The Unificationist Funerary Tradition

Abstract

This paper explores the distinctive funerary tradition of the Unification Movement, a globally active South Korean new religious movement founded in 1954. Its funerary tradition centres on the so-called Seonghwa (formerly Seunghwa) Ceremony, which was introduced in January 1984. The paper traces the doctrinal context and the origin narrative before delineating the ceremony itself in its Korean expression, including its preparatory and follow-up stages, as well as its short-lived adaptation for non-members. Notably, with more and more first-generation adherents passing away—most visibly in respect to the leadership culminating in the Seonghwa Ceremony of the founder himself in 2012—the funerary tradition has become an increasingly conspicuous property of the Unificationist lifeworld. This paper adds to a largely uncharted area in the study of East Asian new religious movements, namely the examination of their distinctive deathscapes, as spelled out in theory and practice.

1. Introduction

“‘Death’ is a sacred word. It is not a major expression for sorrow and pain. […] The moment one enters the spiritual world is a time that one enters a world of joy and victory with the earthly life having blossomed, the fruits borne, and the grain ladled. It is a moment we [i.e., those staying behind] should rejoice. It should be a time when we celebrate wholeheartedly. It is a time when we should be shedding tears of joy and not tears of sorrow. Such a holy and sublime ceremony is the Sŭnghwa Ceremony, for it is the first step the departed takes towards enjoying the eternal life in God’s embrace. [One’s death] should be a time when one feels a more bosom-trembling excitement than how a newlywed bride feels at the moment when she goes to her groom’s home”.

(Mun 2010, pp. 14–15)1

On 3 September 2012, Mun Sŏn-myŏng 문선명/文鮮明 (1920–2012),2 the founder of the South Korean Unification Movement, passed away following a bout of pneumonia.3 The funeral service, conducted twelve days later and attended by some 30,000 to 35,000 faithful, aired live via web stream and was also picked up by the international media. This allowed public glimpses into a ritual field of crucial importance to Unificationism but hardly known to the outside observer. In fact, this has not always been the case. Whereas death naturally had its place in terms of doctrine and ritual life before, a tragic demise within Mun’s own family twenty-eight years earlier paved the way for a distinctive Unificationist funerary custom—the so-called Seunghwa Ceremony (sŭnghwasik 승화식/昇華式), presently known as Seonghwa Ceremony (sŏnghwasik 성화식/聖和式)—and concomitant doctrinal reverberations.

Western scholarship on Unificationism has hitherto touched on the subject merely en passant (Chryssides 1991, pp. 155–57; Baker 2007, pp. 506–7; Pokorny 2018b, pp. 337–38). Research in Korean is limited to a few (emic) contributions by Sun Moon University-based Unificationist scholars (Kil 2002; C. Yang 2007; P. Yang 2007, 2010). Overall, Western scholarly interest in the Unification Movement dropped significantly from the 1990s, when the majority of (Western) first-generation members fell publicly silent while settling into family life. At the time, the newly devised funerary tradition was still largely only a matter of theory, for the then average Western first generation member was still in her/his 30s and 40s, rendering funerals outside the Unificationist heartlands—that is, South Korea and Japan—relatively rare.

In a first step, this paper delineates the foundational tenets relevant to the Unificationist view vis-à-vis death and the spiritual world. Next, the origin story of the Seonghwa Ceremony as well as its doctrinal impact are introduced. An outline of its formalised ritual sequence in the Korean context, the preparatory and follow-up proceedings, and a brief detour on the Seonghwa Blessings for non-Unificationists builds the next part of this paper. A few concluding notes cast a quick glance at the wider Unificationist funerary culture management.

