Believing After Grieving

Does the grieving process alter peoples’ beliefs in the supernatural? Paola’s late son is seen with a coral necklace and cherries in his portrait. Nothing can harm him when he wears the coral and cherries symbolize life (McIver). The significance of mourning is depicted in artwork such as Athenian vases and Giotto’s The Lamentation. Some periods of Athenian art emphasized mourning more than others. For example, women are near the casket and frequently lament without suppression. Only one woman supports the head of the deceased which is similar to a mother coddling her young (Shapiro). The Lamentation mimics this posture with Mary holding the head of Jesus and John swooning over the body. Clearly, bereavement was important then as it still is today.

The grieving mind undergoes chemical changes that cause a person to be more susceptible to the spiritual realm and to seek messages from spirits. Research shows many percipients recover from traumatic experiences when they receive messages or images from the deceased (Price). Freud’s theory “work of mourning” describes normal grief as using defense mechanisms by beginning numb, then leading to distress and increasing despair then feeling intense grief, yearning for memories and finally concluding with depression and apathy (Morris and Albert Introduction).Not many people or places help relieve bereavement. Therefore, grief leads to depression and unfortunately is not often thought harmful. However, some clients developed cancer after losing their therapists (Fowlkes). Additionally, social support strengthens resistance to heart disease (Morris and Albert Introduction). Some families do not properly grieve AIDS victims due to

the disrespect associated with homosexuality. These families do not look for messages from beyond and therefore do not find them.

For instance, one Balinese experiment suggests the people of China would be disrespected for lamenting at a funeral. They are not permitted to show emotions. According to Phoebe Ellsworth people alter their emotions when they realize they are feeling them. This method is called navigation (Reddy), which leads to a mind and body controversy. According to Bering’s studies, even more knowledgeable children realized death to a person is also death to the brain and yet still claimed a dead mouse continues to have unconditional love for its mother (Bering). Indeed, the brain and mind stop functioning at death. It appears the soul is still present.

Neurotransmitters such as Norepinephrine contribute to mood and arousal. Serotonin contributes to aggression, eating, wakefulness and sleep. Whereas Dopamine produces pleasant feelings. On the other hand, depression is a stage of mourning (Morris and Albert Introduction). Hence, a brain affected by depression has low levels of Norepinephrine, Serotonin and Dopamine (Baron Essentials). Understandably, any change good or bad interferes with the way a person lives life (Weiten Themes and Variations). For instance, if someone in bereavement lacks serotonin and stays awake longer than their circadian rhythm allows, then maybe he or she will sense a presence. Generally, depending on the person he will be oblivious or more alert. He may also sense a spirit if he is aware of his surrounding atmosphere. Perhaps someone should consider that the spirit will come to him.

Typically victims of depression rely on mood-dependent memories and force themselves to stay in that condition (Baron

Essentials). Therefore, it is important to reminisce the pleasant memories of the departed loved ones and realize the absence of their ailments. As Arthur and Joan Kleinman explain, the people of China were depressed, complained of feeling lightheaded and suffered from migraines after “a society-wide deligitimation crisis” [SIC] (Reddy). In effect, those people may not have experienced discomfort had they been able to express their anxieties to others. Evidently, emotions are reflexive thoughts that pass through the unconscious to the conscious (Reddy). Frequently, they depend on those present in other people. Facial expressions and gestures are not directly observed emotions. Nevertheless, emotions are stated as descriptive words attached to moods and relationships (Reddy). For example, she feels blessed by the newborn.

For this purpose, a Zulu woman is considered clairvoyant after burying a husband or bearing a child. Birth and death coincide with the “other world”. Inevitably, it is perilous to both sides where both intercept. “Unmyama” or “darkness of the night” is known as pollution to the Zulu. “Ukuzila” is being in the state of “pollution”. New mothers and pregnant women are said to be contaminated and contagious. Therefore, her culture believes she must take precautions to tell others she is undergoing this process. However, she is not harmful to others, but they are to her. Therefore she must warn them by applying red ochre to her skin and abstaining from social gatherings (Ngubane). Ngubane’s relationship between birth and death is relevant, but a pregnant woman is not polluted. However, she is in sync with the spirit’s souls, because she too is in an undefined state.

