Funeral Rites
The body lay stripped in the town square the sun beat down on the exposed skin. at the edges of the plaza, the people kneeled dusk colored clothes blending with the packed sand. they pressed there heads to the ground hands tucked back by their feet. slowly they chanted. "May the Three watch over you. May the Hadagath carry you safely to the land of flowing water." The village leader stepped forward singing the song in a loud voice calling the hadagath down from where they circled high above. the people held still on the ground as the large sharp-beaked birds crowded around the dead body. they opened toothed beaks and tore into the sun softened flesh. Finally with a series of sharp shrieking noises they beat their way back into the sky. the elder gathered up the bones wrapped them in the rich blue cloth and carried them to the craft hall. there they would be carved into beads to be strung onto the anato lines that hung from the shrine.
Execution
The body is stripped and laid out at dawn. at noon the group gathers and chants. the priest, priestess or headman depending on who is present sings the funeral song. this acts as a signal for the carrion birds who come and devour the flesh the ribs are then made into beads and strung at either a temple or a shrine. the birds are seen as guides to the afterlife in the land of flowing waters. the beads may be carved either by a priest or a craftsman.
Components and tools
carving supplies once the ceremony is over. ritual blue cloth for the carrying of bones.
Participants
All people who are over the age of five in good health and not pregnant. the Singer is the key role for they signal the hagadeth.
Observance
Funeral Rite
Related Ethnicities
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