2. Doctrinal Context

Unification Theology is vitally informed by three biblical accounts—the Fall; Jesus’s crucifixion; and Revelation (see Pokorny 2018b, pp. 329–33). Whereas the latter two provide respectively the raison d’être and the millenarian momentum of Unificationism, the former is deemed the gateway to the “secrets” of cosmo- and anthropogenesis. The (post-Mun) tradition maintains,4 that these secrets were unearthed (in a cosmic struggle with Satan) by Han Hak-cha and Mun, who, subsequently, disclosed them to humankind establishing Unificationism. At the centre of the Unificationist reading of the Fall stands the purpose assigned to creation by the Heavenly Parent (Hanŭl Pumonim 하늘부모님; i.e., God) and its eventual non-observance by the ancestral couple Adam and Eve. The very rationale behind creation is seen in Heavenly Parent’s genuine (and self-imposed) sense of complementarity (susu chagyong 수수작용/授受作用; literally, “give and receive action”), culminating in the creation of humans qua potentially ideal “object partner.” In order to fulfil Heavenly Parent’s vision, Adam and Eve were tasked to erect the Four Position Foundation (sawi kidae 사위기대/四位基臺). That is, a divinely blessed True Family (ch’am kajŏng 참가정) of (1) husband, (2) wife, and (3) child(ren), unifying in utmost love by dint of their joint alignment towards (4) Heavenly Parent. Such idealised Edenic constellation—called Cheon Il Guk (ch’ŏnilguk 천일국/天一國) in more recent Unificationist vernacular—would have extended further,5 embracing the growing humankind alongside the axis tribe, nation, and world/cosmos. Yet, sexual misconduct provoked by their tutor, the archangel Nusiel 누시엘,6 thwarted Cheon Il Guk’s realisation, for Adam and Eve instead built a Four Position Foundation centring on Nusiel-turned-Satan. Consequently, fallenness stained the first couple and their progeny (and so all of humankind), rendering the world a “hellish realm” for some 6000 years (see Pokorny 2017b). Various biblical individuals, and foremostly Jesus, were divinely slated to consummate Heavenly Parent’s providence of restoration, that is, the actualisation of Cheon Il Guk. Everyone failed but not Han and Mun, who, through a life course of accelerating salvific achievements (see O 2012) are held to have ultimately inaugurated the “cosmic”-level Substantial Cheon Il Guk (silch’ejŏk ch’ŏnilguk 실체적 천일국/天一國定着) in February 2013. The progressively solidifying (as yet still embryonic) Cheon Il Guk would entail the gradual unification of the interdependent physical (yukkye 육계/肉界) or corporeal world (yuhyŏng [silch’e] segye 유형[실체]세계/有形[實體]世界) and the spiritual (yŏnggye 영계/靈界) or incorporeal world (muhyŏng [silch’e] segye 무형[실체]세계/無形[實體]世界), which together form the “universe” or “cosmos” (ch’ŏnju 天宙).7 This division is meant to correspond to the “mind-body division” of the human, resembling Heavenly Parent’s susu chagyong-induced Dual Characteristics (isŏng sŏngsang 이성성상/二性性相), which, in fact, is deemed to pattern all of creation. Being the pinnacle of creation, humans should venture to fulfil its (i.e., their) very purpose while alive. This they can do through emulating the ways of Han and Mun, who are seen as the first humans ever to fully embody the Purpose of Creation (ch’angjo mokchŏk 창조목적/創造目的) and thus becoming the real ancestral couple or, emically, the True Parents of Heaven, Earth, and Humankind (ch’ŏnjiin ch’am pumonim 천지인참부모님).

Unificationist (i.e., Mun’s) views towards the spiritual world were first comprehensively systematised in 1995 by Yi Sang-hŏn 이상헌/李相軒 (1914–1997), the Founding President of the Unification Thought Institute (T’ongil sasang yŏn’guwŏn 통일사상연구원/統一思想硏究院) (Yi 1995).8 He died shortly thereafter but is held to have “resumed” his research on-site. His subsequent “findings” were accordingly published in various posthumous volumes (see, especially, Kim and T’ongil Sasang Yŏn’guwŏn 1998), significantly informing the Unificationist discourse on the spiritual world.9 Serving as the second key “spiritual informant” in this respect was Han’s deceased mother, Hong Sun-ae 홍순애/洪順愛 (1914–1989) (see Kim 2006).10

Unificationists believe that upon one’s death the body (yuksin 육신/肉身) is shed and the eternal spirit or “body of the spirit being” (yŏnginch’e 영인체/靈人體) naturally enters the spiritual world, which is deemed everyone’s original Eternal Homeland (yŏngwŏnhan ponhyang 영원한 본향).11

In Edenic times, the spiritual world was meant to be a single heavenly realm, namely the Kingdom of Heaven in Heaven (ch’ŏnsang ch’ŏn’guk 천상천국/天上天國); however, the Fall brought about division into a Principled (wŏllijŏgin 원리적인) and a Non-principled (piwŏllijŏgin 비원리적인) Realm in the spiritual world.12 The former is the Kingdom of Heaven in Heaven to which the spirits of staunch devotees are given direct access. The latter is sub-divided into: the Interim Spiritual World (chunggan yŏnggye 중간영계/中間靈界); a three-tier Hell (chiok 지옥/地獄); the Spirit Form-Level Spiritual World (yŏnghyŏngch’e kŭp yŏnggye 영형체급영계/靈形體級靈界); and a three-tier Paradise (nagwŏn 낙원/樂園).

