The History of the Grim Reaper & the Deities of Death Around the World

foreign there are few figures as recognizable as the Grim Reaper when it comes to the idea of death but where did this skeletal figure shrouded in dark robes carrying a scythe even come from why is this the image so many of us associate with death what better way to find out than by examining the history of the Grim Reaper and The Many deities of death from all around the world today's video has been made possible by wandrium for those who have been around you will know that I've been using one dream for several years now and I think it's a great educational tool and resource for those who are new wandrium has joined forces with a Great Courses plus to create a bigger better and more immersive educational experience than before there are thousands of lectures documentaries courses and videos for everyone the ever-growing library means there are always new topics whether you're looking for a quick how-to or just some mind-blowing facts you can learn at the pace that suits you best in the comfort of your own home on pretty much any device one dream have launched a new series titled traveling the Roman Empire there are all sorts of mentions of Cults and deities that were worshiped in ancient Rome The Cult of mithras being one I was very happy to learn more about the show doesn't just cover Roman architecture engineering and history within Italy it covers numerous other countries that were occupied by the Roman Empire spanning across Eastern Europe the Middle East and Africa the show is a fascinating watch for anyone with an interest in history or ancient Rome if you'd like to try one dream for yourself you can visit wondrium.com mythology or you can use my link in the description to start your free trial today when we imagine the Grim Reaper we often see him as a man however it was very common in numerous parts of the world for death to also be personified as a woman in Spanish Italian and french-speaking countries it's not uncommon to see literature and art depicting these Reapers as female the images themselves vary wildly from beautiful and ugly to young and old in England and Germany during the Middle Ages death was personified as an animated skeleton with a scythe which would collect the souls of the dying and those who had already passed in Poland death is also a skeletal figure however it takes the form of a female and so instead of the black robes we associate with the Grim Reaper death here is an elderly woman in white rose the term Grim Reaper first appeared in English in 1847 in the book titled the circle of human life which was translated from the previous German version by August otherwise known as the tunes of Christian devotion we know the Grim Reaper is just one of the many personifications of death but how did his image become so recognizable for that we have to go back to the 14th century when one third of Europe's population and a tenth of the global population had fallen victim to the plague an epidemic many consider to be one of the worst we've ever seen with so much death and Medicine being nowhere near as advanced as it is today it's no surprise there needed to be some kind of representation of what was happening an image that was easily recognizable that offered some kind of explanation or Solace regardless of whether it was true or not the image chosen was the Grim Reaper we can take a look at the different aspects and what exactly they may represent the skeleton is symbolic of death or at least the natural cycle when we die and eventually Decay the Bones still remain the remnants of what was once a living being the dark robes were symbolic of the funeral process more specifically the robes worn by religious figures who conduct funeral services so of all the weapons and tools available why does the Grim Reaper carry a scythe the Scythe is a tool used for agriculture often to cut down grass or grain the term reap refers to cutting or harvesting a crop this is usually done in the fall and is symbolic of the end or the death of another year the Grim Reaper is a harvester of souls taking them from the end of their natural life to the afterlife thus the connection to the scythe with this creation of the Grim Reaper you may be forgiven for thinking this was some kind of evil or malevolent figure that came with a bunch of negative connotations however that wasn't really the case nor the intention the image was there as a symbol and to offer Comfort at a time where death was rampant and explanations as to why were very limited death is a natural process and it has been personified by every culture for thousands of years in order for us to understand the Grim Reaper or the purpose of giving death a face we should at least take a look at the images that came before in Greek mythology there are several deities and Spirits associated with the concept of death but one that we can relate back to the Grim Reaper is Thanatos the personification of natural and gentle death a child of the Goddess NYX Thanatos appears in a few stories but you'll find him more commonly mentioned in passing rather than elaborated upon in any real detail as a winged figure in dark robes who can also be seen carrying a scythe or sickle it is possible Thanatos may have provided some inspiration for the Grim Reaper's