Veneration of the dead (ancestor worship)

Overview

Veneration of the dead refers to the continued expression of respect for loved ones after their death. While venerated loved ones are most often family members, they may also be close friends. Veneration of the dead encompasses the belief that the departed continue to exist in some form after death and possess the ability to influence people’s lives. Venerating loved ones may include actions such as putting flowers on gravesites or asking the departed for favors.

The terms “veneration of the dead” and “ancestor worship” are sometimes used interchangeably, although they differ in meaning. Ancestor worship is more closely tied to the obeisance of gods and may involve actions such as the worship of idols or totems. With ancestor worship, the dead are considered to have powers that are equivalent to a god’s, whereas, with veneration, one’s deceased relatives, which may or may not include ancestors, are considered more like messengers between humans and God. Because of this, many cultures do not refer to veneration of the dead as ancestor worship.

Veneration of the dead is not practiced in the same way in all cultures; however, most cultures share the belief that since the dead were once human, they understand human needs better than God. In many cultures, veneration of the dead refers to people asking loved ones for favorable intervention in their lives. In some cultures, however, veneration of the dead is mostly filial. For example, children may take actions such as caring for gravesites to honor their parents in their afterlives, often called grave maintenance or tomb sweeping.

Veneration of the dead is an important part of many religious practices. For example, the Roman Catholic Church venerates saints as messengers between people and God. It also advocates praying for those in purgatory, a place between heaven and hell. In some religions, however, veneration of the dead is considered idolatry and a sin.

Ancient civilizations also revered their dead loved ones. Among them were ancient Egypt and Rome. The ancient Egyptians believed that people traveled into an afterlife when they died. To ensure they had what they needed, they buried their kings and queens in elaborate burial tombs filled with their personal possessions. They mummified their rulers, believing that this process was necessary to ensure a successful journey to immortality. During mummification, most internal organs were removed and preserved. The brain was also removed but not preserved. The body was then dried with salt, treated with oils, and tightly wrapped in bandages. Small figures called shabtis were buried with the dead to help them navigate the journey into the afterlife. Mummification was an expensive, time-consuming process, so it was not available to everyone. The ancient Egyptians believed that they could communicate with the dead through letters, and the dead might visit them in their dreams.

People in ancient Rome had some similar beliefs. They also believed that steps must be followed during burial to ensure a successful passage to immortality. They held enormous funeral processions for the wealthy that were attended by musicians and actors wearing funeral masks. The bodies of the dead were often cremated. The remaining ashes and bone fragments were put in a funerary urn and eventually into a burial tomb. The ancient Romans believed that until the body was interred, its spirit, or "shade," was still present, staying near family and friends. It could be angered if someone said something bad about it. The family was the responsibility for maintaining the burial tombs of their loved ones. The ancient Romans believed that some special individuals from families would be transformed into spirits called manes that watched over and protected them.

North America

Ancestor worship is not as widely practiced in North America as in some other parts of the world, but North Americans take part in various celebrations venerating the dead. Like other cultures, North Americans have religious and cultural customs related to the veneration of the dead. Venerating people who died in war is a common cultural practice in the United States and Canada. In the United States, Memorial Day is an annual holiday in May. The holiday originated in the United States in the late 1800s as a way of honoring soldiers who died in the American Civil War. Modern Memorial Day celebrations include holding parades, decorating the graves of people who died in war, and wearing red poppies in honor of those who died in war. Although the holiday is officially meant to celebrate people who died in service, many Americans also venerate other dead loved ones by visiting and decorating their graves. In Canada, people celebrate Remembrance Day on November 11 to honor those who died fighting in a war and others who served in wars. This holiday, also known as Poppy Day because of the tradition of wearing red poppies, began as a celebration called Armistice Day, which commemorated the end of World War I. Canadians celebrate this holiday by observing a moment of silence and holding several solemn ceremonies.

