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Psychopompos
Psychopomps (from the Greek word , , literally meaning the 'guide of souls') are creatures, spirits, angels, demons, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afterlife. Their role is not to judge the deceased, but simply to guide them. Appearing frequently on funerary art, psychopomps have been depicted at different times and in different cultures as anthropomorphic entities, horses, deer, dogs, whip-poor-wills, ravens, crows, vultures, owls, sparrows, and cuckoos. In the case of birds, these are often seen in huge masses, waiting outside the home of the dying. Overview Ancient religion Classical examples of a psychopomp are the ancient Egyptian god Anubis, the deity Pushan in Hinduism, the Greek ferryman Charon, the goddess Hecate, and god Hermes,RADULOVI, IFIGENIJA; VUKADINOVI, SNEŽANA; SMIRNOVBRKI, ALEKSANDRA – Hermes the Transformer Ágora. Estudos Clássicos em debate, núm. 17, 2015, pp. 45–62 Universidad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermes
Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quickly and freely between the worlds of the mortal and the divine aided by his winged sandals. Hermes plays the role of the psychopomp or "soul guide"—a conductor of souls into the afterlife. In myth, Hermes functions as the emissary and messenger of the gods, and is often presented as the son of Zeus and Maia, the Pleiad. He is regarded as "the divine trickster", about which the '' Homeric Hymn to Hermes'' offers the most well-known account. Hermes's attributes and symbols include the herma, the rooster, the tortoise, satchel or pouch, talaria (winged sandals), and winged helmet or simple petasos, as well as the palm tree, goat, the number four, several kinds of fish, and incense. However, his main symbol is the ''caduceus'', a wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanth
Vanth is a chthonic figure in Etruscan mythology shown in a variety of forms of funerary art, such as in tomb paintings and on sarcophagi. Background Vanth is a female entity in the Etruscan underworld that is often accompanied either by additional Vanth figures or by another underworld entity, Charun (later referred to as ''Charu''). Both Vanth and Charun are only seen in iconography beginning c. 400 BC, in the middle period of Etruscan art, although some earlier inscriptions mention her name. Vanth has no direct counterpart in Greek mythology, although her depiction as a winged figure has led to comparisons with the Greek Furies, the Erinyes, especially in older publications. This is an unlikely association since she is almost always shown in Etruscan iconography to be a benevolent guide, not an avenging spirit, which the Furies often represent. Her other attributes include the possession of a torch, key, or scroll, and she is shown often to be bare-chested with cross-straps ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charon (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon ( ; ) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the worlds of the living and the dead. Archaeology confirms that, in some burials, low-value coins known generically as Charon's obols were placed in, on, or near the mouth of the deceased, or next to the cremation urn containing their ashes. This has been taken to confirm that at least some aspects of Charon's mytheme are reflected in some Greek and Roman funeral practices, or else the coins function as a viaticum for the soul's journey. In Virgil's epic poem, ''Aeneid'', the dead who could not pay the fee, and those who had received no funeral rites, had to wander the near shores of the Styx for one hundred years before they were allowed to cross the river. Charon also ferried the living mortals Heracles and Aeneas to the underworld and back again. Name origins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NAMA Hermès & Myrrhinè
Nama or NAMA may refer to: Biology * NAMA (gene), a long non-coding RNA gene * ''Nama'' (plant), a genus of plants in the family Boraginaceae * N-Acetylmuramic acid, a component of bacterial cell walls * North American Mycological Association, a learned society devoted to mushrooms and other fungi Companies * Nama Chemicals, a Saudi Arabian industrial company * Nama (department store), a chain of department stores in Slovenia and a chain of department stores in Croatia Food * Nama bīru, Japanese term for draught beer * Nama (wine), used by the Greek Orthodox in the Divine Liturgy Geology * Nama Group, group of stratigraphic sequences in Namibia * Nama assemblage, final Ediacaran biotic assemblage Politics * National Asset Management Agency, Irish government agency dealing with land and property development loans * Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action, policies regarding greenhouse gas emissions * Non-Agricultural Market Access, the question of non-agricultural market ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Folk Religion
Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ancestors, and worship devoted to Chinese deities and immortals, deities and immortals, who can be deities of places or natural phenomena, of human behaviour, or progenitors of Chinese kin, family lineages. Stories surrounding these gods form a loose canon of Chinese mythology. By the Song dynasty (960–1279), these practices had been Religious syncretism, blended with Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist teachings to form the popular religious system which has lasted in many ways until the present day. The government of China, government of modern China generally tolerates popular religious organizations, but has suppressed or persecuted those that they fear would undermine social stability. After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, governments ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Impermanence
Impermanence, also known as the philosophical problem of change, is a philosophical concept addressed in a variety of religions and philosophies. In Eastern philosophy it is notable for its role in the Buddhism, Buddhist three marks of existence. It is also an important element of Hinduism. In Western philosophy it is most famously known through its first appearance in Greek philosophy in the writings of Heraclitus and in his doctrine of Panta rhei (Heraclitus), ''panta rhei'' (everything flows). In Western philosophy the concept is also referred to as ''Becoming (philosophy), ''becoming''. Indian religions The Pali word for impermanence, ''anicca'', is a compound word consisting of ''"a"'' meaning non-, and ''"nicca"'' meaning "constant, continuous, permanent". While 'nicca' is the concept of continuity and permanence, 'anicca' refers to its exact opposite; the absence of permanence and continuity. The term is synonymous with the Sanskrit term ''anitya'' (a + nitya). The conc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heibai Wuchang
