What are psychopomps?
It's impossible to explore the graphic world of death without talking about psychopomps.
Unknown to many, but not so foreign as to be considered a stranger, psychopomps have been populating our history with meaningful and poetic symbols for millennia.
"Cellui who leads souls into the other world".
Psychopompe comes from the combination of the Greek psukhê, "breath, life, soul", and pompos, "guide, conductor" - itself derived from pempein, "to guide, accompany, escort".
Sometimes guardians, sometimes thieves, these beings will enable us to travel between worlds and guide our souls into the afterlife - whatever that may be.
The club includes :
Hermesthe messenger of the Greek gods, with his winged feet;
the Valkyriesin Nordic culture: women who come to collect the souls of warriors and take them to Valhalla;
the Shinigamipersonifications of death in Japanese mythology;
l'Ankoùwho collects souls and carries them away in his chariot in Celtic legends;
Baron SamediMama Brigitte and all the guédés at the voodoo house;
or thearchangel Saint Michael who presides over the Christian weighing of souls.
The Ride of the Valkyries - William T. Maud
the collective imagination
But what interests me most here are not the human representations of psychopomps, but their slightly more modest forms, which can be found in our everyday lives: animals.
With their less religious connotations, they belong to a more collective imaginary, allowing a freer, more inclusive interpretation of their deadly symbolism.
/ The bird
Paradiso Canto - Gustave Doré
Like Hermes or the angels who were given wings, birds are often associated in our imagination with the passage to the afterlife.
The dove, for example - which, in a Western religious context, represents purity and innocence - became, for the medieval church, the symbol of the soul of the righteous flying up to heaven after death.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the raven. Sometimes a bird of ill omen, sometimes a guide and protector, it is nonetheless closely linked to death in many cultures. It is found in Norse mythology with Hugin and Munin (Odin's ravens), as well as in Celtic mythology, where it is the symbol of Morrígan - the goddess of war.
Some believe it is capable of guiding the souls of the dead in death - and that a raven resting on a dead person's right shoulder will guide him to paradise; to hell if it rests on the left shoulder.
"For life is meat, and death brings life".
- Robin Hobb -
Another necrophagous bird: the vulture, one of the first sacred symbols in our history.
A Mayan symbol of death and renewal, it has the power to transform decay into "philosopher's gold". In Egypt, the goddess Isis - with her falcon wings - has the power to resurrect souls.
They are also found among Buddhists in Tibet, where they embody the sacred spirits of heaven and are the main actors in sky burials (where the body becomes an offering to nature and a final karmic act in the hope of freeing the spirit from samsara and attaining nirvana).
Mural found at Çatalhöyük (Turkey) - 7400 BC
Other flying animals have symbolism linked to death:
The butterfly, for example, is the symbol of the soul for the Greeks, but also in China;
the bat, for its ability to travel between light and darkness, is a Mayan symbol of rebirth;
or the owl, symbolizing the master god of death for the Aztecs and guardian of cemeteries for the Amerindians.
/ The dog
Another species that plays a psychopomp role in many funeral rites is the canid.
The wolf, for example, has long been perceived as the guardian of the threshold between the world of the living and that of the dead. Thanks to its night-seeing eyes, which can pierce material and spiritual darkness, the wolf became the guide to the spirit-soul, not only among Amerindians, but also in Siberia, Europe and the Mediterranean basin.
In Greek mythology, Cerberus - the huge three-headed dog - is the guardian of the Gates of Hell, ensuring that the souls of the dead complete their final journey.
Among the Aztecs, the xoloitzcuintle or xolo - Mexico's naked dog - accompanies the dead into the Other World. Perceived as the physical manifestation of the god Xolotl - associated with twilight and death - he is said to be sent to accompany the sun into the Netherworld each night, guiding the souls of the deceased to Mictlan (the land of the dead).
Dante transforms into an alebrije* in Coco.
- Wait, are those...? Alebrijes! But, those are...
- *Real* Alebrijes. Spirit creatures.
- They guide souls on their journey.
- Coco -
In Egypt, Anubis, the Egyptian god of funeral rites - represented by an elongated black dog or a jackal-headed god - also leads souls to the world of the dead.
Also in Egyptian mythology, the god Oupouaout, a hybrid dog whose name means "he who opens paths", guides the souls of pharaohs through life and death.
/ The Horse
Odin and Sleipnir - John Bauer
I'll end this (non-exhaustive) list with one last psychopomp. Throughout Europe, but also in Asia and Siberia, the horse is the bearer of souls on their final journey.
In the Iliad, for example, Achilles has four horses sacrificed to carry the soul of his friend Patroklos, who fell during the Trojan War at the gates of the kingdom of Hades. A practice that can also be found among the Vikings, Celts, Tibetans and Nepalese.
Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse in Norse mythology, also seems to have played a psychopomp role, thanks to his ability to travel between worlds.
The kelpie (guardian of lakes and rivers) was a legendary Scottish creature who could take on equine form to lure humans into the depths of their waters and steal their souls...
Timor funerary sculpture - A horse Carrying a Soul.
There are many other psychopomps, of course: the hummingbird in Peru, the dolphin in Crete or the bee - reputed to escort the souls of the dead and bring new souls to birth -... But whatever its form, it will always have this ability to transport us from one world to another.
a reassuring intermediary
In Carl Jung's psychology, the psychopomp archetype symbolizes not death, but simply change - a being who mediates between the conscious and the unconscious, helping us to transform ourselves. In this continual test of evolution, he gives us the energy we need to face the loss, grief and fear that all change entails.
So whatever our beliefs, we can say that the psychopomp is the one who breaks the status quo and helps us take the plunge - whether real or imagined.
And there's something comforting about that image, isn't there? A way of feeling less alone in the face of the end.
What do you think?
* Alebrijes on paper or wood sculptures found in Mexico. I'll expand on this subject in my Diary very soon ;)