Most of us don’t have a set ritual for mourning the loss of miscarriages and stillbirths. It’s a burden often carried solely by the mother, who is left to grieve a being with no major social connections except to her. She carried it in it’s life, death and is left to carry the grief. There have been attempts within society to attach communal ritual to miscarriages and stillbirths. Some cemeteries have an “Angel” section. But this memorialization is the exception and not the rule. Others take the healthy step to have a private and/or public memorial service, but these services are rare. On the island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia, newborn infants who die are buried in the trunks of giant trees. The belief is that the child’s soul will rise up into the heavens through the tree. This process is communal, as there’s a designated remembrance spot for the community. It involves ritual that benefits those most affected by the miscarriage/stillbirth/infant death: the mother. And, it sanctifies a space for grieving the loss of the least in society. And — I believe — it’s a healthy response for both the family and the community. -Caleb Wilde
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 20:33:21 +0000
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