JORENIC RITE OF CREMATION

[Xarkly 13150]

 

 

A RITE OF THE

Spoiler

 

 

 

All mortals die.

 

 

As is central to the ancient creeds of Jorenus, contrast is vital for mankind. Without knowing the cold, we would take no comfort from the heat; without the horrors of the Shadow, we would know not the meaning of the Light’s order; and without death, the value of life would be lost upon us. It is this ideal that forms the spirit of the funerary rites of the Canonist faith, where a deceased is set to rest, and their concluded life celebrated by those who remain.

 

Although funerals are practiced across all cultures, funerary rites are a natural component of the Church of the Canon’s function, and typically take the form of a burial or cremation. These rites do not form a sacrament, as the deceased has already passed into the Seven Skies; instead, funerals constitute the respectful entombment of the deceased’s living body, and an honorary affair for those yet living who held the deceased dear.

 

 

In the Jorenic Rite, funerals happen exclusively by pyre cremation - a custom that traces its roots back to Aegis itself, where the dead were cremated so that their bodies would not be twisted and disturbed by the Archdaemon. In the north, the custom holds to this day, in no small part due to the fact that cremation is often regarded as ‘cleaner’ than earthen burial, and the ashes of a deceased can even be used in subsequent sacraments, such as an Ashen Baptism.

 

 

 

 

The congregation assemble before a pyre a place of the deceased next-of-kin’s choosing, and an ordained cleric. The pyre ought to be erected completely before the ceremony, and adorned with various artefacts that speak to the deceased’s legacy - from House banners, to battle trophies. The cleric will begin the ceremony by hailing the Light’s attention:

 

 

Light Everlasting; bear witness to your faithful gathered beneath your grace.

For, on this day, we honour [deceased];

He/she who has, by your call, departed this mortal plane,

To assume their reward in the Skies.

Grant audience to our vigil; grant honour to our memory.

Amin.

 

 

Thereafter, the priest explains colloquially to the congregation why they have gathered, who it is they are to honour, and what they achieved in life. To this end, it is incumbent upon the cleric to highlight the curse of transience that blights mankind, but how they forge powerful bloodlines and legacies in spite of this.

 

 

So it was that the ancestors of mankind,

Beneath the banner of Exalted Horen,

Drew steel and laid waste to the machinations of the Shadow,

And for their valour they were cursed with transience;

That their lives would be short, and their spirits weak.

 

The priest pauses between verses, and strikes alight a torch.

 

Yet ever shall victory eschew the Shadow,

so it was that the bounty of the Skies

Bestowed upon the siring of great bloodlines,

So that when one would pass, another would bear his mantle.

 

 

The deceased’s next-of-kin approaches the pyre, and clasps forearms with the cleric as he proclaims the final verse.

 

 

From father to daughter; mother to son,

Man lives in glory forever through the memory of his kin.

For each life forms a weave upon the Tapestry;

And, now, [deceased]’s weave is woven.

Light Everlasting - welcome him/her Skyward.

Amin.

 

The next-of-kin then sets the torch to the pyre, beginning the cremation itself. As the fire catches, it may be that some will make a speech in honour of the deceased, but the funeral rite requires none. As the pyre burns, and after any speeches are made, it is custom for members of the congregation who held the deceased in high regard to plunge a weapon into the pyre as it burns. This is typically performed by bannermen to a liege, soldiers to comrades in arms, or knights to a king, though the rite imposes so limitation. Another common custom is that a bard or musician will mark the burning of the pyre with a solemn song.

 

 

When the pyre has ceased burning, the charred weapons and the deceased’s ashes remain. The weapons are commonly collected, and thrust into a ground at some place of importance to the deceased, constituting what might be considered a grave. The ashes are collected into an urn; they can either be preserved as a memento of the deceased, or, if the deceased so instructed it prior to the death, be used for a baptism of a particular person. Under the Jorenic Rite, this represents a strict ‘passing of legacy’, typically regarding a young heir or apprentice.