The honoring of deceased family members and forebears, grounded in love and respect for them, together with a belief that the dead retain a continued existence and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living, so that maintaining a relationship with them, rather than merely remembering them, is the point of the practice. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Typical RegionSourced to the subject's own accountDocumented in some form in every human culture studied so far; most formally elaborated in East Asian ancestral rites (China, Japan, Korea) and across many Sub-Saharan African traditions, though the belief in continued ancestral influence that underlies it is close to a human universal. 1 Documented YearSourced to the subject's own account Connections
Associated With
Consulting the dead for guidance, a divinatory act, is one of the documented ways a belief in continued ancestral influence is put into practice.
Source Wikipedia: Veneration of the Dead
The Dogon dama rite, marking the end of the mourning period, ritually escorts the dead to join the venerated ancestors.
Both are mortuary practices oriented toward maintaining a bond between the living community and its dead.
Famadihana, the Malagasy reburial custom of periodically exhuming and rewrapping ancestral remains, is a ritual expression of ancestor veneration.
Offerings made to or for the dead, propitiating or honoring them, are a documented category of sacrifice that overlaps directly with ancestor veneration practice.
Source Wikipedia: Sacrifice
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Veneration of the Dead
WikipediaOpening definition, description
The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased.
Universality section, typical region
Ancestor veneration appears in some form in all human cultures documented so far.
Core belief section, divination link
beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living.
Korea section, Janelli 1992 bibliographic entry
Ancestor Worship and Korean Society, Roger Janelli, Dawnhee Janelli, Stanford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8047-2158-0.
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