Question

how does African heritage deal with death : 1-who attends the dying 2- what happens to the body.3- what survivors thing happened to the person that died?

Answer 1

According to the African culture life is cyclical and not linear. Based on this system of belief, those who are dead are alive in a different world and can reincarnate in new births. Death is considered a rite of passage for those who die at an acceptable (old) age. When death occurs in Africa, divination as to the cause of death is sought from dead ancestors, with death causes usually attributed to spiritual elements.

African cultural belief that to be in the world of the dead confers supernatural powers over those in the world of the living, such as the ability to bless or to curse, and to give life or to take life among others.

After death, an individual lives in a spirit world, receiving a new body which is identical to the earthly body, but with the capacity to move about as an ancestor. Becoming an ancestor after death is thus a desirable goal of every individual and it is believed that this cannot be achieved if an individual did not live a meaningful life, or had his or her life cut short say through an accident or by an unnatural death.

An African individual would, therefore, prefer a slow and lingering death that comes naturally, as they would not only be able to tidy up many issues such as making peace and saying farewell to relatives, but also they would also be admitted in the spirit world. Death in any group apart from the very old is considered unnatural and premature.

With the belief that the goal of life is to become an ancestor after death, a person is given a proper burial after death as failure to do this may result in the individual becoming a wandering ghost, unable to live properly after death, and constituting a danger to those who are still alive. Funeral rites and ceremonies serve to draw attention to this permanent separation, and particular attention is paid to the funeral rites to avoid undue offense to the dead.