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The Origin of the Grim Reaper!
10:56 Mar 30 2010
Times Read: 690

The Origin of the Grim Reaper

Scholars trace the origin of the Grim Reaper to ancient times where he was known as Cronus to the Greeks and Saturn to the Romans, but the Grim Reaper as he is depicted today comes directly to us from the Middle Ages and the Black Death.

According to William Bramley, author of Gods of Eden: "In Brandenburg, Germany, there appeared fifteen men with "fearful faces and long scythes, with which they cut the oats, so that the swish could be heard at great distance, but the oats remained standing. The visit of these men was followed immediately by a severe outbreak of plague in Brandenburg. Were the 'scythes' long instruments designed to spray poison or germ-laden gases?

"Strange men in black, demons, and other terrifying figures were observed in other European communities carrying 'brooms' or 'scythes' or 'swords' that were used to sweep or knock at people's doors. The inhabitants of these houses fell ill with plague afterwards. It is from these reports that people created the popular image of death as a skeleton, a demon, a man in a black robe carrying a scythe."

The History of the Grim Reaper

Death as a sentient entity is a concept that has existed in many societies since the beginning of history. In English, death is often given the name the "Grim Reaper" and from the 15th century onwards came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood. It is also given the name of the Angel of Death (Hebrew: מַלְאַךְ הַמָּוֶת‎ Malach HaMavet) stemming from the Bible.

In some cases, the Grim Reaper is able to actually cause the victim's death, leading to tales that he can be bribed, tricked, or outwitted in order to retain one's life. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving to sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the next world without having any control over the fact of the victim's death.

In many languages Death is personified in male form (English including), while in others it is perceived as a female character (for instance, in Slavic languages)

A Western depiction of Death as a skeleton carrying a scytheDeath as a sentient entity is a concept that has existed in many societies since the beginning of history. In English, death is often given the name the "Grim Reaper" and from the 15th century onwards came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood. It is also given the name of the Angel of Death (Hebrew: מַלְאַךְ הַמָּוֶת‎ Malach HaMavet) stemming from the Bible.

In some cases, the Grim Reaper is able to actually cause the victim's death, [1] leading to tales that he can be bribed, tricked, or outwitted in order to retain one's life. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving to sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the next world without having any control over the fact of the victim's death.

In many languages Death is personified in male form (English including), while in others it is perceived as a female character (for instance, in Slavic languages)

Indo-European folklore / mythology

Hellenic

Thanatos as a winged youth, c. 325–300 BC, at Temple of Artemis, EphesosAncient Greece found death to be inevitable, and therefore he is not represented as purely evil. He is often portrayed as a bearded and winged man, but has also been portrayed as a young boy. Death, or Thanatos is the counterpart of life; death being represented as male, and life as female. He is the twin brother of Hypnos, the god of sleep. He is typically shown with his brother, and is represented as being just and gentle. His job is to escort the deceased to the underworld Hades. He then hands the dead over to Charon (who by some accounts looks like the modern western interpretation of the Grim Reaper, having a skeletal body and black cloak), who mans the boat which carries them over the river Styx, which separates the land of the living from the land of the dead. It was believed that if the ferryman did not receive some sort of payment, the soul would not be delivered to the underworld, and left by 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. They were 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.

Germanic

In Germanic folklore Death was a guise of Odin. The 'Grim' of Grim Reaper being derived from Grimnir, a name for Odin.

Celtic

To the Welsh he is Angeu and Ankou to Bretons. He is regarded as a man in a hooded robe (invariably black) sometimes carrying a scythe.

Slavic

Old Slavic tribes viewed Death as a woman in white clothes, with a never-fading green sprout in her hand. The touch of the sprout would put a human to an everlasting sleep.

This image survived well into the Middle Ages, only being replaced by the more traditional Western European image of a walking skeleton as late as in the 15th century.

Poland

In Poland Death, or "Śmierć" is appeared to be like the normal Grim Reaper but instead of a black robe Death has a white robe. Many believe the Polish Death is a woman, but this is not true. In Poland Death is an "it" not a she.

Baltic

Lithuanians named Death Giltinė, deriving from word "gelti" (to sting). Giltinė was viewed as an old ugly woman with long blue nose and deadly poisonous tongue. The legend tells that Giltinė was young, pretty and communicative until she was trapped in a coffin for seven years. The goddess of Death was a sister of the goddess of Life and Destiny, Laima, symbolising the relationship between beginning and end.

Later, Lithuanians adopted the classic Grim Reaper with a scythe and black robe.

Hindu mythology

Yama, the Hindu lord of death, presiding over his court in hell.In Hindu scriptures the lord of death is called Yama, or Yamaraj (literally "the lord of death"). Yamaraj rides a black buffalo and carries a rope lasso to carry the soul back to his abode called "Yamalok". There are many forms of reapers, although some say there is only one whom disguises itself as a small child. It is his agents, the Yamaduts, who carry the souls back to Yamalok. Here, all the accounts of the person's good and bad deeds are stored and maintained by Chitragupta, which allow 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 devotee of Supreme Brahman.

