medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: "Cormack, Margaret Jean" <[log in to unmask]>
>As I recall from the original posting...it was the claim of a funeral
director (not a historian) that the deceased would not be able to recognize
family members.
that's right.
>This strikes me as most unlikely, considering the number of folkloric ghosts
that return from the dead precisely to warn the living to reform their lives.
I´ve never heard or read of a recognition problem.
of course, the phenomenon (from our Rationalistic point of view) is purely the
creation of the *living*, not the dead. that being the case, recognition of
the former by the latter is a Given.
>I´m guessing that this is just a guess by the funeral director.
well, i guess it may have originally been a "guess", but i believe by now what
we're dealing with is a pretty solid piece of Undertakerly Folklore.
c
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