The Book of the Dead

This last session, each member of the class got up and told of a certain ritual, whether of some culture or a personal one. A big one was the "entering manhood" rituals, which generally included a great deal of pain such as stabbing oneself. Another popular ritual was the ancient Egyptian mummification ritual (mummifying both the person and the pet cat). This included having one's organs taken out and placed in canopic jars, and the brain picked out through the nostrils. Ritualistic spells to help the deceased move on to the afterlife would then be spoke via the Book of the Dead, a text common througout many ancient cultures for the above purpose. As far as my Indian ritual goes, I didn't get a chance to tell it before time ran out, but I look forward to telling the story on Tuesday!