Goodbye Forever

We enjoy our time on Earth in the company of wonderful people and it is blessed with the presence of animal companions. Time melds us together through shared events, living through the seasons in a confluence of laughter, pleasure, bliss and affection that crystallise in our minds forming sweet memories. How tragic our time with those we love, human or animal, is destined to end. However, earth’s one guarantee has caused all human societies to curate their own rituals for the passing of those we cherish.

The most famous and prestigious method of commemorating the death of animals took place within the ancient civilisation of Egypt. Feline or otherwise, were central pillars of ancient Egyptian society, being integral to their sustenance, theology and language, constituting a possible fifth of all hieroglyphs having origins within animal forms. This importance bestowed upon them from their birth, stayed with them throughout their years of living and even the days after them slipping away into their final slumber.

Everyone is familiar with Egyptian mummification, and a common belief that the practice was routine only for members of the ancient Sahara’s aristocracy following their death. Yet, this post-death ritual was not limited to humans; animal mummification was incredibly common. Multiple motives exist for producing bandaged fauna, ranging from honouring beloved pets, to valued ceremonial livestock for harvest festivals, to whole menageries of preserved Nile beasts, from cranes to crocodiles, for the purposes of sacrifice in pleasing Egypt’s phantasmagorical pantheon. Despite the prolific nature of the mummification and it being popular common knowledge in our society, many are unaware of why such a practice occurred and what the transformation from a recently deceased cadaver to an immortalised, bound mummy entailed.

The motives lay in the theological beliefs of this ancient civilisation. The Egyptians of old thought that the world we exist in now, both materially and spiritually, continued on in another world after death. However, the only way ensuring the deceased successfully crossed the existential plane was the preservation of their earthly body and belongings. Due to the belief that a person’s death was the entryway to an intangible world that continued our own, the same physiological and commercial dynamics was speculated to persist. Therefore, to guarantee that the deceased was able to continue life clothed, in possession of valuables and stocked up with food, these things had to be preserved and stored alongside their body so they continue the journey into the next chapter of life in the same material wealth they departed our world with.

The mummification process initially began with the preparation of the resting tomb in which the individual, who would be in a state of illness at this point, would be kept in after their death with all of these material possessions. Tombs varied in grandeur, size, and material from person to person, era to era, but the architectural design was principally a structure built upon a grave. Interiors were intricately embellished with a myriad of paintings portraying scenes of ancient Egyptian life; cranes by the river, the herding of bulls, to festivals featuring bejewelled dancing girls playing the sistrum, bells and tambourine. Immortalizing the deceased was a dense network of hieroglyphs running through all the wondrous illustrations in dyes of indigo and vermillion.

These palatial mausoleums were constructed to house a mummified body. Upon the death of the pyramid/tome’s financier, their body was taken by high-priests to begin the 70-day mummification process. This began with the removal of the body’s organs, accomplished by using specific ritualised methods. The brain was removed from the skull using slender, hooked instruments that gradually removed the brain in miniscule segments via the nostrils. The organs of the chest and the abdomen were carefully extracted through an incision cut on the deceased’s left side, leaving only the heart due to the ancient Egyptian belief that the heart was the source of one’s mind and personality. Following the removal, they were then dried, treated with spices and wine, before being stored within special jars, each with a decorative lid formed as the busts of the gods and goddesses that were said to protect the specific organs each jar contained.

The removal of moisture from the cadaver was achieved by the filling and covering of the body with natron, a white salt gathered from beds of dried lakes. This substance wicked moisture away from the skin and the lining flesh of the hollow corpse guaranteeing long-term preservation. This process took around 40 days which resulted in a totally dry, yet very recognisable, human figure that was then slathered in a variety of rich embalming products like tree resins, beeswax, wine and spices before being fitted with jewelled substitutes for facial organs like eyes.

Following this luxurious treatment, the entirety of the corpse was bound in linin bandages, some inscribed with spells and covering symbolic amulets placed in amongst them to protect the dead from harm. The wrapping of bandages occurred in layers. Once the body was covered in a single unbroken layer of linin, tree resins was smeared across them. This resin was then left to dry before beginning the next bandage layer. After the body was thickly enwrapped in linin, a mask of beaten gold was place over their covered face, the masks design being either a deified portrayal of the person’s face or the face of an animal. This completed the mummification process, with the body now ready to be laid within the golden sarcophagi surrounded by the wonders of ancient Egypt, to be stored for all eternity.

These funerary rituals are far removed from us in both practice and in time. However, a place perhaps equally separated from us in Western Europe in how the dead, both owner and pet, are handled is Japan. In this jewel of the far East, almost all funerals are conducted as a Buddhist ceremony, despite non-religion being the standard orientation of the population. The Buddhist ceremonies begin immediately on or approaching an individual’s death, with a sip of water being given to them to fulfil the Buddhist rite termed, ‘Water of the Last Moment’. It is supposedly common for Japanese homes to have a Buddhist ‘shrine’, think of an elaborate cabinet covered filled with esoteric wonders of the spiritual Orient, which is closed and shrouded in white paper following death. A collection of fresh cut flowers, candles and burning incense is place upon a small table positioned by the bed of the deceased.

