Superstitions, beliefs, and traditions in the Nordic countries related to death after the Reformation in the 17th to 19th centuries.
Tammela Church in Tavastia Proper, Finland, contains 82 well-preserved mummies from the 18th and early 19th centuries. The bodies have been preserved beneath the floor of the church’s burial chapel. Interments there ceased in 1879, when new regulations prohibited the practice. Members of two local noble families were buried in this way.
The coffins were first examined in the 1930s, when researchers described the clothing of the deceased: headgear, decorated knee-breeches, white gloves and stockings, linen shirts, and silk scarves around the neck. More recent research has explored, among other things, burial culture, diet, textiles, health conditions—especially teeth—vascular diseases, tuberculosis, and the DNA of the remains. Children’s bodies were decorated with blue ribbons, crocheted cloths, plants, and multicoloured flowers (Helsingin Sanomat, 15 November 2025).
New Global Burial Traditions
Interest in graves and the dead appears to be increasing globally, including in Finland. Enriques (2025) has visited 21 cemeteries, from Latin America—from Cuba to Chile—to Europe—from London to Rotterdam—and Australia. In the United States alone, the city of New Orleans has 42 historically significant cemeteries.
The author identifies several reasons for this renewed interest—a kind of renaissance—not only among scholars but also among the general public. One reason is the growing prevalence of cremation, which contributes to the disappearance of earlier traditions.
She distinguishes several categories behind this interest. The first is the need of relatives and friends to visit their deceased, pray for them, or honour them. This often takes place by lighting candles or placing fresh or artificial flowers on graves. The second reason is that the grave belongs to a well-known person. The third relates to historical environments and architecture, such as burial chapels and large family tombs, and in some cases also to more morbid interests. In Helsinki, at Hietaniemi Cemetery, two additional phenomena can be observed: the cemetery is used as a place for walking dogs and as a jogging area.
Enriques’ primary interest is historical and cultural. Through her book, she seeks to awaken renewed interest in different burial cultures and to preserve traditional forms of burial, especially coffin burial. Cremation leaves no lasting historical traces.
Old burial traditions and other customs related to death, burial culture, and mourning have largely disappeared. Today, fewer and fewer people belong to a Christian church or religious community. Cremation has become increasingly common, and the ashes are not always placed in a grave but are scattered in nature. In some cases, the ashes are even divided: one part may be scattered at sea, while the rest is shared among relatives, friends, and acquaintances. I am aware of such cases within my own circle. In this way, no lasting physical memorial of the deceased remains.
For this reason, it is historically and culturally important to understand how earlier generations remembered and honoured their deceased relatives, friends, and acquaintances.
China
In China, rising burial costs have prompted a response. The Communist Party has launched a campaign aimed at increasing cremation rates—if not for all the deceased—and scattering ashes at sea, for example in Shanghai. There is simply no longer space in cemeteries, according to the Party. All land is needed for productive purposes such as agriculture, industry, roads, and housing. Coffin burial is considered both vulgar and expensive. The cost of a grave plot in Beijing is 28,000 dollars.
Two new burial trends appear to be emerging in China. First, cremation and the use of columbaria are increasing. Second, fewer and fewer people feel the need for a physical grave or a place to remember their loved ones.
The Baltic Region
Hufvudstadsbladet has drawn attention, in an editorial, to old folk traditions connected with death, grief, and longing (Sjövall, HBL, 24 November 2025). Sjövall refers particularly to traditions in Estonia and writes:
“Collective grief heals. But nowadays grief has become a private and intimate matter. The burial has taken place among the closest relatives, as death notices often state. After that, death is tidied away.”
In present-day Estonia, rites that help the bereaved cope with death include blessings and devotions both in churches and in homes. Death is not pushed aside.
During a business trip to Latvia, I experienced a profound memorial gathering. I was invited to a wake held for the grandmother of a contact. She lay in an open coffin in the chapel, and friends and acquaintances came to bid her farewell. Work, leisure, and death were integrated in a holistic way. The death of a loved one concerned everyone.
The Nordic Countries
Death as Part of Life
In her work When Death Visits, Louise Hagberg has made a significant cultural-historical contribution for those interested in how people in the Nordic countries once related to death and their dead. Most of these traditions have disappeared, though some remain, even if their origins or meanings are no longer known. Many can be traced to paganism, the Roman Empire, Judaism, the Middle Ages, Catholic traditions, beliefs in magic and superstition, and Sámi traditions.
