Death (the Grim Reaper)

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Death, the Grim Reaper

In the Western world, the personification of death is known as the Grim Reaper, often shown as a skeletal figure, dressed in a hooded black robe or cloak, carrying a scythe or a pale figure carrying a scythe clothed in a white burial shroud. When portrayed in the black hooded robe, his face cannot be seen; it is only a shadow.

In some cases, the Reaper is able to cause death, leading to tales of bribery and trickery, saying he can be outwitted in order to retain one’s life. Some beliefs hold that the sight of Death is only a psychopomp, serving only to sever the last ties from the soul to the body, guide the deceased to the next world, and having no control over the death.

Death’s personification has ties to early religions and mythology. Almost every religion has a version of the Grim Reaper or the Angel of Death. Modern day religions, like Christianity, portray Death as the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, carrying a sword, followed by Hades, on a pale horse, and have various Angels of Death depending on the religion in question.

Contents 1 Religion and Mythology 1.1 Hindu Religion/Mythology 1.2 Japanese Mythology/Folklore 1.3 Greek Mythology 1.4 Paganism 2 Abrahamic Religions 2.1 Judaism 2.2 Christianity 2.3 Islam 2.4 Sikhism 3 Angels of Death 4 Gods of Death 5 Also on TinWiki 6 External Links 7 Relevant discussion threads on AboveTopSecret.com

Religion and Mythology

Death has had a personification in most religions and mythologies since ancient times. The look and feel of the Grim Reaper may be different, but the purpose is the same.

Hindu Religion/Mythology

In Hindu scriptures, the lord of death is called Yama or Yamaraj (“lord of death”). He rides a black buffalo, carrying a lasso to carry the soul back to his abode called “Yamalok”. In Yamalok, all the accounts of the person’s good and bad deeds are stored and maintained by Chitragupta, which allows Yamaraj to decide where the soul has to reside in his next life (following the theory of reincarnation).

Yama is also mentioned in the Mahabharata as a great philosopher and a devotee of Supreme Brahman. He is also known as Dharmaraj or king of Dharma or justice.

Japanese Mythology/Folklore

In Kojiki, after giving birth to fire-god Hinokagutsuchi, the goddess Izanami dies from wounds of its fire, entering the perpetual night realm of Yominokuni, where the gods retire. After Izanagi, her husband, failed to reclaim her from the land of Yomi (the underworld), she claimed to take 1000 lived a day to signify her position as the goddess of death.

Another personification is Enma (Yama), also known as Enma Ou and Enma Daiou (king or great king). He originated with Yama in Hinduism, later became Yanluo in China and Enma in Japan. He is from Chinese Buddhism and before that, from India. Enma rules the underworld, deciding whether the dead go to heaven or hell.

There are also death gods called shinigami, which are closer to the Western version of the Grim Reaper.

Greek Mythology

The Greek find death inevitable, so he is not represented as being purely evil. He is often portrayed as bearded and winged, and sometimes as a young boy. Death, or Thanatos, is the counterpart of life; death is represented as male, life as female. He is the twin brother of Hypnos, the god of sleep, and is typically shown with his twin; Thanatos is just and gentle.

His job is to escort the dead to the underworld Hades, handing them over to Charon (who is represented like the western version of the Grim Reaper, having a skeletal body and black cloak), who mans the boat which carries them over the Lethe. The river Lethe is the separation of the land of the dead and the land of the living.

It is from Cheron that the tradition of putting pennies over the eyes was born. It was believed that if the ferryman did not receive payment, the soul would not be delivered to the underworld, and it would be left on the riverside for eternity.

Thanatos’ sisters, the Keres, were the spirits of violent death. They were associated with deaths from battle, disease, accident, and murder, portrayed as evil, often feeding on the blood of the body after the soul had been escorted to Hades. They had fangs, talons, and would be dressed in bloody garments.

