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During the ceremony, around 500 prisoners would be sacrificed. As many as 4,000 were reported killed in one of these ceremonies in 1727. [5] [6] [7] Most of the victims were sacrificed through decapitation, a tradition widely used by Dahomean kings, and the literal translation for the Fon name for the ceremony Xwetanu is "yearly head business". [8]
A masquerade ceremony (or masked rite, festival, procession or dance) is a cultural or religious event involving the wearing of masks. The practice has been seen throughout history from the prehistoric era to present day. They have a variety of themes. Their meanings can range from anything including life, death, and fertility.
African Americans and other African-descended people continue to travel to the African Burial Ground from across the country and around the world and perform libation ceremonies to honor the 15,000-plus African people buried in New York City.
November 2, (All Souls Day), or "The Day of the Dead", is the day when all of the faithful dead are remembered. On that day, families go to cemeteries to light candles for their dead relatives, leave them flowers, and often to picnic. They also celebrate Suffrage Masses to shorten the time that souls need to leave Purgatory and the enter in ...
In Europe, historians have thought the three- day festival of the dead is a ritualistic remembrance of the deluge in which Halloween the first night is depicting the wickedness of the world before the flood. The second night is spent celebrating the saved who survived the deluge and the last night is meant as an honoring to those who would ...
Traditional African religions generally hold the beliefs of life after death (a spirit world or realms, in which spirits, but also gods reside), with some also having a concept of reincarnation, in which deceased humans may reincarnate into their family lineage (blood lineage), if they want to, or have something to do.
In modern-day European-based folklore, Death is known as the "Grim Reaper" or "The grim spectre of death". This form typically wields a scythe, and is sometimes portrayed riding a white horse. In the Middle Ages, Death was imagined as a decaying or mummified human corpse, later becoming the familiar skeleton in a robe.
African countries where masks are used traditionally Sande society sowei mask, 20th century Baoule Kple Kple Mask. Traditional African masks are worn in ceremonies and rituals across West, Central, and Southern Africa. They are used in events such as harvest celebrations, funerals, rites of passage, weddings, and coronations.