![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Mourning among Kaibyou
Aug. 8th, 2019 08:42 pmWhile natural death (death from "old age" and the body wearing out) is unheard of in kaibyou as with most other youkai, they can be killed or die from specific illnesses and toxins, and in the case of nekomata, they can die from not fulfilling their grudge as is necessary to them. To the world around the kaibyou, in human form, they are expected to follow the mourning traditions that the people of Japan follow. So, culturally specific mourning practices are done in their cat forms.
The cats closest to the deceased might stay completely in cat form for months, or only take their human forms when absolutely necessary. Other cats who knew the deceased but were not particularly close might only mourn when in cat form for other reasons. And cats that didn't know the deceased well or at all are not expected to do any mourning, although they are expected to give time and space for other cats to do their mourning.
In this first stage, the cat will yowl and "sing" into the night for the spirit of their lost companion or clanmate. This is especially true when the cat was a nekomata that didn't fulfill their grudge, since it would be expected the cat's spirit would be stuck in Hell for a time before it can reincarnate, if it can move on at all. It's believed that singing for their spirits like this shows that they are missed, that the cat in question may have done some amount of evil, but that they were a Good Cat, and so should have the chance to reincarnate or even have their time spent in Hell reduced.
After the first shock of grief wears off a bit and they can get back to their day to day lives, they might still yowl on occasion, but in general, they will avoid mentioning or talking about the other cat for about a year or two. This timing depends on when the deceased cat died and how long the first stage of grief lasted, and how strongly the cat who is mourning felt about the deceased. But the end point is always either New Years (正月 Shougatsu) or Bon festival (お盆 o-Bon), New Years because it's a fresh start and Bon festival because it's traditionally the holiday the spirits of the dead come back to Earth to check up on those they've left behind, and then return to the afterlife at the end of the week.
After this time passes, while they are still allowed to grieve, especially if the deceased cat and the mourning cat were very close, the period of mourning is officially over. That said because kaibyou can and do live for centuries, some cats continue their mourning of a loved one for many years or decades.
The cats closest to the deceased might stay completely in cat form for months, or only take their human forms when absolutely necessary. Other cats who knew the deceased but were not particularly close might only mourn when in cat form for other reasons. And cats that didn't know the deceased well or at all are not expected to do any mourning, although they are expected to give time and space for other cats to do their mourning.
In this first stage, the cat will yowl and "sing" into the night for the spirit of their lost companion or clanmate. This is especially true when the cat was a nekomata that didn't fulfill their grudge, since it would be expected the cat's spirit would be stuck in Hell for a time before it can reincarnate, if it can move on at all. It's believed that singing for their spirits like this shows that they are missed, that the cat in question may have done some amount of evil, but that they were a Good Cat, and so should have the chance to reincarnate or even have their time spent in Hell reduced.
After the first shock of grief wears off a bit and they can get back to their day to day lives, they might still yowl on occasion, but in general, they will avoid mentioning or talking about the other cat for about a year or two. This timing depends on when the deceased cat died and how long the first stage of grief lasted, and how strongly the cat who is mourning felt about the deceased. But the end point is always either New Years (正月 Shougatsu) or Bon festival (お盆 o-Bon), New Years because it's a fresh start and Bon festival because it's traditionally the holiday the spirits of the dead come back to Earth to check up on those they've left behind, and then return to the afterlife at the end of the week.
After this time passes, while they are still allowed to grieve, especially if the deceased cat and the mourning cat were very close, the period of mourning is officially over. That said because kaibyou can and do live for centuries, some cats continue their mourning of a loved one for many years or decades.
