ABSTRACT
Anthropologists, starting with Hertz, have claimed death as their object of study. They have been able to do so by transforming death from a purely biological into a pre-eminently social phenomenon. In a sense, it is somewhat misleading to say that the spirit of the dead enters the dream of the living, since these dreams are more like encounters between fellow spirits. During sleep, the fanahy of living people temporarily detaches itself from the body and wanders until waking time. Dreams about one’s dead relatives must be promptly recounted to members of one’s immediate family and to the senior person who has the authority to call upon the particular individual who appeared in the dream. Many dreams become known only after they have caused illness or death. This is typically the case of children’s dreams. Adults are adamant that their children do not understand anything about what happens to people after death.
