Pagan Journeys > Paths and Traditions

Death Traditions?

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dragonspring:
I forgot to look up my notes on the workshop regarding death.  The class I took focused mainly on traditional views of what happens after death but I wrote down were some recommendations about funerary rites.  There was a suggestion to have flowers and candles around the remains to give the etheric body energy it might need to pass out of this plane to the next plane of astral rest.  Also, it was recommended that loved ones sit vigil with the body until it is interred or cremated but not for longer than 3 hours at a time.  The spirit may draw energy from the loved ones to make the transition and more than 3 hours could deplete the energy.

The spirit stages after death are:

1. The etheric body separates soon after death.  Sometimes this may take a day or so but mostly not.
2. There is a period of astral rest.
3. There is a period of karmic review.  This is what some religions call Purgatory or Limbo.
4. The spirit goes to the Summerlands to fulfill any wishes from this lifetime and to re-energize.
5. Reincarnation

vordan:
I don't know my coven has no specific death ritual but we have a circle of rememberance for people especially around Samhain. I have given some very serious thought to how to celebrate the death that comes for all. The circle encompasses all of my beliefs about death, about how nothing really ends but is transformed. Our eternal souls do not perish but journey into the great mystery. I can think of no greater tribute to a pagan then in the forming of a circle for it is eternal. Often in our seasonal circles we go around the circle each member discussing what strikes them about the season, what sticks in their mind. I think a circle of rememberance for a particular person should do the same. Pagans sing a song often to end a ritual May the Circle Be Open Yet Unbroken, most coven Wiccans know this song, also the song, Mother of Darkness, We all Come From the Goddess, would be a lovely song for such an event. Even if a person is not a pagan but a Christian the circle can symbolize their beliefs in the hereafter as in the bluegrass and gospel tune, May the Circle be Unbroken.

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