The passed individual’s loved ones are informed and the authorities are made aware so a death certificate can be produced. The body is washed, orifices blocked with cotton/gauze and special morticians arrive to lay the body into a coffin. Women are enrobed in a white kimono and men are laid to rest dressed in a suit or kimono. Curiously, kimonos are always crossed left over right, yet the deceased’s kimonos are always crossed right over left. Regardless of sex, the clothed body is placed upon a pile of dry ice in a casket, elevated upon an altar, for the families to pay their respects 9

Now suitable for presentation, the wake, titled ‘Passing the Night’, is performed. Funeral attire is very similar to Western Europe, with the attendees dressed entirely in black, with the exception of women dressed in traditional black mourning kimonos. Additional differences would be guests brandishing sets of prayer beads if the deceased was a known adherent to Buddhism and guests providing the mourning family with black and silver envelopes filled with money called ‘Anti-Celebration Packets’ or envelopes of incense called ‘Packet of Buddhist Incense Offering’. Depending on the strength of the guest’s connection to the deceased and their personal wealth, these envelopes can contain an amount of yen or high-value incense equalling thousands of pound sterling.

The funeral itself begins after the family have said their goodbyes and presented their offerings, which are usually accomplished within a single day. A Buddhist priest chants a ‘sutra’, literature of the teachings of Buddha himself, before bestowing a new Buddhist name upon the deceased. These are termed ‘precept’ names and are written in ancient Kanji, adopted traditional Chinese pictorial characters that differ from standard Japanese pictograms, which function as a spiritual device to prevent the return of their ghostly form when their earthly name is called by heartbroken mourners now or in the future. The length of these esoteric Kanji precept names is determined by the virtuous life the deceased had lived or by the size of donation made to the temple performing the funerary practices. The larger the donation or greater virtuosity, the lengthier the name. The funeral concludes with attendees adorning the deceased in flowers before sealing the casket for transportation to the crematorium.

Cremation is performed at lower temperatures than Western European cremations so that all but the person’s bones are reduced to ash. Funerary practices differ from us wildly here, as it is a normal practise in Japan to pick the bones out of the ashes using chopsticks and place them into an urn. Bone collection begins at the feet and finished with fragments of the skull so that the deceased isn’t position upside-down for eternity. The ashes can then be poured into the urn or be divided between the family grave, temple or any other special place.

It is common in Scotland to visit cemeteries and see rows of elaborately sculpted gravestones embellished with gold or copper and flanked with the celestial statues of winged angels, flourishing stone carvings of plants, as well as all various types of post-death stonework from orbs, to animals to fluted columns of antiquity. However, Japanese graves are simple stone obelisks with the only details being the date of its erection and the name of the person’s remains laid to rest there, both inscribed vertically in the traditional way. In the case of a married person dying before their partner, the name of the widow can be ascribed alongside them in red ink, with the symbolism being that their partner in life is waiting for them.

Recently in England, a very special funeral service was dedicated to feline for the first time in history. For years there was a cat living in Southwark Cathedral, located in the English capital city of London. Her name was Doorkins Magnificat, given to her by the verger, Paul Timms who had welcomed her in sometime during 2008. When members of the cathedral’s clergy asked around the area for any information on this unexpected felid resident, it was revealed that Doorkins was well known by the local market traders for stealing scraps of food and hiding beneath their covered stalls.

She occupied herself exploring the many houses, anterooms and halls of the cathedral, catching mice, napping on the grand bishop’s chair and lounging in the cathedral’s gardens, which was Doorkins’ favoured spot. Across her 12 years at the gothic palace of Southwark, she featured in several books, enjoyed the company of Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the cathedral, become popular online through social media, and been the subject of a great outpouring of affection from church attendees. However, it was believed that Doorkins was a powerful instrument for passive evangelisation, with Andrew Nunn, the Dean of the Southwark cathedral, stating, ‘‘She did more to bring people to this place than I will ever do.’’

That line was delivered during her memorial service. Her health declined across 2019 and it was agreed that she would enter retirement with Timms, the very same verger that welcomed her in over 10 years ago. Living in perfect tranquillity as a pampered housecat, Doorkins passed away in the arms of the verger following a stroke. A month following her death and cremation, a memorial service was held in her honour, to commemorate her life and contributions to the cathedral. This was the first service of its kind to be held for an animal, but the occasion spared no expense, with a full service complete with readings from the bible, serenades of Christian ballads echoing throughout the arched chambers of the cathedral, punctuated with readings of animal passages from the Bible, performances of feline poems and the sharing of personal memories with Doorkins from Nunn and Timms. This hallowed event concluded with the attendees being offered to join the Dean of the Southwark and the head verger in the Cathedral gardens for the burial of Doorkins Magnifcat’s remains.

Composed by,

Maurice Alexander, Undergraduate of Business Management at the University of Aberdeen