The Heibai Wuchang, or Hak Bak Mo Seong, literally "Black and White Impermanence", are two deities in Chinese folk religion in charge of escorting the spirits of the dead to the underworld. As their names suggest, they are dressed in black and white respectively. They are subordinates of Yanluo Wang, the Supreme Judge of the Underworld in Chinese mythology, alongside the Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced Hell Guards. They are worshiped as fortune deities and are also worshiped in City God Temples in some countries. In some instances, the Heibai Wuchang are represented as a single being – instead of two separate beings – known as the Wuchang Gui, literally "Ghost of Impermanence". Depending on the person it encounters, the Wuchang Gui can appear as either a fortune deity who rewards the person for doing good deeds or a malevolent deity who punishes the person for committing evil. Alternative names In folklore, the White Guard's name is Xie Bi'an (), which can be interpreted a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Etruscan Religion
Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and Religion in ancient Rome, religion. As the Etruscan civilization was gradually assimilated into the Roman Republic from the 4th century BC, the Etruscan religion and mythology were partially incorporated into ancient Roman culture, following the Roman tendency to absorb some of the local gods and customs of conquered lands. The first attestations of an Etruscan religion can be traced back to the Villanovan culture. History Greek influence Greek traders brought their religion and hero figures with them to the coastal areas of the central Mediterranean. Odysseus, Menelaus and Diomedes from the Homeric tradition were recast in tales of the distant past that had them roaming the lands West of Greece. In Greek tradition, Heracles wandered these western areas, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morana (goddess)
Morana (in Czech, Slovene, Bosnian, Croatian and Montenegrin), Morena (in Slovak and Macedonian), Mora (in Bulgarian), Mara (in Ukrainian), Morė (in Lithuanian), Marena (in Russian), or Marzanna (in Polish) is a pagan Slavic goddess associated with seasonal rites based on the idea of death and rebirth of nature. She is an ancient goddess associated with winter's death, rebirth and dreams. In ancient Slavic rites, the death of the Goddess Morana at the end of winter becomes the rebirth of Spring of the Goddess Kostroma (Russian), Lada or Vesna representing the coming of Spring. Some medieval Christian sources such as the Czech 13th century Mater Verborum compare her to the Greek goddess Hecate, associating her with sorcery. 15th century Polish chronicler Jan Długosz likened her in his ''Annales'' to Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture (together with another Slavic goddess Dziewanna). In modern times, the rituals associated with Marzanna have lost their sacred charac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slavs
The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and Northern Asia, though there is a large Slavic minority scattered across the Baltic states and Central Asia, and a substantial Slavic diaspora in the Americas, Western Europe, and Northern Europe. Early Slavs lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately from the 5th to the 10th century AD), and came to control large parts of Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe between the sixth and seventh centuries. Beginning in the 7th century, they were gradually Christianized. By the 12th century, they formed the core population of a number of medieval Christian states: East Slavs in the Kievan Rus', South Slavs in the Bulgarian Empire, the Principality of Serbia, the Duchy of Croatia and the Banate of B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xolotl
In Aztec mythology, Xolotl () was a god of fire and lightning. He was commonly depicted as a dog-headed man and was a soul-guide for the dead. He was also god of twins, monsters, death, misfortune, sickness, and deformities. Xolotl is the canine brother and twin of Quetzalcoatl, the pair being sons of the virgin Chimalma. He is the dark personification of Venus, the evening star, and was associated with heavenly fire. The axolotl is named after him. Myths and functions Xolotl was the sinister god of monstrosities who wears the spirally-twisted wind jewel and the ear ornaments of Quetzalcoatl. His job was to protect the sun from the dangers of the underworld. As a double of Quetzalcoatl, he carries his conch-like ehecailacacozcatl or wind jewel. Xolotl accompanied Quetzalcoatl to Mictlan, the land of the dead, or the underworld, to retrieve the bones from those who inhabited the previous world (Nahui Atl) to create new life for the present world, Nahui Ollin, the sun of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aztec Mythology
Aztec mythology is the body or collection of myths of the Aztec civilization of Central Mexico. The Aztecs were a culture living in central Mexico and much of their mythology is similar to that of other Mesoamerican cultures. According to legend, the various groups who became the Aztecs arrived from the North into the Valley of Mexico, Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco. The location of this valley and lake of destination is clear – it is the heart of modern Mexico City – but little can be known with certainty about the origin of the Aztec. There are different accounts of their origin. In the myth, the ancestors of the Mexica/Aztec were one of seven groups that came from a place in the north called Aztlan, to make the journey southward, hence their name "Azteca." Other accounts cite their origin in Chicomoztoc, "the place of the seven caves", or at Tamoanchan (the legendary origin of all civilizations). The Mexica/Aztec were said to be guided by their war-god Huitzil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
