Life, death and eating human flesh

Among the Wari people of Brazil existed a tradition of eating the dead that cultural anthropologists have written about and discussed, often to the disgust or delight of students in Western societies who read about the practice.  The Wari appear to do so out of care and respect for the dearly departed, as a way of coping with and ridding themselves of grief.  There are many other elements in both ritual, function and meaning surrounding the Wari form of cannibalism, but this is as far as the story of the Wari goes here (those interested might want to read the book Consuming Grief.)


Yet the idea is compelling:  "Consuming grief".  

When people talk about cannibalism, the topic of transference may also arise.  That is, by eating the flesh of another, some properties of that person are somehow transferred to the person or persons consuming the body.  I don't claim to be breaking novel ground, but this leads me back to the my own cultural background and a practice with which I have first hand experience, which I am sure by now is readily identifiable.