Mourning - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mourning is, in the simplest sense, synonymous with grief

Grief

Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...

over the death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

of someone. The word is also used to describe a cultural complex of behaviours in which the bereaved participate or are expected to participate. Customs vary between different cultures and evolve over time, though many core behaviors remain constant.

Wearing black clothes is one practice followed in many countries, though other forms of dress are also seen. Those most affected by the loss of a loved one often observe a period of grieving, marked by withdrawal from social events and quiet, respectful behavior. People may also follow certain religious traditions for such occasions.

Mourning may also apply to the death of, or anniversary of the passing of, an important individual like a local leader, monarch, religious figure etc. State mourning may occur on such an occasion. In recent years some traditions have given way to less strict practices, though many customs and traditions continue to be followed.

Ethiopia

In Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, an Edir is a traditional community organization whose members assist each other during the mourning process. Members make monthly financial contributions forming the Edir's fund. They are entitled to receive a certain sum of money from this fund, whose rate varies based on how close the deceased is to the Edir member. The purpose for such payment is to help cover funeral and other expenses associated with deaths. Additionally, Edir members comfort the mourners: female members take turns doing housework, such as preparing food for the mourning family, while male members usually take the responsibility to arrange the funeral and erect a temporary tent to shelter guests who come to visit the mourning family. Edir members are required to stay with the mourning family and comfort them for three full days.

Japan

The Japanese term for mourning dress is mofuku (喪服). The term refers to either primarily black Western-style formal wear or to black traditional Japanese clothing

Japanese clothing

The various traditional ethnic garments worn in Japan are still in use, they are mainly worn for ceremonies and special occasions- like weddings or festivals. Both men and women favor "western-style" clothing in their daily lives- due to the comparative convenience and the influx of global...

worn at funerals

Japanese funeral

A Japanese funeral A Japanese funeral A Japanese funeral (葬儀 sōgi or 葬式 sōshiki）includes a wake, the cremation of the deceased, a burial in a family grave, and a periodic memorial service. According to 2007 statistics, 99.81% of deceased Japanese are cremated...

and Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

memorial services. Other colours, particularly reds and bright shades, are considered inappropriate for mourning dress. If wearing Western clothes, women may wear a single strand of white pearl

Pearl

A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...

s.

Japanese-style mourning dress for women consists of a five-crested

Kamon

Kamon may refer to:*Kamon , a Japanese heraldic symbol*Kamon, Israel, a village in northern Israel-See also:*Kimon, an Athenian politician and general...

plain black silk kimono

Kimono

The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...

, black obi

Obi

Obi may refer to:* Obi , a sash worn with a kimono or with the uniforms used by practitioners of Japanese martial arts* Obi-Wan Kenobi, fictional character from the Star Wars universe...

and black accessories worn over white undergarments, black zori

Zori

are flat and thonged Japanese sandals made of rice straw or other plant fibers, cloth, lacquered wood, leather, rubber, or—increasingly—synthetic materials...

sandals and white tabi

Tabi

are traditional Japanese socks. Ankle-high and with a separation between the big toe and other toes, they are worn by both men and women with zori, geta, and other traditional thonged footwear. Tabi are also essential with traditional clothing—kimono and other wafuku as well as being worn by...

split-toe socks. Women's mourning kimono and accessories are worn only for mourning. Men's mourning dress consists of clothing worn on extremely formal occasions: a plain black silk five-crested kimono and black and white or gray and white striped hakama

Hakama

are a type of traditional Japanese clothing. They were originally worn only by men, but today they are worn by both sexes. Hakama are tied at the waist and fall approximately to the ankles. Hakama are worn over a kimono ....

trousers over white undergarments, black crested haori jacket with a white closure, white or black zori and white　tabi.

It is customary for Japanese-style mourning dress to be worn only by the immediate family and very close friends of the deceased; other attendees wear Western-style mourning dress or subdued Western or Japanese formal wear.

Thailand

In Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

people will wear black when attending a funeral. Black is considered the mourning colour.

Continental Europe

The custom of wearing unadorned black clothing for mourning dates back at least to the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

, when the toga pulla, made of dark-colored wool, was worn during periods of mourning.

