Symbols of death

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Symbols of death are the motifs, images and concepts associated with death throughout different cultures, religions and societies.

Contents

Images

Image of the Grim Reaper on the tailfin of a U.S. Navy F-14D Tomcat of Flight Squadron, VF-101, nicknamed the "Grim Reapers." Vf-101 grim reapers tomcat tail.jpg
Image of the Grim Reaper on the tailfin of a U.S. Navy F-14D Tomcat of Flight Squadron, VF-101, nicknamed the "Grim Reapers."
Traditional Jolly Roger, the flag of "Black Sam" Bellamy and other pirates of the 18th century, displaying a skull and crossbones. Flag of Edward England.svg
Traditional Jolly Roger, the flag of "Black Sam" Bellamy and other pirates of the 18th century, displaying a skull and crossbones.

Various images are used traditionally to symbolize death; these rank from blunt depictions of cadavers and their parts to more allusive suggestions that time is fleeting and all men are mortals.

The human skull is an obvious and frequent symbol of death, found in many cultures and religious traditions. [1] Human skeletons and sometimes non-human animal skeletons and skulls can also be used as blunt images of death; the traditional figures of the Grim Reaper – a black-hooded skeleton with a scythe – is one use of such symbolism. [2] Within the Grim Reaper itself, the skeleton represents the decayed body whereas the robe symbolizes those worn by religious people conducting funeral services. [2] The skull and crossbones motif (☠) has been used among Europeans as a symbol of both piracy and poison. [3] The skull is also important as it remains the only "recognizable" aspect of a person once they have died. [3]

Decayed cadavers can also be used to depict death; in medieval Europe, they were often featured in artistic depictions of the danse macabre , or in cadaver tombs which depicted the living and decomposed body of the person entombed. Coffins also serve as blunt reminders of mortality. [4] Europeans were also seen to use coffins and cemeteries to symbolize the wealth and status of the person who has died, serving as a reminder to the living and the deceased as well. [4] Less blunt symbols of death frequently allude to the passage of time and the fragility of life, and can be described as memento mori ; [5] that is, an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. Clocks, hourglasses, sundials, and other timepieces both call to mind that time is passing. [3] Similarly, a candle both marks the passage of time, and bears witness that it will eventually burn itself out as well as a symbol of hope of salvation. [3] These sorts of symbols were often incorporated into vanitas paintings, a variety of early still life.

Certain animals such as crows, cats, owls, moths, vultures and bats are associated with death; some because they feed on carrion, others because they are nocturnal. [3] Along with death, vultures can also represent transformation and renewal. [3]

Religious symbols

Veve of Maman Brigitte, the loa of death in Haitian Vodou. VeveBrigitte.svg
Veve of Maman Brigitte, the loa of death in Haitian Vodou.

Religious symbols of death and depictions of the afterlife will vary with the religion practiced by the people who use them.

Tombs, tombstones, and other items of funeral architecture are obvious candidates for symbols of death. [3] In ancient Egypt, the gods Osiris and Ptah were typically depicted as mummies; these gods governed the Egyptian afterlife. In Christianity, the Christian cross is frequently used on graves, and is meant to call to mind the crucifixion of Jesus. [3] Some Christians also erect temporary crosses along public highways as memorials for those who died in accidents. In Buddhism, the symbol of a wheel represents the perpetual cycle of death and rebirth that happens in samsara. [6] The symbol of a grave or tomb, especially one in a picturesque or unusual location, can be used to represent death, as in Nicolas Poussin's famous painting Et in Arcadia ego .

Images of life in the afterlife are also symbols of death. Here, again, the ancient Egyptians produced detailed pictorial representations of the life enjoyed by the dead. In Christian folk religion, the spirits of the dead are often depicted as winged angels or angel-like creatures, dwelling among the clouds; this imagery of the afterlife is frequently used in comic depictions of the life after death. [3] In the Islamic view of the Afterlife, death is symbolised by a black and white ram which in turn will be slain to symbolise the Death of Death.

