How to visit a cemetery? A question that worries many relatives of deceased people.

It turns out that in the old days there were beliefs that our great-grandmothers adhered to.

Traditionally, many superstitions are associated with cemeteries, which, by the way, are not groundless. Signs on the churchyard can warn of impending danger, so burials should be visited with the utmost care. Yes, and the signs seen at the resting places must be treated carefully.
First of all, you need to remember - in no case should you disturb the dead, this will entail trouble. It is also not worth coming to them empty-handed, bring sweets that you leave on the grave.

In order not to "take away" misfortune and misfortune from the cemetery to the house, psychics advise to adhere to simple rules behavior.

Alexander Zhukov, psychic: “The very first thing is that you need to enter the cemetery correctly, in order not to leave your luck, happiness there, and most importantly, to “attach” various diseases.
You must enter the cemetery with open hands if you are carrying a bag - you can not pinch it in the palm of your hand. It must be hung over the arm so that all fingers and hands are open.
This is done in order not to bring anything with you, just the good that is in your life today.

There is such a sign: What good you say on the grave, then it will remain on it. A phrase like: “I feel so bad, I want to die ...” can become fatal. The spirits of the cemetery may take this as a call to action.

In addition, one should not forget that not everyone can talk with the dead, as well as come to the cemetery.

Alexander Zhukov, psychic: “I’ll say right away - pregnant women are not allowed in the cemetery! Not for a funeral, not for Mother's Day. Generally it is impossible. According to signs, the following events can occur:

The souls of the dead will take the soul of the unborn baby with them;
. an alien soul can settle in an unborn child.

This sign has been preserved for a long time and has been associated with high infant mortality and the danger of difficult childbirth in pregnant women. Now this sign is not so relevant, so treat it wisely.
If a pregnant woman needs to say goodbye to the deceased, or visit the graves of relatives at the call of her heart, then she should wear something red, tie her hand with a red thread, or keep a piece of red fabric in her pocket.

And by no means Do not bring children under 12 years old to the cemetery. This is very dangerous for the health of the child and his future. You can completely change the fate of a child! From a mystical point of view, the aura of children is very weak, and it is difficult for children to protect themselves from the penetration of negative energy.

It is forbidden coming to a funeral to say goodbye to one person, visit at the same time the graves of other people resting nearby.

Violation of at least one of the rules can entail the attraction of a large amount of negative information, which, like a weight, will pull you to the ground.

Memorial visit to the cemetery

Undoubtedly, paying the last debt to the deceased and honoring his memory by being present at the funeral is an indicator of the moral and ethical standards prescribed by society.

The cemetery is a special place. It "connects" the world of the living and the world of the dead. Therefore, it is necessary to treat him with respect and observe certain signs and rules of behavior so as not to anger the dead and not pay for your disrespect.

❧ To visit the cemetery, you need to carefully prepare, paying special attention to your clothes. Traditional colors are white and black. More than anything black color for graveyard, since it is considered mourning, a color symbolizing grief. If you don't have clothes in the right colors in your wardrobe, you should choose clothes in muted tones.

❧ Legs must be covered. It is unacceptable to walk around the cemetery in open sandals or high-heeled shoes. The churchyard is a place of accumulation of "dead" energy, the earth is especially strongly saturated with it. There is a saying: the dead pull the living. It can be regarded as a warning - the cemetery earth, falling on bare skin, negatively affects a person. First of all, the negative impact affects his health.

❧ At the cemetery before noon, after noon at the church. It is better to visit deceased relatives before dinner, otherwise in the afternoon the spirits can play a trick on those who came.

❧ You can’t swear in the cemetery - all the swearing will remain on you. It really is true. Everything bad that is said in the cemetery falls on the shoulders of the one who spoke out. There may not even be any other options. At the cemetery, one must be especially careful both in statements and in deeds. In general, staying at the cemetery, you must be very careful. Attentiveness and courtesy are those qualities that are highly valued by the deceased. This is the case when the idea that life does not end after death is of particular importance. Therefore, it is necessary to show respect for those who have already left, otherwise they can punish.

❧ If you bring beautiful bouquet- this is wonderful, but do not neglect the recommendation to bring an even number of colors.
Throwing out wilted flowers, you should replace them with new ones and explain to the deceased why this is being done.

❧ If when planting flowers, digging on the grave some odd things came up, foreign objects, you need to take them out of the cemetery and throw them away. Ideally, burn it, trying not to get caught in the smoke.
Things on the graves could be left by sorcerers, causing damage. Taking such an object, a person takes part of the damage on himself.

❧ A week after Easter, it is customary to come to the cemetery to commemorate relatives and friends. Eating at the cemetery, or, which is very common among the Slavs, drinking strong (alcoholic) drinks is also prohibited.
Negative energy accumulates in the cemetery, this place is not conducive to fun, people come here with grief. Food absorbs all this, and after eating you can feel unhealthy.
The fact that they did not arrange a commemoration in the cemetery, insists and Christian church. Trizna came to the cemetery from pagan times, when, after burial, funeral rites were performed on mounds. Christianity does not support the tradition of paganism. Although disputes about this custom are still being conducted by church theorists.
It is better to give alms to the poor and visit the temple, order a memorial service for the deceased - this way of honoring the dead is more acceptable and spiritually useful.

❧ If you still adhere to the tradition of commemorating the deceased with a glass of vodka at the grave, then remember only good things about them and drink without clinking glasses, so as not to throw trouble from one house to another.

Signs in the cemetery

There are many signs about the cemetery. Even people who are deeply indifferent to superstitions try to adhere to them. Such is this place. No one knows what the world of the dead can bring, so it's better to take the signs carefully.

❧ Grave Defilers, cemetery thieves, a sad fate awaits, for they are pursued by evil fate.

❧ Stumble in the graveyard- not good. Even worse - fall. Signs advise you to immediately leave the cemetery, wash yourself with holy water, cross yourself and read the prayer “Our Father” three times.
Believe me, it does not matter to the soul where you will remember it - in a cemetery or in a temple, or in a conversation with relatives. The main thing is that you be sincere and that these memories have a bright, kind shade.

