Weronika Domagała

1. „Traditions, rituals and customsassociated withfuneral” Weronika Domagała

2. Superstition and tradition Superstition - unfounded belief in the existence of a connection between the events. They are associated with stereotypes of tradition and culture.Tradition - passed down from generation to generation cultural content (such as customs, ideas, beliefs, ways of thinking and behavior)

3. Near-deathrituals The first is the tradition of near-death rituals. If death occurs at home, and it is predictable (for example, is the result of long-term disease) we speakaboutnear-deathrituals.Whena person isdying, apriest iscalled to comehomefromthe nearest church. The priest administerstheAnoiting of the Sick-, theSacrament of Penance, and theHoly Communion. If possible, in the room where thesick person islying, thereshould be a table covered with a white cloth, and theritual objectslikeholy water, the cross, the two lighted candles and cotton wool to wipe the oilshould be present.

4. When theSacrament of Penanceisbeingadministered,thefamily, friends and neighboursgather in the next room and pray.A largecandlelightedatthedeathbedisputintohands of dying person – thereason of thisis to lighttheway to heaven for his soul. Thiscandleis lit for thesecond time afterthe body isputintothecoffing, and takenintothecemetery. Itshould be lit to theveryend of thefuneralceremony. Theattentionisalsoputthefactthatthedeathis notto be disturbed -you should not touch the dying person, cry over him,becauseotherwise thedeath will last for a very long time.

5. Dress the deceased • After the death, if itisnecessary we shouldclose the eyes of the deceased. Sometimes, the eyelids open, then the coinsareput on them to preventthemfromopeningagain. According to popular localsuperstition, you cannot look into the eyes of the dead, as itmeansa quick death of a viewer. Coins which have used inthe ceremonyareput intothe coffin - like anything else whichdead person had a direct contact with, or what has been prepared for him.             The next step is thecleaning and dressing of the body which isusually done the deadperson’s children -daughter prepares her mother for thefuneral, thefatherisprepared by his son. Theoutfit of thedeceased person dependson his/her marital status. Woman areburriedin headkerchiefs,capsareput on men’s heads. Unmarried girls aredressed in a wedding gown and veil, unmarried boysinwedding suit. Unmarried women have two handkerchiefs on the head -white and black, tied on top. However, an unmarried man's clothing hasanother special feature – a white handkerchiefisputintosmalljacket’spocket.

6. Coffin The number of objects thatareconnected to a traditionareputintothecoffin. Thoseareprimarilya rosary and a picture of the patron of the deceased. Aprayer book, little money, favouritetrinkets of thedeceased (comb, mirror) areplacedinthecoffin, too. Deceasedthatweresmokersareoften given a cigarette-cases.It alsohappens that the items associated with the daily activities of the deceased (awland a hankof wool, books, etc)arealsoputintothecoffin. However, theflowers should not be putintothecoffin,unless the funeral is a holiday of deceased person (for example, nameday) and the bouquet is a gift from the family.

7. Singer The singerisoftenpresentduringthefuneralrite. This is a person who leads theprayers at home of thedeceased person,and at the funeralriteitself.Heuses its own, unique collection ofbooks with songs chosenespecially for this occasion. Singers were mostly elderly people, mostly women and thesepriceless books were often passed frommother to daugther. Nearlyevery major village haditsown singer, andif not – she wasinvited to the funeral fromthe neighboring village. In this case, in addition to the customary invitation to thesmallmourning party, it was necessary to pay the singer.

8. Traditions • The prayersand singing aroundthedead body intersplacedwith moments of silence and recallingthememories of thedeceased. Therearesuperstitionsconnectedwiththewake.First, the dead can not be left at home alone, thelightmust be constant on intheroomwherethecoffinwiththe body iskept.Unfortunately, the meaning and significance of these superstitions arenot known,even by the oldest inhabitants of the villages. Theyjust know that this isthewayitneeds to be done,and theycontinueto practicetheserites. • The tradition alsostatesthat we shouldput ablack masking material on themirrors,or turn them around so they facethe wall. Weshould also remove all the potential reflectingsurfacessuch aswater ( puddles of water, oranyother fluid) which can cause thatthedead will see his face inthereflection. If the deceased will be reflected in the mirror - the death will not leavethe place fora long time

9. Untilcoming back fromthefuneral we should stop all the clocks on the hour of thedeath of thedeceased so to show that time has no meaning in this house, so thedeathcan no longer take anyone away.             Living tradition, even for today, isrubbingthe moleswiththedeceasedperson’sindex finger asit was believed that afterthis "treatment" allmoles willdisappear.             At thetime when the coffin is in the house,and allthe familymembers, neighboursand friendsaregatheringaroundthe body weneed to pay special attention to the bouquetsand wreathslaidbesidethecoffin. If any of the flowers is clear of branches,itmust be inserted back into the bunch and necessarily taken to the cemetery. These flowers symbolize the removal of the death andmakes it impossible to return to the family.

10. Pregnant womenshouldattendthewake. However, if a woman belongs to the immediate family, or just want to participate in the prayers, she must be careful tonot to look inthe face of the deceased. According to tradition, it is dangerous for a child who may be born withthe face similar to the deceased person.             It is also important to determine the date of the funeral itself. It is believedthat the body should not beat home on Sunday, as it is a sign that anotherfuneral in the family will occursoon.

11. Themourning party afterthefuneral The last important tradition associated with thefuneralin the country is certainly a mourning party afterthefuneral. This refers to a meal for immediate family, neighbors and friends of the deceased, held after the ceremony at the cemetery, usually in the houseof the deceased. In the past, it was more likemeeting for prayers, now is becoming moreinformalincharacter. Veryimportant element of thiseventis the alcohol – although in small amounts no one can’t able to drink it.             If theeventtakes place athomewherethedeceasedlivedit must be remembered that until the next day we can not clean the table. Theleftovers will be the last meal forthe deceased.

12. Mourning Although there is no formal obligation to dress in black and abandon thesocial life in rural areas, these restrictions are quite strictly kept. Grief usually lasts for one year, and it includesthe immediate family of the deceased, parents, children, siblings, but for thegrandchildren thisperiod last forsix weeks. Beautiful, but sad at the same time, an unwritten custom says parents cannotwearblackclotheswhentheychilderndied.The villagers believe that the deceased child bears the jar inheavenwith tears of his beloved ones.

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