List of death deities

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Yama, the Hindu god of death and justice, and Lord of Naraka (hell). He was subsequently adopted by Buddhist, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean, and Japanese mythology as the king of hell. Yama on buffalo.jpg
Yama, the Hindu god of death and justice, and Lord of Naraka (hell). He was subsequently adopted by Buddhist, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean, and Japanese mythology as the king of hell.
Maya death god "A" way as a hunter, Classic period God A Ah Puch (Kimi).jpg
Maya death god "A" way as a hunter, Classic period

The mythology or religion of most cultures incorporate a god of death or, more frequently, a divine being closely associated with death, an afterlife, or an underworld. They are often amongst the most powerful and important entities in a given tradition, reflecting the fact that death, like birth, is central to the human experience. In religions where a single god is the primary object of worship, the representation of death is usually that god's antagonist, and the struggle between the two is central to the folklore of the culture. In such dualistic models, the primary deity usually represents good, and the death god embodies evil. Similarly, death worship is used as a derogatory term to accuse certain groups of morally abhorrent practices which set no value on human life. In monotheistic religions, death is commonly personified by an angel or demon standing in opposition to the god.

Contents

Occurrence

In polytheistic religions which have a complex system of deities governing various natural phenomena and aspects of human life, it is common to have a deity who is assigned the function of presiding over death. This deity may actually take the life of humans or, more commonly, simply rule over the afterlife in that particular belief system (a single religion may have separate deities performing both tasks). The deity in question may be good, evil, or neutral and simply doing their job, in sharp contrast to a lot of modern portrayals of death deities as all being inherently evil just because death is feared. Hades from Greek mythology is an especially common target. The inclusion of such a "departmental" deity of death in a religion's pantheon is not necessarily the same thing as the glorification of death.

A death deity has a good chance of being either male or female, unlike some functions that seem to steer towards one gender in particular, such as fertility and earth deities being female and storm deities being male. A single religion/mythology may have death gods of more than one gender existing at the same time and they may be envisioned as a married couple ruling over the afterlife together, as with the Aztecs, Greeks, and Romans.

In monotheistic religions, the one god governs both life and death (as well as everything else). However, in practice this manifests in different rituals and traditions and varies according to a number of factors including geography, politics, traditions, and the influence of other religions.

Africa and the Middle East

Section of the Book of the Dead for the scribe Hunefer, depicting the Weighing of the Heart in Duat, featuring the deities Anubis, Ammit and Thoth El pesado del corazon en el Papiro de Hunefer.jpg
Section of the Book of the Dead for the scribe Hunefer, depicting the Weighing of the Heart in Duat, featuring the deities Anubis, Ammit and Thoth

Sub-Sahara Africa

Igbo

Yoruba

Akan

  • Owuo, Akan God of Death and Destruction, and the Personification of death. Name means death in the Akan language.
  • Asase Yaa, one half of an Akan Goddess of the barren places on Earth, Truth and is Mother of the Dead
  • Amokye, Psychopomp in Akan religion who fishes the souls of the dead from the river leading to Asamando, the Akan underworld
  • Nkrabea, The deity of destiny and fate, believed to influence human fortunes and life paths, as well as their deaths.

Afroasiatic Africa

Somali

  • Huur, a messenger of Death who had the form of a large bird similar to Horus of ancient Egypt.

Afroasiatic Middle East

Canaanite

Egyptian

  • Aker (Egyptian mythology)
  • Andjety, an old Egyptian god
  • Anubis, guardian of the dead, [1] mummification, and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion
  • Aqen, a rarely mentioned deity in the Book of the Dead
  • Assessors of Maat, charged with judging the souls of the dead in the afterlife
  • Duamutef, one of the four sons of Horus
  • Hapi, one of the four sons of Horus
  • Imset, one of the four sons of Horus
  • Kherty Egyptian earth god
  • Medjed, an unusual looking god mentioned in the Book of the Dead
  • Nephthys (NebetHuet), Anubis' mother; sister of Osiris and Isis (Aset); also a guardian of the dead. She was believed to also escort dead souls to Osiris
  • Nehebkau, the primordial snake and funerary god associated with the afterlife, and one of the forty-two assessors of Maat
  • Osiris, lord of the Underworld [2]
  • Qebehsenuef, one of the four sons of Horus
  • Seker, a falcon god of the Memphite necropolis who was known as a patron of the living, as well as a god of the dead. He is known to be closely tied to Osiris
  • Serapis, Graeco-Egyptian syncretistic deity, combining elements of Osiris, the Apis Bull, Hades, Demeter, and Dionysus. Also, patron of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Alexandria
  • Wepwawet, a wolf god of war, and brother of Anubis, being seen as one who opened the ways to, and through, Duat, for the spirits of the dead