❧ As already mentioned, there is a superstition that the cemetery you can not talk about the successes and achievements of your life and not to leave everything here.

❧ Also it is not allowed to count money in the cemetery otherwise you may not see them again. If the bill was taken out of the wallet, or if it fell to the ground at all, it must be left on the grave of a relative or namesake in order to pay off possible poverty and premature death.

❧ Basically, any item that falls on graveyard ground no longer belongs to its living owner. You shouldn't lift it. If the thing is really needed, you need to leave a ransom for the deceased and the owner of the cemetery - a bottle of vodka and sweets.

❧ From the cemetery by no means you can't bring anything home(this does not apply to sweets that children collect, since they commemorate all the dead with them). This will harm the one who took the things, and the people who used them.
Do not take anything from the cemetery and do not bring it into the house, no matter how valuable it is. According to signs, you will take it from the dead, and they will punish you with troubles and illnesses.
This thing can cause harm not only to the one who brought this thing home from the cemetery, but also to any other person who picks it up.

Important! Handkerchiefs with tears during the funeral are also thrown, digging in the grave, they are not taken out of the cemetery!

❧ Do not take pictures in the cemetery; stay surrounded by negative energy in the picture, and who knows how this will affect your destiny.
Taking pictures against the background of many graves, you capture the invisible world of the spirits of the dead and otherworldly beings, who will later easily find their way to your home.

Sign of a broken tombstone

❧ A monument or a cross has fallen for no reason, which means that the soul of the deceased did not complete important things for her, something worries her.

There are also forgotten, outdated signs that are believed only in the outback, in villages where modern customs have not yet reached. So, a priori, the sign of a broken tombstone cannot promise anything pleasant and kind. If the monument deteriorated without human intervention, and did not suffer from the hands of vandals and marauders, then there will be another dead person in the family of the deceased in the near future.

from the south side - a man dies;
the north side "fell" - a woman will die;
the eastern edge sank - an elderly family member dies;
from the western side, the earth has left - death will take a small child.

❧ Suicides can only be commemorated when a bird pecks at the grain scattered on their graves. Several grains of wheat are sprinkled on the suicide's grave and they look from afar: if the bird does not peck at those grains, then there is no need to commemorate the deceased, except for Saturdays to Dmitriev and All Saints.

❧ If you know you will be visiting a cemetery, bring water with you and Be sure to wash your hands and face when you leave. to remove negative energy.

❧ Do not drink the water that flows in the plumbing system located on the territory of the cemetery. It is used only for cleaning graves and monuments. Water for drinking should be stocked up at home before visiting the cemetery.

❧ Make sure you don't forget anything at the cemetery when you leave, Forgotten things are spoiled.

❧ Always leave the cemetery the way you came. But when visiting the dead, it is better to choose different roads, at least go around your own street and go to the house from the other side.

❧ Leaving the cemetery, you can not turn back, even if you were called or called. It is believed that the dead souls wander among the graves and do not realize that they no longer have a place in the world of the living. When a person turns around, the deceased soul may take this as an invitation to follow a living person. As a result, a visitor to the graveyard will bring a dead person to his house, who can cause a lot of trouble to the inhabitants of the house.

❧ Signs also say that after visiting the cemetery it is important to dry your feet thoroughly, so as not to cause home graveyard land. This land can bring a lot of health problems, it carries bad energy.

❧ After leaving the cemetery and coming home, it is important to warm your hands (even if you are not cold)- hold in hot water, over fire.
It is best to light a church candle with matches (only with them) and warm your hands over it. Bring the palms of your hands as close to the candle flame as you can bear. Move and “burn” the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe palms and fingers in this way.
After that, the candle can not be blown out, gently extinguish it with your fingers. This is done in order not to bring death into the house, not to drag it onto oneself, not to get sick.

❧ No one can visit anyone from the funeral- you will bring death to the house to the person to whom you stopped by. But it is advisable to wrap up somewhere in a public place before you return home. It is believed that the tradition of commemoration in the dining room or cafe is the consequences of this sign.

cat in the graveyard

It has long been known that the dead are able to transmit information through various animals: birds, cats, dogs. No wonder birds in the old days were considered the embodiment of souls that had lost their human bodies. But the birds flying over the graveyard or the house where the deceased lies are not as dangerous as the cat, which, remember, was considered a mythical, sacred animal even among the ancient Egyptians.

In the dwelling where death occurred, pets were immediately removed, isolated - so that the spirit of the deceased would not settle down with his pet.

The appearance of a cat in the cemetery is interpreted as follows:

if the cat lies on the grave or walks nearby, try to leave this place - most likely, there is a strong anomalous zone that destroys the human aura;
if the cat is black, then perhaps the witch went out for a walk, or is it the rushing soul of a sinner;
a white cat - the soul of a righteous man who has not completed his journey on earth, warns of impending danger or illness;
if the cat just slipped past you in the cemetery - be calm - it's just someone's spirit came to look at a new friend, that is, at the one who is being buried.

In any case, treat the cat with respect - do not beat or drive it away, it is better to distract yourself from yourself (if it has followed you) with some kind of gift.

❧ A good sign for a person who has gone to the next world and his relatives is finding in the prepared grave of an old, earlier burial with intact bones. An old belief says that the deceased in the afterlife will find solace, and will not bother his relatives, appearing to them in dreams and hallucinations.

Numerous signs and superstitions to the people present at the cemetery are full of secrets that the souls of the dead want to convey to them. You may have seen, being at the burial ceremony of someone close, how the astral body leaves the body shell that has become unnecessary. This happens at the moment when the first handful of earth touches the lid of the coffin. According to the sign, the soul takes off either laughing or crying, mourning.
Based on materials from grimuar.ru, mistic-world.ru, charybary.ru

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Cemeteries are supposed to be located south of the church; on the north side, only suicides and stillborn babies are buried.

Graves are dug in the direction from east to west, and the coffin with the body is laid with its feet to the east - according to legend, in order to make it easier to rise on the Day of Judgment.

