Death deity

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Death deity

Deities associated with death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that define a life organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby....
take many different forms, depending on the specific culture

Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
and religion

Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
being referenced. Psychopomp

Psychopomp

Many religions include a particular spiritual being, angel, or deity whose responsibility is to escort newly-deceased souls to the afterlife. These creatures are called psychopomps, from the Greek language word ????p??p?? , literally meaning the "guide of souls"....
s, deities of the underworld

Underworld

In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly the dead souls go....
, and resurrection deities

Life-death-rebirth deity

The category life-death-rebirth deity also known as a "dying-and-rising" or "Resurrection" deity is a convenient means of classifying the many divinities in world mythology or religion who are born, suffer death, an eclipse, or other death-like experience, pass a phase in the underworld among the dead, and are subsequently reborn, in either a...
are commonly called death deities in comparative religions texts. The term colloquially refers to deities that either collect or rule over the dead, rather than those deities who determine the time of death. However, all these types will be included in this article.

Many culture

Culture

God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
of death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that define a life organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby....
into their mythology

Mythology

The word mythology refers to a body of folklore/myths/legends that a particular culture believes to be true and that often use the supernatural to interpret natural events and to explain the nature of the universe and humanity....
or religion

Religion

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Encyclopedia

Deities associated with death

Death

Culture

Religion

Psychopomp

Underworld

Life-death-rebirth deity

Culture

God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
of death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that define a life organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby....
into their mythology

Mythology

Religion

Childbirth

Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the delivery of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus. The process of normal human childbirth is categorized in three stages of labour: the shortening and dilation of the cervix, descent and delivery of the infant, and delivery of the placenta.....
, is among the major parts of human life, these deities may often be one of the most important deities of a religion. In some religions with a single powerful deity as the source of worship, the death deity is an antagonistic deity against which the primary deity struggles. The related term death worship has most often been used as a derogatory term to accuse certain groups of morally-abhorrent practices which set no value on human life, or which seem to glorify death as something positive in itself.

Occurrence

In polytheistic religions or mythologies 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. 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 which is commonly condemned by the use of the term "death-worship" in modern political rhetoric

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of using language as a means to persuade. Along with logic and dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse....
.

In the theology of monotheistic religion, the one god governs both life and death. 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.