Guided by other spirits and angels, the spirits of the recently deceased would first arrive in the Interim Spiritual World where they stay for up to fifty days. After a while, they are presented with a life review, which, being visible to bystanders, reveals in great detail the full catalogue of sins and good deeds amassed during one’s physical existence. The quality of one’s life conduct then determines to which area of the Non-principled Realm to proceed. The subsequent relocation occurs deliberately and is guided by denizens of the abode-to-be who witnessed the life review.

Hell would welcome those having lived a life antithetical to Unificationism. The degree of their past evil assigns new arrivals to one of the three layers that are characterised by an increasingly tormenting environment. Whereas murderers and those who died by suicide call the second layer home, the third one is populated by mass murderers and genocidal tyrants. Yet, even Hell dwellers may eventually resettle in one of the upper realms. With the dawn of Substantial Cheon Il Guk, such transitions occur more and more frequently.

The deceased who were not cleansed from their fallenness—through the Blessing Ceremony (ch’ukpoksik 축복식/祝福式) or the parental inheritance thereof—but practiced virtue while alive, would ultimately leave the Interim Spiritual World for the Spirit Form-Level Spiritual World. This realm is envisioned to be earth-like but exceedingly more beautiful, brightly immersed in the light of love. Its ageless spirit inhabitants, all dressed in white, live together harmoniously and engage in professions of building and creation. Their inventions shine forth to the physical world where they are embraced and actualised by the spiritually gifted. Moreover, the spirits may even temporarily descend to the physical world to assist individuals on their path towards goodness—an activity Unificationists call “returning resurrection” (chaerim puhwal 재림부활/再臨復活; see WK I.5.2-3).

Spirits whose spiritual and moral qualities are even more advanced would enter Paradise, an even brighter and more beautiful realm, divided into three areas of increasing scenic majesty and bliss. Save for Jesus, all religious founding figures such as Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad, and Tonghak’s 동학/東學 (Eastern Learning, 1860) Ch’oe Che-u 최제우/崔濟愚 (1824–1864) dwell in the second layer, whose inhabitants are apparelled in light-emitting white and are crowned with a golden halo. Jesus resides in the uppermost paradisiacal realm. He cannot yet relocate to the Principled Realm, which is only reserved for the spirits of devout Unificationists who have erected the Four Position Foundation, the mission Jesus failed to accomplish.13 These spirits are entering this most splendid part of the spiritual world directly upon death. However, for the time being until Substantial Cheon Il Guk is fully solidified and, concomitantly, the Non-principled Realm ceases to exist, the vast majority of Unificationist spirits would occupy a threshold area therein. From this “antechamber” they journey to lower levels of the spiritual world or to the physical world in order to facilitate the solidification, while also elevating their own spiritual qualities even further. Once the solidification comes to fruition, all spirits will enter the Kingdom of Heaven in Heaven. But even there they are initially meant to occupy different regions according to their spiritual/moral progress and hitherto overall millenarian performance. Presently, the Kingdom of Heaven has only a few residents, foremostly including, inter alia, Mun and his son Mun Hŭng-jin 문흥진/文興進 (1966–1984), Hong Sun-ae, and Yu Hyo-wŏn 유효원/劉孝元 (1914–1970), the first HSAUWC Korea president. The solidification is thought to result in the merger of the physical and the spiritual worlds, their inhabitants freely communicating with each other. In the course of time, the then unified spiritual world would apparently grow into soteriological uniformity in line with Heavenly Parent’s Purpose of Creation—a state that is meant to persevere for all of eternity.

3. Origin

A distinct funerary tradition within Unificationism commenced in January 1984 following the demise of Mun and Han’s second eldest son, Hŭng-jin (“Richard”). While one of their daughters had already passed away in 1964 shortly after birth, he was the first of the remaining thirteen so-called True Children (ch’am chanyŏ 참자녀) to die having reached (early) adulthood. The cause of his passing in the St Francis hospital in Poughkeepsie on 2 January 1984 was severe brain injuries following a car accident on New York State Route 9 eleven days earlier. His body was transferred to South Korea where the first ever (World) Seunghwa Ceremony was held on 8 January in the Unification Movement’s Little Angeles School. From a Unificationist perspective, with his death, Hŭng-jin turned into both a moral exemplar for the living and a salvific agent in the spiritual world.

