Touching Heaven
"Burying an Unbowed man denies his spirit the chance to touch heaven; to go home. Not even the most hated among us are denied home." - Oltalo the Feathered, Unbowed Shaman
Touching Heaven is a funerary rite among the Unbowed Nomads. The Nomads worship the Sky as a deity, as well as several kinds of birds of prey including various eagles, rocs, owls, and hawks. They believe the Unbowed are descended from the stars and clouds and that when they die their souls return to the heavens. Touching Heaven is thought to facilitate this journey back to the heavens while also showing respect for the birds who carry the soul up.
History
It is unknown when exactly the Unbowed began the practice of letting their dead Touch Heaven, but it has certainly been going on for the last thousand years. All over the Pashtu Desert, and the northern and southern velds of Traia are stone mounds built with large, flat rocks covered in hundreds of years of blood, gore, and bones. These mounds tell the story of countless Unbowed laid to rest on the piles where they were feasted upon by birds until their bones bleached in the sun and their souls were carried to heaven.
Execution
When an Unbowed dies their body is handed to the tribal shaman for preparation. The body is stripped of clothing and jewelry, washed, and wrapped loosely in a linen cloth. Wax is then poured over the cloth until it nearly encases the body. Unbowed Nomads, as the name implies, are entirely nomadic and death is rarely convenient so this process is an attempt to preserve the body as they travel. However, because the nomads have lived in their lands for so long the altars used for Touching Heaven are rarely more than a few days a way.
Once the tribe reaches the closest altar the shaman and the deceased's closest kin carry the body to it where the linen cloth is removed, taking the wax with it. The body is cleaned one more time. The Unbowed then keep vigil over the body for several hours reciting prayers which include the deceased's name, and a list of their deeds for the Sky to judge them. If the Sky deems them worthy birds will feast on the body and carry the soul into the heavens. During the vigil colored, decorated streamers are tied to ropes and tied to cairns built around the altars. Many of these cairns are centuries old and littered with the tattered, dry-rotted, sun-bleached remnants from centuries of rites.
This is a rough sketch of how the rite is carried out and its exact execution varies from region to region and even from tribe to tribe. Some tribes believe cutting the body into pieces helps the birds and process along. Others forego the funerary altars entirely, and leave their dead where they fall, and still others have rituals that last days as the tribe keeps vigil over the body.
Components and tools
While the practice varies wildly from tribe to tribe the washing of the body, to clear it of soil and debris that may weigh the soul down, and funerary altars are nearly universal. Little else is required to perform the ritual, though the colored streamers mentioned in the section above are also quite common they aren't as universal as the other components. Some tribes don't use them at all, others use specific colors of specific beaded patterns as a matter of religious custom.
Streamers themselves are, generally, easy to make in a hurry. Their color and decorations have little significance beyond the tribe that made them and the deceased they were made for. Some tribes use them as a sort of dirge to tell the tales of the dead, others believe they attract the attention of birds to the corpse, so only the most vibrant colors are used. As with the above, there is incredible variety.
Participants
The tribal shaman is the one that leads the other members of the tribe through the rite. The deceased's kin are often involved in every step of the process, from cleaning and wrapping the body, to carrying it to the altar and then, of course, standing vigil and reciting the deceased's deeds into the sky that they may be judged by the Sky and the birds.
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