The Banshee also symbolizes the coming of death in Irish Mythology. [3] This is typically represented by an older woman who is seen sobbing to symbolize the suffering of a person before their death. [3]

Colors

Black is the color of mourning in many European cultures. Black clothing is typically worn at funerals to show mourning for the death of the person. In East Asia, white is similarly associated with mourning; it represented the purity and perfection of the deceased person's spirit. [7] Hindus similarly also wear white during mourning and funerals. During the Victorian era, purple and grey were considered to be mourning colors in addition to black. [8] Furthermore, in Revelation 6 in The Bible, Death is one of the four horsemen; and he rides a pale horse. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funeral</span> Ceremony for a person who has died

A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the dead, from interment, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. Customs vary between cultures and religious groups. Funerals have both normative and legal components. Common secular motivations for funerals include mourning the deceased, celebrating their life, and offering support and sympathy to the bereaved; additionally, funerals may have religious aspects that are intended to help the soul of the deceased reach the afterlife, resurrection or reincarnation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death (tarot card)</span> Thirteenth Major Arcanum

Death (XIII) is the 13th trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional tarot decks. It is used in tarot card games as well as in divination. The card typically depicts the Grim Reaper, and when used for divination is often interpreted as signifying major changes in a person's life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jolly Roger</span> Pirate flag

Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wreath</span> Ring-shaped ornament used for decoration and commemoration

A wreath is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a ring shape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skeleton (undead)</span> Undead creature

A skeleton is a type of physically manifested undead often found in fantasy, gothic, and horror fiction, as well as mythology, folklore, and various kinds of art. Most are human skeletons, but they can also be from any creature or race found on Earth or in the fantasy world.

<i>Memento mori</i> Artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death

Memento mori is an artistic or symbolic trope acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death. The concept has its roots in the philosophers of classical antiquity and Christianity, and appeared in funerary art and architecture from the medieval period onwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddhist symbolism</span> Religious symbols in Buddhism

Buddhist symbolism is the use of symbols to represent certain aspects of the Buddha's Dharma (teaching). Early Buddhist symbols which remain important today include the Dharma wheel, the Indian lotus, the three jewels and the Bodhi tree.

A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under or behind the skull. The design originated in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a memento mori on tombstones.

<i>Totenkopf</i> German symbol for skull and crossbones

Totenkopf is the German word for skull. The word is often used to denote a figurative, graphic or sculptural symbol, common in Western culture, consisting of the representation of a human skull- usually frontal, more rarely in profile with or without the mandible. In some cases, other human skeletal parts may be added, often including two crossed long bones (femurs) depicted below or behind the skull. The human skull is an internationally used symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as well as piracy or toxicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calaca</span> Traditional decoration for the Day of the Dead

A calaca is a figure of a skull or skeleton commonly used for decoration during the Mexican Day of the Dead festival, although they are made all year round.

<i>The Garden of Death</i> Painting by Hugo Simberg

The Garden of Death is a painting by Finnish symbolist painter Hugo Simberg. Like many of Simberg's paintings, it depicts a gloomy, otherworldly scene. The central figures are reminiscent of the classic black-clad Grim Reaper, but paradoxically are tending to gardens; traditionally symbols of birth or renewal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funerary art</span> Art associated with a repository for the remains of the dead

Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs, tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and communal memorials to the dead, such as war memorials, which may or may not contain remains, and a range of prehistoric megalithic constructs. Funerary art may serve many cultural functions. It can play a role in burial rites, serve as an article for use by the dead in the afterlife, and celebrate the life and accomplishments of the dead, whether as part of kinship-centred practices of ancestor veneration or as a publicly directed dynastic display. It can also function as a reminder of the mortality of humankind, as an expression of cultural values and roles, and help to propitiate the spirits of the dead, maintaining their benevolence and preventing their unwelcome intrusion into the lives of the living.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death (personification)</span> Anthropomorphized depiction of lifes end

Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other beliefs hold that the spectre of death is only a psychopomp, a benevolent figure who serves to gently sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the afterlife, without having any control over when or how the victim dies. Death is most often personified in male form, although in certain cultures death is perceived as female. Death is also portrayed as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Most claims of his appearance occur in states of Near-death.