Mesopotamian

Western Eurasia

European

Albanian

  • Djall, symbolizes the devil. (Djaj(plural))
  • Mortja, personification of death. An equivalent of Grim Reaper.(Female)(Mortjet, plural)
  • Vdekja, personification of death. (Female)

Balto-Finnic

Balto-Slavic

Basque

Celtic

Germanic

Ran uses her net to pull a seafarer into the depths in an illustration by Johannes Gehrts, 1901 Ran by Johannes Gehrts.jpg
Rán uses her net to pull a seafarer into the depths in an illustration by Johannes Gehrts, 1901
  • Freyja, presides over Fólkvangr; chooses half of those who die in battle
  • Gefjon, a goddess who oversees those who die as virgins
  • Hel, [8] [9] goddess of the dead and ruler of the land of the same name, Hel,
  • Odin [8] [9] presides over Valhalla and gets half of those who die in battle; there they train for Ragnarök
  • Rán, the sea goddess who collects the drowned in her net

Etruscan

  • Aita, god of the underworld
  • Culga, a female underworld spirit
  • Februus, god of purification, death, the underworld, and riches
  • Mani, spirits of the dead
  • Mania, goddess of the dead
  • Mantus, god of the underworld
  • Orcus, god of the underworld
  • Tuchulcha, an underworld spirit
  • Vanth, winged spirit of the underworld

Greek

Hades or Serapis with his dog Cerberus Hades-et-Cerberus-III.jpg
Hades or Serapis with his dog Cerberus
  • Achlys, goddess who symbolizes the mist of death. Goddess of poisons, personification of misery and sadness.
  • Apollo, god of diseases
  • Atropos, one of the moirai, who cut the thread of life.
  • Charon, a daimon who acted as ferryman of the dead.
  • Erebus, the primordial god of darkness, his mists encircled the underworld and filled the hollows of the earth
  • Erinyes, chthonic deities of vengeance
  • Hades, king of the underworld and god of the dead [10]
  • Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, she helped Demeter in the search for Persephone and was allowed to live in the Underworld as her magic works best at night
  • Hermes, the messenger god who acted as psychopompos
  • Hypnos, personification of sleep, twin of Thanatos, his Roman counterpart is Somnus
  • Keres, goddesses of violent death, sisters of Thanatos
  • Lampades, torch-bearing underworld nymphs
  • Limos was the goddess of starvation in ancient Greek religion. She was opposed by Demeter, goddess of grain and the harvest with whom Ovid wrote Limos could never meet, and Plutus, the god of wealth and the bounty of rich harvests.[1]
  • Persephone, queen of the underworld; wife of Hades and goddess of spring growth [11]
  • Serapis, Graeco-Egyptian syncretistic deity, combining elements of Osiris, the Apis Bull, Hades, Demeter, and Dionysus. Also, patron of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Alexandria.
  • Tartarus, the darkest, deepest part of the underworld, often used for imprisoning enemies of the Olympians
  • Thanatos, personification of death, Roman counterpart is Mors [12]
  • Gods of the seven rivers of the underworld:
  1. Acheron, god of the river Acheron
  2. Alpheus, god of the river Alpheus
  3. Cocytus, god of the river Cocytus
  4. Eridanos, god of the river Eridanos
  5. Lethe, goddess of the river Lethe
  6. Phlegethon, god of the river Phlegethon
  7. Styx, goddess of the river Styx, a river that formed a boundary between the living and the dead

