Funeral rites

Yuriban funeral rites are predicated on the beliefs that existence is an outwardly-expanding spiral and that the dead are reborn to new lives when one life ends, continuing the pattern of the spiral.

Native Yuribans believe that when a person dies, their soul leaves their body and moves on to a new life. Zokutou is responsible for the space in between life and death, but her exact role in this transition is somewhat confusing. Nevertheless the dead are believed to be in her care while they move through the empty space between lives, where they leave their memories of their past life behind and prepare to reenter the world into a new life.

When the soul leaves the dead body, the body is simply an empty vessel. The dead are thus typically cremated, as the Yuribans see no further use for an empty body given that the soul will return to a new life in a new body, having no need for the old one. Typically a good-sized pyre is raised and the body burned to ash upon it, an act which is dedicated to Kaika. This may be a purification rite related to her role as a purveyor of justice.

The loved ones of the deceased are usually present for the cremation, as is a priestess, though the ceremonies are usually informal. Before the more formal prayers it is customary for those gathered to tell stories of the life of the deceased in memoriam of their past life. When the storytelling is over, those gathered are led by the priestess in offering prayers for the soul to Zokutou, Kaika, and Harumeku, who is responsible for the creation of new life. The tone of the praying is generally positive, exhorting the goddesses to bless the soul of the deceased with a happy new life. This movement from reminiscing to looking forward is also symbolic of progress along the spiral.

Yuriban funeral ceremonies are typically muted but optimistic in tone, reflecting the native perception of death as a natural part of life.