As North Americans appear to be rejecting formalized, traditional rituals, new or improved rituals must be devised for use in helping the bereaved grieve. This article suggests that helpful rituals may be separated into three categories: predeath, immediate postdeath, and long-term postdeath. Within these groupings, rituals are described that have proved beneficial to those who mourned. In addition, methods of designing and performing funerary (death) rituals are illustrated.
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