Through the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

and Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

, distinctive mourning was worn for general as well as personal loss; after the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre

St. Bartholomew's Day massacre

The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots , during the French Wars of Religion...

of Huguenot

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

s in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

and her court are said to have dressed in full mourning to receive the French Ambassador.

Women in mourning and widows wore distinctive black caps and veils, generally in a conservative version of the current fashion.

In areas of Russia, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, and Spain, widows will wear black for the rest of their lives. The immediate family members of the deceased will wear black for an extended period of time. Since the 1970's some current mourning practices for some cultures, even those who have emigrated to the United States, are to wear black for a period of at least two years, though life-long black for widows remains in Europe.

White mourning

The colour of deepest mourning among medieval

Middle Ages

European queens was white. In 1393, Parisians were treated to the unusual spectacle of a royal funeral carried out in white, for Leo V, King of Armenia, who died in exile. This royal tradition survived in Spain until the end of the fifteenth century. In 1993, it was revived by the Spanish-born Queen Fabiola for the funeral of her husband, King Baudouin I of Belgium. Additionally, in 2004, the four daughters of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands

Juliana of the Netherlands

Juliana was the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980. She was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry...

all wore white to their mother's funeral. The custom for the Queens of France to wear deuil blanc [white mourning] was the origin of the White Wardrobe created in 1938 by Norman Hartnell

Norman Hartnell

Sir Norman Bishop Hartnell, KCVO was a British fashion designer. Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to HM The Queen 1940, subsequently Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother...

for Queen Elizabeth

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...

(later the Queen Mother

Queen mother

Queen Mother is a title or position reserved for a widowed queen consort whose son or daughter from that marriage is the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since at least 1577...

). She was required to make a State visit to France while in mourning for her mother.

United Kingdom

Today, no special dress or behaviour is required for those in mourning in the general population, although various ethnic and religious faiths have specific rituals. The wearing of black, even at funerals, is in decline. Traditionally, however, there were strict social rules to be observed.

By the 19th century, mourning behaviour in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

had developed into a complex set of rules, particularly among the upper classes

Social class

Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...

. Women bore the greatest burden of these customs. They involved wearing heavy, concealing, black clothing

Clothing

Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...

, and the use of heavy veil

Veil

A veil is an article of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, that is intended to cover some part of the head or face.One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space...

s of black crêpe. The entire ensemble was colloquially known as "widow's weeds" (from the Old English

Old English language

Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

"Waed" meaning "garment").

Special caps and bonnets, usually in black or other dark colours, went with these ensembles. There was special mourning jewelry, often made of jet

Jet (lignite)

Jet is a geological material and is considered to be a minor gemstone. Jet is not considered a true mineral, but rather a mineraloid as it has an organic origin, being derived from decaying wood under extreme pressure....

and with the hair of the deceased in a locket or brooch. The wealthy could also wear cameos or lockets designed to hold a lock of the deceased's hair or some similar relic

Relic

In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...

Widows were expected to wear special clothes to indicate that they were in mourning for up to four years after the death, although a widow could choose to wear such attire for the rest of her life. To change the costume earlier was considered disrespectful to the decedent and, if the widow was still young and attractive, suggestive of potential sexual promiscuity. Those subject to the rules were slowly allowed to re-introduce conventional clothing at specific time periods; such stages were known by such terms as "full mourning", "half mourning", and similar descriptions. At half mourning, gray and lavender could be introduced.

Friends, acquaintances, and employees wore mourning to a greater or lesser degree depending on their relationship with the deceased. In general, servants wore black armbands when there had been a death in the household.

Mourning was worn for six months for a sibling. Parents would wear mourning for a child for "as long as they feel so disposed". A widow was supposed to wear mourning for two years and was not supposed to enter society for twelve months. No lady or gentleman in mourning was supposed to attend balls. Amongst polite company, the wearing of simply a black arm band was seen as appropriate only for military men (or others compelled to wear uniform in the course of their duties). Wearing a black arm band instead of proper mourning clothes was seen as a degradation of proper etiquette and to be avoided. Men were expected to wear mourning suits (not to be confused with morning suits

Tailcoat

A tailcoat is a coat with the front of the skirt cut away, so as to leave only the rear section of the skirt, known as the tails. The historical reason coats were cut this way was to make it easier for the wearer to ride a horse, but over the years tailcoats of varying types have evolved into forms...

