Exploring the Importance of Rituals for the Dying and Those Left Behind
[Thesis]
Glass, Lindsay B.
Elliott, Michael
Pacifica Graduate Institute
2020
52
M.A.
Pacifica Graduate Institute
2020
This thesis focuses on how the process of death and dying is viewed in contemporary Western society as well as cross-culturally. It explores the importance and history of death rites and rituals, specifically addressing three cultures' rituals: Native American, African, and Hindu. Utilizing both heuristic and hermeneutic methodologies, the research question of how the process of death and dying is viewed cross-culturally and how current Western rituals interrupt the natural process of death and dying is addressed. The thesis includes an autobiographical account of the author's experience with death and dying during and following the death of her father, and her subsequent belief in the importance of death rituals and of viewing death and dying as a natural part of life.