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    Death Entities

    The Hades and Persephone thread got me thinking about this. How do you feel about working with or speaking to gods of death (or angels, or psychopomps, or any combinations thereof)? If you have, what have your experiences been?

    I'm not trying to say that entities that deal in the realm of death are evil (far from it), but being a squishy mortal, the idea of death does scares me. I've only ever spoken to Azrael (and Anubis once, briefly, because He had a shrine at a shop I visited right after someone died) after someone's death, or when someone was dying, and I always got a sense of heaviness and fear. Heaviness I don't mind--I'm actually drawn to heavier energies--but I wonder if the fear is because of my own fear of death.
    Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

    Honorary Nord.

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    #2
    Re: Death Entities

    I don't know if I've spoken with one. But on a literal sense, once you have a heart attack I feel my experience is probably a little more intimate than others. Know what I mean?
    Satan is my spirit animal

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      #3
      Re: Death Entities

      Originally posted by Medusa View Post
      I don't know if I've spoken with one. But on a literal sense, once you have a heart attack I feel my experience is probably a little more intimate than others. Know what I mean?
      I'd imagine so. I'm sorry that happened to you.
      Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

      Honorary Nord.

      Habbalah Vlogs

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        #4
        Re: Death Entities

        This is tough, since the closest I've come to a death god/entity is contact with Odin, and while he's not specifically a death deity, it is one of his areas of expertise. He's not scary to me, but has quite the presence.

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          #5
          Re: Death Entities

          I've never really been uncomfortable with death deities. I don't know if that's because of never having someone I know personally and am close to die, or whether past experiences at a young age made me have a morbid nature (I've been called morbid/gothic for planning a funeral as a teenager, and having a fascination with serial killers/criminology etc). As I stated in the other thread, I have always felt drawn to Hades especially. I don't know if you count the Morrigan as a death god/psychopomp etc, but she is another one I'm drawn to.

          I find that I'm more hesitant around those deities who inflict pain/war/chaos (for example: Ares, Set, Pan, even Apollo in some cases) than I am with death.
          ~Rudyard Kipling, The Cat Who Walks By Himself

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            #6
            Re: Death Entities

            Pluto helped my family out once. Granted I was calling on him in his capacity as Lord of Riches in the Earth not Lord of the Underworld but help is help. If a Power attached to death calls to you then investigate. They tend to have more than one aspect and you may find a worthwhile connection.
            life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

            Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

            "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

            John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

            "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

            Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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              #7
              Re: Death Entities

              I haven't had any of those encounters lately, but when I was younger there were a few. I wouldn't call that presence necessarily one of "heaviness," but more of "stillness." Like, it's the one thing you can always count on to be there and I've never felt any kind of malicious intent from it.

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                #8
                Re: Death Entities

                Hermes is quite mad, disturbing, dangerous, but not without charms. Also, he is a doorway.
                Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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                  #9
                  Re: Death Entities

                  Personally I do not have issues with dealing with so called death divinities. Being blood bound and sworn to Hekate is certainly connected to a death divinity in that she can call the dead, lead them to Hades and believed to possess the power to bring them out of Hades. In some stories even cause the death and creation of guardians and such to watch over cities, towns, families and even regions. Many of her followers it seem's called upon to act in some capacity as a psychpomp whether it be as a Spirit Keeper or guide to the veil. My own observations many i've known devoted to her also having experienced their own deaths and called back to life.

                  But to my perspective any divinity that is connected to fertility or fecundity is also a death divinity. In that capacity Persephone is as much a death and fertility goddess as is her mother Demeter. Figure when she retreats into her 6 months in Hades the land dies it's winter death and the herds would be culled so only the strongest survived. Yet once she returns to the upper world then Demeter brings the growing and birthing cycle back into activity. Yet being mistress of Hades does not mean she nor Hades causes the death only that they reside in charge over the land where the dead go. A place of punishment, a place of bliss, a place of forgetfulness or any number of other conditions depending upon what one believes and the social period that is being observed.

                  Want a death goddess? Look to the history of Artemis and the deaths that where caused in her name or by her hand. The very threatening goddess who would strike a woman down during pregnancy or old age not counting her capacity as a death goddess in marking the death of childhood and progression into womanhood. Like Apollo she to is connected to many diseases that were connected to humanity and associated with women. Even the bringer of death when vanity and pride has been the herald demanding punishment such as in the story of Niobe.

                  My own personal opinion is that modern society has a fear of death that is greatly influenced by its removal from our lives. The dead once laid in ones home and family and society were tightly bound with life and death observances. Even the burials often taking place close to the home in family burial grounds or places that were sacred in their own rights. Then those who were cast out buried in places meant to keep their spirits from returning to do harm or misdeed upon the living. The dead also lived in the daily lives of their descendants through stories, material objects passed down, through grave practices, etc. All things pretty much now removed from customs except at the time of death.
                  I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!

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                    #10
                    Re: Death Entities

                    Originally posted by B. de Corbin View Post
                    Hermes is quite mad, disturbing, dangerous, but not without charms. Also, he is a doorway.
                    Now, Hermes I spoke to once, but in His aspect of travel. I was in a pagan store in Chicago, heading home, and they had a shrine to Him there. I gave Him an offering and asked that He help me get back home safely. Well, I did, but it was an incredibly bizarre trip. I can't even remember what happened during it, except thinking, many times, "THIS IS WHY I DON'T WORK WITH TRICKSTERS".
                    Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

                    Honorary Nord.

                    Habbalah Vlogs

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                      #11
                      Re: Death Entities

                      Originally posted by habbalah View Post
                      The Hades and Persephone thread got me thinking about this. How do you feel about working with or speaking to gods of death (or angels, or psychopomps, or any combinations thereof)? If you have, what have your experiences been?