A Zulu minister says, “You entered into this world through a woman and through her you will return to the other world”. Then the deceased man is tied with arms and legs folded in a fetal position and handed to the widow. His body is placed in the grave. Next, she sits beside the burial site beneath a blanket as the grave is being covered (Ngubane). The blanket may filter out the darkness as it secures an aura. After a Zulu widow buries her husband, she reaches the first phase of purity (Ngubane). First, she can dream of spirits and hear their voices. She does not eat much or attempt to look appealing. She crosses goat skin across her breasts as a barrier from the irreverent side, which is here. In addition, she sings and dances to spiritual music and wears white clay. Second, she avoids others to practice clairvoyance and maintains moral standards. All this is done to communicate with the other side (Ngubane).

Additionally, the Santa Clause Effect states people who believe in the supernatural like the thought of someone watching over them (Bering). In particular, those who believe in ghosts can see or hear them, because they are aware of their heightened senses. Unlike, those who do not believe ignore the signs. A person can think that an entity may show itself out of frustration if someone fails to acknowledge it. However in 1952, near the Lenakel area in Africa, a married woman named Nowanae dreams of a man coming from sea (Guiart). Then her husband sees the same. Others had premonitions of the visitors. Some claimed they dreamt of them before Nowanae. Understandably, her visions had been true before. As a result, citizens dressed specific to the vision attire, but no one came (Guiart).

After his stroke in 1915, Henry James practiced automatic typewriting. Later, he

received two letters from Napoleon by this method. According to Wershler-Henry, James’ typist who was Bosanquet turned to automatic writing after James’ death (Bates). Bosanquet modeled James’ effort to communicate with the deceased. Her pen moved and she believed it was James’ spirit. (Bates). Therefore, other people influence beliefs.

Love is a characteristic for all Christians (Reddy). After a family member passed away a cardinal tapped on a bedroom window of James Turbeville’s son. It came every morning for three years. The family believed it to be, their beloved’s spirit in this bird. James explains,

I believe in spirits. I believe that the peoples’ spirits can come back in another being. I don’t believe in kicking a dog and living life as a dog. I do believe in someone momentarily coming back to do nice things for someone they loved or making things happen to alert them, like something falling off a shelf if there’s a fire. They come back…until they are more comfortable…and make their hearts feel less heavy (James Turbeville Dec. 2)

Furthermore, the spirits’ souls stay until the mourning lessens. Writers need not feel uncomfortable about the afterlife, because it is a belief among Christians. Death represents the dreadful aspects of transcendence, as it feeds on curiosities of those who support it (Kucich). People believe if a spirit of a loved one watches over them, they will refrain from participating in illegal or harmful activities in hopes to avoid punishment (Bering). Some see this as an advantage. For example, a father tells his daughter that her great grandmother is in a better place. He may also mention that her recently deceased relative is looking down on her. As a result, the child behaves appropriately and completes good deeds for others.

In conclusion, there is not enough empirical evidence to see a high correlation

between grieving and vulnerability to the spiritual realm, but the relationship remains significant. Research supports varied time periods of transcendence in America, China, Africa and Greece. Although beliefs can be swayed by others experiences, it is still important to stay true to them. In addition, healthy bereavement does trigger changes in neurotransmitters which helps people to get through losses. Because Norepinephrine is also a hormone, maybe it alters the aura of the mourner. This world overlaps theirs. Therefore, everyone is susceptible to visits.

However, those in bereavement tend to change their thoughts and environment. Evidently these small adaptations, such as longing for memories make them more vulnerable. Indeed, mood-dependent memories tend to lower levels of dopamine. Evidently the person who has them does not try to accept the departure. Rather, he wonders why his loved one is no longer here and desperately tries to relive those moments. Again, the grieving brain undergoes conversions and so does the soul. Therefore, it is a combination of efforts from the mind and body that causes susceptibility to another realm.

