We clearly know that the life of any person, starting with our closest ones, as well as with the inhabitants of the wide world, ends at some point. It is difficult to perceive death as an end point, as an inevitable fact. Of course, when we face death, the grief is deep, real, and true, but it’s hard to accept that fact, even if we believe in the eternal life of the soul or whatever…
Along with grief, family and bureaucratic matters related to laying the deceased in the bosom of the earth befall the loved ones. The only wish of the relatives is for the deceased to be accompanied in a dignified way to the burial mound. Latvian burial traditions have cultural value. The funeral rite is the last respect for the deceased. Nowadays, for various reasons, cremation is chosen for the burial of the deceased. Jānis Lecis, head of the Ritu funeral home, believes that cremation will never be able to replace the nation’s traditional way of burial – laying the deceased in the lap of the earth, as well as the traditional three handfuls of sand, which symbolize memories. The ancient Latvians believed that a person’s life can be encompassed in three circles – in society, in his family and in his soul. Therefore, in gratitude for what was given during their lifetime, the guests who came to say goodbye throw these three handfuls of sand into the grave – for the virtue of work, for the warmth of the heart and for the course of life. When laying a person in the lap of the earth, the grave is traditionally covered with needles. With cremation, these traditions of ours are forgotten.
Thanks to our ancestors’ tenacity, will to live and love of work, our Latvian families are continued. This is a legacy that has been preserved through the centuries, therefore it is our duty, honoring our ancestors, to hand over to future generations – our children, preserving the memory of our family – the grave site. Few nations can boast of the love and respect we show to the departed. Latvian cemeteries and the maintenance of graves are of great importance during our lifetime. It could be said that the cemetery is like a sanctuary for us – it is the resting place of our loved ones, which in our thoughts we call the garden of souls. Running along with the modern elimination – cremation, which is actually a solution to the problem of big cities in the fight with the lack of burial places, the old traditions are thrown into oblivion, which best allow us to understand the Latvian mentality and attitude towards previous generations.