<i>A Burial at Ornans</i> Painting by Gustave Courbet

A Burial at Ornans is a painting of 1849–50 by Gustave Courbet. It is widely regarded as a major turning point in 19th-century French art. The painting records a funeral in Courbet's birthplace, the small town of Ornans. It treats an ordinary, provincial funeral with frank realism, and on the grand scale traditionally reserved for the heroic or religious scenes of history painting. Its exhibition at the 1850–51 Paris Salon created an "explosive reaction" and brought Courbet instant fame. It is currently displayed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France

The skull and crossbones was a common fraternal motif as a symbol of mortality and warning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The symbol was adopted, for various reasons, by many sporting teams, clubs, and societies in both America and Europe.

Color symbolism in art, literature, and anthropology refers to the use of color as a symbol in various cultures and in storytelling. There is great diversity in the use of colors and their associations between cultures and even within the same culture in different time periods. The same color may have very different associations within the same culture at any time. Diversity in color symbolism occurs because color meanings and symbolism occur on an individual, cultural and universal basis. Color symbolism is also context-dependent and influenced by changes over time. Symbolic representations of religious concepts or articles may include a specific color with which the concept or object is associated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human skull symbolism</span> Attachment of symbolic meaning

Skull symbolism is the attachment of symbolic meaning to the human skull. The most common symbolic use of the skull is as a representation of death.

Terrorism, in some of its definitions, serves to communicate a message from terrorists to a target audience (TA). By extension, symbols play an important role in such communication, through graphics that the organizations use to represent themselves, as well as the meaning and significance behind their choice of targets. But we can not attribute Quran and other Islamic symbols as terrorism related things. Because, we may disagree with Al-Qaeda but we can not say the religion is wrong. If Al-Qaeda is responsible, it means only Al-Qaeda not the Islam. So, it's not symbolism of terrorism as heading of this article suggests. It is just symbolism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadaver Tomb of René of Chalon</span> Life sized funerary statue and memento mori

The Cadaver Tomb of René of Chalon is a late Gothic period Cadaver monument (transi) in the church of Saint-Étienne at Bar-le-Duc, in northeastern France. It consists of an altarpiece and a limestone statue of a putrefied and skinless corpse which stands upright and extends his left hand outwards. Completed sometime between 1544 and 1557, the majority of its construction is attributed to the French sculptor Ligier Richier. Other elements, including the coat of arms and funeral drapery, were added in the 16th and 18th centuries respectively.

References

  1. Glennys Howarth; Oliver Leaman (2003). Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Routledge. p. 416. ISBN   978-1-136-91360-0.
  2. 1 2 "Where Does the Concept of a "Grim Reaper" Come From?". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "The Darkest, Most Foreboding Symbols Of Death". Thought Catalog. 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  4. 1 2 Collier, C. D. Abby (2003). "Tradition, Modernity, and Postmodernity in Symbolism of Death". The Sociological Quarterly. 44 (4): 727–749. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.2003.tb00533.x. ISSN   0038-0253. JSTOR   4120730. S2CID   144108876.
  5. literally 'remember to die', Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition, June 2001
  6. "Buddhism – Definition, Founder & Origins". www.history.com. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  7. Eiseman, Leatrice (2000). Colors for Your Every Mood: Discover Your True Decorating Colors. Capital Books. p. 136. ISBN   9781892123381.
  8. "Colors of mourning in different cultures of the world". Funeral Guide. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  9. Revelation 6:8 (New International Version) at Bible Gateway.com