Variations on this ceremony include the lighting of candles at Western funerals, and setting off fireworks in some Asian cultures. In the latter example, both light and sound are used to ward off the spirit.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Ghosts Hate Light
One custom that appears in various incarnations around the world is the funerary ritual of driving the spirit away with the use of light. Fires are lit around the body, encircling the spirit in case it tries to attack mourners. Later in the ceremony, fire is used to chase the spirit from the village; that is what the shaman is doing in the picture below. Some cultures emphasize the light itself as an element that wards off evil, while in other cultures the fire physically burns the spirit and frightens or destroys it.
Variations on this ceremony include the lighting of candles at Western funerals, and setting off fireworks in some Asian cultures. In the latter example, both light and sound are used to ward off the spirit.
Variations on this ceremony include the lighting of candles at Western funerals, and setting off fireworks in some Asian cultures. In the latter example, both light and sound are used to ward off the spirit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What kind of Shaman? American Indian? Where is that photo from?
ReplyDeleteThe photo is from here: http://www.earthheartfarm.com/shamanic-journeys/shamanic-workshops/ecstatic-fire-ceremony.html
ReplyDeleteThe owners of the site are followers of Pachamama, which is a religion from the Andes. I think the shaman may be performing a general cleansing ritual as opposed to a funeral ritual, but I thought the picture captured the ceremony well.
Some examples of American Indians who used fire/light in their funeral ceremonies are the Navajo and Aztec, who burned the deceased's house as well as his body as a way of exiling the spirit. The Zulu ceremony is identical, which I find pretty interesting given the geographical gap. Other African tribes use the ring of fire method to contain/herd the spirit away from the village.