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Psychopomp

A psychopomp is a mythological figure or spirit tasked with guiding the souls of the deceased to the afterlife, facilitating the transition from the world of the living to the realm of the dead.^[1] The term derives from the ancient Greek words psyche (soul) and pompos (guide or conductor), originally denoting entities like Hermes, the messenger god who escorts souls to Hades in Greek mythology.^[2]^[3] In this role, Hermes appears with a staff to lead the dead, as depicted in Homeric epics and visual art, ensuring safe passage across barriers such as rivers like the Styx.^[3] Psychopomps are not judges of the soul's fate but neutral conductors, a function seen across cultures without implying moral evaluation.^[1]

Cross-Cultural Examples

Psychopomps manifest in various traditions, often as deities, animals, or supernatural beings adapted to local beliefs about death and the beyond. These figures underscore a universal human concern with the soul's journey post-mortem, symbolizing liminality and transformation in rites and narratives.^[1]^[6] In psychological interpretations, such as those in Jungian analysis, psychopomps represent archetypes aiding personal transitions, like initiation or individuation, echoing their ancient mythological duties.^[1]

Etymology and Definition

Linguistic Origins

The term "psychopomp" originates from the Ancient Greek compound word ψυχοπομπός (psychopompós), formed by combining ψυχή (psychḗ), meaning "soul," "breath," or "life force," with πομπός (pompós), denoting a "guide," "escort," or "conductor" derived from the root for sending forth or accompanying in processions.^[7]^[8] This etymology reflects the concept of an entity facilitating the passage of the soul from the earthly realm to the afterlife, a notion embedded in Greek mythological and religious contexts.^[9] The earliest literary attestation of ψυχοπομπός appears in the 5th century BCE, in Euripides' tragedy Alcestis (line 361), where it describes Charon, the ferryman of the underworld, underscoring its initial association with guiding the deceased across boundaries of existence.^[10] Although the concept of soul-guiding figures predates this in earlier Greek works like Homer's Odyssey (circa 8th century BCE), where Hermes escorts shades to Hades without using the specific term, the compound word itself emerges later in classical literature to formalize the role.^[11] The Greek term was borrowed into Latin as psychopompus during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, retaining its meaning as a conductor of souls, often applied to deities like Mercury (the Roman equivalent of Hermes).^[12] In English, "psychopomp" entered scholarly usage in the early 19th century, around 1835, through translations and studies of classical texts, marking its transition from ancient philology to modern anthropological discourse.^[7]

Core Role and Functions

A psychopomp functions primarily as an intermediary entity that escorts souls from the physical realm to the afterlife, safeguarding against their lingering or becoming disoriented during the transition. This role emphasizes facilitation of passage across existential boundaries, ensuring orderly movement between worlds without interference in the soul's inherent destiny.^[13] The term originates from the Greek psychopompos, literally meaning "guide of souls," highlighting this archetypal duty in mythological frameworks.^[7] Common attributes of psychopomps include a neutral or impartial demeanor, allowing them to operate without bias toward the living or dead, and visual or symbolic representations such as wings for swift traversal, animalistic features denoting instinctual wisdom, or implements like staffs for herding or boats for ferrying across symbolic waters. These elements underscore their capacity to navigate liminal spaces—the thresholds between life, death, and divine domains—often embodying adaptability and mediation rather than dominance.^[14] Their impartiality manifests in gentle guidance, avoiding coercion or harm, which distinguishes them from more forceful supernatural agents.^[13] Variations in psychopompic agency range from mere transportation of souls to active involvement in evaluation, such as assessing moral worth through symbolic acts like weighing the heart against truth. In contrast, death deities typically initiate or personify the end of life, whereas psychopomps intervene post-mortem to direct already departed souls, focusing on transit rather than causation or final verdict.^[15] This distinction preserves their role as escorts, prioritizing continuity over termination.^[16] Symbolically, psychopomps hold significance in ritual practices, particularly during funerals, where invocations or representations call upon them to secure safe passage and prevent unrest among the deceased. These rites reinforce themes of transition and balance, invoking the psychopomp's boundary-crossing expertise to affirm the soul's journey and communal harmony.^[13]

