Prayers for the dead?

[ginger899]

In your tribe, lonewolf, what prayers are said for the dead, or at funerals, and what form do these ceremonies take? I imagine there is a belief in an 'Otherworld' or Heaven world. I would love to know something about the ceremonies connected with death and dying.

[lonewolf07]

That's right - our ancestors are "just behind the curtain" and it takes a medicine woman (or man) with a lot of knowledge to be able to walk between the curtain of those who have passed on and those who are still here.  Our ancestors are always with us even if we can't see them - but we can "pray" to them and ask for their help and protection.

[Dazon50]

That sounds interesting.  I would like to know more too :-))))

[ginger899]

Yes I'm very interested. But if you have to do a lot of work or research to find things out, please do it at the speed you feel like doing it. There's no rush.
So the ancestors are considered "ever-present"? But just "behind the curtain"?

[lonewolf07]

Ginger - sorry I'm so late in responding.  The Dine'h have a lot of taboos about death and we have prayers as well but I'm not too knowledgeable about them.  The Mohawk don't have the taboos but I'm not an elder or medicine woman with a lot of knowledge about prayers for the dead.  We do pray to our ancestors for strength and guidance and in a ceremony the medicine woman can call on them to help us with things we are struggling with.  The difference between being alive or dead is seen as a curtain - easy to move through for those who have the knowledge.  Most of us don't have the knowledge.  If you're still interested, let me know and I'll see if I can find more information.