Nine, forty, crescent/cross

[Svitlana Kobets]

Dear Genevra,

I'd like to expend a bit on Christina Sperrle's answer to your first
question.

> 1.What is the source of the Russian custom of commemorating a death on the
> third, ninth, and fortieth days?

3rd day--Resurrection of Christ
9th day-- appearance of Christ to His Apostles and Doubting Thomas
40th day--Ascension of Christ

The first full source of information about commemorating the dead
(pominovenie usopshikh) is perhaps Postanovleniia apostol'skiie. Interaction
(in quotation marks or without) between the living and dead is a big part of
the Orthodox Christian tradition and service. 3, 9, 40 days and the day of
death are the Christian days established for commemoration of the dead in
apx. 2-3rd centuries. The tradition of prayer for the dead on these days was
preserved in Eastern Orthodoxy, but not in the West. Thus in Eastern
Orthodoxy the living by their prayers can facilitate the soul's passage
through the toll-houses, while according to the Western traditions, the
souls of the dead are on their own. There are 20 toll-houses, and it can
take 40 days to get through. On the other hand liniar time does not
necessarily work here.

Actually, days commemorating the dead are established in all spiritual
traditions, and very often they are the same. For the pagans, for example,
these numbers are 3, 7, 9, 20, 40, 70. Jews have 3, 7, 14, 30, 40.
(Khristianstvo, Entsiklopedicheskii slovar', M. 1995) This source also says
that 40th day was the most important. It also gives a reference to the
interpretation of an early Christian author, Nikifor Kallist and later on
Early Russian death bills (sinodiki). Thus the death bill of
Iosif-Volokolamsk monastery gives the following explanation:
on the 3rd day the face of the dead changes
on the 9th day the whole body (yet not heart) decomposes
on the 40th day the heart decomposes
It is very likely that the reference is to a mystical rather than physical
body.
In any case, I can hardly call the above an explanation.

While Christina Sperrle's explanation of the symbolism of these numbers
coincides with the official Orthodox doctrine, there is also an esoteric
side to this story. After all, there are the same numbers in the Tibetan
"Book of the Dead." There we find references to 3 postmortem states of the
soul: that of the moment of death, of karmic haze, and of "awaiting the next
incarnation." As we know, the text of this book contains instructions about
how the soul is supposed to get through, which are read over the dead for 49
days. In Eastern Orthodoxy the text of Psalter and prayers of the living
play the same role. They facilitate the passage of the soul to Heaven. 3, 9,
40 are supposedly the most critical days on this path, so at those times
prayers of the living are of utmost importance.

> 2. I am told that the association of 40 and the death commemoration has
had
> a negative effect on the celebration of one's 40th birthday in Russia. Is
> that association common?

Never heard anything like that. 40 is a big number, "kruglaia data." If
anything, it's good.

> 4.  The Orthodox cross is sometimes seen with its base at the bottom of a
> semi-circle (crescent?, grail?). I have been told that the semi-circle
plus
> the cross represents Islamic Turkey and the Orthodox victory thereover;
and
> also I have been told that that explanation is ridiculous, that the
> semi-circle is a grail "graal'" to collect blood at the base of the cross.
> Is either explanation at least in the ball park?
You are quite right, it signifies Orthodoxy's triumph over Islam.

Best,
Svitlana Kobets

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