All Topics  
Endocannibalism

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Endocannibalism
 
 
  Topics Endocannibalism Topic Home

Endocannibalism (from Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 Endo- "internal" or "from within" and cannibalism
Cannibalism

Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating other humans. The ritualistic eating of human flesh is also known as anthropophagy, from Greek: ?????p??, anthropos, "human being"; and fa?e??, phagein, "to eat"....
) is the term which describes the practice of eating dead members of one's own culture, tribe or social group. The practice may have a variety of purposes, including an attempt to absorb the characteristics of the deceased, the belief that by eating human flesh there is a regeneration of life after death, the incorporation of the spirit of the dead into living descendants, or to ensure the separation of the soul from the body.

Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the first human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands and their descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Australian Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's population....
 performed such practices as acts of respect for the dead person (presumably as a sign of the dead person's worth), as well as some Native American cultures such as the Mayoruna people.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Endocannibalism'
Start a new discussion about 'Endocannibalism'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Endocannibalism (from Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 Endo- "internal" or "from within" and cannibalism
Cannibalism

Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating other humans. The ritualistic eating of human flesh is also known as anthropophagy, from Greek: ?????p??, anthropos, "human being"; and fa?e??, phagein, "to eat"....
) is the term which describes the practice of eating dead members of one's own culture, tribe or social group. The practice may have a variety of purposes, including an attempt to absorb the characteristics of the deceased, the belief that by eating human flesh there is a regeneration of life after death, the incorporation of the spirit of the dead into living descendants, or to ensure the separation of the soul from the body.

As a cultural practice

Some Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the first human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands and their descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Australian Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's population....
 performed such practices as acts of respect for the dead person (presumably as a sign of the dead person's worth), as well as some Native American cultures such as the Mayoruna people. Ya¸nomamö
Ya¸nomamö

The Ya?nomam? are a large population of native people in South America. They reside in the Amazon rainforest, among the hills that line the border between Brazil and Venezuela....
 consumed the ground-up bones and ashes of cremated kinsmen in an act of mourning. This still is classified as endocannibalism, although, strictly speaking, "flesh" is not eaten. The Aghori
Aghori

The Aghori are a Hindu sect believed to have split off from the Kapalika order in the fourteenth century AD. Most other Hindus condemn them as non-Hindu because of their cannibalistic rituals....
s of northern India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 consume the flesh of the dead floated in the Ganges in pursuit of immortality
Immortality

Immortality is the concept of life in a body or soul for an infinite or inconceivably vast length of time.As immortality is the negation of mortality?not dying or not being subject to death?it has been a subject of fascination to human since at least the beginning of history....
 and supernatural powers.

See also

  • Exocannibalism
    Exocannibalism

    Exocannibalism , as opposed to endocannibalism, is the practice of eating human corpses from people outside one's own community, tribe or social group—most notably their flesh and some organs such as the heart....
  • Kuru (disease)
    Kuru (disease)

    Kuru also known as "Mad Human Disease" is an incurable degenerative neurological disorder that is a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy found in humans....