BREEDING GROUND: Unique Burial Practices of The World

It probably makes a lot of sense that as a horror writer, I would research burial customs around the world. 

When I came upon this article about a group in the Philippines who practiced a unique burial custom, my interest was instantly piqued. 

As the custom goes, when a person starts to age or is very sick and knows they will soon die, they set out to the forest and select a tree for themselves. The family members then build them a hut to live in at the base of the tree until they die.

When that day comes, the family returns to the tree to hollow it out and bury their loved one inside. The cycle of life continues, with the person giving their life back to the tree, which, throughout their lives, received life in the form of wood and fruit.

In Indonesia, similar burial rituals are practiced by the Tana Toraja people, including one where babies who have died before they start teething are placed in hollowed-out alcoves in trees. They are covered with a palm fiber door and the remains later absorbed by the tree.

Their beliefs that non-human entities, such as trees, have a spiritual essence has led to these tree burials. 

Similar to Western practices, funerals are a community event, with families gathering to renew and honor the beliefs of their ancestors. 

Toraja tribe members are not buried in the ground either but instead, hung from coffins attached to the sides of cliffs or placed in tombs carved out of the mountainside. Small wooden effigies of the deceased are placed looking out from the tomb and for those coffins that hang from the mountain, they eventually bleach and rot, with the bones falling to the ground below. 

Another custom from the same region is that of an annual ritual of washing, grooming and dressing the mummified remains of their ancestors, who are then walked around the village. 

These practices must seem bizarre to those who do not practice them, but they are a way for the Tana Toraja to not only honor those who have passed but to celebrate the dead who they believe are still with them.

What do you think about these practices?