appearance Hades by now I'm sure many of us are familiar with as the king of the underworld Hermes on the other hand is not often regarded as a deity of death but he did perform several roles relating to the underworld being able to Traverse so quickly naturally made him the perfect messenger between the realm of the living and the dead he would also help in guiding souls to the underworld married to Hades Persephone became a deity Associated to the underworld and death before she was a deity of spring and nature her return from the underworld every year during the Spring is seen as a sign of immortality the transition into Queen of the underworld made her a deity similar to Hades where people refused to use her name in fear that it would invoke ill Fortune hercate was the patron goddess of many things and some of these included boundaries and Crossroads which led to the idea that she was able to unlock the gates that separated the two different Realms and so like Hermes she assumes the role of ensuring the dead are able to travel from one to the other as a gift for siding with the Olympians during the titanomachy Zeus gave hercate the lampades these were torch-bearing nymphs who travel with her carte to and from the two different Realms ensuring the path was well lit and unobstructed we also can't forget individuals such as Caron the ferryman who carries these souls to the realm of the Dead Cerberus who guards the gates of the underworld ensuring that no one leaves without permission the cares spirits so violent death and the Arenas spirits of vengeance in Norse mythology you have hell Loki's daughter who Reigns over the parts of the underworld known as hell or hellheim some of her depictions include a two-toned face half white and half black or blue sometimes the other half is made up of exposed bone and decaying flesh the two sides of her face are symbolic of life and death remaining in the Norse realm you also have the Valkyries female winged figures who help guide the Fallen Soldiers to the afterlife however they do not take them to Hell's domain they go to Valhalla or falconvenir sometimes the Valkyries have wings and other times they do not sometimes they ride horses and other times they use horns full of mead to make sure the Fallen Soldiers follow them because if the a law of a mysterious winged woman telling you that the afterlife is just around the corner wasn't enough then surely some alcohol would seal the deal Odin himself also has ties to death as he oversees those in Valhalla taking half of those who died in battle and making sure that they are prepared for Ragnarok Norse mythology as with many others divides those who die into certain categories and in charge of each one are different gods and Spirits we know half of those who died in battle are taken by Odin to Valhalla the other half are taken by freyja to Falk veneer the details and purpose of this realm are fairly unclear however it seems many agree falkmanir was the alternative Realms of Valhalla serving a similar function and ruled over by freyja the biggest difference I came Acro cross was the suggestion that Odin and Freya preferred certain types of warrior which is why they were hand selected instead of just randomly sending halfs of alhala and the rest of falkman here freyja herself is the goddess of fertility love beauty gold and even War which in turn leads to death it also explains why you have depictions and stories of Freya that describe her as this radiant Beauty but there are also stories of her taking the form of a battle hardened Valkyrie when it comes to choosing the Fallen neither one of those depictions is wrong they simply reflect the different aspects of a multi-faceted goddess those who died at Sea would be collected by the goddess ran ran and her husband were the personifications of the sea with their nine daughters being its waves those who are unfortunate enough to die at sea would be collected by Iran in her giant net however some sources suggest that this may not have necessarily been an act of kindness the Old Norse faran roughly translates to mean theft robbery utter plunder and thus we have the idea that Ran's actions were far more malicious she would drown those at Sea and using her net she would collect their souls from the bottom of the ocean heading over to Norway we have what was known as pester the plague hag the plague hag was the personification of the black death in Norway this elderly woman wears a black hood and a dark red skirt with her she carries a rake wherever she goes pestilence follows the story state that she travels the countryside going from Farm to farm spreading disease if you came across pester in your village carrying her rake that was a sign some would survive however if she was sweeping away with her broom unfortunately that meant your entire Village was doomed one of the ways pester would travel was by boat many saw this as symbolic of how the plague was spread and how the outbreak made its way to Norway in the first place through rat infested ships and boats pester is one of the closest comparisons we have to the Grim Reaper in terms of purpose and time period Celtic and Irish mythology have several deities and Spirits associated with death one of the most well-known being the Morrigan the Morrigan is primarily associated with war and fate this