Novac - popudbina u posmrtnom ritualu
Money as Farewell Gift in Funeral Rituals

Summary/Abstract: The author deals with the ritual role of money during funeral rites. In this country, as well as elsewhere in the world, there is a custom that among other funeral offerings money is presented to the deceased. It is placed in the coffin or in the tomb, in the deceased’s mouth, hand, pocket or on his chest. There is a number of both popular and professional explanations of why this offering is done. Most of them can be reduced to three basic beliefs: 1. the deceased will somehow need money in his after-life; 2. he should be given money to avert possible revenge and as a compensation for the inherited goods; 3. he will need money »in the other world«. The distribution of some elements of this custom in Yugoslavia and some possible explanations of its typical aspects are shown on the appropriate map from the collection of the Ethnographic Atlas of Yugoslavia (drawn by the author).

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