WHO/WHAT AM I

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It cannot be a hired mourner because everyone in the group would know - only makes sense during public ceremonies.
It can't be the grieving spouse throwing herself onto the funeral pyre - that stopped almost a century ago [though it certainly qualifies as strange].
Chinese burn paper money, but that's not strange. Unless the guest calls himself a banker?
It can't be a seller of other goods for the afterlife. Though this was once nearly universal there's not enough space now to bury such stuff.

So is it someone who lights fireworks and makes frightening noises to ward off evil spirits? I expect the Egyptians had to make do with drums and gongs.
 
I just didn't think it was strange! Mind you when I came to Oz long ago people though Robert Helpmann and pink vanilla slices were suss.

I'll pop back tonight after a think. Hope you had a good weekend Richie.
 
Vince said:
A trade or profession.
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Can it be both a trade and profession or one but not the other?
Think of a 2 set Venn diagram. Certainly not neither.

Is is gender biased?

How long has this trade or profession been practised?

Does it have a Science aspect to it?
 
Richie said:
🤪

Perhaps not in India or China, but is here in the western world.
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I was going to ask the same question as Vince had and now I'm repeating it since you didn't specify what exactly is odd about being or inviting a wake eulogist? Is it the wake, the eulogist, or both? Is the only difference between a wake and a funeral that the former is more informal? I haven't heard of a wake. I've been to a lying in state and to funerals. Without such an explanation, it sounds to me like it is a lying in state.
 
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looker-on said:
Is the only difference between a wake and a funeral that the former is more informal?
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Good question. I have no experience of German traditions at all. Reading a bit of Mann and Grass didn't help, so I just imagine that you have a fairly formal Lutheran way of doing it. [when I don't know and havent bothered to look properly I just fill in the gaps]. In the Anglo-Irishsphere a wake's now lost it's original context, where the departed was put on a table for as long as it took for everybody to to get drunk and make speeches. That can't happen with today's regulations and warming climate. Also not every drunk person attending would have thought well of the departed. That's a pretty good incentive to hire professional speakers, which of course we don't.

Anglo-Australians still use the word loosely and celebrate it acordingly. A few years ago a sister of mine died before her time and we had the wake after the funeral [during which I was useless and couldn't speak]. I made up by telling my brother in law to spend whatever he wanted to and I'd pay half. So maybe the idea of a wake is to make oneself useful.
 
Vince said:
Good question. I have no experience of German traditions at all. Reading a bit of Mann and Grass didn't help, so I just imagine that you have a fairly formal Lutheran way of doing it. [when I don't know and havent bothered to look properly I just fill in the gaps]. In the Anglo-Irishsphere a wake's now lost it's original context, where the departed was put on a table for as long as it took for everybody to to get drunk and make speeches. That can't happen with today's regulations and warming climate. Also not every drunk person attending would have thought well of the departed. That's a pretty good incentive to hire professional speakers, which of course we don't.

Anglo-Australians still use the word loosely and celebrate it acordingly. A few years ago a sister of mine died before her time and we had the wake after the funeral [during which I was useless and couldn't speak]. I made up by telling my brother in law to spend whatever he wanted to and I'd pay half. So maybe the idea of a wake is to make oneself useful.
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I'm sorry to hear about your loss, Vince. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I haven't been to many funerals, so I can't really fill any gaps. The ones I attended were quite formal and mostly followed the usual procedure including a eulogist but there was no lying in state.
 
Vince said:
Usually one or the other, though talent and apprenticeship may apply.

Millennia.
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  • Grier was asking whether it was gender-biased? Is it?
  • I assume it's a manual job. What material does it usually process?
  • Can you still make a living with it?
  • Would you typically be employed or be a freelancer?
  • Is it a popular job?
  • Is it hard work?
 
looker-on said:
I was going to ask the same question as Vince had and now I'm repeating it since you didn't specify what exactly is odd about being or inviting a wake eulogist? Is it the wake, the eulogist, or both? Is the only difference between a wake and a funeral that the former is more informal? I haven't heard of a wake. I've been to a lying in state and to funerals. Without such an explanation, it sounds to me like it is a lying in state.
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The ODDEST Jobs:​

2: Professional mourner​

Also known as moirologists, these are professional mourners hired by the family of the deceased .

Presume his services would be needed at a funeral or a pre funeral gathering such as a traditional wake.

You blokes dont find hiring someone to do the mourning for you strange?
 
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