Victorians and Death, Superstitions and Rituals

As previously discussed throughout this blog The Victorians were pretty much obsessed when it came to the the subject of death. On one hand they were extremely apprehensive and paranoid about dying, on the other however they were intensely curious about what was to be the destiny that lay ahead for the spirit of the deceased. Victorians routinely held seance's where they would use methods such as the oui ja board to attempt making contact with the other side.

As a result of their overwhelming fear of death The Victorians would carry out a bizarre chain of rituals following the death of a family member Many to prevent the possession of other family members or visitors to the house and others to ensure the spirit of the deceased did not get left behind, trapped in the house and unable to cross over. whilst others were merely to ensure that the dead were in fact dead and not comatose thus preventing them from being buried alive.
some of these rather odd superstitions and practices included:

•  Curtains wouuld be drawn and the clocks stopped at the time of death.
• Mirrors were covered with drapes to prevent the soul of the deceased becoming trapped in the looking glass.
• Laurel, Yew or Boxwood wreaths were hung on the doors of the house to let passers by know that a death had occurred
• Members of the family would take turns to watch over the body until burial, this served two purposes firstly if the "dead" were in fact only in a coma and happened to wake up or show signs of life it would prevent them being buried alive and secondly it would allow more travelling time for mourners who wished to attend the funeral. as the body would usually be lying in the cellar or basement of the home for a fair few number of days during this "waking" period mourners would send gifts of flowers and candles which would be placed around the body to mask the smell of the decaying corpse.
• Bodies were always removed from the house feet first so that the recently departed would not look back and beckon a family member to join them.
• Family photographs in the house were placed facing down to prevent the spirit of the deceased possessing another family member.
• Bodies were buried with a bell situated next to the site of the grave, a long rope would run from the bell down through the earth and into the coffin just in case the deceased awoke.

As peculiar as these practices may seem there is yet another rather morbid tradition that Victorians preceded  to carry out following a death. This tradition is called Post Mortem Photography, which was... well basically to photograph the deceased. unlike in today's society where taking staged photographs of our deceased loved ones dressed up in their Sunday best and propped up using furniture or discretely being held in position by a hidden, still live, relative would seem completely bizarre and extremely creepy, Post Mortem Photography was nothing out of the ordinary during the Victorian era. 

This strange type of photography did however serve a purpose as it helped aid the grieving process allowing relatives to visually remember their departed loved ones. Memorial photographs would have held extreme sentimental value and would have been regarded as some of the most precious belongings in a home. 

The deceased would have been photographed dressed in their finest attire and held in position by means of a stand provided by the photographer or kept firm in position by a live person who could usually be concealed by a curtain, chair or some other type of furniture featured in the background scenery. In some photographs living relatives would pose with the deceased as a family portrait, in some cases coffins would have been included in the frame and in event of the death of a child the child may be placed in position with a favourite toy to remember them as they were when they were alive.

Family portrait style Post Mortem Photograph featuring two infants in Coffins

Deceased Child positioned with doll

http://io9.com/the-strangest-tradition-of-the-victorian-era-post-mort-472772709

http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/religion/spirit.html

http://friendsofoakgrovecemetery.org/victorian-funeral-customs-fears-and-superstitions/

http://occultvictorians.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/death-is-only-beginning.html