As one of the former chief Unificationist dignitaries, Pak Po-hŭi 박보희/朴普熙 (1930–2019), stated in his Seunghwa address: “Deep in our hearts we should remember Heung Jin Nim as the greatest of filial sons to our True Parents, the most loyal of followers, the most glorious hero of the Unification Movement, and the saint of saints” (Pak 1999, p. 485). Mun Hŭng-jin’s hagiography (see also, e.g., CPG 7.3.2, pp. 793–803) describes the car accident as an act of twofold sacrifice and bravery. On the one hand, he deliberately sacrificed himself by swerving his car so that the unavoidable impact of a sliding semi-trailer truck hit the driver side thus saving his passengers. On the other hand, he willingly gave himself for the sake of True Parents’ mission, for he thus deflected the persistent attacks by Satan which were endangering the True Family. Indeed, being the epitome of filial piety (hyo 효/孝), Hŭng-jin did not immediately succumb to his grave injuries but wondrously and steadfastly endured. Rather, he went comatose for several days so that his father could unimpededly complete a crucial providential objective in South Korea and, subsequently, solemnise the most important “great holy day” (taemyŏngchŏl 대명절/大名節) in the Unificationist ritual calendar, namely True God’s Day (ch’am hananim’ŭi nal 참하나님의 날) on 1 January.14 Mun and Han, knowing that Hŭng-jin would not recover, conducted a ceremony at his deathbed, that is, the Unification Ceremony (t’ongilsik 통일식/統一式), ritually offering their son to Heaven for the sake of humanity, the Korean people, and all Unificationists (see MS 2002d, p. 88). To this end, Mun advised the doctor a day later to remove the oxygen mask enabling Hŭng-jin to pass over to the spiritual world, where he accomplished an even more staggering feat. In Mun’s words (MS 2002b, pp. 52–54):

“Hŭng-jin is an Abel-type son. […] He went to the spiritual world in the position of the realm of direct dominion on the victorious base indemnifying the realm of dominion of Satan. That is why he had the condition of being the son who for the first time since the Fall went to the heavenly world furnished with the perfected qualification. […] Now, before all the spirit beings in the spiritual world, even before Jesus and all the good saints, Hŭng-jin is the first one to be born as the eldest son centring on the realm of heart. […] Satan does not transfer an inheritance but he pillages. But Hŭng-jin, being in the realm of the first son, delivers all the blessings he received while on earth.”15

According to Unification Theology, upon his death and by virtue of his salvational achievements in the physical world (being an archetypal True Child), Mun Hŭng-jin performed three historic salvific deeds.16 Firstly, he was the very first human spirit in the spiritual world to enter and become a resident of the Kingdom of Heaven. In so doing, on the one hand, he opened the gates to the Principled Realm to all stalwart Unificationists—although for the time being they may only abide in its “foyer.” On the other hand, he brought the physical and the spiritual worlds closer together enabling better communication lines between the two. Secondly, as the embodiment of True Love (ch’am sarang 참사랑) he maintained a permanent channel to True Parents, which capacitated him to vicariously bestow redemption upon the willing inhabitants of the spiritual world. All this rendered Mun Hŭng-jin the new King of Heaven with his predecessor, Jesus, as his aide.17

He is deemed the “one who opened the gates of the spiritual world as the Messiah of Love” (MS 2002a, p. 202)18—True Love that was instilled through True Parents. Radiating through Mun Hŭng-jin it is held to have illuminated the Realm of Death (samanggwŏn 사망권/死亡圈), turning it into the Realm of Love (saranggwŏn 사랑권). In other words, by gaining a foothold in the spiritual world through their deceased son, True Parents’ salvific power is thought to have “recaptured death.” That is to say, the Fall stripped death of its divinely assigned purpose, namely to serve as a joyful transitional moment sending off the spirit to the Kingdom of Heaven in Heaven. With the Kingdom of Heaven in Heaven having been made inaccessible, death became attributed with fear.

However, according to Unificationism, due to the dual sacrifice of True Parents offering their son and Mun Hŭng-jin offering himself—envisaged as the re-enactment of God’s sacrifice of Jesus and the latter’s self-sacrifice—the original purpose of death was reclaimed and fear was therefore defeated. This providentially momentous event is annually solemnised by Unificationists ever since on 3 January as Day of the Victory of Love (aesŭngil 애승일/愛勝日).19 Even more significantly, with death having now (re-)gained a soteriological quality, its ritual processing too was assigned a salvific function: The funeral ceremony (changnyesik 장례식/葬禮式) qua sorrowful farewell service knowing that the spirit of the deceased is incapable of entering the Principled Realm shifted to the Seunghwa Ceremony (sŭnghwasik), in which the participants are meant to rejoice in the blissful rebirth of the spirit in the Kingdom of Heaven in Heaven.

