"With our own hands": Romani funerals are a profound act of love

Or why the Romani don't use funeral agencies

Marie-Louise von Franz, a Swiss psychologist who worked with Carl Jung, has shared infinite wisdom in her books and lectures, but one quote is particularly striking.

“The instinct to die is the same as the instinct to live.”

She continues to explain that every living being is as connected to life as it is to death. And our modern culture’s denial of death, refusal to face and accept it, is a symptom of sapped instincts.

The Romani have suffered many sorrows in their history, but sapped instincts are not among them. Like all surviving indigenous tribes, they are still connected with ancient wisdom which “civilized,” mainstream societies need books, therapy, and years of effort to recover.

One way this instinctual wisdom shows up in Roma culture is in the approach to death. And this is most evident in the beauty of Roma funeral rites.

What most people are scared to handle, the Romani embrace with a full heart: the very last chance to show love and care on this earthly plane.