Funeral Ceremony

The end of an agu's journey through Orithia.

Certainly a person's death is as important as any other event in their life. Like the birth it is absolutely vital that it be marked. Not for the dead person, who's extension in this Shoku has come to an end, but for the community, most especially for those closest to the deceased, their family and friends, who need an opportunity to speak and hear about the life that is no more, and to express their grief in a supportive environment.

Actors: The deceased, eulogists, the priest.
Front Row Guests: Relatives of the deceased.
Other Guests: Friends of the family, members of the community.
Props:
Hymns: "Lament For The Dead", "Utopia" and one other chosen to fit the deceased's life.

Agenda:

Arrival

The corpse is arrayed in the coffin with the lid open. People must file past the corpse on their way to their seats.

Some suitable entry music is played.

Preliminaries

The Priest: "Good morning/afternoon etc... Thank you all for coming this important occasion, the last ceremony in the life of ...

We are gathered here to remember the life of ... and to mark its end, whether it be with tears, a tightness in the heart, a sob in the throat, a glad feeling about all that this person was, a sadness that he/she stopped too soon, or all these at once.

But there is no need to feel that this is the end of ... Far from it! The Church of Infinite Dimensions teaches that being born into Velas, not matter how briefly, guarantees one eternal life. This Uru has merely ended his/her stay in Orithia. He/she will be born into an infinite number of other Shoka, in some of them his/her life will be much greater, in others much smaller, in all of them much different from the life he/she lived here.

No matter what sort of person ... was in Orithia he/she will live out other aspects of his/her personality in other Shoka. Personality defects which may have seemed intractable here will become irrelevant in other dimensions. Physical ailments will disappear. On the other hand the new agu will have new problems to deal with in the new Shoka, both physical and mental, but that is the nature of reality; the only heaven is that which we are able to make for ourselves.

Soloist sings the Hymn "Lament For The Dead".

The Celebrant tells the life story of the deceased. Ideally the Celebrant should be someone that knew the deceased well. It could be a child of the deceased, a friend, colleague or perhaps the Priest. If no such person can be found that wants to do the job it can be done by the Priest or someone hired for the purpose.

The life story should be accurate and stick to the facts. It should not gloss over any serious flaws nor overstate mediocre achievements. It is there to remind the audience who the deceased was.

Eulogies

There should be at least 3 eulogies given, (there can be more depending on the wishes of the family and whether there are more suitable people that wish to speak), in order:

From the family, usually the adult child of the deceased, the partner or the parent depending on the age of the deceased.
From the friends, usually the closest friend.
From business colleagues, usually the closest workmate or boss.

Music should be played after each eulogy, either something that the deceased loved or something that is appropriate to the situation. If possible the music should be live. If possible performed by people close to the deceased.

Once the eulogies are done there should be a slideshow of the deceased in chronological order showing him/her at various ages, performing various activities, showing different emotions and with various people. The slideshow should be accompanied by suitable music that the deceased loved.

Final Religious Dogma

The Priest: "... has graduated from Orithia and is now exploring new Shoka. Yet time has no meaning when seen from the infinite, so he/she has always been exploring those Shoka, always will be going to and always will have already explored them. In this sense there is no alteration or development of the Uru. It is infinite and unchanging, frozen and perfect in the totality of its existence.

...'s Uru is unaffected by his/her birth, life and death. These things are merely aspects of the eternal, as natural as a birth mark on your skin. On the other hand we can equally say that ...'s life in Orithia created that mark on the body of the eternal Uru. Ultimately it makes no difference how we assign causes and how we discuss free will as the part is always one with the whole. We do not need to die for the drop to return to the ocean, we have always been part of the ocean.

We are an infinitely small part of our Uru, yet that mighty edifice is nothing more than the infinite sum of all our conjugate aga, each one of which with its own body, will power and personality. The drop is part of the ocean and the ocean is made up of infinite drops. Both views are valid and ultimately they are the same thing.

So it is that we are all manifestations of the infinite and the infinite is composed of each of our tiny lives. This is the mystery of the doctrine of Infinite Dimensions! So! Let us behave us such, live wisely and build a heaven in this Shoku.

All sing the Hymn "Utopia".

Lead Out

The chief mourners, (usually closest family members), escort the coffin from the Church into the waiting hearse. Some suitable music is played as the congregation follow the coffin out. When all the congregation have exited the Church the hearse will depart for the next stage, which may be a burial, internment, cremation, mummification, Viking bonfire or whatever.

If the next stage is public then the congregation shall follow the hearse to the destination where further ceremony will be performed as appropriate.

If the next stage is private then the congregation shall skip to the wake.

The Wake

Those of the congregation who wish to should proceed to the wake venue which should be chosen by the family of the deceased. Typically this will be a hotel, hall or club where food and beverages will be laid on. The idea is for the family and friends of the deceased to catch up with each other and talk about the deceased if they wish, or not, as case may be.

There should be some of the character of the deceased present at the wake, whether it be music that they loved, or photos on display or their favourite foods or drinks... something to remember them by.

People should have a few hours to spend together before they all go home and draw the curtain on the life of this departed agu.