|
Post by moonwolf23 on Jun 14, 2014 19:46:40 GMT -8
So a while ago, my daughter and her friend went off to a cemetery. She went with a trusted parent who is a witch. Her friend brought blessed salts but no food. My daughter, who has watched me argued afterword that he should have brought food.
Since we need more discussions, thoughts?
|
|
|
Post by Haloveir on Jun 27, 2014 20:03:23 GMT -8
From what I've read, it's always good to approach the dead with offerings of food and drink. Lighting some incense and perhaps reading some prayers people in that cemetery would have been familiar with would probably also have been welcome.
I confess that I'm not very well versed in dealings with the dead, though. I love graveyards, but I always worry about bringing "a stranger" home with me. Being dead doesn't automatically make someone a nice person, after all.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2014 21:10:42 GMT -8
I agree. While I'm not very experienced with working with the dead either, and it's really not part of my calling, I think it's always good to bring an offering of some sort if you're going to the cemetery for that purpose.
For me, if I was going to go visit my grandparents' graves, I would always ensure I had, at the very least, some cool water to pour as a libation. It's one of those standard Kemetic things. I might also bring flowers, or maybe some bread, or some other liquid libation, like beer or wine or juice. I don't think I'd bring anything I couldn't bury though, because the cemetery park where they're buried is home to a mob of kangaroos, and they eat the flowers. So I wouldn't want to leave anything there that would harm them. This is a specific thing to my own circumstances, though.
|
|
|
Post by Wynn Dark on Jun 29, 2014 4:19:34 GMT -8
Small food items, water or other libations, and prayers or poems for the dead being visited is a good idea. Bringing an offering for the owner of the graveyard (spiritual, not physical owner) is just good manners and you really wouldn't want to annoy a god/dess of death now would you? This is particularly important if you intend to take graveyard dirt, even if it is from a specific grave. Also salt is usually seen as a rather offensive substance to the dead, at least in my experience, I would never offer salt to the dead, bring it to keep someone from following you home After you leave the graveyard.
|
|
|
Post by spookymuffin on Jul 3, 2014 8:47:45 GMT -8
I personally have minimal interaction with the dead in cemeteries. By the time most people are buried whatever revenant might be left behind has already moved on or gotten attached to something else. But my friend who sees dead people says that she sometimes sees them walking around. So your mileage will definitely vary on this matter.
If I were to try talking to the dead in cemeteries, I'd start by clearing graves or picking up trash. I'd hesitate bringing too much outside stuff to a cemetery site though water and other very simple things might be OK. Flowers are probably always OK but it might largely depend on what kind of cemetery I was working in. I agree with WynnDark, poems and prayers would make an excellent offering. If other people are in the habit of decorating the graves of their loved ones with a lot of stuff then I'd feel less disruptive about bringing objects in. Some cemeteries I've visited are highly managed while others are very freeform and have all kinds of interesting monuments and graveside offerings that get left for months. I think ultimately I'd want to work with the overall atmosphere of the cemetery. I'm a guest in that setting and it would be highly discourteous to disrupt it.
|
|