<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The article* sets the goal of describing the Ukrainian ritual of the sealed grave and its relation to revenants, or the unquiet dead, based both on the author’s fieldwork and ethnographic collections of the turn of the 20th century. The meaning of the ritual and its variants are delineated through folk beliefs and institutionalised Orthodoxy and are defined as one of the main reasons for becoming revenants. Depending on a proper or failed funeral, the dead have different possibilities and time boundaries to visit the living. Together with biological reasons, the ritual of sealing a grave allows a seven-year period of return prior to the grave being finally sealed.</p>
</abstract>

The article* sets the goal of describing the Ukrainian ritual of the sealed grave and its relation to revenants, or the unquiet dead, based both on the author’s fieldwork and ethnographic collections of the turn of the 20th century. The meaning of the ritual and its variants are delineated through folk beliefs and institutionalised Orthodoxy and are defined as one of the main reasons for becoming revenants. Depending on a proper or failed funeral, the dead have different possibilities and time boundaries to visit the living. Together with biological reasons, the ritual of sealing a grave allows a seven-year period of return prior to the grave being finally sealed.

The Sealed Grave and Burial Rituals in the Context of Revenants in Ukrainian Belief

Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The article* sets the goal of describing the Ukrainian ritual of the sealed grave and its relation to revenants, or the unquiet dead, based both on the...

The Sealed Grave and Burial Rituals in the Context of Revenants in Ukrainian Belief

Published Online: Jun 12, 2021

Page range: 27 - 49

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2021-0003

Keywords
revenants, unquiet dead, belief narratives, burial ritual, Uk rainianbeliefs

© 2021 Alina Oprelianska, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Sealed Grave and Burial Rituals in the Context of Revenants in Ukrainian Belief

Published Online: Jun 12, 2021

Page range: 27 - 49

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2021-0003

Keywordsrevenants, unquiet dead, belief narratives, burial ritual, Uk rainianbeliefs

© 2021 Alina Oprelianska, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
revenants, unquiet dead, belief narratives, burial ritual, Uk rainianbeliefs