Death and spirituality: Beliefs of the elderly

Abstract

The current tendency to subjectivization of spiritual beliefs leads to a continuous process of recomposition resulting in the emergence of unique types of religious modernities. Within the framework of this accentuated religious pluralism and attending to the transformation of vital projects, experiences are traced around the religious/spiritual to recover elements of the underlying imaginary component, which are revealed through stories. This article explores the religious/spiritual beliefs of elderly people in relation to death. The methodological design of qualitative research is based on the analysis of stories from an interpretative biographical framework. The different ways in which people reflect on the idea of the finiteness of life and the modalities for dealing with it are analyzed. The belief in immortality and the possibility of communication with their deceased, showed how from the intervention of different mediations and reception structures, an individual spiritual trajectory is set in motion and the construction of their particular fantastic everyday life.