Feelings towards death and afterlife

I'd like to do a little comparison.
What are the feelings towards death in your culture, society, tribe?

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In Baltic folk songs the general feeling is that death is something mystical and unknown, and at the same time something very important, big and sacred, and natural.

Sad are more those who stay on, than those who are dead. The dead are mostly sad that they won't see the Sun (a goddess) any more, but otherwise under the Earth (another goddess) there is a solemn peace and light singing. Earth protects the dead from the elements of nature, the grave is clean with white sand, around it the sea rushes, the winds sing and the trees play on pipes.
A very meditative picture.

To do a broad generalization Balts are melancholic fatalists. The feeling is that we feel somewhat dead even when alive, and somewhat alive even being dead.
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Death is something I talk about all the time, much to my husband's discomfort. Our children (9 & 16) and I have our headstones picked out. We have the songs we want played at our funerals picked out. (Another One Bites the Dust, me. Ring of Fire, 16 yr old. Wheels on the Bus, 9 yr old)
My daughter goes to church and is a believer. She doesn't think of it as dying, just moving to a different town. My son wants a wooden box and the biggest ass headstone we can afford. He is not a believer.
My Mom's main worry in life is that she won't see me in heaven.
You have to have death to make life matter.

I always wondered why people prayed for the dead. Hasn't their eternity already been decided?

 

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Sorry, to clarify - a Christian church? In which country? To what culture do you belong to?
Is your attitude similar to the one of your society?
Thanks

 

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I was raised in a Berean Fundamentalist church in the Midwest, USA. I am the only atheist I know. All my family and friends are believers. My attitude is live and let live, so no, its not the same as my society.

 

Here is one Balt folk song, I did the translation.
And one more.

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Viena pati balta puķe manā kapu kalniņā // One alone white flower on my burrial hill
Es liecosi puķi rauti, iekrīt kapu dibināi // I tried to pick the flower, but fell into the bottom of the graves

Zeme, Zeme, Saule, Saule ar manāmi ienaidā // Earth, Earth, Sun, Sun are in feud with me
Zemi minu kājiņāmi, ko Saulīte Tev darīju? // I was stepping on Earth with my feet, What did I do to you, Sun?

Ai Zemīte trūdaliņa, tu trūdini dažu labu // Oh, putrefacting Earth [diminutive form], you putrefy some
Tu trūdini kokiem saknes, dažu mātes lolojumu // You putrefy the roots of trees, some beloved of a mother

Kur palika baltie sniegi, kur daļieji augumiņ? // Where did the white snows go, where the beautiful bodies?
Saule ēda baltu sniegu, Zeme daiļus augumiņus // The Sun ate the white snow, the Earth the beautiful bodies

Sak Zemīte ļaunu dara, Zeme dara visu labu // Some say the Earth does evil, the Earth does all good
Zema deva ēsti, dzerti, glabā manu augumiņu // The Earth gave me to eat and to drink, it keeps my body

Kas kait manim negulēti baltā smilkšu kalniņāi // What harms me to sleep in a white sand hill
Ne man pūta auksti vēji, ne saldēji rīta rasa // No cold winds blow on me, the morning dew doesn't make me cold

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Lien pelīte pazemēi, // Crawl little mouse under the Earth,
apraug manu mūža māju // look at my eternal house

Vai rūsēja, vai pelēja, // Dit it rust, did it mildew,
vai skandēja staigājoti // or did it chime while walking?

Nerūsēja, nepelēja, // Didn't rust, didn't mildew
skandēt skan staigājoti // chiming sounds while walking.

Jūdzat bērus, jūdzat raudus, // Harness the mourns, harness the cries,
vedat mani smilktienāji // take me to the sands

Pāries raudi, pāries bēri, // The crying will end, the mourning will end,
es mūžāmi nepāriešu // I won't end for eternity

Es mūžāmi nepāriešu, // I won't end for eternity,
jūsu durvis virināti. // opening your doors

Jūsu durvis virināti, // Opening your doors,
alus kannas skandināti. // clinking your beer cans

Jūs ēdisit, jūs dzersit, // You will eat, you will drink,
es gulēšu smilktienāji // I will sleep in sands

Es gulēšu smilktienāji,// I will sleep in sands,
Kāmēr saule debesīs. // while the Sun is in the sky.

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Dzīvoš ilgi, nedzīvošu, Saules mūžu nedzīvoš // I will live long, won't live, won't live the life of the Sun

Ūdentiņis, akmentiņis, tas dzīvoj Saules mūž // Water, stone, it lives the life of the Sun

Padziedāju, palīksmoju, neilgāmi mans mūžiņš // Sang a bit, was merry a bit, not long is my life

Tik ilgāmi mans mūžiņš, kā vasaras launadziņš // As long is my life, as a summer lunch

Lai dzīvoju, cik dzīvoju, bet lustīgi padzīvoju // Even if I lived as long as I did, but I lived merry

Kad nomiršu, tad gulēšu kā kociņa gabaliņš // When I die, then I will sleep like a piece of wood [diminutive form]

Šai saulēi dzīvodamis, viņu sauli daudzināju // Living in this sun [world], I was praising the next

Šī saulīte ciemotiesi, tā visāmi mūžiņam // This sun [world] is for visiting, the next for all eternity

 

Since some don't even bother to read the first post before replying (off topic posts deleted), I'll make it in big and bold:

What are the feelings towards death in your culture, society, tribe?
Not individual you, but your society in general.

