After traveling for thirty days through the desert, one reaches the Tangut region, a territory where ancient rites dedicated to local idols are preserved. Every year, families with children raise a lamb that they offer at the end of the cycle. During the festival, they take the animal before the god's image, sacrifice it, cook it, and present it again with great reverence. They believe that the deity feeds on the aroma of the meat, since the images are mute and without a mouth, and thus protects the health of their children. Afterwards, they retrieve the meat, leaving a small portion in the sanctuary, and share the rest among relatives and friends in a ritual banquet. The bones are carefully placed in a chest, while the priest receives the head, skin, entrails, and part of the meat.
Funerals follow a complex ceremony. When someone dies, their relatives transport the body to a cremation site, passing several small wooden houses richly decorated with silk and gold, according to each family's resources. In front of each house, they leave food so that, they believe, the spirit of the deceased regains strength before being cremated. Upon reaching the final site, they throw into the fire cut-out figures of paper or bark representing animals, as well as paper money and silk fabrics, all to ensure the deceased has horses, camels, servants, and goods in the other world.
During the transport, they play numerous musical instruments, convinced that this helps the deceased reach the afterlife. An astrologer always determines the right day to take the body from the house and proceed with cremation, based on the deceased's date and time of birth. If the stars are unfavorable, the body must be preserved for days, weeks, or even months, cared for daily. To prevent decomposition, it is placed in a coffin made of palm panels, covered with clay, and wrapped in silk perfumed with spices such as saffron or camphor. When the proper moment finally comes, the astrologer even indicates through which opening the body should leave--the door, a window, or a hole in the wall, if necessary--to avoid evil spirits and protect the family from misfortune.