Even if you do not believe in omens, you should not violate the ethics of visiting places of mourning... All the rituals associated with the dead appeared for a reason and it is not in vain that people protect their traditions.

Burial culture is one of the most mysterious and unexplored topics in society. Therefore, a lot of signs and superstitions appeared around him. Some of them have rational or historical basis, others are just a fiction of a people who believe in primitive supernatural forces. What category can be attributed to the custom of leaving the gate in the cemetery open? Now let's figure it out.

Why is the cemetery gate left open?

Fences and gates in beliefs have a certain magical power - they hold various kinds energy inside and do not let it go outside. Therefore, closing the gate of the grave fence while inside is considered a bad omen. A person who has thus locked himself in a cemetery can allegedly be attacked by the negative energy of death, and therefore this sign predicts the imminent death of the unfortunate.

But if there is no one alive inside the fence anymore? Superstitious people advise to cover, but not to lock the gate. Some explain this by the fact that the dead man needs to communicate with other dead, and the locked gate will prevent him from getting out. Others argue that the open gate, as it were, invites everyone passing by to come in and commemorate the deceased - especially if you leave some tasty offerings at the grave.

In most other countries, graves are not separated by fences at all - it’s simply not customary there

But why not just abandon the installation of the fence? This is where some cultural differences come into play. Firstly, the relatives of the deceased, by installing a small fence, hope to protect the grave from desecration by vandals. Of course, a low barrier will not stop any bully, but that's another matter. Secondly, the attitude to property in the territory former USSR somewhat different from other countries, and therefore to protect your site is considered not only the norm, but also an obligation. Thirdly, the fence helps to establish boundaries where you can put a bench and sit down for relatives during major memorial days, for example, Radonitsa.

Church opinion

There are no such prohibitions in the Bible. The Russian Orthodox Church recognizes this custom as superstition, and therefore calls for abandoning it and closing (or not closing) the gate in accordance with the arguments of reason.

In general, representatives of the church have repeatedly focused on the fact that such physical attributes as clothing, food, and “home” (that is, a grave and a place in a cemetery) are important not for the dead, but for the living. The main goal of funeral rituals is not to imitate the afterlife in accordance with the primitive idea of it, but to stimulate living relatives, acquaintances and just passers-by to pray for the repose of the soul.

There are no special rational reasons not to lock the gate to the cemetery. Therefore, you have the right to decide on your own whether to open it or not - no evil spirits will punish you for this.

The topic of cemeteries is special for me in the sense that I always felt very uncomfortable there, and this is putting it mildly, but as I began to see souls, I try not to go there at all. It used to be that the souls of the dead were calmer and went away in their time for rebirth, but now there are many restless and, to a greater extent, young people who either ask to convey something, or want to ride you beyond the aisles of dead space. Although even without publicans, there are enough low-frequency entities in cemeteries, and these comrades are even more unscrupulous. Many of them became due to the abundance of the restless, whose energy they feed on. Yes, and necromancers with cemetery witches feed them with offerings.
Pregnant women, children and the drunk are a special delicacy for the cemetery inhabitants.

Once my mother decided to show me how they ennobled the cemetery, past which they drove to the dacha. We drove into the territory, twirled around without leaving the car on the site, and the publicans filled the whole salon, so much so that my mother began to feel the heaviness. Well, my mentor said in advance what words to say before leaving or leaving the cemetery. Mom did just that. She stopped at the gate, humorously announced to those crowded in the cabin that they had already arrived, stood at the edge of the gate facing our car, said the words, outlining a cross in the air, got into the car, and we drove off, leaving all those suffering in the territory. I don’t remember the exact words now, about 17 years have passed. Approximately the text is as follows: "The living came in - the living and leave. The dead - remain at their graves. Amen."

After looking around the net, I found options that can also be used at the exit from the cemetery:
"The dead will lie here and continue, and I will walk around the white world. Amen."
"Dead - dead, alive - alive. You lie here, and I run home. Truly."
When leaving, do not turn around, do not look around, do not look back. Remember that the craving to ride you in the territory afterlife lot.
You can't go through a hole in the fence. Only in the gate of the main entrance. The gate is open to the dead.

In ancient times, the Slavs at home tied a scarf in a knot before going to the cemetery to an already buried person with something like this: “Which one left, I’ll come like that. Be that." And when they returned, they untied it.
After the cemetery, it is advisable to visit a public place before going home. For example, go to the store, walk around a bit or stand indoors for a while and go out.

And now about the rest of the rules of behavior in the cemetery.

Read the text version of the video

The very first thing is that you need to enter the cemetery correctly, in order not to leave your luck, happiness there, and most importantly, to "attach" various diseases.
You must definitely enter the cemetery with open hands, if you are carrying a bag - you can’t pinch it in your palm. It must be hung over the arm so that all fingers and hands are open.
This is done in order not to bring anything with you, just the good that is in your life today.

At the same time, one should not forget about what can and cannot be said at the resting places. With deceased relatives, you can share your experiences, but not complain, namely share. However, the words should not cause envy or excessive pity: in both cases, the dead can "take" you to them. Remember that you can only allow yourself to be open with that relative whom you trusted during your lifetime and with whom you were close.
There is such a sign: What good you say on the grave, then it will remain on it. A phrase like: “I feel so bad, I want to die ...” can become fatal. The spirits of the cemetery may take this as a call to action.

In addition, one should not forget that not everyone can talk with the dead, as well as come to the cemetery.
Alexander Zhukov, psychic: “I’ll say right away that pregnant women are not allowed in the cemetery! Not for a funeral, not for Mother's Day. Generally it is impossible. According to signs, the following events can occur:
. the souls of the dead will take the soul of the unborn baby with them;
. someone else's soul can settle in an unborn child.

And in no case should children under 12 years of age be brought to the cemetery. This is very dangerous for the health of the child and his future. You can completely change the fate of a child! From a mystical point of view, the aura of children is very weak, and it is difficult for children to protect themselves from the penetration of negative energy.

It is impossible to come to the funeral to say goodbye to one person, to visit at the same time the graves of other people resting nearby.
Violation of at least one of the rules can entail the attraction of a large amount of negative information, which, like a weight, will pull you to the ground.

