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WHAT IF I DO NOT KNOW MY ANCESTORS?
The hardest part of venerating our ancestors can be figuring out who they were. Our ancestors lived and died around the process of making us. We are a part of each and every one of them; a mosaic of other lives and other worlds. Some families proudly have a long history of records detailing each…
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WHAT IS ANCESTRAL VENERATION?
Venerate Your Dead is a death-positive ode to ancestor veneration rituals, funerary rites, spirit festivals, and what is eaten on sacred days. In the coming weeks, I will be writing about how their families and cultures honour their loved ones during and after death, and about any special meals and drinks they reserve for those…
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BOLIVIA’S DIA DE LAS ÑATITAS
Bolivians, especially the Aymara, use the skulls of their deceased loved ones in rituals of remembrance on and around 8 November each year. Ancient Andean and early Columbian traditions where living family is to sit with the bones of their ancestors in order to ensure continued protection and guidance are still observed today. This typically…
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CAMBODIA & PCHUM BEN
In the US, ancestor veneration is unconquered territory. Most WASP American families grieve in private. Talking about death is taboo, and one might be considered crazy or dangerous if they celebrated during or after a death. Our national holidays are ruled by capitalism, false sentiment, alcoholism, and arson. Spirituality often equivocates to religious extremism or…
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JAPAN’S OBON FESTIVAL, BON ODORI, AND SHUKATSU
Japan has a term for the hordes of business people racing to jobs that is increasingly used more as slang for how we prepare for death.
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CHINA’S YU LAN & HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL
Chinese culture is the epitome of Ancestral Veneration. The belief that ancestors become deities after death and should be worshiped is the core of Chinese religious and spiritual practices. Like many Asian countries, death and funeral rites draw from a combination of Buddhism and Taoism, with the addition of Confucianism in China. Filial Piety, a…
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DIA DE LOS MUERTOS TRADITIONS
In preparation for an upcoming gathering, I drew on some of my knowledge of remembrance rituals and of death and funeral rites for menu inspiration. I majored in Anthropology and always welcome an opportunity to bring what I learned to the table, especially in the literal sense when it comes to feeding people. Cultures across…
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Venerate Your Dead 