The decedent's closest friends and relatives who are unable to attend frequently send flowers to the viewing. The viewing typically takes place at a funeral home, which is equipped with gathering rooms where the viewing can be conducted. The viewing may end with a prayer service; in the Catholic funeral, this may include a rosary. The viewing is either "open casket," in which the embalmed body of the deceased has been clothed and treated with cosmetics for display; or "closed casket," in which the coffin is closed.

Note that this part of the mourning process is part of Christian tradition, but foreign to Judaism. Jewish funerals are held soon after death, and the corpse is never displayed.

• a memorial service, which is sometimes referred to on its own as a funeral and is often officiated by a member of the clergy of the decedent's religion. In this service, the person officiating, and on occasion the decedent's close friends and relatives, may read eulogies concerning the decedent's life and activities. Religious rituals, prayers, readings from the Bible or other sacred texts, hymns, and similar rites are often conducted at this service. (In some religious denominations, for example, Roman Catholic and Anglican, eulogies are prohibited or discouraged during this service.)
• a burial service, conducted at the side of the grave, tomb, or mausoleum or at the crematorium, at which the body of the decedent is buried or cremated at the conclusion.
• a light dinner (sometimes called a wake) follows the burial service in some traditions. This is sometimes prepared by women's committees of the decedent's church.

Generally speaking, the number of people who are considered obliged to attend each of these three rituals by etiquette decreases at each step. Distant relatives and acquaintances may be called upon to attend the viewing; the decedent's closer relatives and local friends attend the memorial service; if the burial is on a day other than the funeral, only the decedent's closest relatives attend the burial service, if one is conducted.

Funerals in ancient Rome

In ancient Rome, the eldest surviving male of the household, the pater familias, was summoned to the death-bed, where he attempted to catch and inhale the last breath of the decedent.

Funerals of the socially prominent were usually undertaken by professional undertakers called libitinarii. No direct description has been passed down of Roman funeral rites. These rites usually included a public procession to the tomb or pyre where the body was to be cremated. The most noteworthy thing about this procession was that the survivors bore masks bearing the images of the family's deceased ancestors. The right to carry the masks in public was eventually restricted to families prominent enough to have held curule magistracies. Mimes, dancers, and musicians hired by the undertakers, as well as professional mourners, took part in these processions. Less well to do Romans could join benevolent funerary societies (collegia funeraticia) who undertook these rites on their behalf.

Nine days after the disposal of the body, by burial or cremation, a feast was given (cena novendialis) and a libation poured over the grave or the ashes. Since most Romans were cremated, the ashes were typically collected in an urn and placed in a niche in a collective tomb called a columbarium (literally, "dovecote"). During this nine days period, the house was considered to be tainted, funesta, and was hung with yew or cypress branches to warn bypassers. At the end of the period, the house was swept in an attempt to purge it of the dead person's ghost.

Several Roman holidays commemmorated a family's dead ancestors, including the Parentalia, held February 13 through 21, to honour the family's ancestors; and the Lemuria, held on May 9, 11, and 13, in which ghosts (larvæ) were feared to be active, and the pater familias sought to appease them with offerings of beans.

Final disposition of the dead

Various cultures have devised different ways of finally disposing of the bodies of the dead. Some place the dead in tombs of various sorts, either individually, or in specially designated tracts of land that house tombs. Burial in a graveyard is one common form of tomb. In some places, such as New Orleans, Louisiana, burials are impractical because the ground water is too high; there tombs are placed above ground. Elsewhere, a separate building for a tomb is usually reserved for the socially prominent and wealthy. Especially grand aboveground tombs are called mausoleums. Other buildings used as tombs include the crypts in churches; burial in these places is again usually a privilege given to the socially prominent dead.

Burial was not always permanent. In some areas, burial grounds needed to be re-used because of limited space. In these areas, once the dead have decomposed to skeletons, the bones are removed; after their removal they can be placed in an ossuary.

"Burial at sea" is a somewhat misleading phrase that identifies the deliberate disposal of a corpse into the ocean, wrapped and tied with weights to make sure it sinks. It is a common practice in navies and sea-faring nations; in the Church of England, special forms of funeral service were added to the Book of Common Prayer to cover it.

Cremation, also, is an old custom; it was the usual mode of disposing of a corpse in ancient Rome. Vikings were occasionally cremated in their longships, and afterwards the location of the site was marked with standing stones. In recent years, despite the objections of some religious groups, cremation has become more and more widely used. Orthodox Judaism and the Eastern Orthodox Church forbid cremation, as do most Muslims; Roman Catholicism allows it, but does not encourage it. Most varieties of Protestantism are indifferent to it.

Rarer forms of disposal of the dead include exposure, where the corpse is exposed to the elements. This was done by some groups of Native Americans; it is still practiced by Zoroastrianss in Bombay, where the Towers of Silence allow vultures and other carrion eating birds to dispose of the corpses.

Cannibalism is also practiced post-mortem in some countries. The practice has been linked to the spread of a prion disease called kuru.

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http://tenets.zoroastrianism.com/dakhma33.html