❧To visit the cemetery, you need to carefully prepare, paying special attention to your clothes. Traditional colors are white and black. Black is the most suitable color for the cemetery, as it is considered to be mourning, a color that symbolizes sorrow. If you don't have clothes in the right colors in your wardrobe, you should choose clothes in muted tones.

❧Legs must be closed. It is unacceptable to walk around the cemetery in open sandals or high-heeled shoes. The churchyard is a place of accumulation of "dead" energy, the earth is especially strongly saturated with it. There is a saying: the dead pull the living. It can be regarded as a warning - the cemetery earth, falling on bare skin, negatively affects a person. First of all, the negative impact affects his health.

❧In the cemetery before noon, in the afternoon in the church. It is better to visit deceased relatives before dinner, otherwise in the afternoon the spirits can play a trick on those who came.

❧ You can't swear in the cemetery - all the swearing will remain on you. It really is true. Everything bad that is said in the cemetery falls on the shoulders of the one who spoke out. There may not even be any other options. At the cemetery, one must be especially careful both in statements and in deeds. In general, staying at the cemetery, you must be very careful. Attentiveness and courtesy are those qualities that are highly valued by the deceased. This is the case when the idea that life does not end after death is of particular importance. Therefore, it is necessary to show respect for those who have already left, otherwise they can punish.

❧If you bring a beautiful bouquet, it's great, just don't neglect the recommendation to bring an even number of flowers.
Throwing out wilted flowers, you should replace them with new ones and explain to the deceased why this is being done.

❧If, when planting flowers, digging on the grave, some incomprehensible things, foreign objects were found, they must be taken out of the cemetery and thrown away. Ideally, burn it, trying not to get caught in the smoke and not to touch it with your bare hands.
Things on the graves could be left by sorcerers, causing damage. Taking such an object, a person takes part of the damage on himself.

❧A week after Easter, it is customary to come to the cemetery to commemorate relatives and friends.
Negative and necrotic energy accumulates in the cemetery, this place is not conducive to fun, people come here with grief. Food absorbs all this, and after eating you can feel unhealthy.
They didn’t arrange a wake at the cemetery - this is self-damage. Trizna at the cemetery came from antiquity, when funeral rites were performedafter burial in moundsand not in cemeteries.
It is better to give alms to the poor and visit the temple, order a memorial service for the deceased - this way of honoring the dead is more acceptable and spiritually useful.

❧Grave defilers, cemetery thieves, will have a sad fate, for they are pursued by evil fate.

❧Stumbling in a cemetery is not good. Even worse - fall. Signs advise you to immediately leave the cemetery, wash yourself with holy water, cross yourself and read the prayer “Our Father” three times.
Believe me, it does not matter to the soul where you will remember it - in a cemetery or in a temple, or in a conversation with relatives. The main thing is that you be sincere and that these memories have a bright, kind shade.

❧As already mentioned, there is a superstition that one cannot talk about the successes and achievements of one's life in the cemetery, so as not to leave everything here.

❧It is also not allowed to count money in the cemetery, otherwise you may not see it anymore. If the bill was taken out of the wallet, or if it fell to the ground at all, it must be left on the grave of a relative or namesake in order to pay off possible poverty and premature death.

❧In principle, any thing that falls on the graveyard ground no longer belongs to its living owner. You shouldn't lift it. If the thing is really needed, you need to leave a ransom for the deceased and the owner of the cemetery - put sweetness in this place and say that you are replacing, not appropriated.

❧ In no case should you bring anything home from the cemetery (this does not apply to sweets that children collect, since they commemorate all the dead with them). This will harm the one who took the things, and the people who used them.
Do not take anything from the cemetery and do not bring it into the house, no matter how valuable it is. According to signs, you will take it from the dead, and they will punish you with troubles and illnesses.
This thing can cause harm not only to the one who brought this thing home from the cemetery, but also to any other person who picks it up.
Important! Handkerchiefs with tears during the funeral are also thrown, digging in the grave, they are not taken out of the cemetery!

❧Do not take pictures in the cemetery; stay surrounded by negative energy in the picture, and who knows how this will affect your destiny.
Taking pictures against the background of many graves, you capture the invisible world of the spirits of the dead and otherworldly beings, who will later easily find their way to your home.

Sign of a broken tombstone
❧For no reason, a monument or a cross fell, which means that the soul of the deceased did not complete important things for her, something worries her.
There are also forgotten, outdated signs that are believed only in the outback, in villages where modern customs have not yet reached. So, a priori, the sign of a broken tombstone cannot promise anything pleasant and kind. If the monument deteriorated without human intervention, and did not suffer from the hands of vandals and marauders, then there will be another dead person in the family of the deceased in the near future.

It doesn’t matter what damage the burial site received: whether the cross simply broke, the tombstone or the pedestal itself cracked, or the earth sank and a deep hole formed - each change threatens the relatives of the person lying here with another death. You can understand who the old woman with the scythe will look for next time by determining which side the earth has collapsed from:
from the south side - a man dies;
the north side "fell" - a woman will die;
the eastern edge sank - an elderly family member dies;
from the western side, the earth has left - death will take a small child.

❧Suicides can only be commemorated when a bird pecks at the grain scattered on their graves. Several grains of wheat are sprinkled on the suicide's grave and they look from afar: if the bird does not peck at those grains, then there is no need to commemorate the deceased, except for Saturdays to Dmitriev and All Saints.

❧If you know that you will visit the cemetery, take water with you, and be sure to wash your hands and face when leaving to remove negative energy.

❧You should not drink the water that flows in the plumbing system located on the territory of the cemetery. It is used only for cleaning graves and monuments. Water for drinking should be stocked up at home before visiting the cemetery.

❧When leaving, make sure that you do not forget anything in the cemetery, for forgotten things are damaged.

❧ Always leave the cemetery the way you came. But when visiting the dead, it is better to choose different roads, at least go around your own street and go to the house from the other side.