Interestingly, Yama is also known as Dharmaraj or king of Dharma or justice. One reasoning is that justice is served equally to all – whether they are alive or dead, based on their karma or fate. This is further strengthened by the fact that Yudhishtra, the eldest of the pandavas and considered as the personification of justice, in Mahabharata was born due to Kunti's prayers to Yamaraj.

Japanese mythology/folklore

In Kojiki, after giving birth to the fire-god Hinokagutsuchi, the goddess Izanami dies from wounds of its fire and enters the perpetual night realm called Yominokuni that the gods thereto retire. After Izanagi, her husband, failed in the attempt to reclaim her from the land of Yomi (the underworld, to which he travels and discovers his wife as not-so beautiful anymore), in a brief argument with Izanagi, she claimed to take 1000 lives every day signifying her position as the goddess of death.

Another popular death personification is Enma (Yama), also known as 閻魔王 (Enma Ou) and 閻魔大王 (Enma Daiou) meaning "King Enma", or "Great King Enma" which are direct translations of Yama Rājā. He originated as 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, which makes him similar to Hades, and he decides whether someone dead goes to heaven or to hell. A common saying parents use in Japan to scold children is that Enma will cut off their tongue in the afterlife if they lie.

There are also death gods called shinigami, which are closer to the Western tradition of the Grim Reaper. Shinigami (often plural) are common in modern Japanese arts and fiction, and essentially absent from traditional mythology.

In Abrahamic religions

In the Bible, the fourth horseman of Revelation 6 is called Death, and is pictured with Hades following him. The "Angel of the Lord" smites 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp (II Kings xix. 35). When the Angel of Death passes through to smite the Egyptian first-born, God prevents "the destroyer" (shâchath) from entering houses with blood on the lintel and side posts (Exodus 12:23). The "destroying angel" ("mal'ak ha-mashḥit") rages among the people in Jerusalem (II Sam. xxiv. 16). In I Chronicle xxi. 15 the "angel of the Lord" is seen by King David standing "between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem." The biblical Book of Job (xxxiii. 22) uses the general term "destroyer" ("memitim"), which tradition has identified with "destroying angels" ("mal'ake Khabbalah") and Prov. xvi. 14 uses the term the "angels of death" ("mal'ake ha-mavet"). Azriel is sometimes referred as the angel of death, as well.

Memitim

La mort du fossoyeur (Death of the gravedigger) by Carlos SchwabeThe memitim are a type of angel from biblical lore associated with the mediation over the lives of the dying. The name is derived from the ancient Hebrew word, "mĕmītǐm," and refers to angels that brought about the destruction of those whom the guardian angels no longer protected.[2] While there may be some debate among religious scholars regarding the exact nature of the memitim, it is generally accepted that, as described in the Book of Job 33:22, they are killers of some sort.[3]

In Judaism

Form and functions

According to the Midrash, the angel of death was created by God on the first day[4]. His dwelling is in Heaven, whence he reaches earth in eight flights, whereas pestilence reaches it in one.[5] He has twelve wings.[6] "Over all people have I surrendered thee the power," said God to the angel of death, "only not over this one which has received freedom from death through the Law".[7] It is said of the angel of death that he is full of eyes. In the hour of death he stands at the head of the departing one with a drawn sword, to which clings a drop of gall. As soon as the dying man sees the angel, he is seized with a convulsion and opens his mouth, whereupon the angel throws the drop into it. This drop causes his death; he turns putrid, and his face becomes yellow.[8] The expression "to taste of death" originated in the idea that death was caused by a drop of gall.[9]

The soul escapes through the mouth, or, as is stated in another place, through the throat; therefore the angel of death stands at the head of the patient (Adolf Jellinek, l.c. ii. 94, Midr. Teh. to Ps. xi.). When the soul forsakes the body its voice goes from one end of the world to the other, but is not heard (Gen. R. vi. 7; Ex. R. v. 9; Pirḳe R. El. xxxiv.). The drawn sword of the angel of death, mentioned by the Chronicler (I. Chron. xxi. 15; comp. Job xv. 22; Enoch lxii. 11), indicates that the angel of death was figured as a warrior who kills off the children of men. "Man, on the day of his death, falls down before the angel of death like a beast before the slaughterer" (Grünhut, "Liḳḳuṭim", v. 102a). R. Samuel's father (c. 200) said: "The angel of death said to me, 'Only for the sake of the honor of mankind do I not tear off their necks as is done to slaughtered beasts'" ('Ab. Zarah 20b). In later representations the knife sometimes replaces the sword, and reference is also made to the cord of the angel of death, which indicates death by throttling. Moses says to God: "I fear the cord of the angel of death" (Grünhut, l.c. v. 103a et seq.). Of the four Jewish methods of execution three are named in connection with the angel of death: burning (by pouring hot lead down the victim's throat—similar to the drop of gall), slaughtering (by beheading), and throttling. The angel of death administers the particular punishment which God has ordained for the commission of sin.

