Thursday, January 31, 2013
Laying to rest
The laying out of the dead happens in many
religions. A final procession of the bereaved to gaze upon the face of the
dearly departed seems inextricably bound up with primeval feelings. It is the
equivalent of putting your fingers in the nail holes of Christ. It is a public
affirmation before witnesses that this person is no more amongst us. For some
it is also a last glimpse of the wholeness of the individual. In the Azimuth
Trilogy there are many encounters with death and the handling of it among
different peoples and sects. The most ghastly punishment to be inflicted upon
the bereaved is to cut up the body and distribute it where it cannot be found
and made complete. I have long held the theory that the dismemberment of
corpses by psychopaths harks back to such primitive rituals.
Someone close to me has just died. In Ghana
this means the preparation of the body for the (in this case) church and the
last viewing where the congregation queue to pay their final respects
(sometimes as indicated in an earlier blog, up to a year after the formal
pronouncement of death, the body being kept nearly
frozen – not actually frozen as ice crystals form and disfigure).
Preparation involves making the person as near to the original as the cadavar
will allow. There is much veiled criticism if this is not done with sensitivity. The shroud (ie
the clothes to be worn in the coffin) must represent the style and character of
the deceased (a bohemian cannot be buried in dodgy stodgy old people’s dress).
They must be white for the marriage to God (or death as I, as a non-Christian, see it). They must be
specially made to be worn the once. The hair must be brushed at the very last to be
as naturally consonant with images people have of that individual, the face
must be made up with the cosmetics she used, there should be white socks and
often there must be extra undergarments so that the slow decay into fleshless
bone which often happens with the elderly, is disguised. In other words, the
final picture should be of rude health, a person somewhat younger than in this
final reckoning.
The Egyptians were rather good at all this
but the superstitions and taboos linger today. The send-off on the last
great journey requires many protocols, even, as in Ghana, where there is suspended
‘inanimation’ before the final goodbyes.
Labels: #Dying art. Presenting death.
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