❧ When leaving the cemetery, you must not turn back, even if you were called or called. It is believed that the dead souls wander among the graves and do not realize that they no longer have a place in the world of the living. When a person turns around, the deceased soul may take this as an invitation to follow a living person. As a result, a visitor to the graveyard will bring a dead person to his house, who can cause a lot of trouble to the inhabitants of the house.

❧Also, signs say that after visiting the cemetery, it is important to wipe your feet thoroughly so as not to bring home the cemetery earth. This land can bring a lot of health problems, it carries bad energy.

❧ After leaving the cemetery and coming home, it is important to warm your hands properly (even if they are not cold) - hold them in hot water, over the fire.
It is best to light a church candle with matches (only with them) and warm your hands over it. Bring the palms of your hands as close to the candle flame as you can bear. Move and “burn” the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe palms and fingers in this way.
After that, the candle can not be blown out, gently extinguish it with your fingers. This is done in order not to bring death into the house, not to drag it onto oneself, not to get sick.

❧ You can’t call on anyone from a funeral - you will bring death to the house of the person you visited. But it is advisable to wrap up somewhere in a public place before you return home. It is believed that the tradition of commemoration in the dining room or cafe is the consequences of this sign.

❧ Graves are dug in the direction from east to west, and the coffin with the body is laid with its feet to the east - according to legend, in order to make it easier to rise on the Day of Judgment.
Even if you do not believe in omens, you should not violate the ethics of visiting places of mourning... All the rituals associated with the dead appeared for a reason and it is not in vain that people protect their traditions.

Any burial places are places with which many signs are associated. This is due to the fact that people are worried about being close to the dead. To relieve their anxiety a little, they begin to believe in signs and perform protective rituals. For example, a closed gate in a cemetery is considered an unkind sign.

Why can't you go to the cemetery in the evening?

Mediums believe that visiting the churchyard should be before noon. At this time, the energy exchange between the world of the living and the dead is the weakest. Having visited the grave of a relative before lunch, a person will practically not receive negative energy.

After 12 hours, energy exchange increases. People with poor health or the elderly may feel bad in the cemetery at this time. After noon, you should not go there pregnant, so as not to bring trouble to the unborn child.

If you visit the burial place in the evening, then you should expect the following consequences: migraine, dizziness, sudden mood swings, lethargy, etc.

However, these symptoms do not necessarily appear in all people. Individuals with strong energy can stay in the cemetery for a long time at any time and not feel a deterioration in well-being. But still, esotericists do not advise joking with such things and recommend cleaning up at the grave and honoring the memory of the deceased before lunch or, in extreme cases, up to 4 hours.

However, there is a practical aspect here. Many cemeteries are not guarded, there is no normal lighting. Therefore, drunkards and other anti-social personalities can wander there, a meeting with which can end badly. Stray dogs also wander into such places. They are dangerous when in packs.

Why shouldn't the gate be closed?

There is an interesting sign associated with the burial culture and the gate. She, like a fence, according to popular beliefs has the ability to hold negative energy.

If there are still living people inside the fence near the grave, then it is absolutely impossible even to cover the gate. It is believed that negative energy will spread to them, as it will not find a way out.

Another point concerns the closing of the gate when there is no one inside the fence. Superstitious people in this case do not consider it necessary to lock the gate. They just cover it up. It is explained simply - the deceased also needs to “communicate” with others dead. A fully closed gate will not allow him to do this.

Someone considers it necessary to keep the gate wide open next to the grave of a suicide. True, for what reasons the belief appeared is not exactly known.

Some close the gate for quite rational reasons. They do not want stray animals to approach the grave of their friend or relative.

By the way, in many countries there are no fences around graves in cemeteries at all. Our citizens do this mainly for convenience and religious reasons. After all, the fence allows you to accurately mark the boundaries of the site in the cemetery, where you can install a table and benches.

Many families come to the churchyard during important Orthodox holidays to remember the deceased. Make it psychologically more comfortable inside the fence.

Why can't you turn around in the cemetery?

According to the sign, you should not turn around when leaving the churchyard. Especially if a person has recently buried a relative. His soul or the soul of another dead person will take this as an invitation to follow the living. The restless spirit will settle in the house of an unlucky visitor to the cemetery and cause a lot of trouble.

Some even felt as if someone called them by name when they left the burial place. It is important to avoid the temptation to turn around, otherwise it will not be easy to get rid of the spirit.

Also, after visiting the churchyard, it is advisable to go to some other place (cafe, forest, gas station, etc.), and not immediately return home. This will allow you to get rid of bad energy and not bring it with you.

The attitude of Orthodox priests to signs

The vast majority of people subject to superstition consider themselves believers. But the church has a negative attitude towards any signs, such as closing the gate, fear of turning around in the cemetery, etc. You should not succumb to the fear of superstition for the following reasons:

Faith in power will take away from God. After all, if a person is sure that impure forces, due to some action, are capable of harming him or his relatives, then he is more like a pagan with magical thinking, and not like a Christian;
A person sets himself up for bad things in advance. If you accidentally fall into a cemetery and forget about it, then nothing bad will happen. But when compassionate people inform a stumbler that now terrible events await him, this affects him. emotional state. He will be nervous and restless all day. This is what will cause him to spill hot tea on himself in frustrated feelings or break the headlight during an unsuccessful parking. If he had not kept in his head the sign told to him, then none of this would have happened;
Insulting the memory of the deceased. When a person comes to the grave of a relative or acquaintance who has gone to another world, then all thoughts should be only about the deceased. It is better to devote yourself entirely to pleasant memories. If a person spends mental efforts on feeding his superstitions (no matter how much he drops something on the ground, leaves the gate closed, etc.), then this would hardly please the deceased if he were alive.

Certainly, some of them are connected with quite rational ideas. For example, the superstition that pregnant women should not visit the cemetery. This really should not be done by an impressionable girl who does not need any extra worries.

But if a loved one died and very close person, then she probably wants to say goodbye to him. Relatives should not intimidate her with signs. It is required to morally support her and be near the cemetery in case the girl suddenly becomes ill and needs to be taken home.