4. The Seonghwa Ceremony

The term sŭnghwa 승화/昇華 is a compound: sŭng 승/昇 literally means “to ascend,” “to rise,” or “to go up,” but may also refer to being “promoted” or “elevated,” whereas hwa 화/華 in this context denotes “splendour,” “glory,” or “brilliance.” The standard dictionary meaning of sŭnghwa is “sublimation.”20 Here it variously indicates the transition from a bodily to a spirit being and the transition (through the “bridge of love”) from a lower to a higher dimension (MS 2002c, p. 317; Kil 2002, p. 147; P. Yang 2007, pp. 158–59). On 9 November 2011, Mun and Han gave notification that—starting with the funerary ceremony for Kim Sang-ch’ŏl 김상철/金相哲 “David” (1915–2011), a top-ranked Unificationist elder and the first-ever “missionary” (1954 to the United Kingdom), on 10 November—the Seunghwa Ceremony had to be renamed to Seonghwa Ceremony (sŏnghwasik) in line with the providential/millenarian progress made.21 The term sŏnghwa 성화/聖和 consists of two parts: sŏng 성/聖 here refers to “sacred” or “holy” and hwa 화/和 to “harmony” or “peace.” The resulting neologism literally means “sacred harmony.”22 However, the change of name carried merely symbolic value and did not bear any effect on the ritual procedure or its aesthetic and material dimensions.

There exist seven categories of the Seonghwa Ceremony, divided in increasing order by the amount of worldly and overall providential/church-related merits attained during one’s “principled” life course: (1) Family Seonghwa Ceremony (kajok sŏnghwasik 가족성화식/家族聖和式); (2) Church Seonghwa Ceremony (kyohoe sŏnghwasik 교회승화식/敎會聖和式); (3) Religious Work Seonghwa Ceremony (kyoyŏk sŏnghwasik 교역성화식/敎役聖和式); (4) Parish Seonghwa Ceremony (kyogu sŏnghwasik 교구성화식/敎區聖和式); (5) Association Seonghwa Ceremony (hyŏphoe sŏnghwasik 협회성화식/協會聖和式);23 (6) World Seonghwa Ceremony (segye sŏnghwasik 세계성화식/世界聖和式);24 (7) Cosmic Seonghwa Ceremony (ch’ŏnju sŏnghwasik 천주성화식/天宙聖和式), hitherto taking place only for Mun himself (see Pokorny 2013, pp. 128–29). The duration of the Seonghwa Ceremony can be variously arranged, taking place on one day or—more commonly—spanning over three, five, or seven days (C. Yang 2007, p. 37). It is divided into three main parts: (1) the Gwihwan/Ghihwan Ceremony (kwihwansik 귀환식/歸歡式; (literally, returning to joy), which may be omitted; (2) the Seonghwa Ceremony; and (3) the Wonjeon Ceremony (wŏnjŏnsik 원전식/原殿式 [formerly, 元殿式]; literally, [returning to] the palace of origin). Below an ideal-typical funerary procedure in the Korean context is described.25 For many years, the standard reference for Unificationists regarding general etiquette and rituals—and, in particular, the Seonghwa Ceremony—in both English and Korean were Kwak (1985, 1997), respectively. More recently, specific Seonghwa guides were made available, such as Sin Han’guk Kajŏng Yŏnhap Kajŏngguk (2020); Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA (2016); Selig (2014) (also see Selig 2013).

4.1. Preparation

Both preparation and execution of the Seonghwa Ceremony are in the hands of the Seonghwa Committee (sŏnghwa wiwŏnhoe 성화위원회/聖和委員會), whose composition depends on the size of the planned event.26 It is ordinarily formed ad hoc by family members and, possibly, friends of the deceased (emically, the sŏnghwaja 성화자/聖和者), but may also involve a professional provider. Once a person has passed, the bereaved immediate family has the intimate opportunity to individually bid good bye during the farewell service (songbyŏl yebae 송별예배/送別禮拜), while at the same time a prayer vigil commences with family members taking turns continually or, more commonly, every few (ideally: three) hours. Also, there may only be a nightly vigil every three hours from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., if at all, depending on the circumstances. If possible, in accordance with the Korean tradition,27 the dead body will be washed and adjusted (combed, finger nails clipped, ritually covered, etc.)—a process which is traditionally called yŏmsŭp—and placed with the head turned northward upon a wooden board (ch’ilsŏngp’an 칠성판/七星板).28