) of black frock coat

Frock coat

A frock coat is a man's coat characterised by knee-length skirts all around the base, popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods. The double-breasted style is sometimes called a Prince Albert . The frock coat is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at the back, and some features...

s with matching trousers and waistcoats. Later, in the inter-war period, as the frock coat became increasingly rare, the mourning suit consisted of a black morning coat with black trousers and waistcoat, essentially a black version of the morning suit worn to weddings and other occasions, which would normally include coloured waistcoats and striped or checked trousers.

Formal mourning culminated during the reign of Queen Victoria

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

. Victoria may have had much to do with the practice, owing to her long and conspicuous grief over the death of her husband, Prince Albert. Although fashions began to be more functional and less restrictive for the succeeding Edwardians, appropriate dress for men and women, including that for the period of mourning, was still strictly prescribed and rigidly adhered to.

The rules were gradually relaxed, and acceptable practice for both sexes became to dress in dark colours for up to a year after a death in the family. By the late 20th century, this no longer applied. Black had been widely adopted by women in cities as a fashionable color.

United States

Mourning generally followed English forms. In the antebellum South, with social mores that imitated those of England, mourning was just as strictly observed by the upper classes.

In the 19th century, mourning could be quite expensive, as it required a whole new set of clothes and accessories or, at the very least, overdying existing garments and taking them out of daily use. For a poorer family, this was a strain on the resources (See Taylor, Jupp and Litten). At the end of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...

, Dorothy

Dorothy Gale

Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...

explains to Glinda

Glinda

Glinda is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.- Literature :Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...

that she must return home because her aunt and uncle cannot afford to go into mourning for her because it was too expensive.

Tonga

In Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

, family members of deceased persons wear black for an extended period of time, with large plain Ta'ovala

Ta'ovala

A taovala is a Tongan dress, a mat wrapped around the waist, worn by men and women, at all formal occasions, much like the tie for men in the European and North American culture...

. Often, black bunting

Bunting

Bunting can refer to:* Bunting , a group of birds* An infant sleeping bag* The act of laying down a bunt, a type of offensive play in baseball* Bunting , a lightweight cloth material often used for flags and festive decorations...

is hung from homes and buildings; and, in the case of the death of royalty, the entire country adopts mourning dress and black and purple bunting

Bunting

is displayed from most buildings.

State and official mourning

State mourning or, in the case of a monarchy

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

, court mourning refers to displays of mourning behavior on the death of a public figure or member of a royal family.

The degree and duration of public mourning is generally decreed by a protocol officer. It was not unusual for the British court to declare that all citizens should wear full mourning for a specified period after the death of the monarch

Monarch

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

, or that the members of the court should wear full- or half-mourning for an extended period. On the death of Queen Victoria (January 22, 1901), the Canada Gazette
Canada Gazette
The Canada Gazette is an official publication by the government of Canada that publishes all laws and Orders in Council issued by the government. It also contains other information on things such as hearing and tribunals, proposed changes and any thing else the government feels should be told to...

published an "extra" edition announcing that court mourning would continue until January 24, 1902. It directed the public to wear deep mourning until March 6, 1901, and half-mourning until April 17, 1901.

The black-and-white costumes designed by Cecil Beaton

Cecil Beaton

Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, CBE was an English fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre...

for the Royal Ascot sequence in My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady (film)
My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...

were inspired by the "Black Ascot" of 1910, when the court was in mourning for Victoria's son, Edward VII

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

.

All over the world, States usually declare a period of official mourning after the death of a Head of State

Head of State

A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

. The signs may vary but usually include the lowering or posting half-mast of flags on public buildings. In contrast, in those Commonwealth realm

Commonwealth Realm

A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. The sixteen current realms have a combined land area of 18.8 million km² , and a population of 134 million, of which all, except about two million, live in the six...

s that have one, the royal standard

Royal Standard

The Royal Standard of the United Kingdom is the flag used by Elizabeth II in her capacity as Sovereign of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories...

is never flown at half-mast, because there is always a monarch on the throne.

