Mekate's Burial Practices

Most followers of the Carn Fódla see the Goddess Mekate as the keeper of the dead and ceramonial rites. As death is the last rite anyone will experance she holds domain under the preporation of the body and burial.

History

Mekate's Burial Practices were originally created to guard the remains of the dead from the influence necromancers. The body is broken up in such a way where the corpses cannot rise as a zombie or as a skeleton. Over time more spiritual significance was brought into the ceremony such as washing the body to free the soul.

Participants

After a person passes the body must be taken to a temple pf Mekate (in no temple is present the body may be brought to a temple of Ystar. The body will then be washed with fresh water brought from within the burial crypts, the water is to wash away any remnants of the spirt and move it toward the shores of the dead. The vital organs are then removed from the body and placed in colored fabrics. The organs that were removed are cremated, in some cases, the families will request the organs as a token to remember the loved one or to lay it to rest in a family plot. In that case, the organs are then dried and placed in a container normally adorned with glyphs and runes of protection. Oils and spices are then rubbed on to the body in order to prepare the flesh for the next stage of the ceremony. The body, now free of all organs, is placed within a pool of salt water, elixirs, and small fish to eat away the flesh. The body is left submerged for several days till the bones can be separated and tied together into a tight bundle with several herbs and a clay plate stating the name of the individual and protection ward. The bundle will then be placed inside a crypt under the guard of paladins and clerics in the service of Mekate Mother of None to protect the remains against necromancers and any form of undead.