How Can Grief Rituals From Around the World Help Us Make Room for Loss?
Death and grieving are universal experiences that connect us as humans, but culture can influence our relationship with death and how we make room for grief. Living in a diverse society also exposes us to many grieving customs from different parts of the world.
Looking at these traditions can help us understand the different ways people mourn, remember, and maintain connections with loved ones who have died. From gathering at gravesites and preparing meaningful foods to lighting lanterns and playing music, grief rituals can create intentional space for emotions, family, community, spirituality, and remembrance. While there is no single right way to grieve, traditions from around the world offer a glimpse into how people make meaning during loss.
Culture, Grief, and the Ways We Remember Loved Ones
Culture can play an important role in how people experience grief, understand death, and remember loved ones. Some traditions are quiet and somber, while others include music, food, family gatherings, or celebration.
Our cultural backgrounds can influence how we express emotions, whether grief is experienced privately or with others, and how we maintain a connection with someone who has died.
These differences remind us that grief does not look the same for everyone. What feels meaningful to one person or family may look very different for another.
Grief Rituals and Remembrance Around the World
People around the world use many different rituals to honor and remember loved ones. These practices may include visiting graves, preparing meaningful foods, gathering with family, lighting candles or lanterns, playing music, or caring for a loved one’s resting place.
Although the traditions may look different, many create an intentional opportunity to pause and remember. They can provide a way for families and communities to express emotions, spend time together, and maintain meaningful connections with people who have died.
Looking at grief rituals around the world can remind us that there are many ways to make room for loss and remembrance.
Qingming: Grief and Remembrance Traditions in China
Qingming is a spring observance in China centered on honoring deceased loved ones and ancestors. Families may visit and clean tombs, spend time together outdoors, and make food offerings based on meals their loved ones enjoyed.
The observance often has a somber tone focused on respect, remembrance, and mourning. Setting aside this time allows families to intentionally honor those who have died.
Qingming offers an example of how simple acts of care can become meaningful parts of grieving and remembering. Caring for a loved one’s resting place, preparing meaningful food, and gathering with family can all create opportunities to maintain a connection with someone’s memory.
Obon: Honoring and Remembering Loved Ones in Japan
Obon is a Buddhist tradition in Japan that creates a recurring opportunity for people to welcome, honor, and remember their ancestors. The timing varies by region, with the observance commonly taking place during the summer.
Families may hang paper lanterns and light small fires to symbolically guide ancestral spirits home. People may also visit loved ones’ graves, clean and decorate them with flowers, provide food offerings, and light incense.
Obon can also have a warm, communal quality. Bon Odori dancing brings people together through folk music, while illuminated lanterns may be placed on water to symbolically guide spirits back to the spiritual realm.
These traditions demonstrate how remembrance can include connection, family, music, and warmth alongside feelings of loss.
Día de los Muertos: Grief, Memory, and Connection in Mexico
Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican tradition centered on remembering and honoring loved ones who have died.
Families may create an ofrenda, or altar, with photographs, candles, favorite foods, water, marigolds, papel picado, sugar skulls, and other meaningful items. Families may also clean and decorate graves, play music, and spend time remembering the people they have lost.
The observance can have a bittersweet and nostalgic feeling. Rather than focusing only on sadness, Día de los Muertos creates intentional space to reflect on memories, relationships, and time shared with loved ones.
It offers an example of how grief can make room for both the pain of losing someone and the meaningful memories that remain.
Ma’nene: Continuing Bonds and Remembrance in Indonesia
Among the Toraja people of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Ma’nene offers a different example of remembering and maintaining relationships with ancestors.
During this tradition, families may periodically open the tombs of loved ones to care for their remains. This can include cleaning and grooming them and replacing their clothing when necessary.
Although this practice may look very different from grieving customs in other parts of the world, Ma’nene represents continued care and connection after death.
It demonstrates how cultural beliefs can influence what it means to remember someone and maintain a relationship with their memory over time. Grieving does not always have to mean leaving a relationship entirely in the past.
Why Are Rituals Important When Someone Is Grieving?
Grief rituals can give people an intentional way to express emotions and acknowledge a loss. Visiting a grave, preparing meaningful food, lighting a candle, gathering with family, or participating in a cultural tradition can create space to pause and remember.
These rituals may also provide structure during an experience that can otherwise feel overwhelming or uncertain.
Across cultures, grief rituals show us that mourning can have emotional, communal, and spiritual elements. While the specific practices may differ, rituals can provide ways for people to recognize their loss while continuing to honor the relationship they shared with someone who died.
Can Grief Rituals Help Us Feel Less Alone?
Grief can feel deeply personal, but many cultural traditions bring people together. Shared rituals can provide opportunities to connect with family and community while remembering someone who has died.
Phan et al. (2025) describes emotional, communal, spiritual, and cross-cultural aspects of grieving. Cultural rituals can provide ways to express emotions, connect with others, find spiritual meaning, and maintain traditions that help people understand their loss.
These practices may help people feel less alone, maintain a meaningful connection with loved ones who have died, and find meaning during a painful experience. Although everyone experiences grief differently, having opportunities to remember with others can provide a sense of connection.
How Can Individual Therapy Help Me Make Room for Grief in a Meaningful Way?
Grief is personal, and there is no single way you are supposed to experience it. Your culture, family, relationships, beliefs, and traditions can all influence what grieving and remembering look like for you.
Individual therapy can provide a space to explore your loss without feeling pressured to grieve according to someone else’s expectations or timeline. It can help you understand your emotions, reflect on what your relationship with your loved one means to you, and explore meaningful ways to remember and stay connected.
Just as cultures around the world create different rituals for grief and remembrance, you can find ways of making room for grief that feel meaningful to you. Therapy can offer support as you navigate that process while continuing to move through your life.
There is no single “right” way to grieve. If you are navigating a loss and would like a supportive place to understand what grief means for you, Individual Therapy at Empower Family Therapy can provide space to explore your emotions, memories, relationships, cultural influences, and meaningful ways of remembering.
Visit our Individual Therapy service page to learn more about support and taking the next step.
About the Author
Maria Quijano, LPC, is a therapist at Empower Family Therapy who works with children, families, and individuals who feel overwhelmed by anxiety, emotional stress, trauma, or family conflict, helping them build emotional awareness, coping skills, and stronger relationships.