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.
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 perform the act of taking life or, more commonly, simply rule over the afterlife of that particular belief system. A single religion may have separate deities performing each tasks, as is seen in Greek mythology with Thanatos and Hades. The deity in question may be depicted as good, evil, or neutral and simply doing their job, in sharp contrast to modern portrayals of death deities (which tend to be villainizing due to prominent cultural fears surrounding death). The Greek underworld deity Hades is an especially common target due to Christian theology, in which the term "Hades" is typically interchangeable with "death" or "hell". The inclusion of such a "departmental" deity of death in a religion's pantheon is not necessarily a glorification of death.
Both male and female death deities are common, unlike those of other functions that tend to be one gender in particular; for example, fertility and earth deities are typically female, while storm deities are typically male. A single religion/mythology may have death gods of more than one gender existing at the same time, and they are often envisioned as a married couple ruling over the afterlife together, as seen with the Aztecs, Greeks, and Romans.
In monotheistic religions, a single god governs both life and death, as well as all other domains. This manifests as rituals and traditions that differ substantially with those of polytheistic religions, 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
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
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
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
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.
Persephone, queen of the underworld; wife of Hades and goddess of spring growth
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.
Batara Kala (Balinese mythology), god of the underworld in traditional Javanese and Balinese mythology, ruling over it in a cave along with Setesuyara. Batara Kala is also named the creator of light and the earth. He is also the god of time and destruction, who devours unlucky people. He is related to Hindu concept of Kāla. In mythology, he causes eclipses by trying to eat the Sun or the Moon.
Tagbayan (Ifugao mythology): divinities associated with death that feast on human souls that are guarded by two headed monsters called kikilan
Fulor (Ifugao mythology): a wood carved into an image of a dead person seated on a death chair; an antique which a spirit in it, who bring sickness, death, and unsuccessful crops when sacrifices are not offered
Kabunyan (Kalanguya mythology): the almighty creator; also referred to as Agmattebew, the spirit who could not be seen; the mabaki ritual is held in the deity's honor during planting, harvesting, birth and death of the people, and other activities for livelihood
Binangewan (Aeta mythology): spirits who bring change, sickness, and death as punishment
Aring Sinukûan (Kapampangan mythology): sun god of war and death, taught the early inhabitants the industry of metallurgy, wood cutting, rice culture and even waging war
Lakandánup (Kapampangan mythology): serpent goddess who comes during total eclipses; followed by famine; eats a person's shadow, which will result in withering and death; daughter of Áring Sínukuan and Dápu
Sidapa (Bisaya mythology): the goddess of death; co-ruler of the middleworld called Kamaritaan, together with Makaptan
Sidapa (Hiligaynon mythology): god who lives in the sacred Mount Madia-as; determines the day of a person's death by marking every newborn's lifespan on a very tall tree on Madya-as
Hangin (Hiligaynon mythology): the spirits of the death wind; takes the life of the elderly
Patag'aes (Suludnon mythology): awaits until midnight then enters the house to have a conversation with the living infant; if he discovers someone is eavesdropping, he will choke the child to death; their conversation creates the fate of the child, on how long the child wants to live and how the child will eventually die, where the child will always get to choose the answers; once done, Patag'aes takes out his measuring stick, computes the child's life span, and then departs, sealing the child's fate
Pamulak Manobo (Bagobo mythology): supreme deity who controls good harvest, rain, wind, life, and death; in some myths, the chief deity is simply referred as the male deity, Diwata
Malakal Maut (Maranao mythology): the angel of death; takes the souls of someone after three to seven days from the falling of the person's leaf from the sacred Sadiarathul Montaha tree in the realm called Sorga; appears either a handsome prince or a grotesque monsters, depending if the soul he is getting comes from a sinner or a virtuous person; punishes the souls of sinners until final judgment, while lifting up the souls of the good onto heaven
Kumakatok - hooded and cloaked harbingers of death that would knock on doors of the dying in Tagalog mythology
Magwayen - the goddess of afterlife and the first ocean deity, according to Visayan mythology. Known for being the goddess who collects souls and takes them to Sulad with her boat. The souls are initially transferred to her via Pandaki, who gets the soul from Sidapa.
Sitan - god and caretaker of the underworld realm for evil souls known as Kasamaan in Tagalog mythology. Maca, the realm of the good dead, is jointly ruled by Sitan and Bathala.
Manduyapit - bring souls across a red river in Manobo mythology
Mama Guayen - ferries souls to the end of the world in Ilonggo mythology
Badadum - deity in Waray mythology that gathers family members at the mouth of a river to make a farewell to the deceased
↑Alanamu, Temilola; Thomas, Douglas H., eds. (2011). African Religions: Beliefs and Practices through History (1sted.). Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN979-8-216-04348-5.
↑Prower, Tomás (2019). Morbid Magic: Death Spirituality and Culture from Around the World (1sted.). New York: Llewellyn Publications. p.119. ISBN978-0-7387-6062-9.
↑Falola, Toyin, ed. (2013). Èṣù: Yoruba god, power, and the imaginative frontiers. African world series. Durham, N.C: Carolina Academic Press. ISBN978-1-61163-222-4.
↑"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. ISBN0-520-23146-5
↑"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.
↑F. Wiggermann, Transtigridian Snake Gods [in:] I. L. Finkel, M. J. Geller (eds.), Sumerian Gods and their Representations, 1997, p. 34
12The 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.
123Jocano, F. L. (1969). Philippine Mythology. Quezon City: Capitol Publishing House Inc.
↑Bimmolog, H., Sallong, L., Montemayor, L. (2005). The Deities of the Animistic Religion of Mayaoyao, Ifugao.
↑Cayat, G. C. Manuscript on Kalanguya Cultural Communities. National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
↑Arbues, L. R. (1960). Philippine Sociological Review Vol. 8, No. 1/2: The Negritos as a Minority Group in the Philippines. Philippine Sociological Society.
↑Pangilinan, M. (2014–2020). An Introduction to the Kapampángan Language; Interview on Láwû. Sínúpan Singsing: Center for Kapampángan Cultural Heritage.
12Loarca, Miguel de. (1582) 1903. Relation of the Filipinas Islands. In Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands 5.
↑Jocano, F. L. (1968). Sulod Society. Quezon City: U.P. Press.
↑Talaguit, C. J. N. (2019). Folk-Islam in Maranao Society. History Department, De La Salle University – Manila.
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