A peculiar mantle ("idra"-according to Levy, "Neuhebr. Wörterb." i. 32, a sword) belongs to the equipment of the angel of death (Eccl. R. iv. 7). The angel of death takes on the particular form which will best serve his purpose; e.g., he appears to a scholar in the form of a beggar imploring pity (The beggar should receive Tzedakah.)(M. Ḳ. 28a). "When pestilence rages in the town, walk not in the middle of the street, because the angel of death [i.e., pestilence] strides there; if peace reigns in the town, walk not on the edges of the road. When pestilence rages in the town, go not alone to the synagogue, because there the angel of death stores his tools. If the dogs howl, the angel of death has entered the city; if they make sport, the prophet Elijah has come" (B. Ḳ. 60b). The "destroyer" ("saṭan ha-mashḥit") in the daily prayer is the angel of death (Ber. 16b). Midr. Ma'ase Torah (compare Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 98) says: "There are six angels of death: Gabriel over kings; Ḳapẓiel over youths; Mashbir over animals; Mashḥit over children; Af and Ḥemah over man and beast."

Death and Satan

Drawing of Death bringing cholera, in Le Petit Journal

Death on the Rail, 1873, a wood engraving from Harper's WeeklyThe angel of death, who is identified by some with Satan, immediately after his creation had a dispute with God as to the light of the Messiah (Pesiḳ. R. 161b). When Eve touched the tree of knowledge, she perceived the angel of death, and thought "Now I shall die, and God will create another wife for Adam".[10] Adam also had a conversation with the angel of death (Böklen, "Die Verwandtschaft der Jüdisch-Christlichen mit der Parsischen Eschatologie," p. 12). The angel of death sits before the face of the dead (Jellinek, l.c. ii. 94). While Abraham was mourning for Sarah the angel appeared to him, which explains why "Abraham stood up from before his dead".[11] Samael told Sarah that Abraham had sacrificed Isaac in spite of his wailing, and Sarah died of horror and grief.[12] It was Moses who most often had dealings with the angel. At the rebellion of Korah, Moses saw him (Num. R. v. 7; Bacher, l.c. iii. 333; compare Sanh. 82a). It was the angel of death in the form of pestilence which snatched away 15,000 every year during the wandering in the wilderness (ib. 70). When Moses reached heaven, the angel told him something (Jellinek, l.c. i. 61).

When the angel of death came to Moses and said, "Give me thy soul," Moses called to him: "Where I sit thou hast no right to stand." And the angel retired ashamed, and reported the occurrence to God. Again, God commanded him to bring the soul of Moses. The angel went, and, not finding him, inquired of the sea, of the mountains, and of the valleys; but they knew nothing of him.[13] Really, Moses did not die through the angel of death, but through God's kiss ("bi-neshiḳah"); i.e., God drew his soul out of his body (B. B. 17a; compare Abraham in Apocryphal and Rabbinical Literature, and parallel references in Böklen, l.c. p. 11). Legend seizes upon the story of Moses' struggle with the angel of death, and expands it at length (Tan., ed. Stettin, pp. 624 et seq.; Deut. R. ix., xi.; Grünhut, l.c. v. 102b, 169a). As Benaiah bound Ashmedai (Jew. Encyc. ii. 218a), so Moses binds the angel of death that he may bless Israel.[14]

Solomon once noticed that the angel of death was grieved. When questioned as to the cause of his sorrow he answered: "I am requested to take your two beautiful scribes." Solomon at once charged the demons to convey his scribes to Luz, where the angel of death could not enter. When they were near the city, however, they both died. The angel laughed on the next day, whereupon Solomon asked the cause of his mirth. "Because," answered the angel, "thou didst send the youths thither, whence I was ordered to fetch them" (Suk. 53a). In the next world God will let the angel of death fight against Pharaoh, Sisera, and Sennacherib.[15]

Scholars and the Angel of Death

Black Angel, Oakland Cemetery (Iowa City, Iowa).Talmud teachers of the fourth century associate quite familiarly with him. When he appeared to one on the street, the teacher reproached him with rushing upon him as upon a beast; whereupon the angel called upon him at his house. To another he granted a respite of thirty days, that he might put his knowledge in order before entering the next world. To a third he had no access, because he could not interrupt the study of the Talmud. To a fourth he showed a rod of fire, whereby he is recognized as the angel of death (M. K. 28a). He often entered the house of Bibi and conversed with him (Ḥag. 4b). Often he resorts to strategy in order to interrupt and seize his victim (B. M. 86a; Mak. 10a).

The death of Joshua ben Levi in particular is surrounded with a web of fable. When the time came for him to die and the angel of death appeared to him, he demanded to be shown his place in paradise. When the angel had consented to this, he demanded the angel's knife, that the angel might not frighten him by the way. This request also was granted him, and Joshua sprang with the knife over the wall of paradise; the angel, who is not allowed to enter paradise, caught hold of the end of his garment. Joshua swore that he would not come out, and God declared that he should not leave paradise unless he was absolved from his oath; if not absolved, he was to remain. The angel of death then demanded back his knife, but Joshua refused. At this point a heavenly voice ("bat ḳol") rang out: "Give him back the knife, because the children of men have need of it" (Ket. 77b; Jellinek, l.c. ii. 48-51; Bacher, l.c. i. 192 et seq.).