Why can't you take anything from the cemetery?

It is believed that any thing, even a little lying on the grave ground, is saturated with negative energy. Therefore, a ring or brand new leather gloves found on the graveyard will bring a lot of sadness to the new owners.

When an expensive thing, such as a gold jewelry or a smartphone, accidentally fell to the ground, then you need to leave a "payoff" to the spirits of the cemetery. It should be something insignificant, but still having at least a minimal value. Instead of a dropped item, a coin, candy, key chain, notebook, etc. is immediately placed on the ground.

Other interesting signs regarding the cemetery

There are several signs associated with burial places:

You can't count money near graves. If the bill fell to the ground from the pocket, then it is advisable not to pick it up;
The cat next to funeral procession, is a bad omen. It should be driven away, but without the use of loud swear words and even more so brute force. It is best to lure her aside with a treat that will distract her from the procession;
You can’t take photos at the cemetery, and even more so, keep pictures from the funeral at home. A person will capture negative energy in a photo. She will attract evil invisible entities to the house, which will cause misfortune;
Walk to the cemetery;
Quarrels and even just verbal altercations in the cemetery are unacceptable. Those who decide to sort things out near the graves run the risk of living most of their lives in constant showdowns with relatives, neighbors and colleagues.

This is a small part of the signs regarding such a sad place as a cemetery. The desire to leave the gate open is just a drop in a large sea of superstitions. If a person is used to not closing it and it is psychologically easier for him, then you should not try to convince him of the opposite.

But still, a believer or materialist who knows the basics of Orthodoxy will not bother his head with such things.

Video: Do I need to close the fence?

In this video, Elena Shchukina will tell you whether it is necessary to leave a gate in the fence of the grave of the deceased after her visit to the cemetery:

Why do we need a cemetery or Wealth of the coffin does not surprise God

AUTHOR OF THE ARTICLE

Hegumen Fedor (Yablokov)

Conversation with hegumen Theodore (Yablokov) about the external decoration of the graves, the Orthodox tradition and the true benefit for the soul.

- Father Theodore, you have probably seen: along roads, at accident sites, monuments are often erected, sometimes even with fences. To what extent does this correspond to the Orthodox tradition?

The tradition of putting up crosses outside the cemetery, setting up worship crosses at specially marked places, for example, at the crossroads of roads or at the entrance to some village, has been in Russia since time immemorial. This was done so that a person, having seen the worship cross, thought and prayed. It used to be that temples were erected at the site of the tragedy. The Church at all times tried to consecrate such places so that people would pray here with a special feeling, remembering the Lord and remembering the dead - their dead relatives. Apparently, the installation of crosses at the place of death in an accident has the same meaning: so that, while passing the place of the tragedy, a person prays for the dead, and at the same time simply slows down. This can save you from another tragedy. But, of course, you should not abuse such things and make duplicates of cemeteries along the roads, because a grave cross should be installed at the burial site, rather than at the place of death. But what is completely inappropriate is when rudders, wreaths and all sorts of extraneous things that are not related to prayer are attached to the poles.

- Is it right to lay wreaths in cemeteries?

It is impossible to answer this question unambiguously. It all depends on what meaning is invested by those who bring wreaths. It was the custom of the ancient Romans to place roses on the graves of their dead ancestors in May. Unfortunately, this pagan practice in late XIX century came to our land, which led to the fact that in 1889 the Holy Synod was forced to ban wreaths and inscriptions on them at funerals. At the same time, a decision was made to ban secular music during burial. The Bolsheviks who came to power revived and strengthened the funeral tradition of the pagans, displacing the remnants of the Christian understanding of burial. For example, Lenin's funeral looked more like a flower and wreath show, despite the fact that it was winter outside, than a normal farewell to a deceased person.

Outwardly similar, but completely different in meaning, the Orthodox tradition of seeing off and commemorating the dead with flowers and ritual wreaths originates in early Christianity. The first followers of Christ, bringing fresh flowers and wreaths to the graves of the dead, expressed the hope for the resurrection and eternal life, and also symbolically emphasized the Christian virtues of the deceased. In our time, on special days of commemoration of fallen soldiers, His Holiness the Patriarch, bishops and clergy lay wreaths on their graves with great feeling and prayer. But, firstly, it must be made from natural flowers, and secondly, a cross is an obligatory element of the flower arrangement of a wreath. In fact, a cross of flowers is laid. And this has deep meaning- reverence and prayer.

But, alas, so far our modern tradition in this matter is far from Christian.

- You stressed that the flowers must be alive. But no matter what cemetery you walk through - all the graves are buried in artificial flowers and wreaths ...

According to the established tradition, which has absorbed the spirit of living faith, living Church, living love, the flowers in the temple must be alive. Artificial flowers are not allowed in the house of God. And the grave, as a kind of projection, as a small place of our prayer for the departed, according to the spiritual view, should also have only living flowers, living commemorations. We all the time say that our faith is alive, and that our love must be alive. Because the faith of Christ is a living faith in the fulfillment of the commandments of God. And our living faith wants everything around us to be alive, including the graves of the departed. From time immemorial, only natural flowers, shrubs and branches of coniferous trees have been used at mourning events in Russia. Special place in the mourning tradition, spruce, pine, juniper - evergreens, symbolizing eternal life, occupied. The custom to cover the road of the funeral procession with coniferous branches is still preserved in various regions of Russia. And artificial flowers, wreaths, as well as wreaths without a cross, are already a legacy of the Soviet era. Plastic or rag flowers are a symbol of artificial existence, not living life.

- Or maybe it's a plastic obsession on the graves - a consequence of our surrogate feelings? Everything around has become fake, maybe the wreaths are artificial because our feelings are also partly false, tuned to the external effect, and not to the inner essence?

I wouldn't say so. Usually people do not even think about what kind of flowers to bring and what is the meaning of it. Firstly, they live without thinking, according to an established algorithm. If they were explained how to do it right, perhaps it would resonate in their soul.

