This past week Bianca an I were supposed to meet again for our second to last meeting. Unfortunately I received a text message from her saying that her husband and she had to fly back to Korea due to the unexpected death of her mother in law. Since we are no longer able to meet I decided to research old rituals that Koreans performed after a loved one has passed away. Today, most people no longer use these same practices or they have been modified to fit the current times.
One old belief many Koreans used to hold was that if a loved one passed away due to illness or natural causes while not in their own homes, their spirit would linger and be a ghost in the place they died. To make sure this was not the case, families would take drastic measures to take a dying loved one back to their home before they actually passed away.
Once a the person died, the family members would begin to dress in very simple clothing. No jewelry would be worn by the women and they would also not keep up their hair. The length of their clothing depended on how close they were to the victim who had moved on. A family member of the deceased would also take a piece of clothing (usually a jacket) from the person who died and go up on their roof. Waving the ariticle of clothing they would call out to the deceased three times and then go put the clothes on the body of its original owner.
These are just a few of the ancient funeral rituals performed by Koreans. Today, the funeral practices depend on family personal traditions and the religion the person had practiced. I would like to aske everyone to keep Bianca and the rest of her family in your prayers as they morn the loss of a loved one.
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