In January 2006, on the death of Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

Jaber III al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, GCB , GCMG of the al-Sabah dynasty, was the Emir and thirteenth Sheikh of Kuwait, serving from December 31, 1977 until his death on January 15, 2006...

, the Emir of Kuwait, a mourning period of 40 days was declared. In Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

, the official mourning lasts for a year; only afterwards is the royal heir crowned the new king.

On the other hand, the principle of continuity of the State must be respected. The principle is reflected in the French saying "Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!" [The king is dead, long live the king!]. Regardless of the formalities of mourning, power must be handed on; if the succession is uncontested, that is best done immediately. Yet, a short interruption of work in the civil service may result from one or more days of closing the offices, especially on the day of the State funeral

State funeral

A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...

Eastern Christianity

Orthodox Christians

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

usually hold the funeral either the day after death or on the third day, and always during the daytime. In traditional Orthodox communities the body of the departed would be washed and prepared for burial by family or friends, and then placed in the coffin in the home. A house in mourning would be recognizable by the lid of the coffin, with a cross on it, and often adorned with flowers, set on the porch by the front door.

Special prayers are held on the third, ninth, and 40th days after death; the third, sixth and ninth months; and annually thereafter in a memorial service, for up to three generations. Kolyva is ceremoniously used to honor the dead.

Sometimes men in mourning will not shave for the 40 days. Forty seems to have recurring pre-Judaic origins e.g. in the Rites of Persephone. In Greece and other Orthodox countries, it is not uncommon for widows to remain in mourning dress for the rest of their lives.

When an Orthodox bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

dies, a successor is not elected until after the 40 days of mourning are completed, during which period his diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

is said to be "widow

Widow

A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...

ed".

As in the Roman Catholic rites, there can be symbolic mourning. During Holy Week

Holy Week

Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...

, some temples in the Church of Cyprus draw black curtains across the icons. The services of Good Friday

Good Friday

Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...

and Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday , sometimes known as Easter Eve or Black Saturday, is the day after Good Friday. It is the day before Easter and the last day of Holy Week in which Christians prepare for Easter...

morning are patterned in part on the Orthodox Christian burial

Christian burial

A Christian burial is the burial of a deceased person with specifically Christian ecclesiastical rites; typically, in consecrated ground. Until recent times Christians generally objected to cremation, and practised inhumation almost exclusively, but this opposition has weakened, and now vanished...

service, and funeral lamentations.

Western Christianity

The European social forms are, in general, forms of Christian religious expression transferred to the greater community.

In the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

, the Mass of Paul VI

Mass of Paul VI

The Mass of Pope Paul VI is the liturgy of the Catholic Mass of the Roman Rite promulgated by Paul VI in 1969, after the Second Vatican Council...

, adopted in 1969, allows several options for the liturgical color used in Masses for the Dead. Prior to the liturgical reform, black was the ordinary color for funeral Masses; in the revised use, several options are available. According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (§346d-e), violet, white, or black vestments may be worn at Offices and Masses for the dead.

Christian Churches often go into mourning symbolically during the period of Lent

Lent

In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

to commemorate the sacrifice and death of Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

. Customs vary among the denominations and include the covering or removal of statuary, icons and paintings, and use of special liturgical colours, such as violet/purple, during Lent and Holy Week

Holy Week

Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...

.

In more formal congregations, parishioners also dress according to specific forms during Holy Week, particularly on Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great & Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels...

and Good Friday

Good Friday

, when it is still common to wear black or sombre dress or, as mentioned, the liturgical color purple.

Hinduism

Death is not seen as the final "end", but is seen as a turning point in the seemingly endless journey of the indestructible "atman

Atman (Hinduism)

Ātman is a Sanskrit word that means 'self'. In Hindu philosophy, especially in the Vedanta school of Hinduism it refers to one's true self beyond identification with phenomena...

" or soul through innumerable bodies of animals and people. Hence, Hinduism prohibits excessive mourning or lamentation upon death, as this can hinder the passage of the departed soul towards its journey ahead: "As mourners will not help the dead in this world, therefore (the relatives) should not weep, but perform the obsequies to the best of their power."