Among the most well-known ancestor worship practices from North America is Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead). This holiday is a custom in parts of Mexico and originated as a blend of Mesoamerican and Spanish religious and cultural traditions. The celebration takes place between November 1 and 2, with some rural areas celebrating for days or weeks longer. Before European colonization, cultures in modern-day Mexico honored their dead with ceremonies venerating the bones of the dead. These traditions developed in part because these cultures believed that dead ancestors helped protect them and ensure good harvests. These celebrations were generally held in August of each year. When the Spanish colonized parts of the Americas starting in the 1500s, they imposed Catholicism on those regions, making Catholic traditions more common. The Catholic holidays All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) are solemn celebrations in which Catholics remember their ancestors and pray for the souls in purgatory. Día de Muertos resulted as a mixture of the traditional cultural traditions and the Spanish traditions.

Día de Muertos is a festive celebration that takes place in some parts of Mexico and is meant to celebrate the lives of the dead, rather than mourn them. People often celebrate by visiting loved one’s gravesites, making altars for the dead, and leaving offerings of food and drink for the dead. An important part of the celebration is the tradition of Choo Ba’ak, which is a ritual involving the washing, cleaning, and storing of the bones of loved ones. People usually undertake this tradition three years after someone has died. They wash and dry the bones and then store them in ossuaries.

In addition to contributing to Día de Muertos celebrations, Catholicism has influenced other ancestor worship traditions in North America. In the 2020s, the United States and Mexico had some of the largest Catholic populations in the world. Catholics throughout North America celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day in November by attending religious ceremonies, praying for souls in purgatory, and learning about especially religious ancestors.

Europe

Ancestor worship was common among many ancient European cultures, including ancient Roman, Norse, and Celtic cultures. Christianity spread to numerous parts of Europe after the third century CE. As the religion spread, its practices replaced or mixed with many traditional pagan practices. For example, the veneration of martyrs (or people who died for religion) became common among Christians. In modern Europe, the veneration of the dead is still commonly associated with Christianity. European Catholics celebrate the holidays of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Catholics, Anglicans, and some other Christians also celebrate St. Martin’s Day, or Martinstag. This holiday is the feast day of a fourth-century saint who was a Roman soldier before being baptized a Christian. Not all countries celebrate the holiday in the same way, but some cultures view this celebration—which takes place on November 11—as the end of the All Saints Day and All Souls Day celebrations. In some parts of Europe, St. Martin’s Day celebrations are similar to Halloween celebrations in the United States. In some places, children parade along streets holding lanterns. They sing songs and get sweets or baked goods from the homes they visit.

Europeans also have some secular traditions to venerate the dead. For example, Remembrance Day is celebrated in the United Kingdom, France, and some other European countries. This celebration, which has the same origins as Remembrance Day in Canada, is celebrated differently in different areas, but most celebrations include solemn ceremonies and the decoration of the graves of those who died in war.

Asia

Many Asian practices of venerating the dead involve rituals and sacrificial offerings. The ancient Chinese believed that certain rituals must be performed to give the deceased the best chance at being able to cross either the Golden Bridge or the Silver Bridge. Those crossing the Golden Bridge achieved nirvana, which was a complete release from the cycle of rebirth. Those crossing the Silver Bridge went to heaven. Souls crossing this bridge were reborn as gods and became important leaders. However, most people who died were not allowed to cross either bridge. They had to face judgment before the ten Magistrates of Hell. The point of the rituals was to get the deceased through these Magistrates as quickly as possible.

The Chinese also conducted shi (personator) ceremonies to communicate with the dead. During these ceremonies, the individual appointed as the shi would receive the ancestral spirit in their body. The food and drink consumed by the shi would go to the ancestral spirit. The shi could also give people messages from their deceased loved ones.

In India, the spirits of loved ones are venerated through mourning and offerings of food. When someone dies, the person’s family mourns for thirteen days. On the anniversary of the person’s death, the family makes offerings to the deceased, which usually consists of the person’s favorite foods. People feed this food to birds because they believe the person’s soul will visit them in the form of a bird.

