PROFESSIONAL

MOURNER

WHAT’S A PROFESSIONAL MOURNER?

Professional mourners, also called moirologists, are actors hired by family members to grieve
at funerals and wakes. The intention is to increase the number of funeral participants, provide new
faces, show support for the deceased, and help people deal with a tragedy through other’s expressions
of grief. Professional mourning is an occupation that originates from Egyptian, Chinese,
Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures. It is still practiced in China and other Asian countries. In
fact, some cultures even think that the use of professional mourners brings a certain religious and
historical application to funeral processions. Mourners were also seen as a sign of wealth. The more
wailers or mourners that followed your cascade around, the more respected you were in the society.

THE HISTORY
From the history, most of the people hired to
perform the
act of

professional mourning were women, because men

were supposed to be strong and leaders of the family, unwilling to show any sort of raw emotion like
grief. Back in the day, in Ancient Egypt, the two non-related mourners would attend funerals as
representatives of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, which are the goddesses that were believed to
play a special role when someone died. Their role was to pull their hair out to bestow the energy
needed for the deceased to reach the afterlife. While in China, the tradition of professional mourning
stemmed from theatrical performances that would occur during funerary processions. There would be
musical performances at funerals stemming as early as the third century. Actors would play the role of
the deceased and play out different aspects of their lives.

JOB DESCRIPTION
When a mourner is hired, they meet with the family to discuss the situation. It’s important to
learn the details of the deceased, discover background information, and hear their “story.”
Committing this information to memory, the mourner creates their grieving character. Then the
mourner dresses appropriately and attends the service – weeping and wailing as necessary. After the
service, they are paid to mingle with funeral participants and share stories about the deceased.
Professional mourners must be professional and discrete because most people attending a funeral will
not know the mourner is getting paid to shed tears. At an appropriate time, the professional mourner
slips away with the grieving guests none the wiser.

JOB SPECIFICATION
To be a professional mourner, there are no official qualification or experience that are needed.
But there are some important qualities you need to possess, such as:
 Good acting skills
 Outgoing personality
 Confidence
 Discretion
 Professionalism
If you do find a professional mourner job, you can expect to make $30 to $120 per funeral. Funerals
typically last 2 to 3 hours – making it possible to attend two funerals per day.