Encyclopedia of Religion, Communication, and Media

(Note: Sample material is taken from uncorrected proofs. Changes may be made prior to publication.)

Dead (Communication with)

Continuing communication between the living and the dead has served cross-culturally as a means to preserve bonds of affection across the space of death and as a method to allow the living to consult the dead about the conditions of the afterlife and how best to conduct life on earth. The dead, whether immediate ancestors or famous historical figures, are generally considered wiser than the living and are most often benevolent, giving advice or offering solace to the grieving. Whether contacted individually or brought back for a time-bound ritual in their honor, the dead's communication from beyond the grave assures the living of the continued presence of loved ones and the reciprocal care from living family and friends.

Communication consists of multiple possible forms ranging from speech acts like prayer and conversation, to the feeding of the dead, to types of commemoration. As a general rule, communication with the dead is understood to be a recuperation of the dead's actual presence rather than a trigger for memory, but many memorials are also created as a means of communicating an ongoing concern for the deceased. Communication may also be immediate, and particular dead people may be brought back to the realm of the living through the use of mediums, possession, or other forms of trance states. Large-scale rituals, such as the Day of the Dead in Latin America, often invite the dead back into the families' homes for a constrained period of time both to ensure the dead's sense of perpetual affection and to ward off the possibility of an unwanted haunting by a neglected relative. Many societies have some belief that neglecting to communicate properly with the dead will produce meddlesome or even dangerous ghosts.

Mediums
Probably the most popular vehicle for communicating with the dead remains the human voice. Generally a person with some sort of official sanction-whether it is a priest, a healer, or a channeler-enters a trance-like state and serves as the intermediary for the spirit world. The figure of the medium often allows the spirits of the dead to speak through him or her, giving the living the opportunity to converse directly with those in the afterlife. While most often the petitioner is interested in contacting family and friends, it is also frequently the case that famous dead, such as statesmen, literary figures, and religious authorities, have been called upon to give advice to the living. The dead can be consulted for their knowledge of the afterlife, for particular problems like a plague of bad luck, or for their views on social or political platforms.

The gendered aspects of mediumship are a rich source of both scholarship and controversy, as women and sometimes children are often the primary resources for communication with the dead. While sometimes this allows the socially marginalized to occupy positions of semi-clerical authority, it is also frequently the case that women are the loci for surprising or disruptive outbursts from the realm of the dead, sometimes coming in the form of possession. While the medical and psychological value of these mental states is hotly debated as performed, coached, or even faked, so too is the religious value of the communication for living women. Through the use of trance states, women may voice discontent and opposition to society without fear of repercussion, but only on the condition that it is not the woman speaking but rather the dead speaking through her. This paradoxical form of empowerment thus simultaneously gives voice to social discontent but potentially masks the author of the words.

Continued Care of the Dead
Communicating with the dead also serves as a way to keep families intact on both sides of the grave. Sacrifice and the burning or cooking of the sacred food has long been a traditional form of communication with both the gods and the dead in many cultures. Feeding the dead at small shrines or domestic altars is common, and the smell or even smoke from the fire is thought to literally feed the ancestors. The dead are often invited back into the home for a ritual period of time each year, during which they are placated, fed, and assured of the family's continued care. Some religions, like voodoun, have elaborate rituals designed to retrieve the dead from a nebulous location and resituate them within the household economy. This relationship is one of reciprocity, with the family keeping the spirits of the dead content and the dead having the responsibility of being available for consultation and spiritual or magical aid.

Unwanted communication with the dead in the form of ghosts or demons is frequently attributed to a failure to care for the dead properly, such as improper burial or a lack of ongoing attention given to the dead. These hauntings may be personal forms of punishment or impersonal forces from anonymous dead who have been neglected and therefore seek attention from or revenge on strangers. Hostile possessions against the vehicle's will or poltergeist activity also account for a small percent of communication with the dead; oftentimes these messages from beyond require that the living right some ethical or criminal lapse in order for the dead to move on to the proper situation.

Research Directions
The continued existence of the dead and the continued need to communicate with them is a persistent religious motif across cultures and time. Forms of communication range from the immediate presence of the dead to a mediated attempt to ensure objectivity and the veracity of communication. Technology has often been mined for pursuing communication with the dead, with the telegraph, the telephone, and photography all having been conscripted into service. Devices such as the planchette and the Ouija board have been created specifically for this purpose, and more recently digital photography has been understood to captures images of spirits. While the techniques change over time and location, the content of the majority of communication with the dead has remained relatively constant-death is not a permanent impasse to communication but rather a bridgeable gulf allowing the living and the dead to remain connected in perpetuity.

— Cathy Gutierrez

Further Reading
Ashforth, A. (2000). Madumo, a man bewitched. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Braude, A. (1989). Radical spirits: Spiritualism and women's rights in nineteenth-century America. Boston: Beacon Press.

Bremmer, J. N. (2002). The rise and fall of the afterlife. London: Routledge Press.

Carrasco, D. (1998). Religions of Mesoamerica: Cosmovision and ceremonial centers. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

Chambert-Loir, H., & Reid, A. (2002). The potent dead: Ancestors, saints, and heroes in contemporary Indonesia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

Deren, M. (1983). Divine horsemen: The living gods of Haiti. Kingston, NY: McPherson & Company.

Keller, M. (2002). The hammer and the flute: Women, power, and spirit possession. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

McIlwain, C. (2003). Death in black and white: Death, ritual, and family ecology. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Morris, I. (1992). Death-ritual and social structure in classical antiquity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Spanos, N. P. (1996). Multiple identities and false memories: A sociocognitive perspective. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

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