Building Religions 29: Handling the Dead

Tell me how you die and I will tell you who you are.
—Octavio Paz

When considering what rituals are found in the world you're creating, you may find those surrounding death to offer the most helpful snapshot of a culture. By describing how a community treats death, you are also providing your audience with insights into an entire worldview: the relationship of humans and gods, the purpose of life, the nature of the afterlife (if there is one), and so on; even questions about the handling of the dead can help illuminate ideas about family, social status, or religious purity. Today's post, then, is aimed at covering some of these issues, with the goal of inspiring authors to consider a broader range of possibilities in their representation of death.