Secondly, poverty can also be the cause, especially for the elderly. They carry those flowers for which there is enough money. Thirty rubles was enough for an artificial flower - the grandmother carries it. But she does it from the heart, although not quite right from the point of view of Orthodoxy. But maybe she does works of mercy and prayers for the deceased, which is much more necessary for his soul than a living flower.

But main reason all the same, the fact that people are not enlightened, they are torn off from the Church and from the spirit of Orthodoxy.

- When and how should one visit the cemetery? And is there a need to visit the burial place often if relatives regularly commemorate the deceased in church?

Father Ulyan Krechetov, confessor of the Moscow diocese, once gave the following example: after his death, St. Philaret of Moscow appeared to his relatives and said: “Please, come to my grave, put things in order there.” Thus, the deceased ask their relatives to look after their graves. That is, caring for the grave is an opportunity to pay tribute to the memory of the deceased, to express their feelings. But this is far from the most important tool, of course. The main thing is prayer. First of all - in the temple, then - on the grave itself. Coming to the cemetery, our main task is to devote this time not to some fictitious conversation with the deceased. We can converse only in prayer for the departed. If the relative of the deceased enters into a direct "dialogue" at the grave, he starts a conversation with no one knows who. Sometimes this leads to illusions, because of which a person falls under the power of demons.

Why is this happening? Yes, because, firstly, such a person has an incorrect spiritual dispensation. He believes that the deceased is lost to him and is in some kind of isolation. But the Church says the opposite: one should not mourn for the dead, because death is birth in eternity. It is no coincidence that the funeral itself is held by priests not in black, mourning clothes but in white robes. Akin to a funeral service is such a Sacrament as Baptism. Baptism is a birth into the spiritual Christian life, and a funeral service is into eternal life.

We sinners cannot understand this, but the first Christians rejoiced when one of them died. Of course, the death of a loved one resembles a surgical operation: some part of the spiritual body is cut off from us living. And this separation brings a lot of pain. But spiritual task a person who survived the death of a relative and remained in Church Militant, is the realization that spiritual ties with the deceased are not interrupted. Previously, here on earth, we talked with this man and prayed for him. Nobody prevents us from loving him even after death, praying for his soul and doing works of mercy. The Holy Fathers say that almsgiving and deeds done in memory of the departed bring them great consolation*. This is the real, true memory of the dead, and not the luxurious arrangement of the burial place.

- But there are people who practically live in the cemetery: sometimes you need to clean up the grave, then put the monument in order, then fix the fence.

The grave is the place of the resurrection of the dead on Judgment Day. And, of course, we must keep it clean. But there is no need to constantly go to the cemetery. Such preoccupation with the burial site can occur in people who do not separate soul and body. It seems to them that the person was buried entirely. Thank God, such a distorted perception does not happen often. It is bad if the grieving people do not realize their dependence on visiting the cemetery and visit there almost every day. At the same time, as a rule, they do not enter the temple! Such people do not need God, and the Church is not needed. They only want their deceased relative. Passing by the temple, the mourners, oddly enough, categorically do not want to visit the place where you can directly help the soul of the deceased.

- Are there any rules for arranging graves?

It is best to place the icon of the Savior on the grave cross. And if you want the photograph of the deceased to be in the cemetery, then it is better to attach it to the fence on the side. Then such an uncomfortable situation will not arise when a priest at a memorial service is forced to almost pray for the deceased instead of icons! A person needs to turn from the contemplation of the burial place to the contemplation of God, to prayer and communion with Him. After all, it is through prayer that we can bring comfort to the deceased.

A photograph of the deceased on a crucifix is blasphemy. But even greater blasphemy is the placement of his picture of the house in the icon row, next to the images! In fact, there should be a clear division: Christ, the saints of the Church of God and our relatives, for whom we pray. For them, too, there should be an honorable, but different place.

It happens that the parents of a deceased baby go to the other extreme: they bring toys to the child’s grave, and with them, it turns out, part of his inner world. These things, not at all useful for the soul, are transferred not only to the cemetery, but also to one's own soul. They distract parents from the main thing - from prayer. Because, having come to the grave, on which there are many toys, it is impossible to pray, everything reminds of the loss. It is much more useful to place an icon, instead of bitter tears - to bring the priest and pray. In fact, all the souls of babies are in the rank of funeral and are referred to as blessed, that is, already delivered from suffering. Therefore, the parents themselves are more in need of commemoration of the deceased babies.

The same can be said about expensive monuments and a myriad of wreaths. When we come to the temple of God and bring fresh flowers to the icon, we show a normal religious feeling. Another thing is when wealthy people spend huge amounts of money on mountains of artificial wreaths, in which the graves are literally buried. And the grave itself is not visible behind this “splendor” at the memorial service. But at the same time, beggars sit nearby in the cemetery, cars with expensive wreaths pass by and do not stop ...

You cannot amaze the Lord with the rich decoration of the graves, but you can amaze him with sacrifice and love for people in need and for the Church of God. This should be realized by those people who, instead of helping the deceased with deeds of mercy, satisfy their own vanity, feed their passions, justifying themselves by the fact that they thus show love for the deceased. In fact, they do not love the deceased, but themselves!

Those who arrange graves in such a way that everything is solid, expensive and prestigious, only harm the soul of the deceased and drive themselves into sin. It is regrettable when the last shelter of a loved one becomes a place of self-affirmation and pride of his relatives.

- There is a category of people who take care of a comfortable place in the cemetery in advance - closer to the exit or to the church, on the central alley, next to famous people. What should be the attitude to the choice of a place in the cemetery?

If you understand that the grave is not the last apartment where the deceased lives, but the place of resurrection, then everything will fall into place. After all, God will resurrect from any place. Moreover, convenience, prestige, rich decorations of graves will not have any significance for the Last Judgment. All this tinsel is needed exclusively by the living.

We know examples of attitudes towards the burial places of many saints. For example, the great holy ascetic, ascetic, the Monk Nil of Sorsk, dying, left his disciples a testament in which he asked to throw his body in the forest to be eaten by animals and to be buried without honors with the words: “For the body has sinned against God much.” We see that the saints cared much more about the fate of their souls than about the place of burial. They understood that the meaning and essence is not in the place of burial. But modern people are far from such lofty spiritual reasoning and, unfortunately, are often guided by vain considerations and convenience.