Hindu mourning is described in dharma

Dharma

Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

shastras. It begins immediately after the cremation of the body and ends on the morning of the thirteenth day. Traditionally the body is cremated within 24 hours after death; however, cremations are not held after sunset or before sunrise. Immediately after the death, an oil lamp is lit near the deceased, and this lamp is kept burning for three days. Hinduism associates death with ritual impurity

Ritual purification

Ritual purification is a feature of many religions. The aim of these rituals is to remove specifically defined uncleanliness prior to a particular type of activity, and especially prior to the worship of a deity...

for the immediate blood family of the deceased, hence during these mourning days, the immediate blood family must not perform any religious ceremonies (except funerals), must not visit temples or other sacred places, must not serve the sages (holy men), must not give alms, must not read or recite from the sacred scriptures, nor can they attend social functions such as marriages, parties, etc. The family of the deceased is not expected to serve any visiting guests food or drink. It is customary that the visiting guests do not eat or drink in the house where the death has occurred. The family in mourning are required to bathe twice a day, eat a single simple vegetarian meal, and try to cope with their loss.

On the day on which the death has occurred, the family do not cook; hence usually close family and friends will provide food for the mourning family. White clothing

White clothing (religious)

White clothing has significance in many religious faith traditions. Some of these traditions include:*Christianity: Christian baptismal garments are traditionally white...

(the colour of purity) is the colour of mourning, and many will wear white during the mourning period.

The male members of the family do not cut their hair or shave, and the female members of the family do not wash their hair until the 10th day after the death. On the morning of the 10th day, all male members of the family shave and cut their hair, and female members wash their hair. This day is called Dasai or Daswan. After "Daswan", some vedic rituals are started. If the deceased was young and unmarried, the "Narayan Bali" is performed by the Pandits. The Mantras of "Bhairon Paath" are recited. This ritual is performed through the person who has given the Mukhagni (Ritual of giving fire to the dead body).

On the morning of the thirteenth day, a Shraddha ceremony is performed. The main ceremony involves a fire sacrifice, in which offerings are given to the ancestors and to gods, to ensure the deceased has a peaceful afterlife. Pind Sammelan

Pind Sammelan

Pind Sammelan or Spindi is a ritual performed in Hinduism on the 13th day of death of somebody. This ritual is performed to place the departed soul with the ancestors and God. It is believed that before the ritual the departed soul is a "preta" , and after performing this ritual, the soul will...

is performed to ensure the involvement of the departed soul with that of God. Typically after the ceremony, the family cleans and washes all the idols in the family shrine; and flowers, fruits, water and purified food are offered to the gods. Then, the family is ready to break the period of mourning and return to daily life.

Islam

Mourning is observed in Islam by increased devotion, receiving visitors and condolences, and avoiding decorative clothing and jewelry.

Loved ones and relatives are to observe a three-day mourning period. Widows observe an extended mourning period (Iddah

Iddah

In Islam, iddah or iddat is the period a woman must observe after the death of her spouse or after a divorce, during which she may not marry another man. The period, three months after a divorce and four months and ten days after the death of a spouse, is calculated on the number of menses that a...

), four months and ten days long, in accordance with the Qur'an 2:234. During this time, she is not to remarry, move from her home, or wear decorative clothing or jewelry.

Grief at the death of a beloved person is normal, and weeping for the dead is allowed in Islam. What is prohibited is to express grief by wailing ("bewailing" refers to mourning in a loud voice), shrieking, tearing hair or clothes, breaking things, scratching faces, or uttering phrases that make a Muslim lose faith.

Directives for widows

Qur'an prohibits widow

Widow

s from engaging themselves for four lunar month

Lunar month

In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two identical syzygies . There are many variations. In Middle-Eastern and European traditions, the month starts when the young crescent moon becomes first visible at evening after conjunction with the Sun one or two days before that evening...

s and ten days after the death of their husbands. According to Qur'an:
Islamic scholars consider this directive a balance between mourning a husband's death and protection of the widow from censure that she became interested in re-marrying too soon after her husband’s death. This is also to ascertain whether or not a lady is pregnant.