Hagberg collected this material over many years across the Nordic countries, including Finland, during the 20th century. Finland appears to have been a particularly rich source of such traditions: more than three hundred are associated with this country.
In earlier times, death was more commonplace and less dramatic than today. Now it is often “hidden” in hospices, hospitals, and funeral homes. Physical contact with the deceased is minimal or nonexistent.
Signs, Beliefs, and Rituals
People lived in small communities where natural events could not always be understood or explained. Explanations were sought from wise men and women, as well as from nature, the weather, and the behaviour of animals. Beliefs in ghosts, spirits, and revenants were common.
Various “death omens” were identified based on the behaviour of the dying person, such as picking movements with the fingers, changes in eye colour, and laboured breathing.
The Deceased and the Wake
When a person had died, the Lord’s Prayer was recited or a hymn was sung. Prayer was considered very powerful; it was believed to help the deceased through purgatory and into heaven.
A room in the house was set aside for the body, and a wake was held, with hymn singing, food, and drink. At times, these gatherings could even take on a festive character.
Burial and the Journey to the Grave
After the coming of Christianity, the dead began to be buried near the church. Previously, they were often buried in forests.
The burial was a solemn act. The body was carried in procession to the church and the grave. After the burial, people gathered for a meal.
During the Reformation, many practices changed. It was no longer permitted to pray for the dead in the same way as before.
In today’s society, with an ageing population, death will touch us all. We must face it—both the death of our loved ones and our own. New practices are emerging, shaped by economic, practical, and cultural factors.
A significant change is the increasingly secularised society and the declining presence of Christian faith. In some cases, death is denied; in others, comfort is sought in new beliefs, neo-pagan expressions, and other forms of spirituality. We are living in a time of transition.
Various modern spiritual movements and new forms of superstition appear to be becoming more common. Here the Catholic Church has an important task: to inform and to teach. These trends cannot be ignored.
The Christian understanding of death carries hope, opens the way to prayer, and preserves human dignity even at the moment of death.
Jan-Peter Paul
Funeral Feast
When the funeral procession returned from the burial, the deceased was believed to be with God, and grief gave way to fellowship. A funeral feast was then held, often on a large scale. The house was cleaned, animals were slaughtered, baking was done, and the home was decorated. The responsibility for hosting was usually entrusted not to the closest mourners but to an outsider or friend, which was considered an honour.
The priest and the sexton were always invited. Guests often brought generous amounts of food: bread, milk, butter, eggs, meat, fish, pastries, and cakes. Food was served on pewter dishes, and a large butter cake could be a central feature of the meal.
The feast could last a long time, sometimes up to three days. People ate, drank, sang, and socialised. In some cases, there was dancing and card playing. Alcohol consumption was considerable.
It was commonly believed that a grand feast honoured the deceased and reduced the risk of the dead returning. Toasts were raised in memory of the deceased, and this was thought to help them attain a good existence with God.
Collections were often taken for the poor or for parish needs. Those who worked at the event were also compensated from these funds.
Among the poor, the customs were simpler: typically only coffee and bread were served. The body might be wrapped in used clothing donated by the parish, and the burial could take place with little ceremony.
Churches and Burial Places
Beliefs concerning the location of churches and graves were strong and symbolically charged. In some traditions, a church was believed to be built where a living animal was first encountered, which was then sacrificed and buried beneath the altar.
There were also clear ideas about where the dead should be buried. The eastern side of the church was considered most desirable, as it was associated with meeting the risen Christ. The northern side, by contrast, was reserved for those outside the community: strangers, criminals, unbaptised children, and the poor.
In some cases, individuals were not allowed burial in the churchyard at all—for example, those thought to have lived in grave sin or died without reconciliation with the Church. They might instead be buried in forests, marshes, or other remote places.
Beliefs about the afterlife were strong. It was thought that a person possessed a soul from the womb and was accompanied by a guardian angel throughout life.
Graves and burial places were also surrounded by beliefs about ghosts and spirits. Various symbolic acts—such as the use of crosses, stones, and special burial rituals—were intended to protect the living and grant peace to the dead.
Old gravestones could be reused as building material, for example as paving stones leading to the church. At the same time, there remained a strong belief that the dead continued to have a relationship with the living.