- When is it customary to visit the cemetery?

Firstly, these are the days of general church commemoration, on which you need to visit both the temple and the cemetery: parent Saturdays throughout the year (Radonitsa, Trinity and Dimitrievskaya parental Saturdays), as well as parental Saturdays associated with Great Lent (meat and Lenten parental Saturdays). Secondly, it is possible and necessary to commemorate the deceased on the day of his death, that is, on the day of his birth into eternal life. If we want to commemorate a person according to church rules, it is necessary on this day to go to the temple of God and invite the priest to the grave in order to pray more fervently for the soul of the deceased. Memorable dates are also suitable for prayer commemoration: birthday, Angel's day. These days, too, you need to order a church commemoration, and invite a priest to the grave. If the priest is not around, now, thank God, in many prayer books there is a rite of lithium performed by a layman. You just need to take a prayer book and pray with all your heart. When it is not possible to visit the grave, one can read the litia and kathisma of the Psalter about the deceased and read at home in front of the prayer corner. All this will serve as a great consolation for relatives and for the deceased.

- What should the monument look like so as not to contradict Orthodox traditions?

Of course, it must be a cross. It can be wood or stone. The cross recalls the cross that the deceased carried throughout his earthly life. It is good if an epitaph with a deep spiritual meaning is written on it. Nowadays, stone tombstones are also allowed.

But no matter what the monument is, we must not forget that the souls of the dead need not tombstones and epitaphs, but our prayers. We are all here temporarily. Both grave crosses and cemeteries are not eternal. And the monument makes sense only for the time when people pray for the soul of the one whose ashes lie under it. Therefore, the place of burial should be a place where it would be convenient to pray and where everything would be conducive to turning to God ...

- And all these wonderfully beautiful cemetery sculptures in the form of angels - where did this tradition come from? And how appropriate is it on the grave, if, of course, we are talking not about any famous person, whose resting place should be identified?

Sculptures and pantheons that strike the eye have been known since the Renaissance, they were also in the godless Soviet era, but they were especially popular in the 1990s. All this has nothing to do with Christianity, because the place of burial is a place of prayer. As a rule, there is no place for sculptures in the Orthodox church tradition. If you look from a secular point of view, then for some people such sculptures are giving a certain individuality, some kind of association with the deceased. For example, on one monument in the cemetery next to our Church of All Saints in Klimovsk, a basketball basket with a ball is depicted. This has nothing to do with spiritual life, but for the relatives of the deceased, it probably means something.

- Do the epitaphs on the monuments have any meaning?

Epitaph is a wonderful and necessary tradition. This is not a bunch of words, as one might think, it is written with meaning and should make you think. And even better, if this phrase will respond with a prayer, an ardent appeal to God. An epitaph generally makes sense only if it awakens prayer for the deceased. And if the words on the monument deify the deceased himself or serve as a message to the deceased: “We remember you” or “Remember. We love. We grieve, ”then it makes little sense. Who is being contacted in this case? Will the deceased get up and read what is written?

And there are also such epitaphs: “I lived nicely, well. Thank you all for your attention." And what is it for? Does such a text help to think about the soul? The epitaph with the words of the Gospel will certainly touch the soul of a person, and he will pray for the deceased, so that the Lord grants him comfort. The purpose of the epitaph is to call people to prayer for the forgiveness of the sins of the deceased.

- Do you need a fence around the grave and a bench with a table? In the cemetery next to your temple, for example, they even offer "ritual shops." What is it like?

Just imagine: to our cemetery from the city go 3 kilometers. People went to pray, to work, to weed something. Why not sit down and relax on a bench by the grave? There is nothing wrong with this. And put something on the table at the same time, refresh yourself, eat. But, of course, this is not necessary in order to, sitting on a bench, arrange a libation on the grave, but leave food for the deceased on the table.

- Father Theodore, you probably paid attention to the coffin "splendor" of modern funerals - there are coffins almost with air conditioning, with rear-view glasses. Is this the same unhealthy measure you were talking about?

For many, chic funeral attributes are an opportunity to show their level of wealth. Say, "here I am from such and such a society, and the coffin must correspond to my status." They just call it that - a eurocoffin, like a European-quality repair. It is strange that they don’t order a “European funeral” for such coffins ( laughs).

Although traditionally in Russia it was not customary to “flaunt” at the funeral with either coffins or other attributes. Even great saints were buried in simple, planed wood, unhewn coffins. And monks are still buried according to this tradition.

- Where did all this come from? modern man? Don't you think that expensive commemorations, chic coffins and monuments are, to some extent, echoes of paganism? The desire to "pay off" from the soul of the deceased, to propitiate the deceased, so that he does not bother from the next world?

Probably, there are such representations, but I believe that not often. Sometimes relatives of the deceased believe that if they didn’t give him something during his lifetime or offended him, now they can compensate for everything with an expensive monument or a hearse. That is, in some cases, these offerings are made out of guilt.

But in most cases, this is done for conceited reasons: to show the level of prosperity, to emphasize one's social status. Moreover, the farther people are from the Church, the more important this external side is for them.

- So what about the funeral industry? After all, this external part begins with it.

We Orthodox dress in garments made by industry, not monks in a monastery. We use phones, cameras - this is also an established production. But there is an industry that serves the good Orthodox cause, and there is an industry for corrupting souls.

Why should an Orthodox person in a difficult situation not resort to the help of ritual agents or companies that professionally and adequately know how to organize a funeral? But it is best to choose such firms on the recommendations of acquaintances, so as not to fall for the grabbers who will shamelessly cash in on the mountain.

When preparing for ritual events, it is important not to go to extremes and vanity. In everything you need to know the measure. After all, as the wise Russian proverb says: “You will not surprise God with the wealth of the coffin.” For the soul of the deceased, first of all, the prayers of neighbors and the Church are important, as well as works of mercy and the creation of alms. By no means should this be forgotten. The spiritual is superior to the external and material.