Funeral rites and the cult of ancestors. From the covenant of Odin and necromancy to ghouls and the funeral of Yarilo
19.99 €
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Funeral rites and the cult of ancestors. From the covenant of Odin and necromancy to ghouls and the funeral of Yarilo
19.99 €
The experience of overcoming death in funeral rites is the starting point of all human culture. People burned the bodies of their loved ones, saw them off on their final journey with rich feasts, placed jewelry in their graves, preserved and decorated their skulls. But what is the true meaning of these rites? And what can they tell us about ourselves - about man as a whole?
Vladimir Petrukhin's book is a deep and fascinating story about hundreds of rites and beliefs from all over the world associated with death and the dead: from Judeo-Christian myths about the first murder to Scandinavia and Ancient Rus', from the dried heads of African tribes to Vedic India and the peoples of the North.
Why is it customary to carry the dead out in a coffin feet first? How is Christian hell connected with the pagan goddess Hel? Why are the dead "food for the gods" and where does the smoke of the funeral pyre point? Why did they additionally pierce the skull of a deceased ascetic in India? Why did the Greeks forbid excessive grief over the dead? What does Napoleon have in common with Odin, and what do the Slavic Kostroma and Yarilo have in common with the Middle Eastern resurrection gods? Finally, why is it common to laugh at funerals?
You will learn about the various rituals that helped the dead find their way to the afterlife, and the living to avoid their return in the form of monsters. And also about why humanity has abandoned attempts to magically overcome death, but has not stopped dreaming of immortality.
Vladimir Petrukhin's book is a deep and fascinating story about hundreds of rites and beliefs from all over the world associated with death and the dead: from Judeo-Christian myths about the first murder to Scandinavia and Ancient Rus', from the dried heads of African tribes to Vedic India and the peoples of the North.
Why is it customary to carry the dead out in a coffin feet first? How is Christian hell connected with the pagan goddess Hel? Why are the dead "food for the gods" and where does the smoke of the funeral pyre point? Why did they additionally pierce the skull of a deceased ascetic in India? Why did the Greeks forbid excessive grief over the dead? What does Napoleon have in common with Odin, and what do the Slavic Kostroma and Yarilo have in common with the Middle Eastern resurrection gods? Finally, why is it common to laugh at funerals?
You will learn about the various rituals that helped the dead find their way to the afterlife, and the living to avoid their return in the form of monsters. And also about why humanity has abandoned attempts to magically overcome death, but has not stopped dreaming of immortality.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series Myths from start to finish