Rabbinic views

The Rabbis found the angel of death mentioned in Psalms lxxxix. 45 (A. V. 48), where the Targum translates: "There is no man who lives and, seeing the angel of death, can deliver his soul from his hand". Eccl. viii. 4 is thus explained in Midrash Rabbah to the passage: "One may not escape the angel of death, nor say to him, 'Wait until I put my affairs in order,' or 'There is my son, my slave: take him in my stead.'" Where the angel of death appears there is no remedy (Talmud, Ned. 49a; Hul. 7b). If one who has sinned has confessed his fault, the angel of death may not touch him (Midrash Tanhuma, ed. Buber, 139). God protects from the angel of death (Midrash Genesis Rabbah lxviii.).

By acts of benevolence the anger of the angel of death is overcome; when one fails to perform such acts the angel of death will make his appearance (Derek Ereẓ Zuṭa, viii.). The angel of death receives his order from God (Ber. 62b). As soon as he has received permission to destroy, however, he makes no distinction between good and bad (B. Ḳ. 60a). In the city of Luz the angel of death has no power, and when the aged inhabitants are ready to die they go outside the city (Soṭah 46b; compare Sanh. 97a). A legend to the same effect existed in Ireland in the Middle Ages (Jew. Quart. Rev. vi. 336).

In Christianity

Medieval painting of Death playing chess from Täby Church in SwedenDeath is, either as a metaphor, a personification or an actual being, referenced occasionally in the New Testament. One such personification is found in Acts 2:24 – "But God raised Him [Jesus] from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him". Later passages, however, are much more explicit. Romans 5 speaks of Death as having "reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses", and various passages in the Epistles speak of Christ's work on the Cross and His Resurrection as a confrontation with Death. Such verses include Rom. 6:9 and 2 Tim. 1:10.

Despite Jesus' victory over it, Death is still viewed as enduring in Scripture. 1 Cor. 15:26 asserts, "The last enemy to be destroyed is death", which implies that Death has not been destroyed once and for all. This assertion later proves true in the Book of Revelation.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews declares that Satan "holds the power of Death" (Heb. 2:14). It is written that the Son became human that by his death he might destroy the devil; this is the head of the Beast referred to as, "One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed" (Rev. 13:3) as well as the head of the serpent as preemptively referred to in Genesis 3:15 - "And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel". If the head that was fatally wounded but healed refers to Death, this accords with 2 Tim. 1:10, which states that Jesus "has destroyed death", and the implication that death was yet to be destroyed in 1 Cor. 15:26. The victory over death is also referred to as "Eternal Life"

The final destruction of Death is referenced by Paul in the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians; he says that after the general resurrection, the prophecies of Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 – "He will swallow up death forever", and "Where, O death, is your sting?" (Septuagint), will be fulfilled. According to Paul, the power of Death lies in sin, which is made possible by the Law, but God "gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." That victory over Death is also discussed in the Revelation of John.

A life sized figure of Santa Muerte stands outside a fortune teller's storefront in Mexico City's ChinatownIn the visions of John, Death is used as one of the metaphorical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Rev. 6:8 reads, "I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth". In Rev. 20:13-14, in the vision of judgment of the dead, it is written, "The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death." This describes the destruction of the last enemy. After this, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Rev. 21:4).

In Roman Catholicism, the archangel Michael is viewed as the good Angel of Death (as opposed to Samael, the evil Angel of Death), carrying the souls of the deceased to Heaven. There, he balances them in his scales (one of his symbols). He is said to give the dying souls the chance to redeem themselves before passing as well. In Mexico, a popular folk-Catholic belief regards the Angel of Death as a saint, known as Santa Muerte, but this local cultus is not acknowledged by the Church.

In Islam

Whilst the preceding Abrahamic religions offered little detail on the passage of souls from one dimension into another, Islam provided detailed information. Previously, the lack of scripture tended to categorize Death with the supernatural or evil, a natural consequence of humanity's fear over the unknown. However, with the onset of Islam, the concept of death as a celebratory event as opposed to one to be dreaded became manifest. It is the passage of the everlasting soul into a closer dimension to its creator that is seen as a point of joy, rather than misery, obvious mortal grief and sadness not withstanding. Indeed, the Islamic prophet Muhammad demonstrated that grief was an acceptable form of what makes us human, however prolonged mourning at the expense of the living is inappropriate, especially in the light of the transition from one world to the next.

Death is represented by Azra'il, one of Allah's archangels in the Quran:

6:93: "If thou couldst see, when the wrong-doers reach the pangs of death and the angels stretch their hands out, saying: Deliver up your souls."

32:11: "Say: The Angel of Death, who hath charge concerning you, will gather you and afterward unto your Lord ye will be returned."

