THE GRIM REAPER AKA ????????

It's funny how people of different beliefs, different religions, different cultures etc view different things. A broad, sweeping statement I know, but in particular I'm thinking about Death. Morbid I know but typing my 'Memorable Moment' from THE LOLLIPOP SHOES by Joanne Harris (see my review soon) got me thinking as to the names we used and just how we visualised the Grim Reaper.

She's the wind that blows at the turn of the year. She's the sound of one hand clapping. She's the lump in your mother's breast. She's the absent look in your daughter's eyes. She's the cry of the cat. She's in the confessional. She's hiding inside the black pinata. But most of all she is simply Death; greedy old Mictecacihuatl herself, Santa Muerte, the Eater of Hearts, most terrible of the Kindly Ones.  - The Lollipop Shoes, Page 480.  

Ah yes, the Grim Reaper - an English 'creation' who from the 15th century onwards came to be portrayed as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe, clothed in a black cloak with a hood OR as the Urban Dictionary explains he is .....

Death with a capital D. Perhaps the most recognized entity of all time, neither ghost nor god; the Grim Reaper is a psychopomp who’s job is to conduct the souls of the recently dead into the afterlife. He is often depicted as a tall pale skeletal figure shrouded in a long, dark, black hooded cloak wielding a scythe which he uses to harvest souls with, although some accounts say he just touches the person to pop their soul so they don’t feel pain when they die. When he moves, he seemingly glides rather than walking.

He?

Yes, he. In many languages (English included)Death is personified in male form though in some others 'it' is perceived as feminine.

Take for example the afore mentioned Mictecacihuatl, the Goddess of Death and the Underworld who the Aztecs depicted with a skull face, a skirt made of serpents and sagging breasts. Her job? To watch over the bones of the dead which may possibly be needed to create the people of another future world.

OR how about Santa Muerte?

Also depicted in female form, Santa Muerte is a sacred figure venerated in Mexico. Referred to by many names, including amongst others Señora de las Sombras (Lady of the Shadows),  Señora Blanca (White Lady)and  La Flaca (The Skinny One), she usually appears as a skeletal figure who carries a scythe and a globe. 

And what about the Eater of Hearts?

Ammut (Ammit, Ahemait, Ammemet, Egyptian demoness of punishment, she was also known as 'The Devourer' and 'Great of Death' as well as the Eater of Hearts. Waiting by the Scales of Judgement to consume the heads of those who did evil during their lives, she was never considered a Goddess but embodied the creatures that the Egyptians feared, threatening to eat them if they did not follow the principles of Ma'at, the Eygptian concept of truth, law and justice.


Hmm, interesting. I'd love to know about your/your cultures perceptions on Death as a 'person'. Perhaps you'd like to leave a comment OR even write a post of your own .... just don't forget to leave a link if you do.


But you know I couldn't end this post without mention of Terry Pratchett's vision of Death.


A DISCWORLD character and a favourite of Husband dearest Death like most Grim Reapers is a black robed skeleton who usually carries a scythe. However,he does not appear as Death in the universal sense, his only jurisdiction being in the Discworld itself,he can only go where people believe in death and although not invisible (he can be seen by those of a magical disposition, children and cats)most people refuse to acknowledge him unless he insists.