Strange death rituals

[00:00:00]In today's video, we're talking about five unusual death customs from around the world that you may not even believe happen.

[00:00:09]>> Hi, my name's Tracy and I'm a mortician.

[00:00:11]>> And I'm Trish and I'm not. And Trace, today we're talking about some bizarre death rituals that are practiced around the world.

[00:00:17]>> Wow.

[00:00:18]>> From hanging coffins off cliffs to bring the dead closer to their ancestors.

[00:00:23]>> Okay.

[00:00:24]>> To eating the ashes of the ancestors.

[00:00:27]>> Okay.

[00:00:27]>> To raising bodies every 5 to 7 years and re-wrapping them and celebrating with them.

[00:00:32]>> Mhm.

[00:00:33]>> Uh lots of different things.

[00:00:34]>> There's a lot.

[00:00:35]>> Yes, there are. So, let's start in Tibet.

[00:00:40]>> Tibet?

[00:00:40]>> Yes, Tibet. I love the whole idea of Tibet. I love Tibetan culture. From what I've read, it seems amazing.

[00:00:47]>> Mhm.

[00:00:48]>> One of the things that the people in Tibet do is they do a sky burial.

[00:00:53]>> Uh-huh.

[00:00:53]>> Have you heard of that?

[00:00:54]>> I've heard of a sky burial.

[00:00:55]>> Yeah.

[00:00:56]>> Yes.

[00:00:56]>> So, I think it's all tied in with the Buddhist, you know, belief in impermanence and talking about the fact that we have to, you know, recognize the fact that nothing lasts forever and visual cues are always big >> Yeah.

[00:01:09]>> in that culture.

[00:01:10]Um but also, it's a it's considered an act of generosity. So, what do they do?

[00:01:16]>> Uh they give the bodies to the animals.

[00:01:20]>> Right, so they put them on a cliff.

[00:01:21]>> They do put them on a cliff.

[00:01:22]>> Up high in the Himalayas, up in the mountains.

[00:01:24]>> Yes.

[00:01:25]>> And imagine that. Imagine taking your person, your child, whoever.

[00:01:29]>> Into the mountains.

[00:01:29]>> Up into the mountains and leaving them and saying your prayer or whatever it is and then leaving them and off you go and the vultures are circling, the birds of prey are circling.

[00:01:38]>> Yeah.

[00:01:39]>> And it's an offering, isn't it?

[00:01:41]>> It is an offering to um to the birds, the animals are coming to take that um And is it that they're taking the soul or anything or is it just >> you're just feeding them.

[00:01:51]>> I don't know. Feeding the animals.

[00:01:53]>> Any Tibetan people who understand that culture, please let us know.

[00:01:56]>> Yeah, because they're obviously offering to transport that body to somewhere else cuz isn't the Buddhist belief that you will come back something different like a plant?

[00:02:08]>> Not always.

[00:02:09]>> But yeah.

[00:02:10]>> Sometimes.

[00:02:10]>> Sometimes. Yeah, that you'll come back.

[00:02:12]>> Rebirth.

[00:02:12]>> Yeah.

[00:02:13]>> They believe in rebirth, but I don't think they need a vulture to help you do that.

[00:02:16]>> No, I suppose not. But it's it's a it's an amazing it's an amazing thing.

[00:02:21]>> I think it makes a lot of sense cuz they've got the mountains available to them.

[00:02:25]And I mean it's really no different to us burying a person. Like it's giving back to the earth really, isn't it?

[00:02:30]>> So it's about giving to other creatures that inhabit the earth, isn't it? It's about giving to to the birds for instance. I'm sure there's other little wildlife that'll be in there somewhere too. Giving that body back, recycling.

[00:02:46]>> And I guess also from the perspective of the person that's dying, it's a gift. It's like a organ donation in our culture. It's giving a gift to I mean because Buddhists consider the needs of all sentient beings. So it's just, you know, providing nutrient. I guess. I don't know on what level it goes, but it's an interesting one.

[00:03:04]>> It is very interesting.

[00:03:05]>> And it would challenge I think our Western or cultural way of thinking.

[00:03:09]>> For sure. I'm sure there's a lot of people freak out that maybe they've even never even heard of that, you know.

[00:03:14]>> Sky burial.

[00:03:15]>> Sky burial, but yeah. Yeah, amazing.

[00:03:17]>> Interesting. All right. So number two, we're going to Madagascar. Do you know what they do in Madagascar? Um no, please enlighten me.

[00:03:24]>> What they do in Madagascar?

[00:03:26]>> She just can't say the word.

[00:03:27]>> I can't say the word.

[00:03:28]>> Famadihana.

[00:03:31]Famadihana.

[00:03:33]>> Thank you.

[00:03:34]>> That's all right. So that's a ritual that's done in Madagascar and that involves the raising of bodies every 5 to 7 years to re-wrap them and to freshen up the clothes and that sort of thing.

[00:03:48]>> Yeah.

[00:03:49]>> And also to celebrate, to reconnect with them, to have a chat about what's going on.

[00:03:53]>> They have a feast as well.

