By Southeast Asia
In most of Southeast Asia, the deceased are buried in the areas where they lived and worked. It is common to see large stone monuments in the middle of a meadow for grazing cows.
The Vietnamese, during a traditional burial, leave thick wads of counterfeit money under the rocks of these monuments so that the deceased can buy whatever they need on their journey to the next life.
In Cambodia and Thailand, wooden “spirit houses” are located in the front of almost every house – from the poorest homes to the wealthiest mansions. These are places where food and drink are periodically left for the souls of deceased relatives.
East Africa
The Maasai of East Africa are hereditary nomads who believe in a deity known as Enkai, but this is not one being.
Enkai is a term that encompasses the earth, the sky, and all that lives below. It is a difficult concept for Western minds to grasp.
Funeral ceremonies are reserved for the most important people in life, as a sign of respect, while ordinary people are simply left in the open. The Maasai believe that dead bodies are harmful to the earth. For them, with the end of life, a person simply disappears and they believe that there is no afterlife.
Kiribati
On the small island of Kiribati, the deceased is not buried for at least three days and at most twelve – depending on the status of the deceased in society – the more influential they were, the more days. Friends and relatives say goodbye by making offerings of a local plant.
A few months after the burial, the body is exhumed and the skull removed, then oiled and polished, and the rest of the remains are reburied. Traditionally, the islanders keep the skull on a shelf in their home and believe that the god Nakaa welcomes the spirit of the deceased to the northern tip of the island.
Hawaii
In the Hawaiian Islands, a погребална церемония is performed in a cave, where the body is placed in a fetal position with the arms and legs tied to hold it in this manner, then covered with a cloth made from the bark of a mulberry tree.
The bones are considered sacred and believed to have great power. Many caves in Hawaii still contain these skeletons, especially along the coast of Maui.
Sea burial
Since most of our planet is covered in water, burial at sea has long been an accepted burial ceremony for sailors around the world.
Under international law, the captain of any ship, regardless of the size of the vessel or its nationality, has the authority to conduct an official service for a burial at sea.
A traditional burial uses a large sack that is filled with rocks or other heavy debris.