 

Well, I'm a fifteen year old living in the North-West of Ireland, in a very rural area, and the general society are Catholic and strong believers, but it's slightly pagan too. It's different in the sense that we have Celtic crosses (a cross with a sun around it) instead of crucifixes and most of our religious holidays come from old pagan holidays.
For example, Saint Brigid's day is the same date as the old pagan festival Imbolc. Halloween, which originated in Ireland, is on the same date as the old Celtic New Year, Samhain. There are plenty of other examples too. Most children are also told old Pagan stories about various gods etc.
In Ireland, people pray more to Mary, the mother of Jesus, than anyone else. She is called 'Queen of Ireland', and a lot of people say a rosary to her every day (1 Apostles Creed, 6 Our Fathers, 5 Fatima Prayers, 5 Glory Be, and 53 Hail Marys). Mary has always had a special position in the hearts of Catholics in Ireland, because female religious figures were always more important in Pagan times.
As for death, everyone believes that you go to Heaven, and that it is very important that you get Anointing of the Sick, and a Funeral to get you there.

 

Thanks for the information.

But tell, is the current Irish idea of Heaven mostly a pure Christian one or it is noticeably intermixed with the Celtic idea of Otherworld and are the souls of dead people more thought of as in Christian tradition, or in the Celtic spirit tradition?

I.e., in Celtic tradition, as to my knowledge, spirits are associated with their resting place, and that those spirits continue to have a relationship with it, are the guardians of it, give a special spiritual charge to the said place. Then there's also the idea of sleeping heroes that will awaken in the time of need.
And is there still the belief that a spirit of a deceased person can inhibit other animals and objects like stones, trees, etc?

 

Its part of the circle of life, the harmony of the universe, the recycling and rejuvenation of the energy that is "living"; its destiny. In Indian society that is.

 

I live in Canada and we no longer have a culture.

 

Death is very taboo in my culture (Cyprus--Greek Orthodox Christians), nobody ever discusses it, people are generally afraid of death. Personally, I have no problem about dying, I just don't want a long, slow, painful one.

 

In Latvia for centuries we have this weird grave-going tradition. Basically it means that every weekend early in the mornings old people go and visit graveyards where their relatives lay.
If you happen to return from a party early at Saturday morning, the public transport is full of them. They go, tend the graves, talk with them, etc.
We even have Kapu svētki which directly translated is Graveyard celebrations. Then the graveyards are full of lit candles and festive old people. :bugeye:

Needless to say that I don't understand them, but it's a mass occurance worth mentioning.
As I already said: ..Balts are melancholic fatalists. The feeling is that we feel somewhat dead even when alive, and somewhat alive even being dead.

 

Well, where I live, people my age fear death, think it's really scary, but hope to God (literally actually) that Heaven exists, and that they will go to it and be happy.
mod edit: Provita (location) New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; (age) 16

 

If you want to know what we in the US think about death, check out any zombie movie.

We think the dead are horrible monsters who want to eat our brains and make us one of them.

 

Really?

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So, what do atheists think of death? We, actually, have nothing in common except a non-belief in "spirits" so I cannot generalize. I just know that I want to live as long as it takes to finish my "mission" in life, my webpage ("humanpurpose.simplenet"). Other than that, I am perfectly willing to accept an end that is truly THE END. The way I see it, Schopenhaur was right. Life is only postponed death...

charles

 

Americans are a very disparate tribe. The only thing we have in common is a passion for individualism in life and death. our views are individualized even on a family level. I believe in heaven as a place that you go if you have accepted the path of jesus. Hell is more of a storage until your soul is finally destroyed/recycled. I believe that god gives alot of chances and who am I to know maybe there is one last chance after you are dead? In my family we have an agnostic/atheist and a right wing heaven or hell boys pick your team and play. We also have sveral different brands of christianity represented in our family. As far as dying goes we are all almost nordic in our belief that it is something that will happen so you prepare for it but we do not worry about it. We all live as honestly to our philosophies as possible. We worry about getting old and helpless far more than we do about dying. I guess this is one of the reasons we are so militaristicly inclined.

 

i died and could not enter the temple,so i was brought back to earth school to learn "forgiveness" i miss my cosmic family very much

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Kapuamototoro ( the ancient one ) "death isnt extinguishing the light,its putting out the candle because dawn has come"
peace to you all!

 

All I know is that, universally, people try hard not to die. Even those that believe in an afterlife.

 

i am american.
america is the only place on earth where death is optional.
that should sum it up nicely.