ABSTRACT
Emotional expression is particularly important in light of the fact that shock and disbelief characterizes the initial encounter with death. One is numb, dazed, empty, and cold. Pre-reflectively, one erects a barrier to overwhelming sorrow. If biological-medical bases ever are helpful in the negotiation of psychological chores, they have nothing to contribute to the algebra of loss. Passion evidently terrifies Western consciousness, nonetheless, because mainstream philosophy and psychology only “squint at it” and demean it. Sigmund Freud’s pioneering work gives the seminal and decisive picture of the ties that bind people, of how the work unfolds, and what gives it its moving power and thrust. Rituals are precious and useful because they express emotions too deep for words. The Roman and Orthodox Catholic churches are also intensely ritualistic, employing incense, icons, stained glass windows, statues, and especially music to evoke mystery, to present tapestries of beauty, and to provoke emotion.
