Even though funeral ceremonies in the Luhya nation are never planned, they are always expected to go smooth with little room for error. Inside those ceremonies are secrete series of a whole rituals of syllabus
Any small error, the funeral directors will tell you that you will welcome back the ‘funeral spirits’.
At many times, the ceremonies and rituals are conducted according to the nature of death, Cause of Death, the age of the dead and so on.
Let us look into the details of the rituals and their hidden meaning, rather secretes of Luhya duneral ceremonies .
How the rituals marginalize women in the Luhya society
In a luhya setting, women are the biggest casualty of funeral rituals, despite the fact that they are very vital and most active members during the funeral ceremonies.
Can you imagine a funeral service without women? Who else will create the sad mood?!
The fast case comes from a woman who failed to get kids, even though she was successful in her life, got a nice job and even elevated the status of the family, she will be given a bad funeral sendoff if she fails to get married.
A rebellious man, who even chased away his parents with machete will be given a good send off, despite the fact that he was not married and even didn’t have kids. A man who sold the family’s ancestral land deserves a better sendoff as compared to such a lady.
Another worst scenario comews when a widow is left alone with a string of about 10 kids. What is sated clearly is that all the fortunes from the man are supposed to be merried during the funeral.
The brothers to the dead argue that if the widow is left with the fortunes, she will ‘disrespect’ the rest of the family members using the fortunes of their own son. Strange enough.
In a few words, Luhya culture is a whole book of a varsity science syllabus. Even some of the old nonagenarian funeral directors will be heard murmuring about some of the rituals they have already forgotten!
