medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
As I recall from the
original posting (which is getting a bit vague in my memory) it was the claim of
a funeral
director (not a historian) that the
deceased would not be able to recognize family members.
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.
I´m guessing that this is
just a guess by the funeral director. He's the one who should be
asked
for his sources (and their date!
For some people anything before the 20th century seems to
count as the "Middle
Ages".)
Meg
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
culture Hi Everyone,
I really would like to go back to the original
posting as there is another thing mentioned there which has not been followed
up: that of the spirits.
Black was supposedly worn so that the spirit of
the deceased couldn't recognise the family members and friends.
That
really interests me because why shouldn't the deceased recognise family and
friends. In the case of murder ok, but if you bury a loved one then i expect
the spirit of the deceased would be happy to know that he/she is in the
company of family and friends.
Any ideas on how to go about this
question?
Were the spirits of the ancestors not valued?
greetings,
Ursula
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