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Death Rituals (Ongoing)




Sokushinbutsu

Between 1081 and 1903, around 20 living Shingon monks successfully mummified themselves in an attempt at sokushinbutsu or becoming “a Buddha in this body.”sokushinbutsu


Preparation usually began over 3,000 days in advance of their death by sticking to a strict diet of pine needles, resins, and seeds. When ready, the perspective mummy would slowly reduce then stop all liquid intake, thus dehydrating the body and shrinking all organs. While undergoing starvation, it was common for monks to ingest toxic nuts and herbs to inhibit the growth of bacteria in their bodies. A popular drink was tea made from the bark of the Urushi tree, also known as the Japanese Varnish Tree. The tea would make them vomit, sweat and urinate frequently leeching almost all moisture from the body. Drinking this tea hastened the monk's death while helping to preserve his body from the inside out.


At the end of this second period of one thousand days, the monk would lock himself in a stone tomb, with limited space for him to sit in the lotus position. He would neither eat nor drink, but only sit in stillness, breathing from an air tube inserted in the tomb and ringing a bell each day to let those outside know he was still alive.





The day that the bell remained silent, it was understood that the Sokushinbutsu monk had died. The monks would die in a state of meditation, and their body would be naturally preserved as a mummy with skin and teeth intact without decay.





Smoking

In the Menyama region of Papua New Guinea, for the last several hundred years the Anga tribe have been practicing a form of mummification that involves smoking the meat of their dead. Once smoked, the mummies aren’t buried in tombs or graves; instead, they are placed on steep cliffs, so that they overlook the village below.


The elaborate process begins by slicing open the knees, elbows, feet, and other joints. Hollow bamboo poles were then inserted in the slits, as well as the stomach of the body to evacuate its contents. The bodies are then smoked for over a month until all bodily fluids have dripped out of the numerous cuts made in the body, as well as through the bamboo tubes.


The fluid that is collected is massaged by the villagers over their own bodies, as a mean to transfer the power of the deceased to the living. Anga mummies can be found in several villages of Papua New Guinea's Aseki District.



Amputations



Staying with the good people of Papua New Guinea, the Dani tribe see a direct relationship between physical and emotional pain. When their loved ones die, female members of the remote tribe have the upper half of their fingers amputated in a ritual to ward off spirits. It’s believed finger cutting keeps the deceased person’s restless spirit away, as well as symbolising the pain of bereavement.

Although the practice was stopped years ago by the government, many older female tribe members are walking relics with their mutilated fingers and hands. However, it’s believed that this unusual practice of finger amputation still goes on behind closed doors.






Skull Burial

On a tiny reef island in the Pacific the people of Kiribati had a complex burial ritual for their dead. Although historical accounts seem to vary quite a lot, it is believed that the burial ritual included keeping the body of the deceased in the family’s home for up to twelve days depending on the individual’s social standing, cleaning and oiling the decomposing flesh and organs before burying the body underground near the family’s home.



After several months the body was exhumed then reburied minus the skull which was taken back home to be polished with scented oil and offered food and tobacco. It was then displayed on a shelf as a symbol of the native god Nakaa’s acceptance of the deceased’s spirit and to invite the spirit to return.

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