For most of the cultures, ancestors practices are not the same as the worship of the gods. When a person worships a god at a local temple, it is to ask for some favour that can be granted by the powerful spirit. In some cultures, the purpose of ancestor veneration is not to ask for favours but to do ones filiai duty some people believe that their ancestors actually need to be provided for by their descendants others do not believe that the ancestors are even award of what their descendants do for them , but that the expression of filiai piety is what is important . whether or not the ancestor receives what is offered is not the issue.
Therefore, for people unfamiliar with how ancestor worship is actually practiced and thought of the use fo the translation worship can be a cause of misunderstanding and is a misnomer in many ways in English, the word worship usually refers to the reverent love and devotion accorded a deity or divine being. However, in other culture, this act of worship does not confer any belief that the departed ancestors have become some kind of deity rather, the act is away to respect, honour and look after ancestors in their after lives as well as seek their guidance for their living descendants in this regards many cultures and religions have similar practices,. Some may visit the graves of their parents or other ancestors, leave flowers and pray to them in order ancestors, leave flowers and pray to them in order to honour and remember them, while also asking their deceased ancestors to continue to look after them.
However, this would not be considered as worshiping them. It is in that sense that the translation ancestor veneration may convey a more accurate sense of what practitioners, such as the Chinese and other Buddhist influenced and Confucian influences societies, see themselves doing
In some eastern cultures, and a native American traditions, the goal of ancestor veneration is to ensure the ancestors continued well being and positive disposition towards the living and sometimes to ask for special favours or assistance. The social or non- religious functions of ancestor veneration is to cultivate kinship values, such as filial piety, family loyalty, and continuity of the family lineage,. while far from universal, ancestor veneration occurs in societies with every degree of social, political and technological complexity, and it remains an important component of various religious practices in modern times.
Ancestor veneration is very prevalent throughout Africa and serves as the basis of many religions. It is often augmented by a belief in a supreme being, but prayers and / or sacrifices are usually offered to the ancestors who may ascend to becoming minor deities themselves. Ancestor veneration remains among many Africans, sometimes practices alongside the later adopted religions of Christianity as in Nigeria among the Igbo people and Islam among the different mande peoples and the bamum in much of the continent.
Veneration of ancestors is also prevalent throughout the African island of Madagascar. Approximately half of the country’s population of 20 million currently practice traditional religion which tends to emphasize links between the living and the razana (ancestors). The veneration of ancestors has led to the widespread tradition of tomb building, as well as highlands practice of the famadihana whereby a deceased family members remains may be exhumed to be periodically re-qrapped in fresh silk shrouds before being replaced in the tomb. The famadihana is an occasion to celebrate the beloved ancestors memory, reunites with family and community, and enjoy a festive atmosphere. Residents of surrounding villages are often invited to attend the party, where food and rum are typically served and a hiragasy troupe of other musical entertainment is commonly present. Venation of ancestors is also demonstrated through adherence today taboos that are respected during and after the lifetime of the person who established them.
It is widely believed that by showing respect for ancestors in these ways, they may intervene on behalf of the living conversely, misfortunes are often attributed to ancestors whose memory or wishes have been neglected. The sacrifice of zebu is a tradition method used to appease or honour the ancestors. Small, everyday gestures of respect include throwing the first cupful of a newly opened bottle of rum into the north east corner of the room to give the ancestors their due share.
The ancient Egyptian pyramids are the most famous historical monuments span>devoted to the dead Egyptian religion posited the survival of the soul in connection with the survival of a physical receptacle for the soul, hence mummification and portraiture flourished as vital part of Egyptian religion.
Although some historians claim that ancient Egyptian society was a “death cult” because of it elaborate tombs and mummification ritual, it was really quite the opposite. The philosophy that “this world is but a vale of trears” and that to die and be with God is a better existence than an earthly one ws relatively unknown among the ancient Egyptians. This was not to say that they were unacquainted with the harshness of life, rather, their ethos include a sense of national pride. The Egyptian people loved the culture, customs and religion of their daily lives so much that they wanted to continue them in the next – although some might hope for a better station in the beautiful west. This same strong sense of national and historical period still exists in modern day Egypt, although the religion and culture have changed.
