Dzīvo Attieksme Pret Mirušajiem: Lietu Semantika Bēru Rituālā: Attitude of the Living towards the Deceased: Semantics of Objects in Burial Rituals.
In the face of death of a loved one people get confused: how to perceive death, how to deal with it and where to find consolation. In many cases the answer is sought in ancestral wisdom and perception of the world. Many cultures find view of death not as an end point, but as a transition - the decea...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | Latvian |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
LU Akadēmiskais apgāds
2013
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| In: |
Cel̜š
Year: 2013, Issue: 63, Pages: 83-96 |
| Further subjects: | B
SENSORY perception
B Wisdom B Symbolism B Semantics B DEFENSIVENESS (Psychology) B Bronze Age |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In the face of death of a loved one people get confused: how to perceive death, how to deal with it and where to find consolation. In many cases the answer is sought in ancestral wisdom and perception of the world. Many cultures find view of death not as an end point, but as a transition - the deceased continues living in the Spirit worlds, where a soul travels to God. The World-tree symbolism has been widespread and rooted in many cultures since the Bronze Age, but such views and conceptual models have not survived to the present day in unaltered form. In the cyclical or mythological world views this concept is still preserved in various forms, but in a secular world that is based on day-to-day activities, the perception of death is much wider. Tradition materials that speak of death and funeral and that have survived to nowadays present a diverse attitude towards the dead - as a relief; as an unbearable loss; as a desire to protect the deceased; as a desire to guard oneselves from the deceased; and as wish to maintain a contact with the deceased and keep his/her spirit close. The materials that have survived to the present day denote two different attitudes towards the deceased - on the one hand they were treated with great love and respect, but on the other hand - with fear and loathing towards the remains. Especially fear and defensiveness appeared when the relatives of the departed soul considered it an evil spirit. This usually happened if the death had been untimely, or unexpected. There is real fear from the dead-man's soul coming back to haunt the living. Fear can also be explained by the lack of understanding and inevitability of death. That is why everyone feels equally helpless in front of death. One of the reasons for the return of the deceased can be a failure in burial ritual. At funeral and in preparation for it, particular importance is given to the world of objects, what help to execute the ritual in a proper manner, as well as to exhibit the relationship between the living and the dead. Body language and facial expressions help to convey the speaker's thoughts and opinions, a variety of everyday objects, saying much more about the events and actions in which the object is used. Some significant objects have a symbolic role in family celebrations. As for the significance of objects and the message they convey on a symbolic level, one needs to consider the context or environment and situation. Objects that had been in a close contact with the dead body, while in the environment in which significant events take place, acquires a particularly important role, they obtain the status of a participant. Things that were in a vicinity of the dying and later with the deceased are kept appart from coming in contact with the dead body, because, as it was regarded, they could take over the state of the dead, become unfit and harm growth, development, and life processes. Such prohibitions are based on object's symbolic link to different realities and show the processes that where essential for economic activities. From the following one can conclude that the living where cautious of the deceased impact on their future fertility and success. In this way, there is clear distinction between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The perception of the deceased varies and attitude towards it depends on circumstance. The person and the world of objects in a traditional society were seen as two parts of a single substance, that is the reason why the world of objects helps to decipher rituals and explain the social attitude and behavior in the moments that are emotionally saturated and difficult to interpret. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Cel̜š
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