Perhaps it was the pointed shape of the roofs in Sudanese Nuer houses that attracted lightning, a frequent phenomenon in this semi-desert environment. So often lights actually struck houses, burning them completely and killing people inside, that the Nuer developed specific rituals for this tragic event.

The rituals aimed to stop lightning when it began, or to properly deal with those who died because of it. In that case they sacrificed oxen, sheep and goats, but they did not mourn. Mourning would make God angry, as dying from a lightning strike was considered an honor. One could say this was just a way to cope with the pain of such a dramatic event, but in any case the deceased person was believed not to have died, but to have instead turned into one of God's relatives.

Because of that, the dead would not be conventionally buried, but the body would be left inside of the burnt house. The house walls, structure poles and roofing material would be thrown on top of the body, forming a mound. Parts of the sacrificed animals would be placed on the mound, as would tobacco leaves and residues from the fermentation of a beer that was specially prepared for the occasion. The pots in which the beer was made were also placed around the pile. A stake was erected right on top of the mound, and the personal belongings of the deceased person were hung from it, since they were now holy objects.

Figuratively speaking, the old house debris, now a shrine, was the "dimensional door" for the deceased people to depart with their personal effects, to dwell eternally in heaven.