                      I'm not trying to say that entities that deal in the realm of death are evil (far from it), but being a squishy mortal, the idea of death does scares me. I've only ever spoken to Azrael (and Anubis once, briefly, because He had a shrine at a shop I visited right after someone died) after someone's death, or when someone was dying, and I always got a sense of heaviness and fear. Heaviness I don't mind--I'm actually drawn to heavier energies--but I wonder if the fear is because of my own fear of death.
                      I've talked about my work with deities of death and deities of the dead pretty extensively both here and here, so I'll try not to be too repetitive...

                      I resonate very well with death deities, both those who rule over the moment of death and those who keep the dead. I couldn't tell you why, exactly... I'm not a particularly morbid person and you would never realise the connection if you met me in person. The cycle of death is an integral part of my spiritual practice, as is the understanding of how and why death happens. It does also tie into my work with animal guides and as a vet nurse/tech, in the sense that one of the services I provide my patients is an end to their suffering when the time comes.

                      Death to me is not scary at all. I'm not afraid to die. I'm not even particularly afraid of my loved ones dying. I AM afraid of my loved ones suffering, though, particularly my niece and nephew, and my animals. Because a merciful, painless death is one of the things that I do, the thought of dying alone and suffering is anathema to me. But that is more about the needless pain than it is about the death, if that makes sense.

                      I consider Skuld a deity of death, in that She is the one who rules over What Must Become, and who cuts your Thread at the moment of your death. She is the one who marks the Pattern for significant events, including your death. She also rides with the Valkyrja to ensure that only those who's time has come are chosen to be part of the battle slain. Ultimately, Skuld is the one who rules over the moment of death in the Northern faiths. Hela, Ran, Othinn and Freyja are keepers of the dead, but they must still defer to the will of the Nornir and to Skuld. To me, Skuld is... deadly beautiful. She has the same sort of graceful, mysterious, chilling presence that a viper or a shark has. There is an effortless deadliness to her, as though she could strike you dead on the spot without so much as a blink. There is also an incredibly 'still' depth to her, and an icy hardness which comes from her frost thurse background.

                      Ereshkigal is the keeper of the dead in the Sumerian pantheon. To me she is more like a tightly coiled spring. There is a barely restrained power to her that threatens to spill out and sweep everything away. She has the capacity for a great deadly rage, but also for intense loyalty and sacrifice. She is a goddess of raging passions, and everything with her has an intensity, even when she is still and regal and restrained. She is graceful and withdrawn, but with an undercurrent of an unassuming sort of sadness.

                      Those are the two that I have worked the most with. I have felt the presence of others, but not worked extensively enough with them to really comment as to their personalities. In terms of psychopomp entities I generally interact with the overarching grandparent spirit or animal guide... I rarely interact with a psychopomp of human souls, and never in the capacity of coming to claim a human soul.

                      I do understand why people find these deities scary. Death deities have a similar presence to deadly creatures... there's just something intangible that triggers off our survival instinct... the same thing that gives us that adrenaline hit when we are near a deadly snake or dealing with something that can cause us grievous harm. I don't find them malevolent any more than I find a snake malevolent, but I think that this feeling is what makes people think of them in that way.

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                        #12
                        Re: Death Entities

                        Anubis was never very 'scary' to me personally. The trouble with putting yourself on his wavelength is that you will become a lot more self-conscious of your own mortality than is normal, which is almost more embarrassing than it is frightening. I always had the sense of being pitied by this deity.

                        I've usually found Hecate to be the opposing force to Anubis in my practice. She radiates a presence which tends to provoke an instinctual fear (like Rae'ya mentioned) and doesn't seem to have very much empathy for the practitioner when this happens. Anubis is the guide and Hecate is the teacher; Hecate carrying the key to the knowledge of one's inevitable death and Anubis lighting the blue flame (I still don't know why it needs to be blue, but that has been my experience) that leads us into the Abyss.

                        Hecate is the "near death experience." She gives us the same feeling as when we narrowly avoid a car accident. Anubis is the "out of body experience," and creates a simultaneous sense of vulnerability and unreality.

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                          #13
                          Re: Death Entities

                          I had viral meningitis and was given a pain med overdose by a nurse in the hospital. I have no memory from the incident (or the four days before it) but I woke up from being shocked and saw my pastor and his wife crying with my family. I remember thinking it was going to be hard to tell them I didn't believe in god anymore. About two years later I was researching Germanic goddesses and found Frau Holle/Holda. She is still the main goddess in my life and I do things with her in mind daily. She is a psychopomp and tied closely with the Wild Hunt. I have no fear of her whatsoever. She comes across as a guide and helper of the dead, especially when I work with trying to connect with ancestors I have never met in real life. I had a vision of Hela once while meditating. It was totally scary and intimidating.

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                            #14
                            Re: Death Entities

                            I've talked to and worked with Thanatos before. It was while someone I knew was dying. I've never had a problem with gods of death, or gods that deal violence either (I worship Apollo and Artemis, both of them have killed in the myths and I'm okay with that)

                            In my experience, Thanatos was pretty chill. Generally I think that there's kind of a stigma against gods of death (and the grim reaper counts in here too) because people think of them as evil, demonic, murderous, when they're not. In some cultures they don't even kill the people, they just gently usher those who have died to the other side. they can even be seen as nurturing and gentle.

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                              #15
                              Re: Death Entities

                              I've made an offering to Anubis before (Didn't feel a connection though).
                              In Egypt, gods of death were revered (i.e Anubis, Osiris), so I figure if they weren't afraid, there's no reason for me to be. So no, I don't really have a problem with death gods, and I would gladly work with them.
                              Love me for who I am, not for who you want me to be.

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