branches into predicting the outcome of a battle whether it's victory or impending doom and death as a goddess of battle the Morrigan sometimes takes the form of a crow other times she can be seen before the battle washing blood-stained clothing those who see her know that they have been fated to die there are also times where she appears to strike fear into the troops of her enemies and to embolden and Inspire her own there is the idea that the Morrigan took pleasure in The Misfortune of Fallen Soldiers and given the violent nature of those dying many suggest that the Morrigan inspire fired the concept of the Banshee which came much later she also has ties to the Austrian winter Spirit perkter as well as Morgan lafaye who is a fairly important character in Arthurian law described as the wife of the dagda the primary deity or King within Irish and Celtic mythology the Morrigan herself played a fairly important role on occasion she can also take the form of a triple goddess appearing as three sisters however these depictions are not very common anku is a figure that appears in various parts of Britain but is most common in Ireland and Wales sometimes he appears as nothing more than a shadow and other times he is much closer to the Grim Reaper a skeleton in Black robes wearing a large hat that conceals most of his face and wielding a scythe he drives a large coach driven by black horses and accompanied by Spectral companions his primary role was to collect the souls of those who had passed on in the hopes that one day his debt would be paid and he would be allowed entry into the Afterlife his Origins can differ wildly one story depicts him as a prince who came across death during a hunting trip he challenged death to see who could kill a stag first death was Victorious and with anku being a cruel Prince feared by the people he cursed him to roam the Earth as a ghoul for eternity in another telling this was then expanded to describe anku as a servant of death charged with watching over and protecting graveyards collecting spirits who were lost in guiding them in this telling anku became more of a title or Duty each Parish had what they called their own anku the last person of the year to die assumed the role of anku for their Parish until the next year where a new person would be selected some variations state that it was actually the first person to die who was selected the strangest of these Origins depicts anku as the first child of Adam and Eve also known as the son of the sea was the king of what was known as the other world in Irish mythology part of the Tour de danan Manon was the guardian of the other world part of the Tour de danan Manon was the guardian of the other world which in Irish mythology was a supernatural realm belonging to the gods as well as the Dead the other world is cloaked in mist and is invisible to All Humans Manon rides a self-navigating boat and was in charge of assigning plots of land in the other world to the remaining members of the Tour de danan the Americas are also No Stranger when it comes to the physical representation of death Mexican folklore has Santa Muerte which is shortened for Our Lady of holy death over the last hundred years or so she has become a far more prominent figure with her own rapidly growing cult and religious movement a female skeletal figure dressed in a long robe and carrying a scythe her attire in general is much more colorful than the Grim Reaper and I guess that comes down to her being more of a celebratory figure if we travel down to the likes of Brazil Argentina Colombia and Paraguay we have San Le Muerte otherwise known as Saint death another skeletal figure carrying a scythe but this time it's a male figure both of these figures have caused some free friction with the Catholic Church which views them as Pagan spirits and thus they should not be mixed in with Christian belief San Le moyete despite being frowned upon is still considered a saint by Catholics in the South American countries the same can't be said for Our Lady of death in Mexico whose belief essentially branched off and became its own cult and religion with many estimating anywhere between 10 to 20 million devoted followers in some areas of Mexico and Guatemala they tell stories of San basqualito the king of the graveyard at this point in time it should come as no surprise when I tell you this King was a skeleton in robes wearing a crown a spirit we have spoken about in the past is Baron Sandy who appears in Haitian Voodoo and is associated with death and fertility the spirits in Haitian Voodoo are referred to as Loa and these Spirits are divided into families the gede family are the spirits that embody the powers of death and fertility the head of this family was Baron Sandy who goes by many names including Baron Le qua and baron cemetiere the cross and the cemetery Baron Sandy has an extremely distinct appearance sometimes he is a skeleton and his face is painted to resemble a skull his top hat black tail coat and fancy cane paint a fairly Dapper image someone attending a party of sorts and to an extent this is true his appearance was meant to resemble a body that had been prepared and dressed for a haitian-style burial a time of mourning but also celebration the celebration and party atmosphere is greatly reflected in Baron Sandy's personality and