The irony of the Angel of Death refers to his involvement in the creation of life. In these verses the Angel of Death and his assistants are sent to take the soul of those destined to die. Who is the Angel of Death? When God wanted to create Adam, he sent one of the Angels of the Throne to bring some of the Earth's clay to fashion Adam from it. When the angel came to earth to take the clay, the earth told him: "I beseech you by the One Who sent you not to take anything from me to make someone who will be punished one day." When the angel returned empty-handed, God asked him why he did not bring back any clay. The angel said: "The earth besought me by Your greatness not to take anything from it." Then God sent another angel, but the same thing happened, and then another, until God decided to send Azra'il, the Angel of Death. The earth spoke to him as it had spoken to the others, but Azra'il said: "Obedience to God is better than obedience to you, even if you beseech me by His greatness." And Azra'il took clay from the Earth's east and its west, its north and its south, and brought it back to God. God poured some water of paradise on this clay and it became soft, and from it He created Adam.

He is mistakenly known by the name of "Izrail" (not to be confused with Israel, which is a name in Islam solely for Prophet Ya'qoob/Jacob), since the name Izrael isn't mentioned in the Quran nor Hadith, the English form of which is Azra'il. He 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. This is a process whose aspect varies depending on the nature and past deeds of the individual in question, and it is known that the Angel of death is also accompanied by helpers or associates.

Apart from the characteristics and responsibilities he has in common with other angels in Islam, little else concerning Angel of death can be derived from fundamental Muslim texts. Many references are made in various Muslim legends, however, some of which are included in books authored by Muslim poets and mystics. For instance, the following tale is related in the Naqshbandi order of Sufism on the practicalities of sweeping up human souls from the expanse of the earth:

The Prophet Abraham once asked Azra'il who has two eyes in the front of his head and two eyes in the back: "O Angel of Death! What do you do if one man dies in the east and another in the west, or if a land is stricken by the plague, or if two armies meet in the field?" The angel said: "O Messenger of God! the names of these people are inscribed on the lawh al-mahfuz: It is the 'Preserved Tablet' on which all human destinies are engraved. I gaze at it incessantly. It informs me of the moment when the lifetime of any living being on earth has come to an end, be it one of mankind or one of the beasts. There is also a tree next to me, called the Tree of Life. It is covered with myriads of tiny leaves, smaller than the leaves of the olive-tree and much more numerous. Whenever a person is born on earth, the tree sprouts a new leaf, and on this leaf is written the name of that person. It is by means of this tree that I know who is born and who is to die. When a person is going to die, his leaf begins to wilt and dry, and it falls from the tree onto the tablet. Then this person's name is erased from the Preserved Tablet. This event happens forty days before the actual death of that person. We are informed forty days in advance of his impending death. That person himself may not know it and may continue his life on earth full of hope and plans. However, we here in the heavens know and have that information. That is why God has said: 'Your sustenance has been written in the heavens and decreed for you,' and it includes the life-span. The moment we see in heaven that leaf wilting and dying we mix it into that person's provision, and from the fortieth day before his death he begins to consume his leaf from the Tree of Life without knowing it. Only forty days then remain of his life in this world, and after that there is no provision for him in it. Then I summon the spirits by God's leave, until they are present right before me, and the earth is flattened out and left like a dish before me, from which I partake as I wish, by God's order."

Sikhism

In Sikhism, the Death is portrayed as being one of God's angels often used as a personification for the bringer of Death and one of Waheguru's (God's) servants. Some of Guru Nanak's Hymns display that in the fourth watch of the night, (Old age) The angel of Death will snatch thy soul and no one will know of the mysteries of where you have gone. Said by Guru Nanak, after that moment all your wailing will be of no use before God's Kingdom in Heaven. According to a collection of prophecies in Sikh holy book of Dasam Granth Sahib, in future, when Mankind will sink in sins and there will very little hope for God's rule on Earth. Then God shall order Death to take birth in human form on Earth and tell It to kill all sinners of Earth. Those who will have had God's name engraved in their hearts shall be left unharmed.

In popular fiction

Death in The Seventh Seal (1957)A personified character of Death has recurred many times in popular fiction. The character can be found in early pieces, such as the fifteenth century morality play Everyman.

In the present day, death is portrayed in many mediums of popular fiction. One of the most iconic portrayals is that of the 1957 film The Seventh Seal, by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. It is an influential (and heavily symbolic) movie depicting one of the most famous moments in the portrayal of Death. In the movie, a medieval knight returning from a crusade plays a game of chess with Death, with the knight's life depending upon the outcome of the game. American film critic Roger Ebert remarked that this image "[is] so perfect it has survived countless parodies."[16]

Death also appears as a very important antagonist in the Castlevania series, being Count Dracula's second-in-command and appears in every single Castlevania game. He is usually a boss near the end of the game. In the series, Death's motto seems to usually be "You will go no further".

Death is also personified in the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday with Frederic March, and its 1998 remake, Meet Joe Black, with Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt.

An atypical personification of Death appears in The Sandman, a series of comic books written by Neil Gaiman, in which Death, one of the Endless, is depicted as a woman whose image and attire change to match with the human styles of the times.[17][18]

Another appearance of Death in popular fiction, is in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of novels. The character of Death has appeared in almost every one of the series' 36 books. Donal Clarke of the Irish Times called Death the most famous of Pratchett's characters and said that this version is "somewhat less fearsome than the version of the character in, say, Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal."[19]

In the cartoon, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Death, called the Grim Reaper or Grim, was forced to be a friend and servant to two kids for eternity after they'd beaten him in a bet.