Some in India celebrate the Shradh, which lasts for fifteen days. During this time, people pray for and worship their ancestors because such individuals are ultimately responsible for their physical existence. They begin by worshipping their father and mother, and then grandfather and grandfather. They go back for as many generations as they can remember. This is done for both paternal and maternal ancestors. Food is offered for the ancestors they cannot remember. This often includes wheat flour, rice, milk pudding, and vegetables. During the Shradh, people believe that their deceased loved ones may appear in dreams to warn them of possible danger in the upcoming year.

In South Korea, people often have celebrations in honor of the deceased. Some of these take place on the day of the person’s death. A paper screen is set up behind a low table that is used only during these celebrations. Spirit tablets bearing ancestors’ names are placed in front of the tablet. Food must be placed on certain areas of the table. Rice, meat, and white fruits are placed on the part of the table facing the west. Soup, fish, and red meats are placed on the eastern portion of the table. Individual offerings are also made. Those made to male ancestors are placed on the west and those made to female ancestors are placed to the east. However, due to the work involved and the expense of these celebrations, some families have given up the practice.

In twenty-first-century Vietnam and much of East Asia, many individuals honor their ancestors by burning incense and talking to their ancestors about their lives regularly. Honoring ancestors in this way is closely associated with the Confucian concept of filial piety, which holds that children must respect and care for their parents and elders throughout their lives and their afterlives. Traditionally, the duty of filial piety only ends once the child themselves dies.

Africa

Among the cultures of Africa, the belief that deceased family members maintain a vital role in the well-being of the family and community at large is a foundational pillar of traditional African spiritual beliefs. Although Africa is home to many religious traditions, most adhere to the fundamental concept that a god or great spiritual force created the world. The god then removed itself from direct involvement in its creation while lesser deities or spirits oversee everyday life on Earth. In many African cultures, the spirits of deceased family members act as intermediaries between the living and spiritual worlds.

Traditional African religions believe that the universe is filled with a powerful spiritual force that flows down throughout creation. This force is stronger in some beings than in others, creating a sort of spiritual hierarchy in the universe. The creator god is at the top of the hierarchy and is usually followed by lesser deities and nature spirits. However, in some cultures, deceased ancestral spirits are thought to be the primary intervening forces in the hierarchy.

In traditional African spiritual beliefs, family members do not disappear from the world when they die. Instead, their spirits remain a tangible part of the physical world, watching over their living family members and their community. Although family members may have died, the living consider them to be active members of the family unit. The departed ancestors are the first spirits the living seek out to ask for divine help. However, the spirits of the dead must be treated with respect for the requests of the living to be granted. Typically, this is done by making small offerings of food or drink, making animal sacrifices, or adhering to traditional rituals. If the dead are not treated with the proper respect, they may become angry and bring misfortune such as illness upon the family. In many cultures, bad luck and misfortune are not considered accidents but are caused directly by the actions of displeased ancestral spirits.

According to African tradition, the veneration of deceased ancestors begins before their death, as the older members of a community are considered closer to the spiritual realm than younger members. Older family members are believed to contain more of the universal spiritual force because they will soon be crossing into the spirit world. Other family members treat their elders with great respect, hoping that when they do pass away, they will bring good fortune to their community.

One of the strongest traditions of the veneration of the dead is found among the Zulu people of South Africa. The Zulu believe in an omnipotent creator god named Unkulunkulu, but directly below him in the spiritual hierarchy are the deceased spirits of the Zulu ancestors. The Zulu believe that humans are made up of a physical body and several spiritual essences similar to souls. One of those essences, the isithunzi, or “shadow soul,” transforms into an ancestral spirit after death. However, the living must first perform a special ritual to enable the transformation to succeed.

In the Asante culture of Ghana, the living worship ancestors from the mother’s side of the family. Another Ghanian people, the Tallensi, venerate the dead from the father’s side. The Nuer people of Sudan worship their ancestors with a sacrifice of cattle. However, the Nuer believe that newly deceased ancestors bring only misfortune and focus their worship on those long-dead.

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