ancestor worship

Rituals directed to relatives who have died, based on the belief that the spirits of the dead continue to infl uence the living. Ancestors are concerned with the well-being of their descendants, but also with upholding traditional morality and the traditional family structure. They will bless those who keep traditional sacred values, but they may turn malevolent against unworthy descendants. This entry uses the term ancestor worship because it is in common usage, but many scholars fi nd the term misleading. For one thing, the word worship does not refl ect the wide variety of ritual acts that the living direct toward their dead relatives. For another, not every society distinguishes between the living and the dead the way North Americans do, so not every society thinks of dead relatives as ancestors. The classic examples of this second point are people known as the Suku, who live in Zaire. The practice of ancestor worship is ancient. Perhaps the best known example of ancestor worship in the ancient world comes from China, where ancestor worship is still strong today. Bronze vessels from China survive that were used in making offerings to the ancestors almost 4,000 years ago. Ancestor worship is widespread. It is especially practiced in China, Korea, and Japan. It is also practiced in HINDUISM, to some extent in BUDDHISM, and in the indigenous religions of Africa, the Americas, Australia, and Oceania. Not every religion, however, worships ancestors. Jews, Christians, and Muslims today remember their ancestors but do not worship them. A ritual example is the Jewish custom of lighting the Jahrzeit candle or light on the anniversary of a person's death. But those who engage in such activities do not give dead relatives gifts or expect benefi ts from them. Ancestor worship often begins with the funeral. In societies that worship ancestors the funeral is not simply a way that the living deal with grief. It is a RITE OF PASSAGE by which a dead or dying relative becomes an ancestor. In some cultures these funerals, reserved for older relatives rather than children who die, are joyous occasions. Some cultures also pay special attention to the treatment or placement of the physical remains. For example, the Chinese use FENG-SHUI to determine the location for a tomb that will make the ancestor's existence as benefi cial as possible. People worship ancestors by giving them gifts, sharing a meal with them, and recalling them through RITUALS, among other means. Hindus present rice balls known as pindas to their ancestors at several special occasions. They also sponsor feasts in which the ancestors participate, although priests known as BRAHMINS actually eat the food. In traditional Chinese communities, the ancestors are honored at three places: at a household shrine, where simple offerings may be placed daily before a tablet bearing the names of the recently deceased; at an extended family shrine, where large tablets bearing the names of male ancestors for six generations back are set up on tiers and honored; and at the cemetery, where the family traditionally cleans the graves and sets out offerings twice a year, in spring and fall. While Christians today do not engage in ancestor worship in a strict sense, archaeology seems to indicate that the earliest Christians did. They visited the graves of their ancestors and enjoyed a meal there with them. Many people believe that neglected ancestors have the power to cause illness and misfortune. Especially in these cases it is important to be able to communicate with the ancestors: to learn what has offended them and what one can do to stop their anger. In Korea SHAMANS traditionally consult the ancestors in an effort to alleviate the sufferings of their clients. In parts of Africa people use various methods of divination to determine what is troubling the ancestors. People also expect the ancestors, if they are treated properly, to help them. Such help often includes health and material well-being. The socalled CARGO CULTS of Melanesia are based on the belief that the spirits of the dead will eventually return and distribute riches among the living. In one cargo cult people used telephones to communicate with the ancestors. In another they built a landing strip for the ancestors to use when they return in airplanes. The cults began in the 19th century when European explorers distributed gifts to the islanders. There may be more to ancestor worship than fi rst meets the eye. One scholar has argued that for one group of people in Melanesia ancestor worship was actually a way by which the people, perhaps unknowingly, maintained a balance between yams and pigs in their diets. Such an ecological explanation is intriguing, but not all scholars accept it.