Provided the location of the passing or general logistics allows it, a separate room—serving as the funeral hall (ponganso 봉안소/奉安所)—is prepared for the Gwihwan Ceremony.29 It is cleansed with the Unificationist multi-purpose consecration material, the Cheon Il Guk Holy Salt (ch’ŏnilguk sŏngyŏm 천일국성염/天一國聖鹽).30 An altar/table is then set up covered by a white cloth, or alternatively the FFWPU or Unification Movement flag. On it is placed a recent photograph of the deceased in a nice frame (preferably decorated with flowers) and usually arranged with a white (or, rarely, black) ribbon, alongside a (mostly framed) scroll inscribed (traditionally in hanja 한자/漢字, i.e., Chinese characters) with the deceased’s name, two Cheon Il Guk Candles (ch’ŏnilguk sŏngch’o 천일국성초) in holders lit with Cheon Il Guk Matches (ch’ŏnilguk sŏngsŏngnyang 천일국성성냥), and small bowls of Holy Salt and incense. Additionally, the altar as well as the surrounding area are lavishly decorated with floral arrangements (preferably roses and lilies). Occasionally, several bowls with fruits (apples, oranges) and various biscuits are likewise placed on the altar. Above is hung a banner with the designation sŏnghwa written in hanja (or, internationally, it simply states “Seonghwa Ceremony”), indicating the name of the deceased, and, frequently, the Seonghwa Ceremony category and (church-related) function (e.g., National Messiah, Pastor) as well as the date according to the Unificationist Heavenly Calendar (ch’ŏllyŏk 천력/天曆) of the Cheon Il Guk Age.31 Overall, it is most important that the premise appears in light and not dark colours in order to express the most joyous occasion, which in its salvational significance is understood to even surpass that of the Blessing Ceremony (Kwak 1997, p. 136).32 In the background, a tape with Holy Songs (sŏngga 성가/聖歌) is oft-times played.

Usually twenty-four hours after the passing, the Encoffining Ceremony (ipkwansik입관식/入棺式), called by Unificationists ipchŏnsik 입전식/入殿式 (literally, “entering the palace ceremony”), takes place. Accompanied by prayers, the body is washed again and a burial garment (suŭi 수의/襚衣)—emically, Seonghwa Garment (sŏnghwabok 성화복/聖和服)—is donned, which concludes the yŏmsŭp procedure. The casket—called chŏn 전/殿 (literally, “palace”) by Unificationists in lieu of the standard term kwan 관/棺—is cleansed with Holy Salt and fitted with rice paper, a white cloth, and a thin mattress. The body is then placed into the coffin alongside holy salted special personal items and key scriptures (formerly centring on the Wŏlli kangnon 원리강론/原理講—the central Unificationist text until 2013). The immediate family and close relatives may gather and bid farewell facing the body (possibly) a last time before the coffin is closed. A myŏngjŏng is made, that is, normally a red banner on which is written in yellow or white the name and honours of the deceased. Subsequent to the Encoffining Ceremony, a food sacrifice is made to the spirit (sangsik 상식/上食) which should ideally be conducted at 7:00 a.m. If the circumstances permit, the casket may be brought to the funeral hall, where it is placed on a catafalque or a pedestal located behind (or sometimes in front of) the altar. This concludes the preparation stage of the Seonghwa Ceremony.

4.2. The Seonghwa Ceremony

The Gwihwan Ceremony is a memorial/farewell service where family and friends gather. When paying their respect to the deceased and immediate family members, the visitors might share testimonies about the deceased. The casket, on which is spread the FFWPU flag (or, previously, that of the Unification Movement), may be opened or remain closed during the ceremony. Instead of a prescribed procedure, the Gwihwan Ceremony may be conducted according to the will of the deceased. The middle part of the overall Seonghwa Ceremony carries the same name—Seonghwa Ceremony. It may take place in the same venue as the Gwihwan Ceremony. Frequently, however, it is held in another premise, such as a church-related or hospital facility. The ceremonial location is called Seonghwa Ceremony Hall (sŏnghwa sikchang 성화식장/聖和式場). Its set-up is virtually identical with that of the funeral hall. At a defined time, the Seonghwa Ceremony starts with usually six (rarely eight or ten) white-gloved pallbearers (un’gu 운구/運柩; or, emically, pongsong wiwŏm 봉송위원/奉送委員) entering the venue carrying the casket. Family members as well as everyone serving in an official role—but also, preferably, every other attendee—have to adhere to a formal dress code (save for the pallbearers who might don, e.g., white gowns), namely white or light coloured clothes for women and a black or dark blue suit, a white shirt, and white tie for men.33 The Seonghwa Ceremony must not be moderated by a family member but by a friend of the deceased or a church official.