Works Cited

Baron, Robert A., and Michael J. Kalsher. Essentials of Psychology. 2nd ed. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1999. 468.

Bates, Stephen, (2007). “The master’s voice: a Remington rhythm.” The Wilson Quarterly 31.2, 11(1)

Bering, Jesse M. (2006). “The cognitive psychology of belief in the supernatural: belief in a deity or an afterlife could be an evolutionarily advantageous by-product of people’s ability to reason about the minds of others.” American Scientist 94.2,142(8)

Fowlkes, Martha R. “The Social Regulation of Grief.” Sociological Forum 5 (1990): 642+.

Guiart, Jean. “Culture Contact and the “John Frum” Movement on Tanna, New Hebrides.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 12 (1956): 112-13.

Kucich, John. “Death Worship among the Victorians: The Old Curiosity Shop.” PMLA 95 (1980): 58-58.

McIver, Katherine A. “Love, Death and Mourning: Paola Gonzaga’s Camerino at Fontanellato.” Artibus et Historiae 18 (1997): 106.

Morris, Charles G., and Albert A. Maisto. Psychology: An Introduction. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. 494-96.

Ngubane, Harriet. “Some Notions of “Purity” and “Impurity” Among the Zulu.” Journal of the International African Institute 46 (1976): 274+.

Price, H. H. “Some Philosophical Questions about Telepathy and Clairvoyance.” Philosophy 15 (1940): 367-67.

Reddy, William M. “Emotional Liberty: Politics and History in the Anthropology of Emotions.” Cultural Anthropology 14 (1999): 261+.

Shapiro, H. A. “The Iconography of Mourning in Athenian Art.” American Journal of Archaeology 95 (1991): 629+.

Turbeville, James. Personal interview. 2 Dec. 2008 1:07 – 1:19 pm & 1:38 – 1: 40 pm

Weiten, Wayne. Psychology: Themes & Variations Briefer Version. 7th ed. Las Vegas, NV: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. 69.

Resources Page

Baron, Robert A., and Michael J. Kalsher. Essentials of Psychology. 2nd ed. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1999. 468.

Bates, Stephen, (2007). “The master’s voice: a Remington rhythm.” The Wilson Quarterly 31.2, 11(1)

Bering, Jesse M. (2006). “The cognitive psychology of belief in the supernatural: belief in a deity or an afterlife could be an evolutionarily advantageous by-product of people’s ability to reason about the minds of others.” American Scientist 94.2,142(8)

Driver, Harold E., and William C. Massey. “Comparative Studies of North American Indians.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 47 (1957): 273.

Fowlkes, Martha R. “The Social Regulation of Grief.” Sociological Forum 5 (1990): 642+.

Guiart, Jean. “Culture Contact and the “John Frum” Movement on Tanna, New Hebrides.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 12 (1956): 112-13.

Kucich, John. “Death Worship among the Victorians: The Old Curiosity Shop.” PMLA 95 (1980): 58-58.

McIver, Katherine A. “Love, Death and Mourning: Paola Gonzaga’s Camerino at Fontanellato.” Artibus et Historiae 18 (1997): 106.

Morris, Charles G., and Albert A. Maisto. Psychology: An Introduction. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. 494-96.

Ngubane, Harriet. “Some Notions of “Purity” and “Impurity” Among the Zulu.” Journal of the International African Institute 46 (1976): 274+.

Price, H. H. “Some Philosophical Questions about Telepathy and Clairvoyance.” Philosophy 15 (1940): 367-67.

Reddy, William M. “Emotional Liberty: Politics and History in the Anthropology of Emotions.” Cultural Anthropology 14 (1999): 261+.

Sayre, Henry M. A World of Art. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2007. 246.

Shapiro, H. A. “The Iconography of Mourning in Athenian Art.” American Journal of Archaeology 95 (1991): 629+.

Turbeville, James. Personal interview. 2 Dec. 2008 1:07 – 1:19 pm & 1:38 – 1: 40 pm

Weiten, Wayne. Psychology: Themes & Variations Briefer Version. 7th ed. Las Vegas, NV: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. 69.