Kemet and Death Pt. II What to Do When Someone Dies
In Search of the Gods: Kemet and Death Pt. II
What to Do When Someone Dies
In Kemetic Culture there are many ceremonies and acts done after death in order to assist the spirit with their travels. Below are some ways in which you can assist.
CREMATION
Ensure that you bury the body--do not cremate it. When it comes to reincarnation, your next life is heavily influenced by how you treat your body. Your body is made up of intelligences that--when you are judged in the World of the Dead--speak on how you used them. For example, for someone who committed evil by killing people with their hands, those intelligences would not want to come back and experience another life with that person. It also makes it difficult for that spirit to acquire other intelligences. This can even be the reason why a person comes into life missing limbs--their spirit couldn’t find any intelligences to journey into life with them. Burning the body is the last thing that those intelligences want for themselves.
See Firefly Issue #62 - Benben, for more information on reincarnation.
DON’T SAY THE NAME OF THE DECEASED
In the traditions we don’t say the name of the deceased for at least 4 days (for women) or 3 days (for men) after they die. The spirit is trying to traverse its journey, so you don’t want to try to call it back.
BURIAL ITEMS
If the deceased used prayer beads to pray with, then when buried it is good to bury those with them. If they did not use prayer beads then another item they used for praying, such as their prayer mat, is also an option. One may also be buried with their walking stick or any other item that represents their initiatic pursuit of knowledge, if they had one.
AFTER THE BURIAL (THE ROOM)
For the first 7 days after the deceased is buried one can leave a lit candle in the room (their bedroom) of the deceased every night. Keep the door open. One should also leave a calabash or cup of water and food for them on a plate. The food can be a small portion of what the other people in the household eat every day (for example, take a small portion of the breakfast and place it on the plate in the deceased’s room. Repeat for all meals throughout the day.). The plate of food should be cleaned every day.
It is customary to do this in the culture because the spirit will still feel like they are part of the family at this time, even though we who are living may not be able to see them. The spirit will visit the house and wonder why family members are not speaking with or acknowledging them. The spirit will even disturb the house and your life to wake you and try to make you see them. For example, the lights in the room may suddenly go out without you flipping the switch, the curtains will suddenly open even when no one touched them, or maybe you keep experiencing abnormal accidents throughout the day. You may have heard of these “supernatural” experiences from someone who lost a relative or maybe you’ve experienced it yourself.
AFTER THE BURIAL (FOOD OFFERINGS)
After a person is buried it is customary in Kemetic culture to provide them simple food offerings (consisting of fruit or massa cakes with a cup of water). The energy one puts into these offerings assists the spirit with traversing the different stages of the underworld. Offerings are performed every 10 days on what’s referred to as “Ancestral Holy Day”, the day of the week in the Kemetic calendar that’s energetically most favourable for giving offerings. Aside from the food materials and a calendar, there is no cost to perform these. For detailed instructions on how to perform food offerings purchase this year’s Sidereal Calendar (available at www.theearthcenter.org/store).
BAYUALI READINGS
Every entity--including trees, animals and human beings--on the planet has an energy that flows through it out into the cosmos. This energy originates at the centre of the Earth and is transmitted through a channel called Bayuali. In this energy a person’s health, personality, challenges they may be facing in life, and various other factors can be found. In various African traditions, there are “priests” (not to be confused with Catholic or other religious priests) who study how to read and interpret these energies. This science originates in the Nile Valley of Africa and has evolved into forms around the world such as geomancy, Ifa, numerology, I Ching, and more. In the African traditions it is commonplace to check on one’s life, wealth, health, family, travel, etc. by visiting a priest who knows how to perform Earth energy readings. One can also enquire about dead relatives and find out what they may need in the World of the Dead in order to traverse the path. There may be spiritual works needed in order to ensure that the spirit can proceed to the next stage. The Earth Center works with African priests to be able to offer Bayuali readings on a regular basis. To schedule a Bayualil reading for a dead relative please contact your local Ankhkasta natural healing at Anhlife.org
FUNERARY SERVICES
The Earth Center offers funerary services for those interested in giving their dead relatives a Kemetic burial. The service includes preparing the body (washing it, dressing it, providing the proper ceremonies), decorating the coffin with various prayers and designs in the Medu (Egyptian hieroglyph) language, and facilitation of the funeral ceremony.
Another option is to ship the body of the deceased to West Africa in order to have them buried on Earth Center land. The Earth Center owns over 150 hectares of land on which the body can be buried. It will be necessary to sign and submit a Disposition of Bodily Remains provided by The Earth Center. Please contact your local Earth Center for more details.
OPENING OF THE MOUTH CEREMONY
The Opening of the Mouth is a ceremony that has been practised since the time of the Pharaohs and can be seen in different cultures around the world. One culture that has preserved it very well is the Tem culture of West Africa, the culture of Prophet Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig’s mother (Prophet Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig is a prophet of the Kemetic priesthood and founder of The Earth Center. See Firefly Issue #63 for more information.). In this ceremony a priest (one who has been initiated into this skill) serves as a portal through which a spirit can actually use their body and speak to those in the world of the living. At this point, the priest is no longer in control of his own body. When they come, the deceased can convey what- ever they may need on their path in order to traverse to the next stage in the World of the Dead. They may also tell the family about the family’s health, troubles in the family, and more. This ceremony is possible after burial. Contact Ankhkasta for more details @anhlife.org
Nowadays, many people have to resort to methods that they may not agree with when loved ones pass away, such as burying them in a religious fashion when they themselves don’t practice that religion. But, for those interested in pursuing a traditional Kemetic ceremony, the traditions are still alive and thriving. Death can and will come at any moment, so it is best to start planning now about how you want your body and spirit taken care of. A person doesn’t just cease to exist after the heart stops and their body turns into bones and dust. Life and death are a continuous cycle that the spirit must traverse again and again in order to have a chance to perfect itself in each and every lifetime. Our day-to-day decisions determine whether we will be in a favourable or unfavourable position in our next life, or if we will even have the opportunity to come back. May this information serve to motivate the reader to focus on preparing for their death by changing their own lives and educating others to take care of them when death comes to their doorstep.