List of death deities

Deity Name	Culture/Religion	Category
Mictlantecuhtli Mictlantecuhtli For other uses, please see: Mictlantecuhtli .Mictlantecuhtli , in Aztec mythology, was a god of the dead and the king of Mictlan , the lowest and northernmost section of the underworld....	Aztec Aztec mythology The Aztec civilization recognized a polytheistic mythology, which contained the many gods and supernatural creatures from their religious beliefs....	Underworld, Lord
Ereshkigal Ereshkigal In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal was the goddess of Irkalla, the land of the dead or underworld. Sometimes her name is given as Irkalla, similar to way the name Hades was used in Greek mythology for both the underworld and its ruler....	Babylonian Babylonian mythology Babylonian mythology is a set of stories depicting the activities of Babylonian deity, heroes, and mythological creatures. While these stories are in modern times usually considered a component of Babylonian religion, their purpose was not necessarily religious in nature....	Underworld
Nergal Nergal The name Nergal refers to a deity in Babylonia with the main seat of his cult at Kutha represented by the mound of Tell-Ibrahim. Nergal is mentioned in the Hebrew bible as the deity of the city of Kutha : "And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal" ....	Babylonian Babylonian mythology Babylonian mythology is a set of stories depicting the activities of Babylonian deity, heroes, and mythological creatures. While these stories are in modern times usually considered a component of Babylonian religion, their purpose was not necessarily religious in nature....	secondary Underworld
Babalu Aye Babalu Aye In the religious system of Orisha worship, Babalu Aye is the spirit of illness and disease. He is an Orisha, the son of Yemaja and Orungan., in certain places he is known to be the son of Nana Omolu, the Fon deity added to the Yoruba pantheon, and associated with Female power and creation....	Afro-Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world.... ian religions such as Umbanda Umbanda Umbanda is an Afro-Brazilian religion that blends African religions with Catholicism and Spiritism .Umbanda is related to and has many similitudes with other Afro-Brazilian religions like Candombl?, Batuque , Macumba, Quimbanda, Xamb?, Culto aos Egungun, Culto de If?, Irmandade, Confraria, Xang? do Nordeste and Tambor de Mina, but also has... and Candomblé Candomblé Candombl? is an African-originated or Afro-Brazilian religion, practiced chiefly in Brazil. The religion largely originated in the city of Salvador, the capital of Bahia....
Yama Yama Yama , also known as Yamaraja in India, Yanluowang or simply Yan in China, and Enma in Japan, is the lord of death, first recorded in the Vedas.... , Yama (Hinduism) Yama (Hinduism) This article is about the deity Yama* in Hinduism. For yama in the sense of a code of conduct, see Yamas.* For a general article about Yama, see Yama.... , Yanluo Yama (Buddhism and Chinese mythology) Yama is the name of the Buddhism dharmapala and judge of the dead, who presides over the Buddhist Naraka , "Hells" or "Purgatories". Although ultimately based on the god Yama of the Hindu Vedas, the Buddhist Yama has developed different myths and different functions from the Hinduism deity.... , Enma Enma is the Japanese name for Yama , the ruler of the underworld in Buddhist mythology. He is often referred to as . In both ancient and modern times, Enma is portrayed as a large man with a scowling red face, bulging eyes and a long beard....	Buddhism Buddhism Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal.... , Hindu, Chinese Chinese mythology File:Nine-Dragons1.jpgChinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written form.... , Japanese Buddhism
Mot	Canaan Canaan Canaan is an ancient term for a region encompassing modern-day Israel and Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Jordan, Syria and northeastern Egypt.... ite
Morrigan Morrígan The Morr?gan or M?rr?gan is a figure from Irish mythology who appears to have once been a goddess, although she is not explicitly referred to as such in the texts....	Celtic Celtic polytheism Celtic polytheism, sometimes known as Celtic paganism, refers to the religious beliefs and practises of the ancient Celts of western Europe prior to Christianisation....
Anubis Anubis Anubis is the Greek language name for a jackal-headed deity associated with mummy and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology. In the ancient Egyptian language, Anubis is known as Inpu, ....	Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
Osiris Osiris Osiris was an Egyptian mythology, usually called the god of the Afterlife.Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found; one of the oldest known attestations of his name is on the Palermo Stone of around 2500 BC....	Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
Tuoni Tuoni In Finnish mythology, Tuoni was the god of the underworld .... , with his wife and children	Finnish Finnish mythology Finnish mythology is the mythology that went with Finnish paganism which was practised by the Finnish people prior to Christianisation. It has many features shared with fellow Finnic Estonian mythology and its non-Finnic neighbours, the Baltic people and the Scandinavians....
Thanatos Thanatos In Greek religion, Th?natos was the Daemon personification of Death and Mortality. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appearing in person....	Greek Ancient Greece The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
Hades Hades Hades refers both to the ancient Greek underworld, the abode of Hades, and to the god of the underworld. Hades in Homer referred just to the god; the genitive case , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades"....	Greek Ancient Greece The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