Death is the primary antagonist in the Final Destination series, coming in the form of overly complex freak accidents to kill off the survivors of a major accident in the beginning, in the order that they would have died in the original accident; if somebody intervenes in a person's death, then Death would skip that person and move on to the next before returning to that person to complete the rift in its design, although the order has been shown to reverse itself. Death would leave clues as to how the next person will die in the form of omens found in commonplace objects, such as advertisements and even photos.

COMMENTS

evilsmiles
12:15 Mar 31 2010

really interesting stuff here

Bloodmother
17:34 Mar 31 2010

This could go in the articles section of vr, with proper citation.

German Vampires
10:53 Mar 30 2010
Times Read: 691

German Vampires:

Germany had mainly two names for vampires: Nachtzehrer ("night waster") used in Northern Germany and Blutsauger ("bloodsucker") used in Southern Germany and Bavaria. The Nachtzehrer was similar to the Slavic vampire in that it was known to be a recently deceased person who returned from the grave to attack family and village acquaintances. It usually originated from an unusual death such as a person who died by suicide or accident. They were also associated with epidemic sickness, such as whenever a group of people died from the same disease, the person who died first was labeled to be the cause of the group's death. Another belief was that if a person's name was not removed from his burial clothing, that person would be a candidate for becoming a Nachtzehrer.

Nachtzehrers:

Nachtzehrers were believed to chew on their own extremities and cloths until they had been satiated. They would then rise out of their graves and devour the bodies of others like ghouls. They were often accompanied by the corpse of a woman who had died during childbirth. If the vampire had been buried in a coffin, the corpse would be found lying in pools of blood because he had gorged himself to the point where he could not retain all the blood he had consumed.

Blutsaugers

In Bavaria, people who were not baptized Roman Catholic, were involved in witchcraft, lived an immoral life, or committed suicide became Blutsaugers. Those that ate the meat of an animal killed by a wolf, or had an animal or nun jump/step over their grave also were likely candidates. They were pale in color and resembled zombies.

Bavarians protected themselves by smearing garlic over their doors and windows and placing hawthorn around their houses. Those residents with a black dog could paint an extra set of eyes on the animal, which was also thought to ward off vampires. Blutsauger could be killed by driving a stake though their heart and stuffing garlic in their mouths.

As among the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe, the vampire has had a long history in Germany, and the German vampire has closely resembled the Slavic vampire By the tenth-century Slavic expansion had reached into the land along the Jeetze River and through the eastern half of Germany. Slavic and Germanic people have mixed together through to the modern era. Thus, vampires in the region were difficult to distinguish from those of their neighbors such as the Kushubian people of northern Poland The most well known of the German vampires was the Nachtzehrer, or "night waster," the vampire of northern Germany. The southern German (Bavarian) equivalent was the Blautsauger, literally "bloodsucker," a term used in popular speech to describe disagreeable people. Other literary references to vampires, mostly modern descriptive names, also appear as Nachttoter or "night killer" and Neuntoter or "killer of nine." Like the Slavic vampire, the Nachtzehrer was a revenant (a recently deceased person returned from the grave to attack the living, usually family and village acquaintances).

Also like the Slavic vampire, the Nachtzehrer originated from unusual death circumstances. A person who died suddenly from suicide or an accident was a candidate for vampirism. Similar to the vjesci of Poland, a child born with a caul (an amniotic membrane that covers the face of some babies) was destined to become a vampire, especially if the caul was red. The Nachtzehrer was also associated with epidemic sickness. When a group of people died from the same disease, survivors often identified the first to die as the cause of the other's death. Among the characteristics of the Nachtzehrer was the belief that if a person's name was not removed from his or her burial clothing that person might return as a vampire.

In the tomb, Nachtzehrers were known for their habit of chewing on their own extremities and clothes (a belief likely derived from the finding of bodies that had been subject to predator damage after being buried in a shallow grave without a coffin). Thus, their faces would be intact, but their hands and other appendages would appear cut open and devoured. The activity of the vampire in the grave continued until he ceased consuming his body and his clothes. The vampires would then rise and, like ghouls, eat the bodies of others, often accompanied by the corpse of a woman who had died in childbirth. Their deeds were traced by a sucking sound attributed to the woman nursing a baby. When their coffins (those who were wealthy enough to have been buried in one) were opened, the Nachtzehrers were found laying in pools of blood, because the vampires gorged themselves to the point that they could not retain all of the blood they had consumed.

To prevent the vampire from attacking, various preventive measures were proposed. Some people placed a clump of earth under the vampires' chins; others placed a coin or stone in their mouths; still others tied a handkerchief tightly around their necks. As a more drastic measure, people cut off the potential Nachtzehrer's head, drove a spike into its mouth to pin the head to the ground, or fixed the tongue into place.

Some belief in the vampire also survived in rural Germany. Affons Schweiggert investigated the Blautsauger of Bavaria in the 1980s. He not only found that the belief in vampires continued to exist, but several unique aspects of that belief existed as well. In appearance, the Blautsauger was pale in color and resembled the description of a zombie.

