The Many Deities Of Death

Meaning and significance of death in the light of the Christian narrative is addressed including detail and some examples.

Death rituals are an important part of concluding a person’s life in nearly all faiths, so the person can be remembered in a special way as he/she parts the world from his/her family and friends. This report will explore death rituals in both Catholic and Islamic faiths. The writer will discuss the belief of the death ritual through celebration, belonging, symbols, purification and the transition into a new existence. As the report continues, theorists of Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner and Terence Lovat will applied throughout the report which all will be related to the hypotheses’ accuracy.

Death is inevitable part of human experience, which is often associated with fear of unknown, separation, and spiritual connection. Death is an individual experience, which is based on unique perceptions and beliefs. Fear of death and dying seems to be a universal phenomenon, which is closely associated with apprehension and uneasiness. Death is allied with permanent loss, thus personal experiences of grief are similar in many different cultures. There are different mourning ceremonies, traditions, and behaviors to express grief, but the concept of permanent loss remains unchanged in cross cultural setting. With this paper I will identify cross-cultural perspectives on death and dying, and will analyze

Hades is the Greek God and ruler of the Underworld. He is often associated with wealth and agriculture. He is also the son of Cronus and Rhea and the third most powerful Greek god. Unlike his two brothers, his realm cannot be seen by anyone living. The Greeks believe that his name, Hades, means “The Unseen One.” He is the only god that does not live on Mount Olympus; he has his own glittering palace made of pure gold and gems in the Underworld. The Greeks believe that when mortals

In myths we come across many names of gods and goddesses and strange creatures. All of them have many stories related to them. Different gods represent different aspects of life and the Earth is under their control.

In this paper, we will discuss the different death rituals performed in different cultures. We view death rituals from Native Americans, Africans, those of the Chinese decent, and endocannibalism from the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea. Death is universal to all people in every culture. Responses to how one deals with death and dying differ greatly. Death rituals are usually based on beliefs. This can come from religion, history, language, and art.

In Aztec belief, the way you die defines your afterlife. Normal people dying normal deaths constitutes a normal afterlife. (Dockray, 2013) Mictlan(Hell) is pretty much the default setting. Within Mictlan there are three main gods: Mictlantecuhtli, the god of death, his wife, Mictecacihuatl and Xolotl. Xolotl is the deity that guides the sun through Mictlan every night, a kind of guard dog of hell.

As we all know death of humans has been one of the utmost mysteries we would all like to solve. Although the ancient Mesopotamia, Egyptian, and Hindu all believed in an afterlife, their understanding and celebration if any, seems to be a little different. Mesopotamians were afraid of death, although they believed in afterlife they also had strong belief about the spirits still being alive. The Egyptians had an understanding and outlook on death, in which they believed in an afterlife, but they also believed in preserving the body. However, the Hindu also had the same perspective on afterlife, they were also very religious, but the way they went about it was much different than those of Mesopotamia and Egyptians.

Death is one of the only things guaranteed in life and most religions have meaningful and precise customs, traditions, and funerary practices revolving around death. From specific protocols for preparing the body to performing certain duties during the memorial service. The structure that religion provides around dealing with death offers guidance to grief stricken survivors and fulfills religious obligations. The two religions I chose to focus on for this paper is Buddhism more specifically the Mahayana sect of Buddhism and religion I the Mayan civilization. Mahayana Buddhism and Mayan religions have similar aspects in dealing with death and the funerary practices such as cremation.

Judaism is a religion that celebrates life in the here and now, and the living. Life is valued above all else, however, death is not necessarily a tragedy. It is viewed as just another milestone that all Jews one day reach. It does not cause fear or anxiety and is considered to be calm and peaceful, somewhat relieving (4). As the religion is rich in history, it is also rich in tradition and ritual following the death of a loved one. The purpose of these rituals are to pay respect to the deceased and offer comfort to his or her loved ones.

Hinduism’s samsaric view of life and Judaism’s contrasting belief in one life on Earth before resurrection of the body with the coming of the Messiah, leads to many differences in their funeral and mourning customs and practices. For example the dissimilarity in the way in which the corpse is to be treated and the funeral ceremony itself due to opposing ideas of mortality. However despite the vast difference between traditions, there are still parallels to be noted such as directions for the location and direction of the ceremony and the restrictive nature of the mourning

There are many gods, but one god in particular is the god of the underworld, and this god is known as Hades. Hades is a very important part of the greek civilization, because he overthrew the Titans and then the giants. Hades and his brothers came together to decide who would rule which part of the lands. In conclusion, Hades became the god of the underworld.

There are hundreds of cultures all of the world who have different views, traditions, and beliefs. One of the major parts of a lot of cultures is the death aspect and certain things they believe about it. Although everybody dies eventually, people have different ideas about what should happen to the body left behind, what happens to the soul, and even different ways people the deceased left behind should mourn. A very big religion throughout the world is Buddhism. According to a website on buddhism, it “originated in North West India some 2,500 years ago, with the enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha (the Awakened One)” (Buddhist Society). They have very different views on life and death from other major religions

Shukria Alimi Raad states “No matter how different we look, what kind of religion we practice of which direction faith takes us, we all have two things in common in this world: life and death.” (KRAMER AND HOOYMAN) These are the only two experiences that all humans are guaranteed to share. Death, despite being a universal and common experience, is experienced differently across cultures and religions. The perception and meaning of death to a person is commonly taught to people through religion, or lack of religion. Religion has a major influence on the way we perceive, understand and experience bereavement, grieving and mourning. Each religion has their own expectations and beliefs pertaining to death and the followers of said religion, are expected to follow. The second most followed religion in the world, Islam, has over a billion followers. Like all other religions, Islam has a variety of elements such as people, places, times, objects, and symbols which follow tradition and hold meaning to their teachings in the Qur’an. According to Muslim beliefs, death is destined and worldly life is a preparation for life after death. The Qur’an insists that life has purpose and the events that occur are in the hands of a forgiving and just God and that death is not the end but rather a passage to an external existence. (LUCY BREGGMAN)

Death is a concept that is associated as terrifying, painful while some associate death with peace and tranquility. The Egyptians did not like death but they believed it was necessary as a stage to pass on to the afterlife. They valued death and believed it to be a phase in the cycle of life. When a person died, they believed his ka, the life force which makes a person human left his body at death. The ka is usually appeased with a offerings to satisfy its needs and has to be close to the body where it spent its life (6.3, Lephoron, 2015) (El Mahdy ,1999, 12). Also, there was the ba who like the ka stays with the person all through their life. The ba was the person’s characteristic that made them unique like their personality. The ba left the person’s body at death but always returned back at night. The Egyptians performed fancy rituals to the dead so the Ka could be free to unite with the ba to make spirit akh that transitioned to a new life with the gods. The unification was of dire importance as it prevented the deceased from dying again, a death in which there is no return (9 Roba, 13, 1999).Christians believe in the soul, the immortal entity placed into our body at birth and leaves at death. It required no fancy rituals to enter nor leave the body. This concept ties back to the monotheism and polytheism where there could only be one soul as a result of the only one God.