Psychopomps in Ancient Mythologies

Near Eastern and Egyptian Traditions

In ancient Egyptian mythology, Anubis, depicted as a jackal-headed deity, served as the primary psychopomp, responsible for guiding souls to the Duat, the underworld realm of the dead. He oversaw the mummification process, symbolizing protection and preservation of the body for the afterlife journey.^[17] As detailed in the Book of the Dead, a collection of funerary texts from around 1550 BCE during the New Kingdom, Anubis supervised the Weighing of the Heart ceremony, where the deceased's heart was balanced against the feather of Ma'at to assess moral worth and determine entry into the afterlife. In Mesopotamian traditions, Nergal emerged as a key figure associated with the underworld, functioning as its ruler and gatekeeper in Sumerian and Akkadian texts. Known as the god of war, plague, and death, he governed Irkalla, the vast subterranean realm described in the Epic of Gilgamesh (circa 2100 BCE), where souls resided after death.^[18] Nergal co-ruled the underworld with Ereshkigal, and his cult involved rituals and offerings to provide for the dead in the afterlife, reflecting his evolution from a solar deity to lord of the chthonic realm.^[19] Hittite and Canaanite mythologies exhibit parallels to these Mesopotamian concepts, incorporating soul-guides influenced by Sumerian-Akkadian lore. In Ugaritic texts from Canaanite culture, Mot, the god of death, ruled a subterranean domain associated with infertility and the grave.^[20] Funerary practices in these traditions emphasized invoking psychopompic deities for soul protection through amulets, spells, and rituals. Egyptian burials featured scarab amulets and heart scarabs inscribed with spells from the Book of the Dead to safeguard the ka (life force) and ba (soul) during judgment and transit to the Duat, often calling upon Anubis for guidance.^[21] In Mesopotamia, kispum ceremonies involved offerings to underworld rulers like Nergal and Ereshkigal to nourish and protect ancestral shades, ensuring their repose in Irkalla and preventing restless wandering.^[22] These practices underscored a shared Near Eastern emphasis on ritual intervention to secure the deceased's eternal repose.

Greco-Roman Mythology

In Greco-Roman mythology, the role of the psychopomp was prominently embodied by Hermes, the messenger god known as Hermes Psychopompos, who guided the souls of the deceased to the underworld. Depicted as a swift herald bearing the caduceus—a winged staff entwined with serpents—Hermes escorted shades from the world of the living to Hades, ensuring their safe passage through the perils of the journey. This function is vividly illustrated in Homer's Odyssey (8th century BCE), where in Book 24, Hermes leads the souls of the slain suitors, herding them like sheep toward the river of the underworld. The Homeric Hymn to Hermes (7th-6th century BCE) further establishes his chthonic duties, portraying him as appointed by Zeus to serve as messenger even to the realm of Hades. Complementing Hermes was Charon, the grim ferryman who transported souls across the River Styx (or Acheron in earlier Greek accounts) for a toll of one obol coin, placed in the mouth of the deceased during burial rites. Charon's skeletal, aged figure, often armed with a pole and oar, refused passage to those without the coin, condemning unburied souls to wander as restless ghosts for a century. This character appears in detail in 5th-century BCE works such as Euripides' Alcestis and Aristophanes' Frogs, where souls board vessels to cross the infernal waters after judgment; earlier fragmentary mentions occur in the 6th-century BCE epic Minyas. The motif gained prominence in Roman literature through Virgil's Aeneid (19 BCE), Book 6, which dramatizes Aeneas's encounter with the surly boatman at the Styx, emphasizing the necessity of proper funerary payment. In Roman tradition, Mercury served as the counterpart to Hermes, inheriting and adapting the psychopomp role with influences from Etruscan mythology, where underworld guides like Charun shaped early Roman conceptions of the afterlife. Mercury, clad in a winged hat and sandals, directed souls in funerary contexts, appearing in rituals such as the ludi funebres—funeral games honoring the dead that invoked divine escorts for the departed.^[23] His guiding function is evident in Roman funerary inscriptions and reliefs, where he facilitates the transition to the beyond, blending Greek attributes with Italic elements. Artistic representations in Greco-Roman culture underscored the psychopomps' roles through vivid scenes of soul processions, highlighting the hazardous journey to the underworld. Attic red-figure vase paintings from the 5th century BCE frequently show Hermes leading ethereal, bird-like souls toward Charon's boat, as in examples from the British Museum depicting the god with caduceus amid wandering shades.^[24] Roman sarcophagi, influenced by Etruscan tomb art, portrayed Mercury overseeing orderly processions of the deceased, often flanked by mourners and symbols of transition, emphasizing themes of peril and divine protection in the afterlife voyage.^[25]

