The Funeral.com Journal

Resources to help you create tributes as unique as the people (and pets) you love. Learn how engraving, photos, colors, and symbols add meaning; discover scattering rituals and at-home memorial ideas. We focus on the details that matter—because small choices can carry a lifetime of comfort.

Seudat Havra’ah Explained: The Jewish Meal of Consolation After Burial

Seudat Havra’ah Explained: The Jewish Meal of Consolation After Burial

You may remember the walk back into the house more than the drive to the cemetery. The quiet. The way ordinary rooms suddenly feel unfamiliar. In Jewish mourning, that return...

Irish Wake Drinking Etiquette: What’s Normal, What to Avoid, and How to Be Respectful

Irish Wake Drinking Etiquette: What’s Normal, What to Avoid, and How to Be Respectful

The first time you walk into an Irish wake, you may feel two emotions at once: grief for the family, and uncertainty about what’s expected of you. You might hear...

The “Algorithmic Afterlife”: Managing Memory Notifications, Anniversary Reminders, and Grief Triggers Online

The “Algorithmic Afterlife”: Managing Memory Notifications, Anniversary Reminders, and Grief Triggers Online

Grief has always had anniversaries. A birthday that lands differently. A holiday you didn’t realize was “the first” until you’re already in it. A song on the radio that hits...

Psychopomp Guide: Azrael—The Angel of Death in Islamic Tradition (Roles and Respectful Context)

Psychopomp Guide: Azrael—The Angel of Death in Islamic Tradition (Roles and Respectful Context)

When a family is grieving, it’s common to reach for language that makes the unknown feel a little more navigable. Sometimes that language comes from religion; sometimes it comes from...

Psychopomp Guide: Valkyries—Norse Soul‑Choosers and the Journey to Valhalla

Psychopomp Guide: Valkyries—Norse Soul‑Choosers and the Journey to Valhalla

There’s a quiet moment that often arrives after a death—after the calls have been made, after the paperwork starts to form a small stack, after the first wave of people...

Masonic Funeral Rites: Meaning of the White Apron and the Sprig of Acacia

Masonic Funeral Rites: Meaning of the White Apron and the Sprig of Acacia

When a family requests Masonic funeral rites, they are usually asking for something very specific, even if they don’t have the words for it yet: a way to honor a...

Stopping the Clocks at Death: The “Freeze Time” Ritual and Its Origins

Stopping the Clocks at Death: The “Freeze Time” Ritual and Its Origins

In the first minutes after a death, people often remember the smallest sounds. The hush that settles in a room. The hum of a refrigerator that suddenly feels too loud....

Covered Mirrors After a Death: Superstition, Symbolism, and What the Tradition Meant

Covered Mirrors After a Death: Superstition, Symbolism, and What the Tradition Meant

At some point in the first hours after a death, a house changes. The air is different. The rooms feel quieter than they should. People do practical things—make calls, find...

Psychopomp Guide: Hermes—The Greek Messenger Who Escorts Souls to the Underworld

Psychopomp Guide: Hermes—The Greek Messenger Who Escorts Souls to the Underworld

After a death, life can feel split in two: paperwork and decisions on one side, and on the other, the quiet search for language sturdy enough to hold what just...

Rastafarian Views on Death: Why Some Avoid the Word ‘Death’ and What They Believe Instead

Rastafarian Views on Death: Why Some Avoid the Word ‘Death’ and What They Believe Instead

The first time many people encounter Rastafari language around loss, it can feel like stepping into a room where the usual vocabulary no longer fits. You may hear a family...

Koliva (Kollyva): The Orthodox Wheat Memorial Food and What It Symbolizes

Koliva (Kollyva): The Orthodox Wheat Memorial Food and What It Symbolizes

In the days after a death, families often move through two worlds at once. One world is made of paperwork, phone calls, and decisions that arrive faster than grief can...

The Kiss of Peace in Orthodox Funerals: Meaning, Practice, and Guest Etiquette

The Kiss of Peace in Orthodox Funerals: Meaning, Practice, and Guest Etiquette

The first time you attend an Orthodox funeral, the room can feel both unfamiliar and deeply human. The candles, the chanting, the steady rhythm of prayers—everything seems to say that...

Novenas for the Dead: Nine Days of Prayer, Meaning, and How Families Observe Them

Novenas for the Dead: Nine Days of Prayer, Meaning, and How Families Observe Them

In the first days after a death, time does a strange thing. Hours stretch, phone calls blur, and the house can feel both crowded and unbearably quiet at once. Many...

Bardo Thodol (The Tibetan Book of the Dead): What It Is—and What People Often Misunderstand

Bardo Thodol (The Tibetan Book of the Dead): What It Is—and What People Often Misunderstand

There are moments in grief when time feels strange—when the world keeps moving, yet your inner life slows to a careful, listening pace. In those moments, families often reach for...

Spiritual Crisis in Grief: Anger at God, Loss of Faith, and How to Find Support

Spiritual Crisis in Grief: Anger at God, Loss of Faith, and How to Find Support

There are losses that hurt so sharply they don’t just break your heart; they shake your whole inner framework. One day you might have had a sense of how the...

Catholic Grief and Purgatory Anxiety: When Loss Triggers Guilt, Fear, or Scrupulosity

Catholic Grief and Purgatory Anxiety: When Loss Triggers Guilt, Fear, or Scrupulosity

In the first days after a death, many Catholics find that grief doesn’t only feel sad. It can feel urgent. Your mind may replay the last conversation, the last hospital...