Paganism

• Ancient Slavic tribes viewed Death as a woman in white clothes with a never fading green sprout in her hands; the touch of the sprout would but a person into an everlasting sleep. This image survived into the Middle Ages; it was replaced by the skeletal figure in the 15th century.

• Lithuanians named Death Giltine (sting). Giltine was viewed as an old, ugly woman with a long blue nose and a deadly poisonous tongue. Legend tells that Giltine was a young, pretty woman until being trapped in a coffin for seven years. The goddess of Death was the sister of the goddess of Life and Destiny, Laima, symbolizing the relationship between the beginning and the end. Lithuanians later adopted the classic Grim Reaper image with the scythe and the black robe.

Abrahamic Religions

Four Horseman of the Apocalypse

In the Bible, the fourth horseman of the apocalypse in Revelation 6 is called death, a skeleton on a pale horse, carrying a sword, trailed by Hades.

There are many versions of the Grim Reaper, Death, and the Angel of Death in Abrahamic religions, depending on the religion in question.

Memitim are a type of angel from biblical lore associated with the mediation over the lives of the dying. The name refers to angels that brought about the destruction of those no longer protected by guardian angels. They are generally accepted as killers.

Judaism

In Judaism, the angel of death was created by God on the first day, has twelve wings and is full of eyes. In the hour of death, he stands at the head of the dying with a drawn sword, a drop of gall on the tip. When the dying person sees the angel, he goes into convulsions and opens his mouth; this is when the angel throws the drop of gall into the open mouth. The drop causes death.

The angel of death takes on the particular form which will best serve his purposes.

Christianity

Death, either as a metaphor, personification, or an actual being, is referenced occasionally in the New Testament.

In Roman Catholicism, the archangel Michael is seen as the good Angel of Death, whereas Samael is the evil Angel of Death. Michael carries the good souls of the deceased to Heaven, where he balances them on his scales, giving them a chance to redeem themselves.

Islam

In Islam, the concept of death is a celebratory event as opposed to one to be dreaded. It is the passage of the everlasting soul into a closer dimension to its creator, seen as joy rather than misery.

The Angel of Death is charged with the task of separating and returning from the bodies the souls of people who are to be recalled permanently from the physical world back to the primordial spiritual world.

Sikhism

In Skihism, Death is portrayed as one of God's angels, used as a personification for the bringer of Death and one of Waheguru's (God's) servents.

Angels of Death

• Muslim and Islam Theology: Azrael
• Judeo-Christian Lore: Michael, Gabriel, Aamael, Sariel
• Zoroastrianism: Mairya
• Babylon: Mot
• Rabbinical Lore: Yetzerhara, Adreil, Yehudiam, Abaddon, Sammael, Azra, Metatron, Gabriel, Mashhit, Hemah, Malach h-mavet, Kafziel, Kesef, Leviathan
• Falasha Lore: Suriel
• Arabic Angel: Azrael

Gods of Death

• Auraka: death deity in Polynesian myth
• Odin: death god in Norse mythology
• Parcae: Roman goddesses of fate
• Merau: Polynesian goddess of death
• Samulayo: Fijian god of war and death in battle
• Todote: Samoyed (Siberia) god of evil and death
• Cum Hau: Mayan god of death
• Chamer: Myan god of death
• Mors: Roman god of death
• Morta: Roman goddess of death
• Thanatos: Greek god of death
• Charontes: Etruscan demons of death
• Charun: Etruscan demon of death, guards entrance of the underworld
• Charon: Greek ferryman of the dead
• Hades: lord of the dead and ruler of the netherworld
• Giltine: Lithuanian goddess of death
• Grim Reaper: personification of death

Also on TinWiki

• Leviathan

External Links

• Personifications of Death
• Death and Rebirth
• Thanatos
• Death Goda
• Angel of Death

Relevant discussion threads on AboveTopSecret.com

• Grim Reaper?
• Angel of Death Encounter?