Koncepcje duszy i zaświatów w obrzędach pogrzebowych i zaduszkowych
The Concepts of the Soul and the Other-World in Polish Funeral and all Souls’ Day Rites

Summary/Abstract: The article discussed the issue of the soul in the folk imagination during mortuary and funeral rituals in Poland. The topic has been developed based on both ethnographic field research of funeral and All Souls’ Day rituals conducted by the author in Radom and Opoczno regions in years 1995-2005, and the relevant literature. The article consists of three paragraphs: the first discusses beliefs about the soul in folk beliefs, the second – death and funeral rites, and the third focuses on remembering the dead in the annual rites. Most Polish people are Catholics, and they believe that the human soul is immortal. For them, death is not the end of life, but its continuation in a different reality. In the popular consciousness just after the death of a man, his soul appears before God the Judge for the so-called Particular Judgement. Depending on the judgment of the court, the soul can be send to the purgatory, heaven or hell. All folk rituals and prayer vigil at the dead are subordinated to this goal: to help the soul of the deceased to pass through the threshold of death and achieve a state of happiness in heaven. The memory of the dead continues throughout the year. This is evident in the annual folk rituals, where the souls of the dead are invited to family celebrations, their favorite food is prepared and people’s behavior towards them is defined by traditional canons of conduct. Nowadays evidence of the memory about the souls is given through the visits to the graves of dead, in order to decorate them with flowers and light the votive candles, signifying the light of the world. The souls of the dead are remembered in private and community prayers. Masses are also ordered in their intention to help souls in purgatory to attain a state of eternal happiness in heaven.

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