behavior he is about as far from a solemn deity of death as one could be never turning down a chance to party Baron Sandy is never too far away from a glass of rum and a cigar the incessive smoking and drinking is paired with his lust for Mortal women and drug use just to complete the Full House of debauchery despite this Rowdy Behavior Baron Sandy still performed all of his duties greeting The Souls of the dead and leading them to the underworld when someone dies Baron Sandy digs their grave and greets them if the baron refuses to dig a grave then that person cannot die even those who have been afflicted by the worst type of hex or those who have suffered horrendous injuries may be able to cheat death if the baron has taken a liking to them this extends to him even being able to cure Mortals of any wound or disease so not only can he take life but he can also restore it Baron Sandy was married to Mama Brigitte who is just as flamboyant and eccentric has her husband she also has a taste for rum but chooses to drink hers infused with chili peppers Maman brijit protects tombs gravestones cemeteries and any other place where the dead May reside over the years she has been heavily linked to the Irish deity Brigid or again a member of the Tour de danan who also has healing powers this connection is why you may sometimes see her depicted as a pale woman with red hair as Haitian Voodoo is an amalgamation of African vodun and various European influences Maman brijit was also seen as representing an often depicted as several Saints including the Irish Brigid of Kildare Mary Magdalene and Saint Brigid this gives us two very different depictions that contradict each other the outspoken crude and flamboyant individual who is often portrayed in a sexualized manner similar to Baron Sandy but then you also have her shown as a saint given what there is written about her behavior but also her commitment to her duties one would imagine the truth is somewhere in between the baron and his wife had an adopted son called geter Nebo a handsome young man who suffered a violent and tragic death the baron and his wife adopted him and in joining their family he became the patron saint for those who died too early he shares many of the traits and behaviors of his adopted parents but is easily recognized by the bottle of white rum that he carries that has been infused with medicinal herbs get an ebo was considered a great healer as well as the voice for spirits that had yet to be reclaimed for passage to the afterlife or the lower World in Haitian voodoo in Japan there is the Izanagi and izinami the brother and sister deities associated with creation but also death the first Gods created these two Divine beings and charged them with creating the very first land mass the connection to death comes when is an army died and Izanagi began his journey to yomi or the underworld to find his wife when Izanagi found his wife she was hidden by the Shadows he pleaded for her to return but this wasn't possible as she had eaten the food of the underworld and so her place amongst the dead had already been decided izan Army would still try and ask for permission to leave in the morning while she slept Izanagi using his comb as a torch was finally able to glance upon his wife and what he saw petrified him the once beautiful is an army was covered in maggots her body ravaged and her flesh rotting so given that Izanagi had traveled all the way to the underworld to find his lost wife he then did The Honorable thing he ran for his life as fast as he could abandoning his no longer attractive wife and sealing the entrance to the underworld shut with a very very large Boulder izan Army gave Chase sending the spirits of the Dead to find her husband however with the entrance sealed the land of the living was now separated from the land of the dead hence the separation between Izanagi life and is an army death the once goddess of creation screamed for her husband to return otherwise threatening to destroy 1 000 Souls of the living a day Izanagi responded by saying he would then give life to 1500 Souls every day enma is the figure who rules over hell and appears in various mythologies across southeast Asia his name changes depending on the form of Buddhism we are discussing and in Japanese Buddhism the name is enma he rules over the kings of hell and decides whether one's sins were enough to condemn them to Eternal punishment this is a figure we can cover in some more detail when we head over to China the Shinigami are spirits I'm sure some people may be familiar with Shinigami translates to mean death God or Reaper in English these Spirits beckon and call out to humans bringing them closer to their demise at times is an army has been compared and categorized as a class of Shinigami stories from the Edo period discuss these deities of death and their ability to possess humans some of these Spirits are described as having bad intent and some state that the Shinigami chooses a person based on the person's intent these acts and feelings exist inside of the person and so the possession merely removes the barriers that stop them from axing them out whether it's committing suicide murder or other heinous crimes it's clear the Shinigami provided some with a reason or an explanation as to why these acts occur to some it may have even