Funeral Service Times August 2017 November 2018 | Page 54

54 REMARKABLE FUNERALS
Rehearsing the funeral
This month Funeral Service Times takes a look at one of the most bizarre types of service, in South
Korea, where the would-be deceased rehearse their funeral
F
unerals certainly require a lot
of planning, from what music is
played to what is worn planning
for the day is surrounded with
such uncertainty, especially when
the deceased has left little clue as to what
they want. In South Korea however, many
have taken the somewhat bizarre step in
rehearsing their funeral while they’re still
alive and kicking. The new practice has
followed rising suicide rates in the country,
allowing people to feel the sombre mood of
a funeral for half an hour before emerging,
feeling as if they have been reborn. For the
cost of around £30 people can be the star
of their very own funeral rehearsal with
glossy adverts in South Korea enticing them
with the promise that a fake death will
make them realise life is worth living.
Before their funeral ‘warm up’, those
NOVEMBER 2018
planning to die for 30 minutes write out
their will in a dark candle-lit room before
leaving last messages to family and friends.
The would-be deceased are then led to
the ‘death experience room’, a room filled
with coffins and pictures of deceased
celebrities, it is then that the participant is
dressed in a traditional hemp death robe.
Following this, the person selects a coffin
while the participant’s wills are read out
one by one, the ‘dead’ is then lowered
into their chosen coffin. A man wearing a
traditional South Korean death messenger’s
outfit then hides their eyes and wraps their
wrists before placing a flower on the chest
of each person, the attendants then close
the coffin lids, banging each corner with
a mallet in order to simulate the lid being
nailed shut. Dirt is then thrown on top of
the lid to further inforce the realism of the
occasion, simulating burial. The attendants
then leave the room for five minutes -
however due to smoke and mirrors this
is said to feel like being trapped for 30
minutes. Upon their return the attendants
lift the lid and proclaim: “Now, you have
shed your old self. You are reborn to
have a fresh start.” The popularity of the
funeral rehearsal in South Korea has
led to some of the country’s biggest
companies in industries such as car
manufacturing and insurance, sending
their workers to experience death.
Another theory around why these
mock funerals have gained such
popularity in South Korea is the way in
which they are seen by friends and family
as opposed to in the west where people
tend to be more concerned about their
own opinions on themselves. Kim Gi-ho,
program director and owner of Beautiful
Life, one of the companies providing a
death experience for the living, said of the
company’s offering: “Unlike westerners,
Koreans are most concerned with their
families and how they’re viewed by their
peers. In the west, people are more
individualistic and can enjoy more personal
freedoms. This puts a lot of pressure on
Koreans to live up to their surrounding
expectations. When we are mindful of
death, it takes us to a higher point. When
we have one day to live, life is very short.
Time slows down. We see our lives from a
greater vantage point and this allows us to
discern what is important and what is not.
If you want to really experience this kind of
death, you have to start preparing a week
before. You have to think about your death
constantly and completely empty your
life. Clean your room, throw out your food,
and organise everything as if you were
never coming back. Watch your funeral,
imagine everyone there. Imagine yourself
in the coffin. Let death be your teacher,
dying be your mentor. Most people focus
on meaningless things, Their minds are
limited by this big cloud that is our daily
lives. In the coffin, they will see their lives
moving slowly. They can examine what
their purpose is. They can see, clearly, what
is and isn’t important to them.”
www.funeralservicetimes.co.uk