[00:03:54]>> Yeah, yeah, and they they they tell the body, they tell the dead person what's been happening.

[00:03:59]>> Yeah.

[00:03:59]>> Um, catch them up on all the goss.

[00:04:01]>> Yeah, all the gossip of down the road what Andy Betty got up to and Uncle John got up to. Yeah, it's all it's all a big it's a big you know well, it's a celebration of everybody that's still alive and also celebrating their dead.

[00:04:17]>> Yeah, and it it brings them closer to the dead. So, you'll often see, if you look at it online, for Matahana, if you look that up, um, it you you see crowds of people and they've got the photos of the person, the loved one, like a child or someone, and then they've got the body, uh, wrapped in a cloth, a clean cloth, and they, you know, they eat and they drink and they cry and they laugh and they tell stories and I think again, like the Tibetan thing, it's a way of putting death front and center. Uh, so that it helps the living, uh, come to terms with the fact that we're all mortal and we're all going to go.

[00:04:53]>> Yeah, but it also helps in remembering yeah, our our you know >> loved ones.

[00:05:00]>> Our loved ones, you know, it's it's a not ever forgetting them while you're still around. And because it's a cultural thing, it goes on and on and on for years, so you're remembering all your ancestors as well. So, it is um, it is >> digging them up.

[00:05:13]>> Yeah, it is. It's um, it's very it's like I say, western world, we might some people might go, you know, that's you know, picking the body up that is it the one where they dance with the body sometimes?

[00:05:24]>> Cuz I've seen documentaries where they actually think it is that one where they they hold the body and dance or celebrate and that loved one and like say, chatting and having a feast and a festival of, uh, their loved ones.

[00:05:38]>> Yeah.

[00:05:38]>> It's really good.

[00:05:40]You know, amazing there's some amazing cultures. Some amazing cultures.

[00:05:44]>> Okay, so one we've talked about on this channel before, number three, in the Philippines.

[00:05:48]And it's it's not common, like it's not everywhere, but the hanging coffins in the Philippines.

[00:05:52]>> Yes, we've talked about that one.

[00:05:53]>> So, where they place the coffin high up on a cliff, and often you will see 10 coffins on that cliff all held there, um you know, sort of >> battened into place.

[00:06:04]>> That's right.

[00:06:04]>> Um and the whole idea behind that, I believe, is to raise the body closer to the spirits of the ancestors.

[00:06:12]>> Um and that's a nice one. And actually, that's very similar to Do you remember when we were in Cairns and we were talking to a lady at the cemetery about the uh First Nations people in Australia and how in Cairns, one of the traditions that was wiped out when the area was colonized was that they used to put their deceased in a log and raise them up into the trees.

[00:06:30]>> The trees, yeah. That's right.

[00:06:32]>> Which is both, you know, serving the purpose of the sky burial, feeding the critters, >> Yeah.

[00:06:37]>> and also bringing that deceased up closer >> closer to the spirits.

[00:06:41]>> Yeah.

[00:06:41]>> Yeah.

[00:06:42]>> So, it all kind of ties in a bit, doesn't it?

[00:06:44]>> actually, yeah.

[00:06:45]>> So, next we're going to Indonesia.

[00:06:47]>> Indonesia.

[00:06:48]>> Yeah, so there's a particular area in Indonesia, Sulawesi, >> Mhm.

[00:06:53]>> uh where where there's a culture of having a funeral that lasts for many, many days.

[00:06:58]>> Okay.

[00:06:59]>> So, they can be very expensive, like they can be years worth of salary >> Oh, wow.

[00:07:04]>> these celebrations. So, in this situation, not only does the funeral uh last for a long time, but often the deceased is kept at home >> Okay.

[00:07:13]>> for up many years.

[00:07:15]>> Like >> for a long time.

[00:07:16]>> Wow.

[00:07:17]>> And treated like a sick person.

[00:07:18]>> Oh, wow.

[00:07:19]>> So, they bring them food, they wash them, clean them.

[00:07:23]>> So, they And obviously, the body's breaking down, you know, cuz even embalming the body like that will still break down eventually.

[00:07:29]>> And Indonesia's hot.

[00:07:30]>> Yeah, they would break down pretty quickly. So, yeah, so caring for their sick loved one >> for a long, long time. Wow.

[00:07:37]>> Yeah, but they're not sick, they're dead.

[00:07:38]>> Yeah, that's a >> So, that's an interesting one. And I guess that's slows the process of that cut that um letting go. You know, that's the eases. It is holding on.

[00:07:48]>> It is holding on for a long time.

[00:07:50]>> you see it sometimes here. You've talked about people who particularly with children that die. They want to take them home for a few nights and that sort of thing.

[00:07:58]>> the the letting go is very difficult, isn't it? Yeah, it's a very difficult thing, yeah. I do think that's holding on a bit long, but if it's what they've always done in that culture.

[00:08:07]>> there'll be a cultural background to that that maybe we are being very crude about this and not knowing the ins and outs and the intricacies of the religion behind it and all that sort of thing.

[00:08:17]>> Um but it's interesting to know that that happens.

[00:08:19]>> It's very interesting.