Judaism

Judaism looks upon mourning as a process by which the stricken can re-enter into society, and so provides a series of customs that make this process gradual. The first stage is the Shiva (literally meaning seven), which consists of the first seven days after the funeral. The second stage is the Shloshim (thirty), referring to the thirty days following the death. In some special cases there are more extended periods of mourning which can last three months and even one year. Each stage places lighter demands and restrictions than the previous one in order to reintegrate the bereaved into normal life.

The most known and central stage is Shiva, which is a Jewish mourning practice in which people adjust their behaviour as an expression of their bereavement for the week immediately after the burial. In the West, typically, mirrors are covered and a small tear is made in an item of clothing to indicate a lack of interest in personal vanity. The bereaved dress simply and sit on the floor, short stools or boxes rather than chairs when receiving the condolences of visitors. In some cases relatives or friends take care or the bereaved's house chores, as cooking and cleaning. English speakers use the expression "to sit shiva".

During the Shloshim the mourners are no longer expected to sit on the floor or be taken care of (cooking\cleaning). However some customs still apply. There is a prohibition on getting married or attending any sort of celebrations and men refrain from shaving or cutting their hair.

Modern customs

Mourning attire became less customary after the mid-twentieth century, by which time it had already been determined that mourning was not to be worn in the business arena. It is still customary, though not as universal, to indicate mourning through somber, semi-formal dress, particularly at the funeral

Funeral

A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...

and among the family and close friends of the deceased. As such, men often wear a suit and tie, while a woman may wear a dark-colored, long-sleeved dress or pantsuit. The armband is still seen, but mostly amongst Austrian, German, Irish, and other northern- and central-European Catholic groups such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians

Ancient Order of Hibernians

The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be Catholic and either Irish born or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836...

. A few modern customs have evolved, for example the use of sunglasses

Sunglasses

Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist, featuring lenses that...

in order to hide tear-swollen eyes. Mourning is used as a statement of respect, solidarity, commemoration, or protest by a particular group in an unusual circumstance. For instance:

A sports team may wear black armbands, or affix a black stripe to their uniforms, for a specified time period following the death of an owner, coach, teammate or (if the decedent is a high school or college student), classmate. A prominent example includes the wearing of black armbands by the Israeli Olympic team in 1976 to commemorate the attack on the team during the 1972 Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

.
A community wearing special-colored ribbons on a designated day or for a particular time period. For instance, the wearing of red, white and blue following the September 11th attacks.
Observing a "moment of silence" and/or flying flags at half-mast following a death. This most frequently happens in conjunction with national periods of mourning (such as the death of a former or current Head of State
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

or other notable leader).
- flags are sometimes lowered to half-mast in other circumstances, such as after the death of a high school student or noted local figure; such circumstances vary widely and are usually influenced by local customs.
- when a flag is to be flown at half-mast it is first to be fully hoisted and only then lowered half-way, never raised only to half-way and left there.
Local-, state- and federal-uniformed employees in the United States, who wear badges, place a black band around the badge when a fellow employee has been killed in the line of duty.
A wedding ring
Wedding ring
A wedding ring or wedding band is a metal ring indicating the wearer is married. Depending on the local culture, it is worn on the base of the right or the left ring finger. The custom of wearing such a ring has spread widely beyond its origin in Europe...

, either the original or the dead partner's, may be worn for a period after the death.
Using social networking sites to create an online forum where people can write things about the deceased friend or loved one

External links

Victorian mourning garb at Morbid Outlook.
Museum of Funeral Customs
The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning By Maurice Lamm
To Those Who Mourn a Christian view by Max Heindel
Max Heindel
Max Heindel - born Carl Louis von Grasshoff in Aarhus, Denmark on July 23, 1865 - was a Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic. He died on January 6, 1919 at Oceanside, California, United States.- Early infancy :...
Free info on Jewish customs related to death, mourning, Kaddish, shiva, yahrtzeilt, the hil, & the afterlife
What Is Love without Mourning? Male Intimacies and Cultures of Loss An article that considers the importance of mourning in respect of male same-sex intimate relationships

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