A sample sequence is as follows: (1) formal opening by the master of ceremonies (sahoeja 사회자/司會者); (2) jointly sung holy song; (3) individually assigned prayer; (4) (burning incense and) offering the National Flowers (kukhwa 국화/國花) of Cheon Il Guk (hŏnhwa 헌화/獻花)—a white lily (offered by women) and a red rose (offered by men)—by family and (possibly towards the end of the ceremony representative) guests; (5) biographical and achievement account of the deceased; (6) theologically minded address (sŏnghwasa 성화사/聖和辭); (7) laudatory address/eulogy; (8) jointly sung holy song; (9) blessing; (10) concluding remarks by the master of ceremonies.

Subsequently, a funeral cortege leaves the Seonghwa Ceremony Hall for the hearse in a defined order—head of ritual (chimnyeja 집례자/執禮者), who holy salts the entire path of the procession; the scroll carrier and the portrait carrier (occasionally vice versa); pallbearers; family; and other attendees (who are chanting a holy song). Once at the cemetery, the cortege marches to the burial site (emically called wŏnjŏnji 원전지/原殿地) where the last part of the Seonghwa Ceremony starts—the Wonjeon Ceremony (wŏnjŏnsik), that is, the interment ceremony (conventionally called hagwansik 하관식/下棺式 in Korea). The geomantically (p’ungsu 풍수/風水) proven burial ground has been prepared in advance. When the cortege arrives, the head of ritual formally opens the Wonjeon Ceremony tipping some Cheon Il Guk Holy Salt and, subsequently, Cheon Il Guk Holy Earth into the burying place. The latter serves the purpose of connecting the burial ground to the Garden of the Original Homeland (ponhyangwŏn 본향원/本鄕苑), that is, the Edenic final resting place of True Parents, and by extension, the Kingdom of Heaven in Heaven. Next, the pallbearers lower the casket on ropes into the ground. The casket is then covered with hanji 한지/韓紙 (traditional Korean paper) on which the myŏngjŏng is unfolded. Atop is spread a white cloth with the FFWPU emblem, which is itself cloaked by the ch’ilsŏngp’an. An upper part of the ch’ilsŏngp’an is set aside so that the FFWPU emblem is once again visible. A family representative hands some lilies and roses used at the Seonghwa Ceremony, as well as new sacrificial flowers to the head of ritual who covers the emblem with them. Prayers are uttered, holy songs sung, and brief sermons and eulogies delivered. The ch’ilsŏngp’an part is put back again and the soil offering (hyŏnt’o 현토/獻土) commences, in which family members and selected dignitaries in succession shovel soil into the burial pit. Finally, led by the head of ritual the assembled crowd gives three cheers of ŏngmanse 억만세/億萬歳,34 which formally concludes the Wonjeon Ceremony.

4.3. Follow-Up

Back home, the immediate family ought to set up an altar covered by a white cloth, preferably located in the living room of the deceased. Atop is placed a portrait flanked by two Cheon Il Guk Candles—all three items previously used at the Seonghwa Ceremony. In front of the portrait is placed a tray on which, once a day during the principal meal, a portion is offered to the spirit of the deceased. This offering should be combined with a brief prayer on whose occasion incense may be burned. This daily service (maeil yebae 매일예배/每日禮拜) ought to be conducted over twenty-one or forty days. Additionally, largely in line with traditional Korean customs, post-Seonghwa commemorative rites should be performed. Firstly, three days after the Wonjeon Ceremony (which is counted as Day 1 by Unificationists), the family and, possibly, close friends assemble at the grave to carry out samuje. There the deceased is ritually remembered and paid reverence, offering flowers and food while burning incense and chanting prayers. This may be repeated at the burial place on the twenty-first, the fortieth (which is most commonly observed by Unificationists)35 and the one-hundredth day after the interment. Further ancestral memorial rites (ch’arye 차례/茶禮 or chesa 제사/祭祀) henceforth held annually may take place on common occasions such as the death anniversary or the harvest festival in the middle of the eighth lunar month (ch’usŏk 추석/秋夕).