Mesoamerican and Other Ancient Cultures

In Mesoamerican traditions, psychopomps appear in both Aztec and Mayan mythologies, often associated with animals or deities aiding the soul's journey through the underworld. Among the Aztecs, Xolotl served as a prominent psychopomp, depicted as a dog-headed deity who guided the souls of the deceased through the perilous nine levels of Mictlan, the underworld.^[26] As the twin brother of the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl, Xolotl embodied themes of duality, transformation, and monstrosity, assisting in the creation of humanity by stealing bones from the underworld to enable rebirth.^[26] This role is reflected in pre-Columbian codices, such as the 15th-century Codex Borgia, which illustrates Xolotl in ritual contexts tied to death and renewal, drawing on earlier Mesoamerican myths.^[27] In Mayan mythology, Ixtab, the goddess of suicide, acted as a psychopomp, welcoming and guiding the souls of those who died by hanging or self-sacrifice to an afterlife paradise, offering comfort and a favorable judgment.^[4] Archaeological evidence supports the psychopomp function of dogs in Mesoamerican cultures, with dog burials dating back to at least 1300 BCE at sites like Tlatilco, where canines were interred alongside humans to accompany and aid their journey through the afterlife.^[26] In the Colima region of western Mexico during the Pre-Classic period (c. 300 BCE–300 CE), over 75% of shaft tombs contained dog figurines or actual remains, symbolizing guidance and sustenance for souls navigating Mictlan or similar underworld realms like the Maya Xibalba.^[28] Shifting to Northern European ancient cultures, Norse mythology features Valkyries as warrior maidens who acted as psychopomps, selecting slain heroes on the battlefield and escorting their souls to Valhalla, Odin's hall for the worthy dead.^[29] Described in the Poetic Edda—a 13th-century compilation of oral traditions originating around the 8th century—Valkyries rode swift horses to carry the einherjar (fallen warriors) across the Bifrost bridge, embodying fate and divine selection in battle.^[29] Archaeological finds, including over 70 Viking Age copper-alloy and silver figurines from sites like Ribe and Tissø in Denmark (c. 8th–11th centuries CE), depict armed female figures with shields, swords, and spears, often in rider-and-standing motifs interpreted as Valkyrie representations.^[30] Gotlandic picture stones, such as the 8th-century Alskog Tjängvide stone, further illustrate Valkyrie-like figures welcoming riders, reinforcing their role in soul escort.^[30] In Celtic and Germanic folklore, psychopompic elements appear in motifs like the Wild Hunt, a spectral procession led by Woden (the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Odin) that gathered wandering souls during winter nights, directing them to the afterlife.^[31] This leader, often portrayed as a one-eyed wanderer on a spectral horse, symbolized the chaotic harvest of the dead, with the hunt's thunderous passage serving as a harbinger of doom or transition.^[31] Irish traditions feature the banshee (bean sídhe), a female spirit whose wailing foretold death and occasionally guided the departing soul westward toward the otherworld, acting as a familial psychopomp in Gaelic lore.^[32] These figures highlight a shared ancient motif of intermediaries bridging the living and the dead across diverse cultures.^[32]

