The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ancestor worship as the “veneration of deceased ancestors who are considered still a part of the family and whose spirits are believed to have the power to intervene in the affairs of the living.” Based on love and respect for the deceased, it is the belief that showing respect and loyalty to the deceased is a reciprocal agreement: the living engage in ceremonial rites and make offerings that provide the deceased happiness and well-being in the afterlife in exchange for the departed protecting and looking after the welfare of the family. Although not required, having some type of physical memorial is often an important ancestor worship component that can be displayed in variety of forms: altars, shrines, plaques or tablets, sculptures, masks, gravestones, tombs, monuments, buildings and other designated places. While ancestor worship is often associated with the Confucian concept of filial piety, it is practiced in much of the world, in many religious traditions and among most socioeconomic groups. In China the concept of ancestor worship as a demonstration of piety originally espoused by Confucius is an essential belief and everyday practice among all major Chinese religious – Buddhism, Taoism and other folk religions. The Chinese family unit traditionally consisted of the deceased as well as the living and worshiping one’s ancestors has been a means of strengthening the family and Chinese society. As the “residence of ancestral spirits”, the family altar/shrine 祠堂, with ancestor carvings and tablets is the commemorative site for daily prayers, rituals and offerings. In contemporary settings ancestor worship can be viewed as a connection with our past, and perhaps reaping the benefits our forefathers provided us.
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Rare Timor ancestor mask for ritual offerings to honor the departed and provide space during village visits, repel evil spirits. Featured in 2002 Spiderman movie in collection of the Green Goblin.
The culture, rituals, tribal and ethnic art of the Dayak (Dyak) of Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia is a mix of shamanism, animism and ancestor worship. Dyak festival masks worn on the face or large ones attached to a costume repel malicious spirits from entering communal spaces, insure village safety, protect babies in their carriers and defend…
Vintage animistic Dayak ancestor mask for agricultural festivals, separate wing-like decoratively painted ears, long nose, gnarled teeth, featured in Green Goblin’s collection in 2002 Spiderman movie.
Deeply set cut-out eyes and mouths are traditional for West Timor ancestor masks as are few, none or menacing teeth. They are rare and often have hair on animal hides on the upper lip, brows and head. Often looking threatening with stark features, their black color, teeth and often lack of balance scare off malevolent and evil spirits. Storing them in the rafters above the house hearth accounts for their smokey black color. Timor Ancestor masks have an earthy expressive presence and a raw spirit.
Timor’s religion has been described by Barbier as ritual exchanges between persons and social groups with their ancestors and fertility spirits. Timorese believe they can be upset by wicked forces, sickness, infertility and other forces, but particularly by the failure of the living to make suitable sacrifices to ancestral spirits. The departed protect and bring prosperity to the living as long as they are honored properly, so there is a close reciprocal link between the deceased and the secular world. Ancestors mediate between the living and the unseen world for living relatives. Their masks are used in animist veneration rituals, protective ceremonies and ritual dances or ceremonies tied to fertility, harvest, or funerary rites Besides masks, the living s are obliged to carve ancestor effigies to honor departed souls for them to occupy and rest in during their village visits. Many ceremonies usually occur in a house room known as “the womb” where a pillar supports beams rising up to the roof struts. This functions symbolically as an axis mundi (the center of the world or cosmic axis) that connects heaven and supports a simple altar above the floor to hold religious artifacts, protective fetishes and charms to ward off evil. So masks, effigies and fetish objects are protective and magic objects used throughout Indonesian islands in. Timor masks were rarely seen in the west until the mid-1970s.
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