been an excuse China in general has an insane amount of deity so covering all of them would be well insanity but seeing as we already discussed at enma we can take a look at his Chinese counterpart Yama or in this case King Yan going by dozens of names King yarn ruled over the realm of the Dead in Chinese mythology here hell is divided up and ruled over by 10 different Kings overseeing these Kings we have King Yan these kings are in charge of what is normally referred to as the 8 or 10 courts of Hell Spirits passing through these courts are judged by Yan based on the actions whilst alive once he had decided their fate they continue traveling through hell until they reach the part of hell that serves as punishment for their crime King Yan often appears as an angry red face the bearded man towering above all of those around him guarding the underworld we have the very strange Duo of ox head and horse face their names don't leave much to the imagination two men one with an ox head and the other a horse face that doesn't make it any less of a terrifying experience given they are the first two one encounters when entering the underworld these two absolute mad Lads had three main roles to stop Souls from trying to escape the underworld to capture and escort new souls to the underworld to stand before the courts of Hell lastly they acted as Messengers to the kings of Hell one story they do appear in which is definitely on my list of future projects is Journey to the West the last of these three Chinese Legends I've chosen to cover today is Meng Poe the goddess of forgetfulness mengpo resides in the course of hell where souls go when they are ready to be reincarnated once they arrive and cross the bridge of forgetfulness mengpo serves them the five flavored tea of forgetfulness which essentially wipes all of their memories and allows them to reincarnate into their new life without any fear or burdens from the previous one this is also seen as purging the soul of any previous sin allowing for a clean slate and the cycle to start over mengpo's story is one of grief and sadness when her husband died she took all of this pain into the Afterlife and found herself unable to reincarnate because she could never let go and so she decided to to relieve the pain of the other spirits in the Underworld allowing them to do what she could never and start over there are some stories of individuals who refuse to drink the tea and when they began their new lives memories flooded back to them and so you have strange events such as newborn children speaking fluently because they remembered how mengpo assumes the form of an elderly woman with old lady Meng being just one of the many names she went by Egyptian mythology like many others has several deities and spirits of death Anubis is a deity who played a very important role throughout someone's entire journey into the Afterlife this included the mummification and embalming process the protection of Graves and cemeteries and The Guiding of souls to the underworld when a soul is ready to pass the threshold of the living to the afterlife they are Guided by Anubis where one's heart is then weighed against a feather to see if you are worthy of entering the underworld this process is also carried out by Anubis another deity that takes part in this process is Amit the Devourer of the Dead some of you may also know a meat as that very weird looking thing from Moon Knight Amit was made up of the three animals the Egyptians feared most the head of a crocodile the front legs and upper body of a lion and the lower body of a hippopotamus a fairly strange combination but given all three animals were manises Anna meets primary job was eating those Unworthy of the afterlife it does start to make sense if one's heart weighed the same or less than the feather your soul was deemed as pure and you were able to continue your journey to Osiris and the immortality of the Underworld for those whose Hearts weighed more than the feather their Journey to the underworld ended here they were devoured by a meat where they would never rest and be forced to stand in a lake of fire this was often equated to dying a second time and being denied the peace that comes with the after life the ancient Egyptians were terrified of a meat and not just because of her appearance because of everything she represented Osiris was a god of Agriculture and fertility but this soon changed to include the dead resurrection and the afterlife after a feud with his brother set Osiris was killed and chopped into 14 pieces scattered around Egypt eventually these pieces would be found and buried together giving Osiris a second chance resurrected as the judge and King of the underworld as we've seen today the vast majority of spirits or deities associated with death are not necessarily evil death is a very common fear and every culture creates its own stories as a way to explain and essentially deal with the idea that death is something we must all face eventually [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign

Channel: Mythology & Fiction Explained

Views: 941,262

Keywords: grim reaper, grim reaper origins, mythology and fiction explained, grim, folklore, deities of death, shinigami, anubis

Id: blAqHhN4VK4

Length: 36min 7sec (2167 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 30 2022