Another forgotten superstition involves the covering of mirrors. This may have been done to prevent the deceased's spirit being upset on seeing its own ghostly image after death.
In parts of Germany and in Belgium, it was long customary to cover mirrors with a white cloth because it was thought that if a person saw his or her image in a mirror after a death in the household, that person would die shortly.
During shiva, the seven-day ritual of mourning after a death, mirrors often are covered for two reasons: They eliminate any chance of distracting a mourner from concentrating on his deceased friend or family member (e.g., no temptation to check makeup or preen hair).
Mirrors. Individuals who are in mourning, or in a shiva home, are required to cover mirrors from the time an individual dies until the end of shiva. There are several reasons Judaism requires this. The first reason may stem from the idea that man was created in the image of God.
'Because sleep has been seen as a tiny death in ancient cultures, covering the mirrors helps keep your spirit from leaving the body or welcoming other spirits to your home or dream world,' Anthony says. 'It aids in resting and brings us safely to morning.
Positioning your bed in line with the door is the worst possible position, according to the principles of Feng shui. People who practice Feng shui call it the 'dead man's position' or the 'coffin position' because the feet or head face the door and resemble how we carry the dead through open doors from the house.
Seeing these things will worsen your day and a tense atmosphere will follow you everywhere. Similarly, it is considered inauspicious to see face in the mirror as soon as we wake up in the morning. In such a situation, your whole day can be spoilt.
Someone has died, and stopping the clocks in the house of the deceased, silencing them, is an old tradition, similar to closing the blinds or curtains and covering the mirrors. The clock would be set going again after the funeral. Some people believe stopping the clock was to mark the exact time the loved one had died.
It is a common practice to cover the legs as there is swelling in the feet and shoes don't fit. As part of funeral care, the body is dressed and preserved, with the prime focus on the face. Post embalming, bodies are often placed without shoes; hence covering the legs is the way to offer a dignified funeral.
They can not only help you plan the process, but they will also take care of the remains until the funeral takes place. Families who opted for a burial can expect the body to remain at a mortuary for around 4-6 weeks at the most, but those who have chosen cremation can benefit from more flexibility.
Once a funeral home has picked up the body and brought it to their facility, they will then clean and dress and/or shroud the body. Afterward, the body will be placed in refrigeration to keep it cool until the day of burial, at which point the body will be transported to the burial site.
We place a rosary in the hands of the deceased before burial. Usually a family member or close friend cuts the rosary held by the deceased in the belief that another death in the family will not follow. Those who are very superstitious and afraid of ghosts may wear the color red to drive the loved one's spirit away.
Cremation does not “prevent God, in his omnipotence, from raising up the deceased body to new life,” the Vatican says, but it does raise the possibility that the deceased's body, which the church believes is sacred, will not be properly respected by ancestors and relatives.
When the window is ajar. Opening the window after someone dies is a tradition that hasn't died out. All over the world many nurses and families abide by this practice. It is said the souls of ancestors gather at the time of death of a family member and, regardless, this aids the soul transitioning to the next world.
Occasionally a funeral director or family liaison officer will advise a family against viewing the body because of bodily injuries or because of decomposition.
When the cortege is ready to leave, the funeral director will ask everyone to make their way to their cars. The funeral director will then walk in front of the hearse for a short distance. This is a mark of respect to the deceased and also gives following cars an opportunity to join the cortege.
If the coffin is sealed in a very wet, heavy clay ground, the body tends to last longer because the air is not getting to the deceased. If the ground is light, dry soil, decomposition is quicker. Generally speaking, a body takes 10 or 15 years to decompose to a skeleton.
In a closed casket funeral, the casket remains closed during the viewing and the funeral service. Family members and guests are not able to see the body, and some prefer this option for a variety of reasons.
If you are looking at a long-lasting ground casket, pick a steel or metal casket. If the grave site is low on water content or moisture, metal caskets are known to last even longer, over five decades. Under favorable weather conditions, experts say that metal caskets may even last more than that – up to 80 years.
Death just became even more scary: scientists say people are aware they're dead because their consciousness continues to work after the body has stopped showing signs of life. That means that, theoretically, someone may even hear their own death being announced by medics.
Touch and hearing are the last senses to go when we die.
In reference to a recently deceased person, the late shows respect. It's often used to inform or remind readers that a mentioned person has died recently, and it's sometimes a polite way of saying recently deceased, even when virtually everyone knows that the person is recently deceased.
Most experts also say that a mirror facing the bed depletes your personal energy and creates sleeplessness. Because the mirror doubles and bounces all sorts of energy, it disrupts the tranquility needed in a bedroom for better sleep.
But, as well causing nightmares, the mirror in front of your bed could also be causing insomnia too, by depleting your person energy. That's because mirrors are said to double and bounce back the energy in the room, which can in turn disrupt the tranquillity required to get those precious Zs.
Mirrors are thought to bounce energy around the bedroom, which may result in restlessness and amplify worries. It's especially important not to hang a mirror on the wall opposite your bed.