The prophet's dictionary guide to the supernatural

and perhaps disaster on the living that would infiltrate the family line. Engaging in outlandish funerary rites was more than a superstition to them. It even exceeded proper religious protocol. To these people it was a safeguard that no one born of that day would think of ignoring. Christ’s message of eternal life conflicted with this belief and its customs. The people of His day failed to see why He was not as concerned with honoring the dead as they were. See Funerary meanings for more insight. 545. Funerary—Originally, that which pertains to the worship of the dead. Ancient religions developed elaborate funeral rites as a way of prosperously interring their dead. They believed the demise was not really dead but simply transferred to another invisible world to live. Many of them thought they would return in spirit and inhabit the bodies of their closest or eldest surviving relatives. Typically, an offspring was chosen by the family spirit guide to receive the departed one’s soul and spirit until such time as they could earn the right in death to enter heaven. The funeral was to consist of sacrifices and oblations to the god to whom they had entrusted the deceased. Regular visits to the burial site and offerings made in their name posthumously were to keep them safe in their new world. They were made to ward off evil spirits that sought to overpower them or divert their journey from its peaceful destination. In some cases long processions celebrated their passing over to the other side. Those whose lives were cut short by fate were allowed to interact with the living until their work on earth was genuinely done. This explanation shows where ancestral worship and elaborate funerary rites get their roots. 546. Furies—Female demons serving the Greco-Roman pantheon.