{"id":8633,"date":"2013-08-01T01:10:28","date_gmt":"2013-08-01T06:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=8932"},"modified":"2013-07-23T10:04:49","modified_gmt":"2013-07-23T15:04:49","slug":"paranormal-path-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2013\/08\/01\/paranormal-path-35\/","title":{"rendered":"Paranormal Path"},"content":{"rendered":"
Victorian Mourning Rituals<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>The Victorian Era, 1837 \u2013 1901, brought us some of the most interesting rituals when it came to honoring the dead and ensuring the proper release of the spirit.<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Due to tuberculosis, pneumonia, and other infections, death came often.\u00a0 Unfortunately a high number of children also passed, some before their first birthday.<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When a death occurred, the mirrors in the home were covered to ensure the spirit of the deceased didn\u2019t get trapped or confused upon leaving the body.\u00a0 If a mirror in the home fell and broke, it was considered a sign that another death was about to occur.\u00a0 The clocks were stopped at the exact time of death; it was believed to be bad luck if this ritual was not performed.\u00a0 The body was watched over every waking minute, hence the term \u201cwake\u201d.\u00a0 A wake lasted 3 \u2013 4 days and served\u00a0 a couple of purposes, it allowed family appropriate travel time to visit the deceased and it ensured the person was actually dead and not just in a coma.\u00a0 Flowers and candles were used to hide any unpleasant odors since the practice of embalming had not yet caught on.\u00a0 A wreath of laurel tied with black ribbon was hung on the front door to alert passers by a death had occurred.<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Post mortem photography was also a popular practice.\u00a0 The invention of the daguerreotype made it easier for families to have photographs of loved ones when they could not afford to have a portrait painted.\u00a0 The deceased were often posed to seem more life-like, propped up with their eyes opened.\u00a0 Children were represented as being in a deep sleep holding their favorite toy.\u00a0 Unfortunately, at times, this was the only photograph mothers would have of their children.\u00a0 Later photographs would depict a more honest image of the deceased in their coffin.<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When the body was removed from the home, it was a common practice to carry the body out feet first.\u00a0 This was to ensure the spirit would not look back and beckon a living family member to join them.\u00a0 Family portraits were often turned face down to prevent possession from the deceased.<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Those in mourning would wear all black and non reflective materials.\u00a0 Some women would wear mourning attire for up to two years and only wear jewelry for the first year.\u00a0 Many wore rings and lockets with a piece of hair that belonged to the deceased.\u00a0 The hair was the one part that didn\u2019t change with time so it was the perfect way to remember a loved one.<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Usually after four days it was time to bury the body.\u00a0 Grave robbing was common practice, especially by doctors who needed fresh cadavers for dissection classes, so the graves were often bricked over.\u00a0 There was still a huge fear of burying someone alive so many graves were built with a security system.\u00a0 A bell was placed above the grave with a chain extending down into the coffin.\u00a0 If a person was buried alive they could ring the bell and be removed from their grave.\u00a0 This is where the term \u201csaved by the bell\u201d originated.\u00a0 Someone was required to stay in the cemetery to listen for the bells and keep an eye open for grave robbers.\u00a0 Till this day anyone who has a job that takes them into the late hours is known to have \u201cthe graveyard shift\u201d.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Many superstitions came along with this time period as well.\u00a0 Many believed it was bad luck to meet a funeral procession head on and it was recommended to turn around.\u00a0 If this was not an option they must bow their head and hold on to a button until the procession passed.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Many today still honor this tradition.\u00a0 Another common belief was to never wear anything new to a funeral especially shoes.\u00a0 Tracking the dirt from a cemetery was considered bad luck, and an invitation of death and inviting the restless spirits into your home.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victorian Mourning Rituals \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Victorian Era, 1837 \u2013 1901, brought us some of the most interesting rituals when it came to honoring the dead and ensuring the proper release of the spirit. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Due to tuberculosis, pneumonia, and other infections, death came often.\u00a0 Unfortunately a high number of children also passed, some before their first birthday. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When a death occurred, the mirrors in the home were covered to ensure the spirit of the deceased didn\u2019t get trapped or confused upon leaving the body.\u00a0 If a mirror in the home fell and broke, it was considered a sign that another death was about to occur.\u00a0 The clocks were stopped at the exact time of death; it was believed to be bad luck if this ritual was not performed.\u00a0 The body was watched over every waking minute, hence the term \u201cwake\u201d.\u00a0 A wake lasted 3 \u2013 4 days and served\u00a0 a couple of purposes, it allowed family appropriate travel time to visit the deceased and it ensured the person was actually dead and not just in a coma.\u00a0 Flowers and candles were used to hide any unpleasant odors since the practice of embalming had not yet caught on.\u00a0 A wreath of laurel tied with black ribbon was hung on the front door to alert passers by a death had occurred. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Post mortem photography was also a popular practice.\u00a0 The invention of the daguerreotype made it easier for families to have photographs of loved ones when they could not afford to have a portrait painted.\u00a0 The deceased were often posed to seem more life-like, propped up with their eyes opened.\u00a0 Children were represented as being in a deep sleep holding their favorite toy.\u00a0 Unfortunately, at times, this was the only photograph mothers would have of their children.\u00a0 Later photographs would depict a more honest image of the deceased in their coffin. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When the body was removed from the home, it was a common practice to carry the body out feet first.\u00a0 This was to ensure the spirit would not look back and beckon a living family member to join them.\u00a0 Family portraits were often turned face down to prevent possession from the deceased. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Those in mourning would wear all black and non reflective materials.\u00a0 Some women would wear mourning attire for up to two years and only wear jewelry for the first year.\u00a0 Many wore rings and lockets with a piece of hair that belonged to the deceased.\u00a0 The hair was the one part that didn\u2019t change with time so it was the perfect way to remember a loved one. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Usually after four days it was time to bury the body.\u00a0 Grave robbing was common practice, especially by doctors who needed fresh cadavers for dissection classes, so the graves were often bricked over.\u00a0 There was still a huge fear of burying someone alive so many graves were built with a security system.\u00a0 A bell was placed above the grave with a chain extending down into the coffin.\u00a0 If a person was buried alive they could ring the bell and be removed from their grave.\u00a0 This is where the term \u201csaved by the bell\u201d originated.\u00a0 Someone was required to stay in the cemetery to listen for the bells and keep an eye open for grave robbers.\u00a0 Till this day anyone who has a job that takes them into the late hours is known to have \u201cthe graveyard shift\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Many superstitions came along with this time period as well.\u00a0 Many believed it was bad luck to meet a funeral procession head on and it was recommended to turn around.\u00a0 If this was not an option they must bow their head and hold on to a button until the procession passed.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Many today still honor this tradition.\u00a0 Another common belief was to never wear anything new to a funeral especially shoes.\u00a0 Tracking the dirt from a cemetery was considered bad luck, and an invitation of death and inviting the restless spirits into your home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}