Funerals

Funeral rites are arguably as old as humanity itself, with evidence of hundreds of thousands of years old bodies being found with a layer of flower pollen. There are many different types of funeral and different rites are practised depending not only on a person’s faith but also where they live, and their particular culture. In the Christian West most funerals comprise of three parts, the visitation or ‘wake’, the funeral, and finally the burial or cremation. It is more common in Catholic denominations to view the body of the person that has died during the wake than in any other Christian sect, though sometimes other sects do practise this. After the burial or cremation, it is also traditional to hold a gathering or meal for the funeral attendees and sometimes other friends and family. Generally, if the burial is on the day of the funeral, only the deceased’s closest relatives and friends are allowed to attend the burial service. If the funeral immediately follows the burial however, usually everyone is allowed to attend both.

Other types of funerals include Humanist funerals, which are legal and commonly practised in the United Kingdom. These ceremonies recognise no after life as such, and instead focus on the celebration of the life of the individual who has died. Humanist ceremonies are popular with people who do not affiliate with a particular religious belief or cultural obligation, which are becoming more common among people in modern society.