Different peoples of the world have different attitudes towards suicide. Somewhere neutral (they say, everyone's personal business), somewhere negative, somewhere with respect. Most often, suicides are not ritualistic; they are just an attempt to instantly remove the burden of accumulated problems.
However, sometimes suicide is a ritual, thoughtful, detailed, requiring a great deal of self-control and willpower from the suicide. It is about such rituals - from antiquity to the present - that will be discussed in our article.
Unity of hearts
For the European and American term "simultaneous suicide of lovers" the Japanese have a short definition - "shinju", which means "unity of hearts".
Ritual suicide This ritual is associated with a very peculiar relationship in medieval Japanese society, where men and girls could not give vent to feelings. In their youth, their parents decided everything for them; in adulthood, extremely tough traditions could interfere with their love. But the heart, as they say, cannot be ordered. That is why the concept of "shinju" appeared in Japan in the 17th century.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the joint suicides of lovers, who by the will of circumstances could not be together, claimed more lives than epidemics! Later, Japanese society became more tolerant of love affairs, and therefore shinju became less widespread. Although now Japan holds the lead in the simultaneous murders of lovers and spouses.
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Unlike hara-kiri, where the ritual of parting with life is clearly spelled out, shinju is not constrained. If a man in a pair was a samurai, then he usually killed his beloved with a sword, after which he would open his stomach with it. If it was about the lower classes - peasants, merchants - they preferred to jump together from a height onto sharp stones. In general, the method of suicide is not important.
The main thing, the Japanese in love believed, was that they could unite at least after death, if during their lifetime society refused them this. By the way, in Japan, young people still carry out most of their suicides by holding hands and jumping from high-rise buildings. Often, elderly spouses, exhausted by illnesses and deciding to simultaneously die, decide to take shinju. But they choose less extravagant methods of suicide.
Mummy in life
In general, the Japanese have many traditions of suicide. But perhaps the most unusual method of suicide (though not extant) is sokushinbutsu - lifetime mummification. It was practiced by Buddhist monks who lived in the north of Japan.
This ritual continued for several years. During this time, the monk, who decided to become a Buddha (this is what the person was recognized, whose sokushinbutsu was successful), adhered to a strict diet of nuts and seeds in order to completely remove fat from the body. Then the monk for about three more years ate bark and a rather poisonous decoction from the resin of the lacquer tree, making his body unsuitable for food for worms.
In the end, the Buddhist took refuge in a tiny stone crypt, taking with him a breathing tube and a bell. The comrades walled him up. Only the tip of a breathing tube protruded from the crypt. From time to time, the future Buddha would ring a bell, making it clear that he was alive.
After the ringing stopped, it was necessary to wait another three years, after which the crypt was opened. If everything went well, the deceased, sitting in the lotus position, was taken to the temple, where he was declared Buddha and worshiped. Alas, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, most often they did not find mummies in the crypts, but decomposed corpses, which, of course, were not suitable for worship.
Sallakhana - the choice of the Jains
The ritual self-immolation of widows in India is sati. The woman throws herself into the flames of the funeral pyre, on which the body of her deceased husband is cremated. Sati still exists today, although it is strictly prohibited by the authorities. Unlike the sallekhan ritual, which is also practiced in India by followers of the Jain religious movement.
This religion resembles Hinduism, but some principles are taken to extremes in it. Jains believe in reincarnation, they are forbidden to kill any living being. Therefore, they wear masks so as not to inadvertently swallow a mosquito or a fly, but while moving along the street, they sweep the sidewalk in front of them with a broom, so as not to accidentally crush any bug or spider.
Needless to say, Jains are vegetarians to the last degree, they don't even eat tubers and plant roots. When one of them reaches a high degree of enlightenment and feels the approach of death, he prepares for the traditional suicide - sallekhane.
He asks permission from his guru and, having received it, informs his family and friends about the decision. After this, the Jain begins to meditate incessantly, refusing food and water. After a while, death from exhaustion occurs.
Jain must die in a state of complete peace. If this condition is not met - for example, he panicked or he began to suffer pains that interfere with meditation, the ritual stops. If the sallekkhana is successfully completed, then puja is performed - the cremation of the body of the deceased with special honors as a person who has reached the heights of spiritual development.
Widow in a noose
In many nations of the world, widows after the death of their husbands committed ritual suicide. But, perhaps, nowhere was it more luxuriously furnished than in medieval China.
It must be said that only rich and well-born women, the wives of dignitaries, were allowed to commit suicide here. And in order to commit suicide, the widow had to submit a written petition to the "ritual ritual council."
In case of a positive answer, the entire city was covered with posters announcing the upcoming ceremony. On the appointed day, a richly decorated high platform with a gallows was erected on the central square. On the day of the ceremony, all residents of the city, including officials, gathered at the platform.
The widow, sitting on an ornate armchair next to the platform, said goodbye to her friends. The farewell ended, and the mandarin (the eldest of the officials present) signaled to the woman that she could begin. The widow climbed onto the platform, put a noose around her neck and jumped down.
The body was still in the noose, while officials approached the relatives of the deceased and warmly congratulated them. This tradition existed in China until the 20th century.
Not only Asia
Ritual suicide was most widespread in Asia, but the peoples inhabiting other regions did not disdain them either. Probably, the Sumerians were the first to practice them - approximately in the third millennium BC. Archaeologists have established that the soldiers from the personal guard of the king after his death had to drink poison in order to protect their master in the next world. And the number of close bodyguards sometimes reached several dozen people.
Most often, the ancient Greeks used poison for ritual suicide. The patricians preferred to open their veins while sitting in warm water. It was considered a beautiful and dignified death.
The elderly Celts also committed ritual suicide. They believed that after 60 years a person no longer plays any role in this world and only burdens others. Therefore, the old people climbed the “ancestral rock” (there was such a rock near the habitat of each tribe) and jumped down, crashing to death.
An original suicide ritual called "walk", reminiscent of hara-kiri, was invented by the Vikings. Having ripped open his stomach and pulled out a piece of his small intestine, the warrior tied it with a triple knot to the branch of the sacred tree and, with a sword in his hand, walked around the trunk. In the end, having wrapped his giblets around the sacred tree, the Viking fell down dead. Alas, the sources do not report in what cases this terrible suicidal ritual was performed.
In Russia, ritual suicide was also practiced. So, among the ancient Slavs, noble wives often went to the funeral pyre of their husbands. And the mass self-immolation of Old Believers who preferred a terrible death to abandoning their faith, of course, can also be considered a ritual suicide that had no analogues in the world.
And the last thing I would like to note. Such suicides - with long ceremonies, rituals and so on - are possible only in a society where human life is practically worthless. When society reaches a certain stage of development, ritual suicide comes to naught.
Evgeny IVANOV