What are some ancient, not so ancient and even modern day forms or symbols of mo

Question:

What are some ancient, not so ancient and even modern day forms or symbols of mourning?

In my spiritual order we wear bands or bracelets for a period of time annually and then there is an annual feast to observe the end of the mourning.

I'm curious as to what other people do.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

British Victorians had all kinds of black jewelry that were created just for mourning, to go along with their black clothes. A lot of the pieces were made of jet. Some of them were cameos with the dead person's face carved into it in relief. Sometimes people wore lockets that had the image of the dead person's profile on them, a dedication to that person inscribed in it with their birth and death dates and a lock of their hair in the locket.

Ancient Roman women were expected to "beat their breasts," i.e., strike their chests with their fists, pull their hair out and moan and cry at funerals. If you didn't want to do that or didn't have enough people to mourn at the funeral you could actually hire women to mourn for your loved one at the funeral.

Widows in Europe and the United States in the past were expected to stay mostly confined to the house for one year, except for going to church. You were supposed to turn down any social invitations (and people were supposed to know not to send them to you in the first place.)