Disclaimer: The following document fragment is presented from an in-character perspective, it should not be taken as the truth of the setting.
Context: On one hand, just because the supernatural is real, doesn’t mean all of human mythology and folklore is correct. On the other, it does mean that there might be more to some practices than just superstition, something real, even if it remains intangible and hazy to the people interacting with it. (Additionally I will mention that this is one of the few lore texts that were entirely written by someone else. Dolly in this case.)
“…And upon stolen tongues and borrowed limbs of ancestors bereft, let body and soul be like our hearts held aloft to the embracing skies.” – Govoriti, the Resplendent Auditor – Unknown Author, translation of obscure Indo-European textile writings
Folk logic oft abdicates the ever so emphasized separation of life and body, heart, and soul. For folk logic, name and family ties are lovingly held close long into their afterlife, impossible to forget or let go. Like how in life they breathed life into their loved ones, their loved ones would dare to hold them close and honour the existence of their memory, still bounding them to our ever beloved Earth.
In certain academic circles, however, there’ve been rising speculations about whether the practice of “ghost marriage,” as it’s been dubbed in the English tongue, holds a greater significance of a balancing act between the spiritual world, and ours. Proponents of this idea insist on ‘othering’ these folk religious practices out of the insinuation of the old idea of ‘pagan peasant spirituality.’ These would-be normal people would accordingly have a stronger tie to and knowledge of the spiritual world than any other educational organization, such as our own. This is dubious, however, and is doubtlessly brought on more by baffling ideas about the peasant unknown than any sort of factoid.
What does this mean for the rest of us, if anything? Is there something greater hidden behind all this, some greater understanding of the forever unravelling threads of the fabric of our perceived reality? What we know of this topic, between the sparse and vastly separated cultures that celebrate the idea points to a trembling, resounding ‘no.’ It is largely built upon a notion of within these cultures, such as those within China or smaller tribes in Southern Sudan, of the importance of the clan or family name, and a history of hardship that’s helped stress the importance in a family name, well into cultural history.
Do the unknowing masses, in any capacity, have a better understanding of what’s commonly referred to as ghosts out of a lack of cunning than us? Is creating an eternal marital bond between the dead and the living only a matter of cultural significance, or is this practice in earnest?
The academic answer will doubtlessly remain ‘no,’ but the admitted blindside of our research is that the possibility of even just the one instance, where mayhaps an isolated or populated family knew something, still lingers. We can, as we should, shoot down the idea that this yet unproven possibility undermines what years of research have denied, but we must stand ever ready for it to haunt us.
Esoteric Musings... 