ОБИЧАЯТ „ВТОРО ПОГРЕБЕНИЕ" У БЪЛГАРИТЕ - СЪДЪРЖАНИЕ И ФУНКЦИИ
THE CUSTOM OF "SECOND BURIAL" AMONG THE BULGARIANS-CONTENTS AND FUNCTIONS

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the second burial — a ritual, fulfilled several years after the death, which comprises a repeated accomplishment of the funerary rites. It is viewed here in the context of Bulgarian folk ritual system and at the same time are revealed its profound archaic roots. The contents and the functions of the second burial are specified in connection with the notions of one of the aspects of death — the biological one (the decomposition of the dead body), which marks the termination of the process of dying in the world of the living, and in the same time it is a proof for the continuity of life in the other world. The analysis of this custom gives the opportunity to make some conclusions. The second burial might be considered as the final stage of funerary rite. Despite its restricted regional distribution it is based on ideas, common to Bulgarian funerary system as a whole. The second important conclusion is, that the wholesome reproduction of the rite is imbedded in the fact, that the main cause for the second burial is the record of the full decomposition of the dead body (i.e. its final death). This is repeated, though on a higher level, the initial point (the death), demanding the fulfillment of funerary rituals. Their mechanism is put into action once again, dublicating the basic functions of the system.

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