Final Farewell: The Culture of Death and the Afterlife

The Realm of Ancestors: The West African Cult of the Dead

Although Christianity and Islam are prominent in West Africa today, many cultures continue to practice their traditional animistic religions. Animism is a religious belief that sees a spirit or spiritual force behind every event, and gives many objects of the physical world spiritual significance. West African cultures have varying ideas and rituals concerning the dead, but they are united by their beliefs in the afterlife and in the notion that spirits of the departed influence the world of the living.

West African cultures have secret men’s societies that facilitate contact and appeasement of ancestors through offerings, prayers, songs, masquerades, and divination. They manipulate objects, such as masks and sculpture, in religious ceremonies to interact with ancestors. The masks, which are accompanied by elaborate headdresses, costumes, and accoutrements, transform the wearer from an ordinary person into a spiritually charged character. Male participants also use sculpture to invoke ancestral spirits into the ceremonies. The production of masks and sculpture is ritualized, and specially-trained male artists create the objects in sanctified areas. They are usually carved from soft woods, which are not only practical but also have spiritual connotations. The ritual art objects are not intended to be viewed every day and are thus hidden in sanctuaries or houses when not in use.

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Death in the Ancient Mediterranean World
-Egypt
-Greece & Italy
-Suicide in Graeco-Roman Society
-Jewish Practices

Death in the Non-Western World
-Africa
-Pre-Columbian
-Human Sacrifice in Pre-Columbian Cultures
-Tibet

Death & the Afterlife in Europe & America
-Introduction
-Martyrdom
-Christian Afterlife
-Memento Mori
-Funerals, Burials & Mourning

Giuseppe Erts
(Venetian, 17th–18th c.)
The Card Game of Death
detail
1663
Oil on canvas
(68.455)
Gift of Russell M. Arundel

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