Molokan: Beliefs about the dead and body parts, Fingernails

[Andrew John Conovaloff]

I should add that Molokan-Jumpers in America accepted
embalming if they could collect the fluid and bury it in a
hole next to the grave. The funeral business soon took
over all the dead body and coffin construction that the
immigrants did at home.

When the business decided to hide (protect) the grievers
from the gruesome embalming process, those families that
wanted the washed out embalming fluid would take a few
jars to the undertaker. The washout is about 3 gallons,
but the famiies got a few quarts. Some them would put the
jars in the casket.

My first memory of the value of the entire body was when
our Molokan neighbor's grandfather died here in Arizona.
In the hospital his infected leg had to be amutated and
the family (our neighbors) were able to take the leg home
and store it in their deep freezer until the burial when
it was placed in the casket just at the gravesite. No one
knew about the leg until the surprize of it's insertion
into the casket in front of all the congregation and
guests.

Today, the American Molokans have little concern for what
undertakers do because they cannot see the process. One
concerned who Americna Molokan lady who became a funeral
director and embalmer showed me her text books and took me
to her work so I could inform the community. Only the most
conservative were interested in the process.

FINGERNAILS:
There is no oral history about preserving hair or
fingernails among American Molokans that I have found.
Only that men should not cut their beard. Short hair in
America is preferred but conservative women should not cut
their hair. In old Russia, it seems that longer hair on
men was common.

Molokan Home Page
http://gecko.gc.maricopa.edu/clubs/russian/molokan

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