Ghede	Haitian Vodou
Ogbunabali	Igbo Igbo mythology Odinani is the name of the traditional religious beliefs and practises of the Igbo people of western Africa. Odinani is a monotheism faith, with Chukwu , who, according to mythology created the world and everything in it, as the supreme God, and is associated with all things on Earth....
Azrael Azrael Azrael is the Islamic Death #Angels of death. He is also the Angel of Death in Judeo-Christian extrabiblical tradition and folklore. It is an English language form of the Arabic name Azra'il or Azra'eil , the name traditionally attributed to the angel of death in Islam and some Hebrew lore....	Islam Islam Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
Izanami Izanami In Japanese mythology, is a goddess of both creation and death, as well as the former wife of the god Izanagi. She is also referred to as Izana-mi, Izanami-no-mikoto or Izanami-no-kami....	Japan Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a system of beliefs that embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculture-based folk religion. The Shinto pantheon alone consists of an uncountable number of kami .... (Shinto Shinto is the former state religion of Japan and remains the most common name for the nation's non-Buddhist ethnic religion practices. It was formed from disparate local mythologies, beginning with the Kojiki of 712, into an imperial cult called State Shinto that solidified in the Meiji period.... )
Hine-nui-te-po Hine-nui-te-po In Maori mythology, Hine-nui-te-po is a goddess of night and death, and the ruler of the underworld. She is a daughter of Tane. She fled to the underworld because she discovered that Tane, whom she had married, was also her father....	Maori Maori mythology Maori mythology and Maori traditions are the two major categories into which the legends of the Maori of New Zealand may usefully be divided....
Ah Puch Ah Puch In Maya mythology, Ah Puch was the Death deity and King of Metnal, the underworld. He was depicted as a skeleton or corpse adorned with bells, sometimes the head of an owl; even today, some Mexicans and Central Americans believe that an owl's screeches signify imminent death, as the following saying, in local Spanish, indicates:...	Maya
Santa Muerte Santa Muerte Saint Death Although the Catholic Church has attacked the worship of Saint Death as a pagan tradition contrary to the Christian belief of Christ defeating death, many people insist on praying to this figure for miracles....	Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
Grimm Reaper	North America North America North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
Morana Marzanna Marzanna, Mara, Murava, Morana, Mor?na or Morena is a Slavic pantheon. Her exact function is unclear. She is most often believed to be a Goddess of harvest and witchcraft....	Slavic Slavic mythology Slavic mythology is the mythological aspect of the polytheism that was practised by the Slavs prior to Christianisation.The religion possesses numerous common traits with other religions descended from the Proto-Indo-European religion....
Mors Mors (mythology) In Roman mythology, Mors is the Death and equivalent to the Greek Thanatos . He is the son of the goddess of night, Nyx, and is the brother of the personification of sleep, Hypnos....	Roman Roman mythology Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
Pluto Pluto (mythology) Pluto was the Roman god of the underworld, known in Latin as Tertius, the counterpart of the Greek Hades....	Roman Roman mythology Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
Orcus Orcus (mythology) Orcus was a god of the underworld, punisher of broken oaths in Italic and Roman mythology. He was more equivalent to the Roman Pluto than to the Greek Hades, and later identified with Dis Pater....	Roman Roman mythology Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
Dis Pater Dis Pater Dis Pater, or Dispater , was a Roman mythology and Celtic polytheism of the underworld, later subsumed by Pluto or Hades . Originally a chthonic god of riches, fertile agricultural land, and underground mineral wealth, he was later commonly equated with the Roman deities Pluto and Orcus , becoming an underworld....	Roman Roman mythology Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
Odin Odin Odin , is considered the chief ?sir in Norse paganism. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxons Woden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic Wodanaz or Wodanaz....	Norse Norse mythology Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
Hel Hel (being) In Norse mythology, Hel is a being that presides over a realm of the Hel , where she receives a portion of the dead. Hel is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson....	Norse Norse mythology Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
Freyja	Norse Norse mythology Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....

1984

In the universe of George Orwell's novel 1984, "Death Worship" was the common propagandistic English-language translation of the name of the governing philosophy of Eastasia

Eastasia

Eastasia may refer to:* Eastasia , a fictional superstate in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four* East Asia, a subregion of Asia...
(more accurately translated as "Obliteration of Self"). This ideology presumably made some allusion to Buddhist cultural concepts, but was functionally indistinguishable from the totalitarian "oligarchical collectivist" ideologies of the other two superpowers (Ingsoc

Ingsoc

In George Orwell's dystopia Nineteen Eighty-Four, Ingsoc is the ideologies of parties of the totalitarianism government of Oceania . Ingsoc is Newspeak for "English Socialism"....
in Oceania and "Neo-Bolshevism" in Eurasia).

Death deity

Occurrence

List of death deities

1984

See also

General