ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how rituals deal with grief and mourning. Mourning, the cultural complex of behaviors and expectations following the death of a loved one, normally facilitates the transition from the disturbed state of bereavement to a restoration of normal functioning, and this transition is accomplished in many ways worldwide. Death rituals are also transition rituals. At first glance, they serve a number of interconnected functions, and like all rituals studied so far, death rituals appear specifically designed to strengthen the connections of participants, not only with each other, but with the deceased whom they have just lost. Separation rites surrounding death include transporting the corpse in a special way, burning his possessions, killing his slaves or wives or animals, washing, purifying, and various taboos. Anthropologist Robert Hertz's classic essay on mortuary ritual complements van Gennep's analysis. The three Cross-Cultural Themes are The Dangerous Dead; Ritually Sculpting the Emotionality of Mourning; and Cultural Beliefs and the Emotional Expression of Mourning.