Roman

  • Dea Tacita, goddess of the dead
  • Di inferi, ancient Roman deities associated with death and the Underworld
  • Dis Pater, god of the underworld
  • Laverna, goddess of thieves, cheats, and the underworld
  • Lemures, the malevolent dead
  • Libitina, goddess of funerals and burials
  • Manes, spirits of the dead
  • Mania, goddess of death
  • Mors, personification of death, Greek equivalent is Thanatos
  • Nenia Dea, goddess of funerals
  • Orcus, punisher of broken oaths; usually folded in with Pluto
  • Pluto, ruler of the Underworld
  • Proserpina, queen of the underworld
  • Soranus, underworld Sabine god adopted by the Romans
  • Viduus, god who separated the soul and body after death

Western Asia

Elamite

Hindu-Vedic

  • Chitragupta, god of justice after death
  • Mara
  • Yama, god of death and ruler of the afterlife
  • Dhumavati, goddess of death, misfortune and temporality
  • Shiva, god of destruction, time, and the arts
  • Kali, goddess of death

Persian-Zoroastrian

Ossetian

  • Aminon, gatekeeper of the underworld.
  • Barastyr, ruler of the underworld.
  • Ishtar-Deela, lord of the underworld in Nakh. [15]

Uralic

Eastern Asia

Korean

Chinese

Yanluo Wang Enma.jpg
Yanluo Wang

Emperor(s) of Youdu (Capital City of the Underworld)

Judges of the Ten Underworld Courts

The rest only have surnames including Li, Yu, Lu, Bi, Lu and Xue.

Four Kings of the Underworld

Ghost Kings of the Five Regions

Ghost Kings of the Five Regions (Ver.2)

Governors of Fengdu

Imperial Censor of Fengdu

Four Generals of the Direct Altar of Fengdu

Eight Generals of the Inner Altar of Fengdu

Eight Generals of the Outer Altar of Fengdu

Ten Masters of the Underworld

(Note: in some versions, Xie Bi'an and Fanjiu are the Bai Wuchang and Hei Wuchang, respectively.)

Four Strongmen of Fengdu

Two Agents of Fengdu

Wardens of the Nine Prison of Fengdu

Administers of the Six Paths of Rebirth of Fengdu

Judges of Fengdu

Japanese

North and Central Asian mythology

Oceanian mythology

South Asian mythology

Hindu

Yama - the god of death & divine judge of afterlife

Chitragupta - Yama's record keeper, keeps account of the good & misdeeds of souls, on the basis of which the dead are judged.

Yamaduta - Spirits under control of Yama, who are responsible for bringing the dead souls into Yama's presence. However, from the anecdote of Satyavan & Savitri, it is shown that even Yama performs this role.

Kāla - the personification of time, also associated with death

Shiva - the god who is the destroyer of the world at the time of pralaya. As Kalantaka, he is also the conqueror of death. As Bhairava, he is strongly associated with death & destruction.

Kali - Shiva's spouse, strongly associated with death & destruction.

Chamunda - A related form of Kali, invoked for seeking death of enemies during wartime.

Tibetan Buddhist

Tibetan Buddhism, like all other Buddhist denominations, affirms the rejection of the existence of souls (anatta) & existence of a creator God (see the theory of dependent origination), while at the same time affirming in the existence of heaven and hell. The beings listed here aren't 'gods of death' in the traditional sense, they are rather beings that invoke a lot of funerary aspect with them.

Citipati - guardian spirits of charnel grounds

Dakini - Female spirits strongly associated with the imagery of death.

Heruka - Beings strongly associated with the imagery of death & charnel grounds

Wrathful deities - Meditational deities invoking the imagery of death.

Southeast Asian mythology

Magwayen Magwayen.jpg
Magwayen

Philippines

Vietnam

American mythology

Mictlantecutli Mictlantecuhtli 1.jpg
Mictlāntēcutli
Mictecacihuatl as depicted in the Codex Borgia Mictlancihuatl 3.jpg
Mictēcacihuātl as depicted in the Codex Borgia