Tombs were housing in the hereafter and so they were carefully constructed and decorated, just as homes for the living were . mummification was a way to return to receive offerings of the things he /she enjoyed while alive. If mummification was not afsordable, a ‘ka-statue” in the likeness of the deceased was carved for this purpose. The blessed dead were collectively called the akhu, or “shining ones” . they were described as ‘shining as gold in the belly of nut” and were indeed depicted as golden stars on the roofs of many tombs and temples.
The process by which aka became an akh was not automatic upon death, it involved a 70 day journey through the duat, or otherworld, which led to judgment before wesir, lord of the dead where the ka’s heart would be weighed on a scale against the feather of ma’at representing truth . however, if the ka was properly prepared, this journey could be gaught with dangerious pitfalls and strange demons, hence some of the earliest relgions texts discovered, such as the papyrus of ani commonly known as the book of the dead and thepyramid texts were actually written as guides to helop the deceased successfully neavigate thedyat
If the heart was in balance with the feather of ma’at, the ka passed judgment and was granted access to the beautiful west as an akh who was ma’aheru ‘ true of voice” to dwell among the gods and other akhu. At this pint, only was the ka deemed worthy to be venerated by the living through rites and offerings . those who became lost in the duat or deliberately 5ried to avoid judgment became lost in the duat or deliberately tried to avoid judgment became the unfortunate and some time dangerous mutu, the restless dead for the few whose truly evil hearts outweighed the feather, the godless amount waited patiently behind desires judgment seat to consume them. She was a composite creature resembling three of the dead list animas in Egypt, the crocodile, the hippopotamus and the lion. Being fed to Ammit was to be consigned to the eternal void, to be ‘unmade”as a ka
Besides being eaten by ammit, the worst fate aka could suffer after physical death was to be forgotten for this reason, ancestor veneration in ancient Egypt was an important rite of remembrance in order to keep the ka ‘alive” in this life as well as in the next royals, nobles and the wealthy made contracts with their local priests to perform prayers and give offerings at their tombs. In return, the priests were allowed to keep a portion of the offerings as payment for services rendered. Some tomb inscriptions even invited passers by to speak aloud the names of the deceased within which help also to perpetuate their memory, and to offer water, prayers or other things if they so desired.
In the private home of the less wealthy, riches were carved into walls for the purpose of housing images of familial akhu and to serve as altars of veneration. Many of these religious beliefs and ancestor veneration practices are still carried on today in the religion of kemetic or thodoxy
The romans like many mediterrean societies regarded the bodies of the dead as pollouting. During romes classical period, the body was most often cremated, and the ashes placed in a tomb outside the city walls. Much of the month fo February was devoted to purifications, propitiation and veneration of the dead, especially at the nine-day festival of the parentalia during which a family honored it ancestors. The family visited the commentary and shared cake and wine, both in the form of offerings to the dead and as a meal among themselves. The parentalia drew to a close on February 21 with the more somber feralia, a public festival of sacrifices and offerings to the manes the potentially malevolent spirits of of the dead who required propitiation
A noble Roman family displayed ancestral images in the atrium of their home. Some of sources indicate these portraits were bust, while other suggest that funeral masks were also displayed. The masks, probably modeled of wax from the face of the decreased, were part of the funeral procession when an elite roman died. Professional moverners more the masks and regalia of the dead persons ancestors as the body was carried from the home, through the streets, and to its final resting place
Early Christianity’s attitudes
Some early Christians may have been persecuted for their faith, leading some to hide in the catacombs in Rome.
As a result, they may have found themselves praying and worshipping God surrounded by tombs and bodies of the dead. when possible, they may have sought to pray among the bodies of dead Christians, maybe using a cottin or tomb for an altar on which to celebrate the eucharni from early apostolic times, it appears the church held a respectful veneration for the dead. They reported witnessing miracles in connection with the bodies of the dead Christians, such as healing, or observing set smelling myth exuding from their bones. This, combined with their belief in the resurrection of Jesus and future resurrection of all Christians (the resurrection of Jesus and future resurrection of all Christians (the resurrection of the dead) eventually led to the veneration of saints and of their relics.
Early accounts of martyrs include Christian witnesses making great efforts to obtain the remains of the martyrs and the roman sometimes trying to prevent this . also, it became common to continue to ask Christians leaders to pray for them, even after the leaders haddied as they believed that these Christians were still able to pray and that their prayers would still be effective later, most of the various protestant sects that broke away from the catholic church in the 16th century repudiated the practice of asking intercession from the dead based on possible pagan origin of communication with the dead.
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