Talk:Wake (ceremony)

I haven't been to many funerals, but I think that is also common now to have wakes immediately after the funeral (in the US). Would you agree? ike9898 16:59, Apr 4, 2005 (UTC)

I've never seen this be the custom, although my family is pretty predominantly Irish Catholic. We always have the wake before the funeral mass. -SBoyce

In the USA

The wake or viewing comes before the funeral. Otherwise, how could you see the body if it was already buried. --Coolsnowmen 19:46, 10 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I think they meant Funeral vs. Burial ceremony. Seems like the Viewing (Wake?) could logically occur between Funeral and Burial, especially if it is at the funeral home. 「ѕʀʟ·✎」 02:24, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

External link ==

== A guide to the Irish wakes

I have removed the commercial components of the page, so as to adhere to Wiki rules from Rebelyell1916

Merge from Irish wake

The article Irish wake contains some good information, which partly duplicates (and extends) information in the section on Irish wakes in this article. Some merge is in order here. 131.111.8.96 02:48, 6 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There was a request for an article on the irish wake, I think it deserves its own article, with a "see also" link to it on the Wake page. susanbamboozlin 20:09, 6 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a reason why "wake" needs to be capitalised twice in this section? Shred-69 (talk) 23:55, 17 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

etymology?

Where does the word "wake" come from? Is it related to "awake"? Dmharvey 20:35, 2 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Vampire Wake

The section "American Wakes & New England Vampire Cults" is very poorly written and unsubstantiated. How common was it for people to be buried alive? And of these people how common was it for them to need to be exhumed and the casket opened? Is this minor bit of trivia that seemingly borders on urban legend worth mentioning at all? -SBoyce

Canadian terminology

"or social as referred to in Canada"

I live in Canada and I've never heard this term used. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.233.162.203 (talk) 03:03, 15 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Irish "American Wakes" vs Wakes in America"

This section is plainly in a mess. It is referring to two completely different things. The Irish "American Wake" is not a wake at all, but simply something called a wake. If it should be anywhere, it should be under the "Irish Wakes" heading, however, it seems borderline trivial. A wake is something held for the dead. Howfar (talk) 22:04, 6 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Rebuild article

I think that this article pretty much needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. While there is plenty of worthwhile stuff here, the article does not approach the subject in an encyclopaedic manner. I'm going to start work on sourcing what I can, correcting the current overemphasis on Irish and American traditions, getting a broad but strong basic definition of "wake", removing contradictory statements and all kinds of other stuff. Anyone watching (waking?) this article? Anyone feel like lending a hand? Leave a message on my user page if you do. Howfar (talk) 00:08, 8 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wake vs Funeral service

I don't think that this article is clear enough in distinguishing between a 'wake' which appears to be an informal customary/social ceremony (although it may have some religious overtones) and a 'funeral service' which is a formal religious ceremony. The 'Irish wakes' section clearly indicates that the wake happens before, and is separate from, the funeral service -- but the Icelandic and Eastern Christian sections instead describe this service rather than a 'wake' in the Irish sense. Given that nothing in this article (including the very definition of 'wake') is referenced, and the Icelandic and Eastern Christian are neither called wakes and are distinguishable from the English-language/Irish use of the word, I'm going to delete these sections. Hrafn^Talk_Stalk 05:04, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, but what is it?

I note (above) that the article was going to be rebuilt, but that was in March. Six months later, and there's no description here of what people might actually *do* at a wake. Can we please have some? 86.136.250.66 (talk) 11:49, 11 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]