Lonely Planet's guide to death, grief and rebirth How global grieving customs can help us live (and die) well

Anita Isalska

Book - 2024

"How do cultures around the world grieve their loved ones? From Tibetan sky burials and Māori mourning customs to Swedish death cleaning, Irish wakes and Buddhism's bardos, this enthralling book reveals the different ways in which people approach life's one certainty: death. Through the four themes of celebrating, commemorating, mourning and offering, we illuminate more than 35 life-affirming traditions. Along the way, we'll highlight places and festivals that can be visited, such as Mexico's Day of the Dead and the catacombs of Paris. Local contributors provide personal perspective on many customs, revealing how they can help us all live (and die) well."--Page [4] of cover.

Saved in:
1 copy ordered
Subjects
Published
Dublin, Ireland : Lonely Planet Global Limited 2024.
Language
English
Main Author
Anita Isalska (author)
Other Authors
Joseph Bindloss (author)
Item Description
Includes index.
Physical Description
237 pages : color illustrations ; 22 cm
ISBN
9781837580057
  • Introduction
  • Celebrating
  • The Irish wake
  • New Orleans' jazz funerals
  • No expense spared in China
  • Gai Jatra in Nepal
  • Mexico's Día de Muertos
  • Turning of the bones, Madagascar
  • Ikwa ozu of the Igbo people, Nigeria
  • Dead can dance: festivals and celebrations of death
  • Commemorating
  • Merry cemetery of Romania
  • Memento mori photographs
  • Realms of bone: remarkable catacombs
  • South Korean burial beads
  • Fantasy coffins of Ghana
  • Reuniting with the dead in Sulawesi
  • Papua New Guinea's mummies
  • Pet cemeteries
  • Alternative farewells
  • Preserving heroes for eternity
  • High-rise homes for the dead
  • Mourning
  • Death wailing
  • Islamic funeral customs
  • Lakota soul keepers
  • Maori mourning ceremonies
  • Ritual finger amputation
  • Life, death and the Dreaming
  • Jewish mourning around the world
  • The people paid to weep
  • Symbols of death and rebirth
  • Offering
  • Zoroastrian towers of silence
  • Balinese cremation
  • End-of-life doulas
  • Swedish death cleaning
  • Buddhism's sixth Bardo
  • Green burials
  • Varanasi's cremation ghats
  • Jainism's gentle art of dying
  • Hanging coffins of Sagada
  • Tibetan sky burials
  • Remembered in stone: the world's most impressive tombs
  • Index
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

"There's no single way to grieve," according to this surprisingly upbeat debut guide to mourning customs across the globe. Among other traditions, Isalska overviews New Orleans funeral jazz processions ("a celebration of the departed's life--and of life itself"); Ghana's fantasy coffins (the dead are transported to the afterlife in caskets shaped "like ships, chilli peppers or airplanes"); and Balinese Hindu cremation ceremonies intended to "free the soul from earthly ties and ensure a serene afterlife." Paid mourners rend their clothes and wail across the globe, and festivals to honor ancestors take place across cultures, from China's Hungry Ghost Festival (where ritual feasts for the dead are held in Buddhist temples) to India's Pitru Paksha (during which families perform rites in hopes of helping their ancestors achieve enlightenment). Throughout, Isalska calls for normalizing discussions around death, and makes the case that awareness of one's mortality can provide wisdom for the here and now. Isalska's upbeat tone and insight into the nitty-gritty of death rituals (including whether travelers may participate in them) result in an eye-opening tour of the varied ways cultures grapple with what lies beyond. Readers will be glad to take the trip. (July)

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