Customs
Further information: Veneration of the dead and Festival of the DeadDeath's finality and the relative lack of firm scientific understanding of its processes for most of human history have led to many different traditions and cultural rituals for dealing with death and remembrance. Some superstitions include: If you don't hold your breath while going by a graveyard, you will not be buried; a bird in the house is a sign of a death; and many more. A widely held custom is shutting the eyes of the deceased. In some cultures, the deceased's house was destroyed or burned; in other cultures, the doors and windows were left open to cleanse the house (and allow the spirit to escape.)
Read more about this topic: Death And Culture
Famous quotes containing the word customs:
“He is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“Is a civilization naturally backward because it is different? Outside of cannibalism, which can be matched in this country, at least, by lynching, there is no vice and no degradation in native African customs which can begin to touch the horrors thrust upon them by white masters. Drunkenness, terrible diseases, immorality, all these things have been gifts of European civilization.”
—W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt)
“The correct rate of speed in innovating changes in long-standing social customs has not yet been determined by even the most expert of the experts. Personally I am beginning to think there is more danger in lagging than in speeding up cultural change to keep pace with mechanical change.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)