The Death 13
Writing this story arc has made me a death nerd. I looked up where the term “wake” came from. From Wikipedia:
The term originally referred to a late-night prayer vigil but is now mostly used for the social interactions accompanying a funeral. While the modern usage of the verb “wake” is “become or stay alert”, a “wake” for the dead harks back to the antiquated “watch” or “guard” sense. This is contrary to the misconception that people at a wake are waiting in case the deceased should “wake up”.[2]
The term wake originated from Middle English wakien, waken, from Old English wacan, to wake up and wacian, to be awake, keep watch.[3] and was originally used to denote a prayer vigil, often an annual event held on the feast day of the saint to whom a parish church was dedicated.[4] Over time the association with prayer has become less important, although not lost completely,[5] and in many countries a wake is now mostly associated with the social interactions accompanying a funeral.[2]
You can go back to the beginning of this story arc HERE.
Talking about death can be difficult, especially if you’re trying to talk about it with children. I did some research about how to talk to children about death before writing this story arc. If you ever find yourself in that difficult situation, maybe these sources can help you:
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Weren’t they watching for the dead to wake because some of the illnesses put people in a death like state? I remember reading somewhere that they’d hang bells above the graves with a string running down into the coffin, so that if someone woke, they could ring the bell and be dug up before they suffocated.
From what I read, there were some cultures that did the “keep an eye on the corpse, they might not be dead” thing. But the term wake means just a prayer vigil. I read it more as a “the living have to stay awake to keep an eye on the corpse.” 🙂