COMMENTS

The Future of Vampires....??
10:33 Mar 25 2010
Times Read: 1,234

Scientists predict that in the next twenty years, they will have figured out how to keep us alive and young for 150-200 years. What will this longer life span mean for vampires? Will they become obsolete as we enjoy our own extended long lives? They are slowly being undermined as sexual creatures as more an more people live out their fantasies in a less strict society. Will we ever see a day when humans don't need a vampire?

Vampires have evolved as successfully as humans have. After the fall of the Roman Empire the domination of Islam and Christianity over the previously pagan world should have marked the end of bloody rituals and dark gods. But superstitions– most of them originating from pagan beliefs– and a Church's crafty use of demons and vampires as conversion tools evolved the vampire into the walking corpse, a step closer to humanity. With the loss of control by the Church, education increasing and the industrial and scientific revolution, the vampire again faced extinction. But with the sexual repression of the Victorian Era in full swing, the vampire fell into its new role easily. Now, with a new step in human evolution approaching, the vampire will have to again adapt.

The vampire will most likely fall back into the role of a deity again. We can already see this happening in our disenchanted and faithless society. People, unhappy with their choices of religion, which can't seem to keep up with science and society, are making their own religion, which sometimes involves old-style pagan rituals and sharing blood as a way to bond members together. Vampires will survive, because, after all, they are immortal.

COMMENTS

Valentine
11:04 Mar 25 2010

The human body starts dying at 20. Finding a way to make us live longer is pointless. We already do a great job killing each other!

Gordon
12:27 Apr 13 2010

I do have a small Journal Entry that does somewhat explain in little detail, about Vampires&OccultInfo and the history.

Vampires of The Dark Ages Period
10:31 Mar 25 2010
Times Read: 1,235

The european vampire who appeared in Europe during the dark ages was an explanation for Death. A village suffered from a disease or death or, as is more often the case, a series of deaths. These events were mysterious, in the sense that there were no physical causes known to the villagers that could be offered to account for them.

Often times such deaths were attributed to vampires, which were corpses that came to the victims at night, attacking them, often times sucking their blood to the point of death. The way to stop the vampire was to either use various precautions to prevent it from entering the home, or to actually destroy the vampire itself. This was usually done by digging up graves, searching for corpses that showed signs of being a vampire. Although these signs varied, they usually included characteristics indicating consumption of blood and/or lack of decay (i.e. red lips, flushed cheeks, bloated figures, etc.).

A vampire corpse, once identified was disposed of in a certain prescribed way. Frequent methods used were decapitation of the corpse, removal of its heart, impaling of the heart with a special sharp object, cremation, or some combination of these acts. By these methods, the vampire was found and eliminated. Attributing the deaths to a vampire is the only thing explaining the fatalities, since there was no known physical cause at the time. By doing this, the villagers could take a course of action to stop the deaths.

If vampires did not exist, nothing would explain these deaths and people would feel helpless, since they would not have known what to do. In other words, by attributing a cause to the terrible event, a course of action could be taken to make things better. In this case, the vampire is that cause, or a scapegoat for the deaths. It is feared because of this, yet steps can be taken to destroy the vampire, and stop the deaths. Thus, in the minds of the Slavs, the vampire was an anxiety reliever since it was a scapegoat for a fearful event, which could be destroyed.

Today, we have medical science to explain diseases and epidemics, and this function of the vampire is gone. We may still be afraid of having a disease, but now we turn to a doctor, not a vampire, to explain. Thus, although the image of the vampire among the Slavs remains with us, there is no room for its previous social role in our society.

Consequently, we can conclude that the pre-existing social role of the vampire image was that of a scapegoat. With this established, we are ready to investigate the role of the vampire in today's society, and determine upon our findings whether a shift in its social role did take place, and if so, to explain the causes of that transformation.

COMMENTS

Sex and Vampires
07:42 Mar 25 2010
Times Read: 1,245

Of all the monsters of fiction, the only one primaly associated with sex is the vampire

Nonetheless, the vampire of folklore was not a sexually attractive figure; he was a dead man who fed on blood, a monster about as attractive as a zombie. Bram Stoker changed all that with his novel, Dracula.

Stoker used the vampire as a metaphor for the Victorian view of sex as innately dangerous. In Dracula, sex with the Count transformed women into seductive sirens and horrific baby killers – the opposite of the Victorian ideal of chaste and nurturing womanhood. Originally, only female vampires were especially beautiful. Lamias and other such spirit-like vampires were always ugly in their true form, but had the ability to shift their appearance to that of a beautiful maiden, in order to lure men to them.

With the coming of the Victorian age, both the male and female vampire became beautiful and both exhibited a sexual appetite, though both vampire and vampiress retained the beauty as only a facade. The penetration of skin by sharp canine teeth easily evokes both violence and eroticism. In anger or distress the vampire still revealed its ugly, more corpse-like side.

In the modern psyche, women have unconsciously adopted vampires as an archetype for the dangerous male. When a woman has sex with a mortal man, she risks pregnancy and social shame. When she has sex with a vampire, she risks actual death. In both cases, women take the chance in trusting men who may not be trustworthy. In the vampire, so many male attributes are exaggerated, from physical strength to sexuality.