Aztec

Cahuilla

Guarani

Haida

Inca

Inuit

Latin American Folk Catholicism

Maya

Narragansett

Taíno

Umbanda and Candomblé

Haitian Vodou

Gede lwa

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Anubis - Anubis AKA Inpu, Anupu, or Ienpw". Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2012-10-30.
  2. ↑ "Anubis - Osiris AKA Un-nefer, or Khenti-Amentiu". Archived from the original on 2012-05-26. Retrieved 2012-10-30.
  3. ↑ "The counterpart to these deities of sky, air, water, and earth was the underworld, the realm of the dead, originally seen as ruled by the powerful Goddess Ereshkigal." Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Goddesses and the Divine Feminine: A Western Religious History. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN   0-520-23146-5
  4. ↑ "After consulting his mistress Ereshkigal, the queen of the Nether World, he admits Ishtar" Kramer, "Ishtar in the Nether World According to a New Sumerian Text" Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 1940. Google scholar results as the JSTOR link is unlikely to be universally available.
  5. ↑ F. Wiggermann, Transtigridian Snake Gods [in:] I. L. Finkel, M. J. Geller (eds.), Sumerian Gods and their Representations, 1997, p. 34
  6. ↑ M. Krebernik, dU.GUR [in] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol 14, 2014, p. 297
  7. ↑ F. Wiggerman, Nergal A. philologisch [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 9, 1998, p. 220
  8. 1 2 Kveldulf Gundarsson. (1993, 2005) Our Troth. ISBN   0-9770165-0-1
  9. 1 2 The dwelling one went to after death varied depending on where one died, at the battlefield or not. If not at the battlefield, one would go to Hel (not to be confused with the Christian Hell). Of the slain at the battlefield, some went to Fólkvangr, the dwelling of Freyja and some went to Valhalla, the dwelling of Odin (see Grímnismál). The ninth hall is Folkvang, where bright Freyja. Decides where the warriors shall sit. Some of the fallen belong to her. And some belong to Odin.
  10. ↑ "HADES (Haides) - Greek God of the Dead, King of the Underworld (Roman Pluto)". Theoi.com. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "Classical Mythology: Hades Takes a Wife: Persephone". InfoPlease. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "THANATOS - Greek God of Death (Roman Mors)". Theoi.com. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  13. ↑ Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques (1982), "Ahriman", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 1, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 670–673
  14. ↑ Micha F. Lindemans (27 July 1997), "Asto Vidatu", Encyclopedia Mythica
  15. ↑ Jaimoukha, Amjad M. (2005-03-01). The Chechens: a handbook (1st ed.). Routledge. p. 110. ISBN   978-0-415-32328-4 . Retrieved 2009-08-14.
  16. ↑ "KALMA - the Finnish Goddess of Death (Finnish mythology)". godchecker.com. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  17. ↑ "TUONI - the Finnish God of the Underworld (Finnish mythology)". godchecker.com. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  18. 1 2 3 Jocano, F. L. (1969). Philippine Mythology. Quezon City: Capitol Publishing House Inc.
  19. ↑ Bimmolog, H., Sallong, L., Montemayor, L. (2005). The Deities of the Animistic Religion of Mayaoyao, Ifugao.
  20. ↑ Cayat, G. C. Manuscript on Kalanguya Cultural Communities. National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
  21. ↑ Arbues, L. R. (1960). Philippine Sociological Review Vol. 8, No. 1/2: The Negritos as a Minority Group in the Philippines. Philippine Sociological Society.
  22. ↑ Nicdao, A. (1917). Pampangan Folklore. Manila.
  23. ↑ Pangilinan, M. (2014–2020). An Introduction to the Kapampángan Language; Interview on Láwû. Sínúpan Singsing: Center for Kapampángan Cultural Heritage.
  24. 1 2 Loarca, Miguel de. (1582) 1903. Relation of the Filipinas Islands. In Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands 5.
  25. ↑ Jocano, F. L. (1968). Sulod Society. Quezon City: U.P. Press.
  26. ↑ Talaguit, C. J. N. (2019). Folk-Islam in Maranao Society. History Department, De La Salle University – Manila.
  27. 1 2 3 "Psychopomps (Death Guides) of the Philippines". Aswangproject.com. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  28. ↑ "Mictecacihuatl | Goddess a Day". Archived from the original on 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2012-10-30.
  29. ↑ "Mictlantecuhtli, Lord of the Land of the Death". Azteccalendar.com. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
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