Death Deities

STUDENT: Ceap Delia Ioana

ADVISOR: Lazea Anca

Argument
As

French writer Jean Cocteau once said,

The worst tragedy for a poet is to be admired
through being misunderstood..

Thus,

I have chosen this as the subject of my

study so as to highlight one of the ways in
which Death came to appear more
acceptable, more diverse, more human:
through mythology.

Introduction

The biblical need of humans to see in order to

believe led them to associate every notion they could
not quite grasp with an image after their own
likeness, with particular features varying from one
culture to another, and made them their deities.

As death, along with birth, is among the major parts

of human life, these deities may often be one of the
most important deities of a religion, some of the most
renowned being as follows:

Ereshkigal

She was the goddess of the land of the dead, the

Underworld, in Mesopotamian mythology.

She is the older sister of Ishtar, the goddess of life

and fertility. In this sense, she is also her
counterpart.

She was the sole ruler of her kingdom, until she

came to share power with the god Nergal, who
became her husband and king; the story is included
in the myth "Nergal and Ereshkigal.

Ereshkigal withstood an attempt by Isthar to usurp

her throne in the Sumerian hymn "The Descent of
Ishtar," thought to have influenced later myths such
as the Greek story of Persephone.

The Hebrew concept of Sheol is closely related to

the Mesopotamian concept of the Underworld, but
the monotheistic tradition did not allow for a goddess
such as Ereshkigal. Nevertheless, she may be
related to the Hebrew tradition of Lilith.

Cizin

Cizin, also spelled Kisin (Mayan: Stinking One) was the

Mayan earthquake god and god of death, ruler of the
subterranean land of the dead, Xibalba.

After the Spanish Conquest, Cizin became merged with the

Christian devil.

In the ancient Maya writing system, Kisin's name was written

two ways: one way depicts a dead body whose eyes are
closed, and the second way depicts Kisin's head but with a
short nose and bone jaws and a sacrificial knife.

This Lord of Death used Muan, the evil bird of bad

tidings, as his messenger. Legend states if an owl
screeches, someone nearby dies.

He was envisioned as a hunting figure that stalked

the houses of people who were injured or sick.
Mayans typically engaged in extreme, even loud
mourning after the death of loved ones for it was
believed it would scare him away.

Mictlantecuhtli

In Aztec mythology, he was a god of the dead and the king

of Mictlan, the lowest and northernmost section of
the underworld.

His wife was Mictecacihuatl, and together they were said to

dwell in a windowless house in Mictlan. They were the
opposites and complements of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl,
the givers of life.

He was one of only a few deities held to govern over all three
types of souls identified by the Aztecs: people who died normal
deaths (of old age, disease, etc.), heroic deaths (e.g. in battle,
sacrifice or during childbirth), or non-heroic deaths.

According to Aztec legend, two twin gods were sent

to steal the bones of the previous generation from
Mictlantecuhtli in order to make the humans. He tried
to stop them, but failed.

When a person died, they were interred with grave

goods. Upon arrival in Mictlan these goods were
offered to Mictlantecuhtli and his wife.

Supay

In the Inca mythology, Supay was both the god of death and ruler of
the Ukhu Pacha, the Incan underworld, as well as a race of demons.

When the Spanish conquered the area, their mining operations

where considered perturbations, so in order to insure that they did
not cause harm, indigenous peoples made traditional offerings to
the supay.

In some areas of Peru, the Quechua people continue the tradition of

the Supay dance at Mamacha Candicha which roughly translates as
"flame virgin" and is a festival with dancing lasting up to two weeks.

The name Supay is now roughly translated into diablo (Spanish:

devil) in most Southern American countries.

Osiris

He was one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt, both a

god of fertility and the embodiment of the dead and resurrected
king. The king at death became Osiris, god of the underworld.

According to the myth, Osiris was killed by Seth, his brother,

who flung the pieces of his corpse over Egypt.
Eventually, Isis and her sister Nephthys found and buried all the
pieces, except the phallus, thereby giving new life to Osiris,
who thenceforth remained in the underworld as ruler and judge.

Osiris was not only ruler of the dead but also the power that
granted all life from the underworld, from sprouting vegetation
to the annual flood of the Nile River.

 The

idea that rebirth in the next life could be

gained by following Osiris was maintained
through certain cult forms.

The

rise of the cult of Osiris offered to even

his humblest followers the prospect of eternal
life, with moral fitness becoming the dominant
factor in determining a person's suitability.

Hades

Hades was the King of the Underworld, the god of death and
the dead, and also the god of the hidden wealth of the earth.

Along with his two brothers, they drove the Titan gods from
heaven and locked them away in the pit of Tartaros. When the
three victors then drew lots for the division of the cosmos,
Hades received the third portion, the dark dismal realm of the
underworld, as his domain.

Despite modern connotations of death as evil, Hades was

actually more altruistically inclined in mythology. He was often
portrayed as passive rather than evil; his role was mostly
maintaining relative balance.

He strictly forbade his subjects to leave his domain and would

become quite enraged when anyone tried to cross him,
as Sisyphus and Pirithous found out to their sorrow.

As Hades desired a bride, the myth of Persephone tells the tale

of her abduction; she eventually became his queen. This myth
is also considered as an explanation for the changing of the
seasons, as her mother, Demeter, would bring winter on earth
for those four months each year that her daughter had to stay
in the Underworld.

The Greeks were afraid that uttering his name would result in
their untimely death, so they decided to give him
another, Plouton (Greek: wealth), due to the precious metals
mined from the earth. Thus, Hades also became the god of
wealth.

Santa Muerte

She is a female folk saint venerated primarily in Mexico and

the Southwestern United States. A personification of death, she is
associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the afterlife by
her devotees.

Despite opposition by the Catholic Church, her cult arose from popular
Mexican folk belief, with its origins dating back to the aztec goddess
Mictecacihuatl.

As the worship of Santa Muerte was clandestine until the 20th century,
most rites have been traditionally performed privately in the home.
However, since the beginning of the 21st century, worship has become
more public, especially in Mexico City after Enriqueta Romero initiated
her famous Mexico City shrine in 2001.

The number of believers in Santa Muerte has grown over the past ten
to twenty years, to several million followers in Mexico, the United
States, and parts of Central America.

Conclusion

To conclude with, I believe that the human imagination

managed to fully comprise in mythology the many wonders that
Death can mean to different people: the devotion of Ereshkigal,
the mightiness of Cizin, the power of Mictlantecuhtli, the
respectability of Supay, the wisdom of Osiris, the passion of
Hades or the goodness of Santa Muerte.

Mythology doesnt necessarily require magic in order to

captivate; it only needs to capture the ordinary in the
extraordinary. Thus, people can relate and believe
wholeheartedly in the new hope that is the great beyond. Death
has been misunderstood for too long; the human faces that
these myths illustrate aim to change that for the better.

Thank you for your attention!