Today our vampires still retain those traits, played up even more. But still the vampire can show that evil, ugly side. The vampire, while always a nuisance and a evil to society, has grown even more callous in his vanity, perhaps to show the evil associated with pride and absolute power.

COMMENTS

Aracon
08:29 Mar 25 2010

A very interesting read. I agree that the predatory nature of the archetypal vampyre is somewhat emphasised by the modern psyche. Through the 14th through the 17th centuries, in renaissance times the vampyre was greatly more appealing in all aspects including appearance, nature and grace.

The History of Vampire Blood drinking
07:39 Mar 25 2010
Times Read: 1,246

Perhaps the single most notorious characteristic of the vampire is his penchant for drinking blood. Most dead creatures (ghosts, demons …) in the Indo-European and Semitic world are considered thirsty, not just vampires. While some dead were content with any liquid offered, vampires almost always choose blood.

Alan Dundes suggests that aging and dying are correlated to dehydrating; the same way a ripe plum shrivels into a prune. He further hypothesizes that people, therefore, assumed that the dead would be thirsty since they are dried out. This belief led to the practice of pouring libations on graves to appease the dead. This belief was later applied to vampires who went looking for their offerings.

Another answer is that the dead's craving for liquids is not merely to regain the appearance of youth, but to give them life again, blood being the supreme elixir of life.

Blood both fascinates us and repulses us; it simultaneously represents purity and impurity, the sacred and the profane, life and death. Little wonder then that it is heavily used in religious, magic rituals as well as art creation.

When shamanism is associated with women, blood letting during menstruation is an important part of 'walking with the spirits'. Followers of the cult of Kali in India often drink blood. Sisir Das, a practitioner of Hindu occult rituals, drank the goats' blood of 207 sacrificed goats at the Kali temple in Bengal's Midnapore district over the course of four days.

Throughout history the many liquid substances (milk, honey and wine) offered in sacrifice to the dead, to spirits and to gods, were symbols of blood. Sacrificial blood was itself obtained from animals in classical times, and from human sacrifice among Asians, Africans, aboriginal Americans, and from prehistoric Europeans.

In a similar fashion, the history of art is full of images of blood, from the representations of wounded animals in the cave paintings of Lascaux to the most recent representations of extreme Body Art.

In his book 'Violence and the Sacred', Rene Girards' theory of sacrifice states,

"The physical metamorphoses of spilt blood can stand for the double nature of violence...Blood serves to illustrate that the same substance can stain or cleanse, contaminate or purify, drive men to fury and murder or appease their anger and restore them to life"

Blood plays an important role in the modern vampyre subculture. Some clans partake of blood drinking and bloodletting. A group of members who imbibe blood are referred to as a "feeding circle" and as opposed to media articles they do not bite each other on the neck but usually use razor blades to make cuts into each other’s bodies and suck the blood from those cuts.

Some other popular customs of vampire clans include fetishism, sadomasochism and bondage. This is inspired by the myth of the Vampyre as hunter. Participants are referred to as Regnant (master) and Thrall (slave). The "safe word" that interrupts every S/M play is substituted by a "True Name" for vampyres. That means that if someone knows the (chosen) True Name of a vampyre, he or she has power over their action (and therefore can stop it).

Blood is the vital element of the vampire; he cannot survive without feeding with fresh blood. As every myth, the vampire is related to the eternal struggle between Life and Death, Good and Evil and it is no wonder if we find a lot of parallel between the Myth of the Vampire and Christian symbols.

It is the reason why the vampire's blood-drinking habits are not only considered a perversity of human morality, but also of Christianity.

At Communion, the priest recites the following before giving wine– symbolic of blood– to the congregation:

“The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ's Blood was shed for thee and be thankful.”

The vampire’s communion is an inversion of the Christian’s one. Rather than drinking Christ's immortal blood, the vampire drinks the blood of the mortal. Rather enjoying his eternal life in the hereafter, he spends it on earth.

COMMENTS

Aracon
08:34 Mar 25 2010

Fascinating. Shamanism, moreso tribal or primeval shamanism has been known to practice as you've stated above. Including the fact that Menses is also used during particular rites. The feeding upon the life force, the blood of a mortal, is infact quite empowering, almost euphoric in most regards, therefore giving an illusion of immortality.

Vampire friendly USA States/Cities
07:13 Mar 25 2010
Times Read: 1,248

CALIFORNIA

San Francisco, CA

Los Angeles, CA

San Diego, CA

Sacramento, CA

San jose, CA

Marina, CA

NEW YORK

Rochester, NY

Ithaca, NY

Manhattan, NYC, NY

LOUISIANA

NEW ORLEANS #1,

Alabama

Montgomery,

ARIZONA

Sedona,

KANSAS

Wichita, KS

Colorado

Grand Junction, CO

Florida

Miami, FL

Massachuesettes

Boston, MA

NEVADA

Las Vegas, NV

OHIO

bellaire

OKLAHOMA

Enid,

OREGON

Portland,

TENNESSEE

Nashville,

TEXAS

Austin

Houston

COMMENTS

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