[00:08:20]>> Because I know that's happened a few times in um in like England and um I've heard of stories in America where that's happened.

[00:08:27]>> All right.

[00:08:28]>> And um well, I mean, we know about things like Ed Gein and people who bring their dig up people and bring them home and that sort of thing. It's the same thing.

[00:08:35]>> Yeah, I suppose that is the same thing, holding on to their loved one and you know, caring for them is what >> That's right.

[00:08:42]>> You know, I know we we're talking about people that have been going on to crimes, but it in what they did was to care for their loved one and they wanted their loved one there for forever, you know? So, yeah. Wow, do you have more?

[00:08:56]>> Yeah, I have one more.

[00:08:57]>> Okay.

[00:08:58]>> So, this one isn't practiced to my knowledge, but I mean, I'm no expert.

[00:09:02]From what my research says, it's not practiced anymore, but it's practiced in a ritual sense, so ritualized in that it's not actually done anymore.

[00:09:11]>> Right.

[00:09:12]>> And this is called endocannibalism.

[00:09:15]And it happens in happened in some parts of Papua New Guinea and also in the Amazon.

[00:09:21]>> Wow.

[00:09:22]>> And different tribes do it or did it did it >> Uh-huh.

[00:09:25]>> did it. Uh and it's where they would either consume the ashes of their deceased loved one >> to take the spirit on board and have the spirit inside them.

[00:09:36]>> So.

[00:09:36]>> Which in my mind is no different to getting your loved one's ashes and having it made into a tattoo.

[00:09:42]>> that's right.

[00:09:43]>> that's why somebody or that's why I would consider doing that.

[00:09:46]>> So, that's >> So, you know.

[00:09:48]But, also they ate the flesh sometimes.

[00:09:51]>> That is cannibalism. Yeah.

[00:09:52]>> Mhm.

[00:09:52]>> Mhm. I was going to say, where's the cannibalism coming in because that's not ashes. Okay.

[00:09:57]>> But, um you know, not one to judge, not something I would like to do, but obviously and again a whole 'nother culture behind that, a whole 'nother religion.

[00:10:04]>> Yeah.

[00:10:05]>> Now, if anybody has any details about any of that, there's any specialists or people who've done research on that stuff, anyone from those places that wants to comment and add more, we'd love to hear from you.

[00:10:14]>> Yeah.

[00:10:14]>> And we'll do a whole 'nother video if you can, um you know, provide some information. If you want to be on camera, please let us know. But, yeah, basically that's what would happen.

[00:10:22]>> Yeah.

[00:10:22]>> And it was all sort of ritualized and ceremonialized.

[00:10:25]>> Yeah.

[00:10:25]>> Um but, the whole crux of it was to take that spirit on board and live with that person as part of you.

[00:10:33]>> As part of you. And then they learn till you go, and then the cycle continues.

[00:10:38]There's some really good, um cultures in among all of that. It's very interesting, isn't it?

[00:10:43]>> I've got a bookcase upstairs with cremated loved ones and pets, mixture of people and animals, uh and they're all coming with me in my coffin when I get cremated. And the whole my thinking behind that is to take them all with me as I go.

[00:10:57]>> That's a sort of ritual for you.

[00:10:59]>> of similar, really. I want to take them with me.

[00:11:02]>> Yeah, and keep them with you.

[00:11:03]>> Yeah.

[00:11:04]>> Yeah, it is. So, uh there's a lot of different different cultures there. And whether you like any of these cultures you do or don't, that's not for us to judge. I just think there's some amazing >> It's interesting.

[00:11:13]>> in the world that happen.

[00:11:15]>> I will say that I I think these people deal with death better than we do in a lot of our rituals and the way we do things.

[00:11:22]>> Yeah, I agree because then that brings us back to the cultural areas of the islanders that we have here in like Australia where we're multicultural and then we have a lot of, you know, like Samoans. They'll take their loved one home and the kids get involved and the families get involved and they get involved with the dressing and the washing and the you know, they're having them at home for >> people do that. It's just more natural.

[00:11:43]>> Yeah, the Japanese do that culture that it does I do think the Western world's a bit more even though years ago we were all involved in it. I remember in the 70s you you know, your loved ones came home for the night and you looked after them and then went off and did the service the next day. Not embalmed or anything, just home and then off and actually seen and had the open coffin. So we've been we've been sanitized a bit from death and all of that. So I think being exposed to different and knowing about different cultures and you know, knowing that we're all going to be dead, you know, we're all going that way. So let's, you know, be more open and talk about it, you know, and >> That's why we're here.

[00:12:25]>> Don't be afraid. I mean, and don't think about death everything single day like I'm going to die. Yes, but you know, embrace your life but know >> But the thing is to be aware of death in the sense that you know it's going to happen. So therefore you need to live your life.

[00:12:39]>> Yeah.

[00:12:39]>> True. And it's it's the context of that, isn't it? It is. You know, you don't just worry about dying. You need to worry about living.

[00:12:46]>> Yes, do that.

[00:12:48]Live and enjoy. Bye.

[00:12:51]>> [music] [music]