Learn Something New: Deathcare in Jamaica
By The Deathwives
I recently went to Jamaica. I went for the beaches and a reprieve from the North American seasonal depression, but what I got was much richer. I saw a culture, a people, who moved from the soul. They were alive and vibrant in a way I see dimming in us Americans. It gave me hope and reminded me to reach for my light.
Personally, as the Deathwives, we live in a world orbiting grief. We hold the grief of our communities and clients - and we carry much of our own. Like you all, we are watching far away worlds crumble on our screens and we feel it in our souls. We won't digress into that endless pit of pain, suffice to say, there are places in the world that feel like community and sunshine and hope and if you are struggling through the winter, we hope you can go somewhere (physically or spiritually) that will awaken your soul.
Back to Jamaica and death. Anywhere I travel, I am going to visit a cemetery or two and read up on logical death culture - and I'd encourage you to do the same. What you will learn is that the way we manage death in America is not universal. You’ll see that many/most cultures embrace death with more hands on family care and more passed down ritual than we do. In short, they let the love replace the fear. That’s our mission too.
In Jamaica, there is no national policy regulating the activities of funeral homes, and there are no corporate owned funeral homes. Backyard burials are common in rural areas, and people will halt their other responsibilities for a few days to assist in the digging of the grave. Most churches have graveyards surrounding them and offer free or low cost services to the families, and privately owned funeral homes are also available to those who can afford them.
Traditionally, bodies are kept for 9 days after death, and a funeral service is held during this time. On the night of the 9th day they hold a giant wake- called a Nine Night, Wake Yard or Set-Up (interchangeable).These are all out parties, complete with rum and storytelling, reggae and dancehall music lasting deep into the night. The following day the person is buried.
Jamaicans have many spiritual beliefs and superstitions around burial that draw from both African folklore and British Protestantism. The word for Ghost or Spirit is Duppy or Duffy. Some Jamaicans set up a table for the dead person's duppy with food and beverages during the 9 days between death and burial. After burial, families will rearrange the furniture so that the duppy won't feel familiar with the house and try to stay. Like most cultures the world over, Jamaicans strictly remove the corpse feet first from out the house. In their case, it is to disorient the person from trying to walk back into their body. It is fascinating how we see similar death traditions the world over, long predating our easyshare of information over the world wide web. Other practices that we see world wide and also in Jamaica include the covering of mirrors - another way to prohibit the spirit from returning to the Earth plane - and wearing black clothing in observance of mourning.
If you are still reading this - congratulations - you made it to my favorite Jamaican death ritual. Women who lose their husbands are directed to wear bright red underwear every night until their partner is buried. If they don’t have red underwear they can tie a tiny piece of red string around their regular underwear. Why red, you wonder? Supposedly the color red discourages the mans …duppy from…seeking shelter in the middle of the night. LOL
Because Jamaica is a small island, burial space is scarce, and 2020 audits revealed that 64% of cemetery land is at capacity. They are only beginning to lean into green burial initiatives now. Want to learn more? Read the latest planning report here.