Psychopomps in World Religions

Abrahamic Religions

In Abrahamic traditions, psychopompic roles are primarily fulfilled by angels who serve as divine agents in the transition from life to the afterlife, often emphasizing eschatological judgment rather than neutral guidance. In Islam, the angel of death, referred to as Malak al-Maut (Angel of Death) in the Quran and traditionally named Azrael in Hadith literature, is tasked with separating the soul from the body at the moment of death. This process is described in Surah As-Sajdah (32:11), where it states: "Say, 'The Angel of Death who has been entrusted with you will take you. Then to your Lord you will be returned.'"^[33] According to Hadith narrations, such as those in Sahih al-Bukhari and related collections, the angel approaches the dying person gently for the righteous, extracting the soul like water from a vessel, and escorts it to the heavens or the intermediate realm of Barzakh—a barrier between death and resurrection where souls await final judgment—while angels of mercy or torment accompany based on the individual's deeds.^[34] In Jewish traditions, angels oversee the souls in the underworld realm of Sheol, functioning as guardians rather than impartial escorts. Dumah, the angel of silence derived from Psalm 94:17, is depicted as the prince of the nether world, supervising the souls of the dead in Sheol or Gehenna, where he maintains order among the shades and ensures their confinement until divine redemption.^[35] Kabbalistic texts, including the Zohar, portray archangels such as Gabriel (associated with divine strength and judgment) and Michael (the protector of Israel) as guiding the souls of the righteous toward Olam Ha-Ba, the World to Come, facilitating their ascent through spiritual realms based on merit and Torah observance, though ultimate direction remains under God's sovereignty.^[36] Christian depictions similarly center on angelic intermediaries tied to judgment, with Archangel Michael prominently featured as a psychopomp in medieval theology and iconography. Although not explicitly detailed in the canonical Bible, Michael's role in weighing souls at the Last Judgment draws from apocryphal texts like the Book of Enoch and early Christian visions, where he balances deeds on scales to determine eternal fate, as elaborated in patristic writings and liturgical traditions.^[37] In folk Christianity, this evolved into the figure of the Grim Reaper—a skeletal personification of death wielding a scythe—emerging from 14th-century Danse Macabre artworks, such as those in the Innocents' Cemetery in Paris, which illustrated Death leading all social classes in a universal dance to the grave, underscoring mortality's inevitability amid the Black Death era.^[38] Theologically, these Abrahamic psychopomps differ from ancient mythological figures like Hermes by prioritizing divine judgment over neutral transit; souls are directed to realms of reward (e.g., paradise or Olam Ha-Ba) or punishment (e.g., Barzakh torment or Gehenna) strictly according to faith, repentance, and adherence to monotheistic law, as articulated in scriptural exegesis across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.^[5]

Asian Religions

In Hinduism, Yama serves as the king of death and a central psychopomp figure, responsible for escorting souls to Yamaloka, the realm of the dead, where they undergo judgment based on their accumulated karma to determine future rebirths or punishments.^[39] Depicted riding a black buffalo and holding a noose, Yama appears in ancient texts such as the Rigveda (circa 1500–1200 BCE), where he is the first mortal to discover the path to the afterlife and ruler over the departed ancestors (Pitṛs), and in the epic Mahabharata, which elaborates on his court as a place of moral reckoning influenced by Vedic concepts of dharma and cosmic order.^[39] In Buddhist traditions, Yama is adapted from Hindu mythology into a enforcer of karmic consequences, presiding over the hell realms (Naraka) and guiding souls through the bardo, the intermediate state between death and rebirth, to confront the results of their actions.^[40] This role is prominently featured in the Tibetan Bardo Thodol (8th century CE), a funerary text attributed to Padmasambhava, where Yama appears as a judge presenting a mirror of the deceased's karma, manifesting as peaceful or wrathful deities to offer opportunities for liberation if the soul recognizes these illusions as projections of mind, or directing toward rebirth based on unresolved deeds.^[40] In Chinese folk religion, the Heibai Wuchang—known as the Black and White Impermanence—are paired spirits who act as psychopomps, capturing and escorting newly deceased souls to the underworld for judgment by the ten kings of hell, emphasizing the impermanence of life and the karmic cycle influenced by Daoist and Buddhist elements.^[41] These emissaries, often portrayed as one tall and pale (White) and one short and dark (Black), emerged in 17th-century literature like The Vinegar Calabash and gained prominence in Southeast Asian Chinese communities through spirit medium rituals.^[41] Similarly, in Japanese folklore, Shinigami function as death spirits or psychopomps, drawing from Buddhist depictions of hells (Jigoku) and oni guardians, where they lure or guide souls toward their karmic fate, blending indigenous animistic beliefs with imported concepts of Yama and infernal realms from the 8th century onward.^[42] Rituals in these Asian traditions often involve practices to assist the soul's passage and improve its karmic trajectory, such as spinning prayer wheels inscribed with mantras like Om Mani Padme Hum in Tibetan Buddhism, which accumulates merit to aid the deceased in navigating the bardo toward favorable rebirths.^[43] In Chinese and Japanese contexts, ancestor offerings during festivals like Qingming or Obon—placing food, incense, and paper goods at altars or graves—honor the departed, providing sustenance and merit to ease their journey through the underworld and prevent restless wandering.^[44]

