funeral
Sign in to saveA funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial, entombment or cremation with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the dead, from interment, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. Customs vary between cultures and religious groups. Funerals have both normative and legal components. Common secular motivations for funerals include mourning the deceased, celebrating their life, and offering support and sympathy to the bereaved; a
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A funeral is a ceremony in which a community gathers to handle the final disposition of a deceased person—such as through burial, entombment, or cremation—along with related rituals and observances. Funerals matter because they serve important cultural, religious, and practical purposes: they allow people to mourn and honor the dead, celebrate their life, and provide support to those who are grieving.
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76 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Overview
- Locations
- Religious funerals
- Bahá'í Faith
- Buddhist
- Christian
- Hindu
- Zoroastrianism
- Islamic
- Jewish
- Sikh
- Celtic
- Western funerals
- Classical antiquity
- Ancient Greece
- Ancient Rome
- North American funerals
- Funeral
- Burial service
- Indigenous Americans
- California
- Western Yuman region
- Tongva
- Memorial services<!--'Memorial service' and 'Memorial services' redirect here-->
- European funerals
- Finland
- Iceland
- Italy
- Greece
- Poland
- Russia
- Scotland
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
- Wales
- Other types of funerals
- Celebration of life<!--'Life celebration' and 'Celebration of life' redirect here-->
- Jazz funeral
- Green
- Humanist and civil<!--'Civil funeral' and 'Civil memorial service' redirect here-->
- Police/fire services
- Masonic
- Asian funerals
- In Japan
- In the Philippines
- In Korea
- In Mongolia
- In Vietnam
- African funerals
- North African
- Ancient
- Contemporary
- West African
- Ancient
- Contemporary
- East African
- Ancient
- Contemporary
- South African
- Ancient
- Contemporary
- Historical mausoleums
- China
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
- Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
- Mutes and professional mourners<!-- 'Mute (death customs)' redirects here -->
- State funeral
- Final disposition
- Self-planned funerals
- Organ donation and body donation
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial, entombment or cremation with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the dead, from interment, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. Customs vary between cultures and religious groups. Funerals have both normative and legal components. Common secular motivations for funerals include mourning the deceased, celebrating their life, and offering support and sympathy to the bereaved; additionally, funerals may have religious aspects that are intended to help the soul of the deceased reach the afterlife, resurrection or reincarnation.
The funeral usually includes a ritual through which the corpse receives a final disposition. Depending on culture and religion, these can involve either the destruction of the body (for example, by cremation, sky burial, decomposition, disintegration or dissolution) or its preservation (for example, by mummification). Differing beliefs about cleanliness and the relationship between body and soul are reflected in funerary practices. A memorial service (service of remembrance or celebration of life) is a funerary ceremony that is performed without the remains of the deceased person. In both a closed casket funeral and a memorial service, photos of the deceased representing stages of life would be displayed on an altar. Relatives or friends would give out eulogies in both services as well.