4.4. Extra Ecclesiam Salus Est?

Whereas a fully-fledged Seonghwa Ceremony is still the prerogative of Unificationists, in various 2010 events, Mun and Han bestowed Seunghwa Blessings (sŭnghwa ch’ukpok 승화축복/昇華祝福) to selected deceased non-Unificationists, who were deemed to have vitally contributed to the millenarian vision of Unificationism, particularly owing to their peace, welfare, and generally self-sacrificing activities.36

The first such event titled “Honoring a Legacy of Peace” was held on 18 March 2010 in the New York UN headquarters,37 “involving” the spirits of Alexander Haig (1924–2010), a general and Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan (1911–2004; p. 1981–1989);38 former South Korean president and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kim Tae-jung 김대중/金大中 (1924–2009; p. 1998–2003); Hédi Annabi (1943–2010), the head of the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti, and some one-hundred of his staff, who died when the Port-au-Prince UN Headquarters collapsed during the Haiti Earthquake; former Costa Rican president Rodrigo Carazo Odio (1926–2009; p. 1978–82) called by Mun a Peace President (p’yŏnghwa’ŭi taet’ongnyŏng 평화의 대통령) for his role in the establishment of the University for Peace; former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid (1940–2009; p. 1999–2001); former Icelandic prime minister Steingrímur Hermannsson (1928–2010), who hosted the 1986 Reykjavík Summit between Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931); the Senegalese head of the Tijaniyyah Sufi order Hassan Cissé 1945–2008); and the Indian politician and diplomat Laxmi Mall Singhvi (1931–2007), whom Mun called an Ambassador of Reconciliation and Peace (hwahae’wa p’yŏnghwa’ŭi taesa 화해와 평화의 대사). On 13 April 2010, the first of a corresponding series of events held in South Korea—the World Peace Leaders Memorial Unification Seunghwa Festival Commemoration Meeting (segye p’yŏnghwa chidoja ch’umo t’ongil sŭnghwa ch’ukche kinyŏm taehoe 세계평화지도자추모통일승화축제기념대회/世界平和指導者追慕統一昇華祝祭紀念大會)—was staged in Seoul.39 There the Seunghwa Blessing was once again given to Haig, Kim, Annabi, Carazo Odio, and Wahid. Additional receivers were Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964); the former South Korean minister of labour Cho Ch’ŏl-gwŏn 조철권/趙澈權 (1929–2007); the former Nepalese prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala (1924–2010); the naval diver Han Chu-ho 한주호/韓主浩 (1958–2010), who died on a rescue mission for the Ch’ŏnan corvette which was scuppered by a North Korean torpedo in March 2010;40 and, surprisingly, also the Unificationist elder Kim Wŏn-p’il 김원필/金元弼 (1928–2010), who had already obtained a World Seunghwa Ceremony a few days prior.

After the steady flow of ceremonies in 2010, chiefly mirroring the first New York event, in later years this format was only very sporadically and in a low-key fashion utilised by national/local branches, such as the ones of Ghana and the United States. In the latter case, for example, in 2014 the likes of Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) and Martin Luther King Jr (1929–1968) alongside local Las Vegans were given the Seonghwa Blessing (sŏnghwa ch’ukpok 성화축복/聖和祝福). Since then, the practice of non-member Seonghwa Blessing effectively came to a halt.

In Unification theological terms, this newly devised format was thought to enable the receivers to grow closer to God allowing them to move up the hierarchy of residence in the spiritual world. In the words of Mun, he opened for them the “door to the exalted eternal life” (Mun 2010, p. 15).41 While this is surely intended to mean a soteriological elevation, it does not put the non-Unificationist sŏnghwaja on a salvational par with a deceased devoted member. Instead, it merely salvifically empowers non-Unificationist spirits to embark on a more clearly demarcated Unificationist trajectory in the spiritual world geared towards the Principled Realm.

5. Concluding Remarks

With a now well-established and distinctive funerary tradition in place and owing to its aging membership (and leadership) and, concomitantly, a rising number of deaths (including most echoingly that of Mun himself), since the 2000s one not only encounters an increasingly professionalised funerary management with Seonghwa expert committees, etc.42, but a visibly increasing general concern for adequate burial space. The latter manifests, among others, in a growing, albeit still relatively small, number of specific Unificationist “burial areas” or Wonjeons (wŏnjŏn 원전/原殿).43 Whereas the main (Korean) Wonjeon—the P’aju Wonjeon (P’aju wŏnjŏn 파주원전/坡州原殿)—located in Mugŏn 무건/武建 Village close to the North Korean border has been in operation since the early 1970s but with a limited capacity (by 2013, only some one-hundred members were buried there),44 another one—the Ch’unchŏn Wonjeon (Ch’unchŏn wŏnjŏn 춘천원전/春川原殿)—opened in 2014 in the Kangwŏn Province capital offering space for nearly two thousand plots.45

Elaborately ingrained in Unification Theology and ritually drawing upon an amalgam of traditional Korean and conventional Christian custom, the Seonghwa tradition articulates a distinctive practice (also highlighted by a special emic nomenclature)—a practice, which, over the years, has become a central element of the Unificationist lifeworld.