Indigenous and Folk Traditions

In indigenous and folk traditions across Africa, the Americas, and Oceania, psychopomps often manifest as trickster figures, ancestral spirits, or ritual objects that facilitate the transition of souls to the afterlife, emphasizing communal harmony and the prevention of spiritual unrest. These roles are typically embedded in oral narratives and community ceremonies, where guides balance guidance with cautionary elements to ensure souls do not linger and cause harm to the living. Unlike more structured religious systems, these traditions highlight decentralized, localized practices that integrate psychopomps into daily and funerary rituals. In Ghanaian Akan folklore, Amokye serves as a psychopomp, portrayed as a little old woman who fishes the souls of the dead from the river leading to Asamando, the underworld, thus escorting them to their final destination. This figure embodies a blend of nurturing and enigmatic qualities, rescuing souls from limbo while underscoring the dangers of the transitional journey. Her role is invoked in stories of heroes like Kwase Benefo, who encounters her during underworld quests, highlighting her as a gatekeeper between worlds.^[45] Among Native American groups, psychopomps appear in forms that aid wandering spirits, such as soul catchers, bone artifacts used by shamans among the Tsimshian and other Northwest Coast peoples to capture and guide lost souls to the spirit world or proper resting place. These tools reflect a focus on restoring balance, with shamans performing ceremonies to escort souls and avoid their harmful return to the living community.^[46] In Filipino indigenous beliefs, ancestral spirits known as anito function as psychopomps, particularly in Ifugao rituals where they escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife through offerings of food, betel nut, and animal sacrifices during pag-anito ceremonies. These rituals invoke anito to intercede and guide, ensuring the soul's safe passage while the community consumes the physical offerings, symbolizing shared spiritual nourishment. The anito, as former human souls, maintain ongoing ties with descendants, preventing restless wandering by facilitating timely transitions.^[47] African and Oceanic variants further illustrate diverse psychopomp roles, such as the curlew bird in Noonuccal Aboriginal lore from eastern Australia, a guardian of the dead whose mournful cries signal death and guide departed souls to the afterlife.^[48] Similarly, in Yoruba traditions of Nigeria, Egungun masquerades invoke ancestral guides during festivals, where costumed performers embody spirits that bless or correct the living, effectively channeling psychopomp duties to resolve soul-related disturbances.^[49] These practices rely on oral traditions and group rituals to avert malevolent lingering, with communities performing dances and sacrifices to honor and direct the departed. Overall, these indigenous traditions prioritize collective ceremonies to invoke psychopomps, using trickster elements or artifacts to guide souls and preserve social order, as seen in the emphasis on offerings and communal participation to mitigate spiritual threats.

