A being that helps souls transition into death.

Names of Death include Anubis, Azrael, Gabriel, Michael, Samael, Sariel, Giltine, Thanatos, and many others.

Also known throughout the world as psychopomps, guides that escort the newly deceased to the next world. Psychopomps appear as birds, dogs, dolphins, horses, angels, religious figures, and ancestors or family members who have died.

The Grim Reaper, the personification of death, is portrayed as a skeleton figure in a hooded black robe carrying a scythe to harvest the living and sometimes an hourglass to remind us all that our time is running out.

References

Davidson, Gustav. A Dictionary of Angels. New York: The Free Press, 1967.

Howarthv, Glennys, & Leaman, Oliver. Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. New York: Routledge, 2001.

Strong, Laura. Psychopomps. Web site: http://www.psychopomps.org/. Retrieved on 11/13/2008.

This page was last modified on November 15, 2008 at 02:20 PM.

See Also: Creatures by Type » Angels