Finnish+Perspective+on+Death

Butters, Maija. “Between East and West: A diachronic overview of Finnish death culture.” //Death Studies//, vol. 41, no. 1, 2016, pp. 51–60., doi:10.1080/07481187.2016.1257885.

In the article “Between East and West: A diachronic overview of Finnish death culture”, the author Maija Butters examines the death culture in Finland by observing the religion, burial practices and burial grounds along with the artifacts left behind. The bodies were left with an assortment of jewelry, stones, and ceramic items which were all seen as customs for their ancestors. Finland was highly influenced by traditions of Eastern and Western countries such as Sweden and Russia when it came to religion such as Christianity and other burial customs. One custom the Finish adopted from the East was a tradition called Vainajahaltia which led people to leave food and drinks and gifts near graves of their loved ones. Eventually funerals became “large festivals where the entire family and friends were welcome.” In more recent times, they have traditional funerals and use pillars or plaques to identify their dead loved one. Reading this article and learning about a Christian culture in Europe and their customs pertaining to death was interesting to me because America being a majority Christian country, we have similar but different traditional funerals. This article will also give me another different culture’s perspective on death.

Makayla Pettway-Stokes