Symbolic and Modern Interpretations

Psychological Perspectives

In Jungian psychology, psychopomps represent archetypal figures that mediate between the conscious ego and the unconscious, facilitating the emergence of hidden psychic contents into awareness. These archetypes often manifest as the "wise old man," symbolizing guidance and wisdom, or as the anima in men and animus in women, which serve as bridges to deeper layers of the psyche. Carl Jung elaborated on this in his seminal work Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (1934–1954), where he described the psychopomp as a psychic factor personified to aid transitions between realms of the mind.^[1] Within the process of individuation—the lifelong journey toward psychological wholeness—the psychopomp archetype guides the integration of shadow aspects, those repressed or unacknowledged elements of the personality. This guidance occurs during critical life transitions, mirroring mythological soul journeys by encouraging confrontation with the unconscious to achieve balance and self-realization. Jung emphasized that such archetypal mediation is essential for transcending ego limitations and fostering psychic development.^[50] In therapeutic applications, psychopomp concepts inform practices like soul retrieval in shamanic psychotherapy, where practitioners help clients recover fragmented aspects of the self lost to trauma or loss, particularly in grief counseling. These rituals assist individuals in processing bereavement by symbolically escorting "stuck" soul parts toward integration, promoting emotional release and healing. For instance, psychopomp work in medical and end-of-life settings supports both the dying and the bereaved in navigating transitions.^[51] Contemporary research since 2000 has explored psychopomp imagery in near-death experiences (NDEs) and dream analysis, revealing its role in therapeutic outcomes for grief and trauma. Studies indicate that encounters with psychopomp-like figures in NDEs—such as guiding entities—often correlate with reduced fear of death and enhanced post-experience well-being, while in dreams, these symbols aid unconscious processing. Engagement with the psychopomp function has been shown to alleviate psychological distress by facilitating symbolic journeys akin to archetypal mediation.^[52]^[1]

In Literature, Art, and Popular Culture

In Neil Gaiman's 2001 novel American Gods, the ancient Egyptian deity Anubis manifests as Mr. Jacquel, a Cairo funeral parlor owner who performs embalming rituals and escorts souls to the afterlife, embodying the classic psychopomp function in a modern American context.^[53] Similarly, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, spanning from 1983 to 2015, centers Death as an anthropomorphic skeleton clad in black robes and wielding a scythe; this character dutifully guides the souls of the deceased across the Discworld's metaphysical boundaries, blending solemn responsibility with quirky humor to humanize the inevitable.^[54] In contemporary visual media, Charon—the mythical ferryman of the Greek underworld—appears prominently in tattoos and digital artwork, often depicted as a hooded oarsman poling through misty rivers with spectral passengers, serving as a personal symbol of mortality and passage in body art and online galleries.^[55] The 2018 roguelike video game Hades, developed by Supergiant Games, integrates psychopompic elements through Charon, who ferries the protagonist Zagreus across the River Styx while vending upgrades, turning the mythological soul guide into an interactive merchant that heightens the tension of underworld escapes. Indie titles from 2023 to 2025, including Hades II, employ psychopomp figures like enhanced ferrymen and soul escorts to deepen storytelling, using these guides to explore themes of loss and rebirth amid roguelike progression and mythological lore. Depictions of psychopomps in popular culture trace an evolution from Victorian gothic influences, where the Grim Reaper emerged in literature and nascent comics as a cloaked specter harvesting souls amid themes of decay and inevitability, to 21st-century horror genres that reimagine them as complex symbols of existential shifts, often drawing on Jungian archetypes of the inner guide during personal crises.^[56]^[57]

