One of my favorite subjects to do in our cemetery walks and to study is the customs that our ancestors practiced. Many they brought from the "old country" and still practiced once they came to the United States.

Funeral Customs:

If a dead person’s eyes are left open, he will find a companion to take with him.

Place a quarter in the coffin of a dead person so he can pay his toll across the River Jordan.

If several deaths occur in the same family, tie a black ribbon to everything left alive that enters the house, even dogs and chickens. This will protect against death’s spreading further.

Pull the shades at a funeral. If the sunshines on the face of a mourner, he will be next to die.

Cover mirrors in a house where there is a corpse. The person who sees himself will be the next victim.

Never allow a child under the age of one to attend a funeral.

Do not attend a funeral if you are pregnant.

It is bad luck for a bride and groom to meet a funeral procession.

Do not wear anything new to a funeral. Especially shoes.

A corpse must be taken from the house feet first. If his head faces backward, he may beckon another member of the family to follow him.

If the deceased has lived a good life, flowers will bloom on his grave; if he has been evil weeds will grow.

It is bad luck to meet a funeral procession head on. If you see one coming turn around!

Never arrange a Friday funeral. This is apt to mean another death in the family during the year.

A person who transplants a cedar tree will die when the lower limbs of the tree reach the length of his coffin.

If a broom is rested against a bed, the person who sleeps there will soon die.

Taking ashes out of a stove after sundown will bring death to the family.

A person who sees thirteen white horses at the same time will soon be carried in a hearse.

Large drops of rain warn there has just been a death.

Count the cars of a passenger train, and you will hear of a death.

Stop the clock in a death room, or you will have bad luck.

You will have bad luck if you meet a white chicken when you are on your way to a funeral.

To lock the door after a funeral procession has left the house is bad luck.

Bury a woman all in black and she will return to haunt the family.

If rain falls on a corpse, the deceased will go to heaven.

If you hear a clap of thunder following a burial, it indicates that the soul has of the dead person has reached heaven.