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Jewish Concepts: Angels & Angelology
Like apocryphal literature, the aggadah regards Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel as the archangels and refers to them as the ministering angels (malakhei ha ...Missing: Kabbalah | Show results with:Kabbalah
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Archangel Michael Weighing Souls on Judgment Day
Archangel Michael — is often portrayed weighing souls of people on scales of justice at Judgment Day.Missing: Reaper Danse Macabre 14th sources
[39]
Our Mortal Waltz: The Dance of Death Across Centuries
a type of wood ...Missing: Grim | Show results with:Grim
[40]
The Origins of Reincarnation in Vedic literature - Academia.edu
... gods. In later times, Yama was the god of death and of the dead who were seen as living in Yamaloka with the Pitṛs or Fathers, in other words the ancestral dead ...
[41]
[PDF] The Barzakh and the Bardo - University of Cape Town
Jan 26, 2020 · Grief: The Bardo-Thodol for the Dying and the Grieving.” Death ... Into the Jaws of Yama, Lord of Death: Buddhism,. Bioethics, and Death ...
[42]
Voices from the Underworld: Chinese Hell Deity ... - Project MUSE
Nov 8, 2022 · ... Heibai Wuchang 黑白無常. Graham asks both cunning and naïve questions about Hell, its situation, precise age, inner logic and organization ...
[43]
(PDF) Grim Reapers and Shinigami: Personifications of Death in ...
Jan 13, 2021 · PDF | The origins of the Grim Reaper and Shinigami in Western and Japanese cultures and the appearance of these figures in sequential art ...
[44]
[PDF] Visions of Tibet - Carroll Collected
Aug 15, 2017 · Prayer wheels are Tibetan ceremonial objects used to create prayers ... Spiritual Sons Close to Buddha” and are believed to help the Buddha.
[45]
Ancestor Worship - Looking at the Altar - Smithsonian Institution
The fruit and bowls of food are offerings made to the deceased to earn the soul merits. ... The Chinese perceive the afterlife to be similar to real life.Missing: aid Japanese
[46]
Kwase Benefo : The Timeless Hero - Mythlok
What sets Kwase Benefo apart is not supernatural power, but unyielding determination. He meets Amokye, the psychopomp who guides souls to the afterlife.Kwase Benefo · Family · Powers And Abilities<|control11|><|separator|>
[47]
Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection
Soul catcher, Bone, abalone shell, and tanned leather, Tsimshian, Native American. On loan to The Met. Soul catcher. Tsimshian, Native American. ca. 1840–60.
[48]
Religion - Cal State East Bay
When a person dies, her soul becomes anito. The Bagobo believe in left-and right-hand souls which become evil and good spirits, respectively, after death.
[49]
Egungun Masquerade Dance Costume
Egungun is a visible manifestation of the spirits of departed ancestors who periodically revisit the human community for remembrance, celebration, and blessings ...
[50]
Egungun Costume - Odyssey Online: AFRICA/Ritual and Ceremony
It is called egungun. The egungun dancer whirls the costume in circles so that the bits of cloth decorated with ribbons, mirrors, and metal fly through the air.Missing: rituals | Show results with:rituals
[51]
Anima, Animus, and the Magical Other - Jung Society of Utah
Jul 18, 2016 · ” The anima or animus functions as a psychopomp, or “guide of soul ... individuation.” Such romantic fantasies may drive us to search ...<|separator|>
[52]
Transformative Spiritual Practice with the Dying: The Psychopomp in ...
Aug 11, 2025 · The role of the psychopomp, the escort of the dying to their destination, has only recently been rediscovered within the Western world. Yet many ...
[53]
[PDF] Neuropsychiatric Aspects of Near-Death Experience - NSUWorks
Apr 3, 2018 · These psychopomp figures do not intend harm nor ... A qualitative and quantitative study of the incidence, features and aetiology of near death experiences in ...
[54]
Anubis - Mythopedia
Nov 29, 2022 · He became a god of embalming and psychopomp who escorted ... In Neil Gaiman's book American Gods, Anubis appeared as a character named Mr.
[55]
The Sandman & 9 Other Franchises Where Death Is A Major Character
Aug 19, 2022 · Naturally, Discworld has its own caricature of the Grim Reaper, a psychopomp who serves the greater death deity Azrael. Featuring in numerous ...
[56]
The Underworld and How to Use it in Your Story - EA Deverell
... William Blake in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Blake not only penned his ... The Guide to the Underworld (psychopomp). At the Threshold of Adventure ...
[57]
261+ Charon Tattoo Ideas in 2025 - BlackInk AI
... Charon comes from ancient Greek mythology, where he played a pivotal role as the psychopomp, the guide for souls navigating the underworld. Historically, Charon ...Missing: digital | Show results with:digital
[58]
Where Does the Concept of a “Grim Reaper” Come From? - Britannica
For thousands of years, various cultures have had figures to represent death. One of the most common and enduring of these is the Grim Reaper—usually a ...Missing: Victorian gothic popular
[59]
[PDF] EMILY DICKINSON AND THE VICTORIAN "CULT OF DEATH
May 5, 2017 · As antebellum America embraced the Victorian- influenced death culture, New Englanders beautified the process of death and even the corpse ...