Notes for Study Guide Pt 2

3 different destinations with specific cultural examples

• On Earth

  • Usually at some variable distance from dwellings of living.

  • Trobriand Islanders of New Guinea - village of the dead - one of neighborhoods of their own villages.

  • Celts – Tirnanog - island in far west on other side of immense ocean.

  • Tasmanian Indigenous of Australia - island nearby - continue existence.

  • Australian Aborigines of Northern Territory - island of dead - far off in the direction of Morning Star.

• Under Earth/Under Water

  • Most common of all concepts.

  • Entrance is through deep hole in ground/cave - widespread among Indigenous peoples.

  • Ancestral Maya of Belize, southern Mexico, and Guatemala - Xibalba (“Place of Fright”) - cave or a cenote (water hole).

  • Hopi of Southwest US – Kotluwalawa – in deep lake - "Whispering Water.“

  • When located beneath earth - world of dead

• In Sky

  • Concept - also very common - found in many cultures.

  • Belief that place exists somewhere high in the mountains – quite common.

  • Many religions believe mountaintops symbolize heaven and dwelling place of gods

    • e.g., Mount Olympus for ancient Greeks

Concept of souls and their destination in the afterlife for 1 culture

• Celtic (Irish Gaelic, Scots Gaelic)

  • World of spirits, including dead are seen as separate places or dimensions.

  • Passage between them - impossible except on special occasions.

  • Most famous Gaelic fall festival is Samhain.

  • Samhain:

    • marked end of harvest season and beginning of winter

    • ‘darker’ half of year

    • when natural life sleeps or “dies” waiting to be reborn.

  • Today:

    • Ireland, Scotland, Wales and within neo-pagan or Wiccan religions

    • Samhain celebrations begin

    • evening of October 31st

    • Celtic days begin at sunset, not sunrise

  • On Samhain:

    • ancient burial mounds opened

    • served as portals to Otherworld

    • land of spirits, faeries [known as aos sí], and dead

  • Samhain:

    • liminal or threshold festival

    • division or boundary between world of humans and realm of spirits

    • blurred and permeable.

  • Cave of Cruachan (County Roscommon) and Hill of Ward (County Meath):

    • important gateways to spirit world during Samhain

  • During Samhain:

    • spirits could enter land of humans and humans could enter Otherworld.

  • Some believe - aos sí related to ancient concepts of pagan Celtic gods

  • Dead are honored during Samhain

    • coming of winter seen as the best time for it

    • 'dying' time in nature.

  • Spirits of dead are provided with food and drink to ensure living and livestock survived winter.

  • Souls of dead relatives revisit their homes looking for hospitality.

  • Place was set for them at table during meal.

  • Portions of crops are left in the ground for them.

  • People took special care not to offend aos sí

    • sought to protect themselves

  • People stayed at home or (if out at night) turned clothing inside out or carried iron or salt to keep spirits away.

  • If spirits not fed or treated well, they wreak havoc or take revenge on living

3 deities of death/other entities and their culture

• Haida: Indigenous people of Northwest Coast of Canada

• Haida religion

  • concept of duality and balancing of opposing forces in nature

  • Belief in duality and balance

  • permeated world in numerous ways

  • including life and death and different kinds of death

• Distinction between peaceful deaths and violent deaths

• Believe supernatural entities responsible for each one

• Tia: goddess of peaceful death

• Ta’xet (her brother): god of violent death

  • Ta’xet takes souls with no warning

• Tia gives signs of impending death before taking person’s soul

• Different roles, Ta’xet:

  • often equated with demon

  • could appear in form of deer

• Ta’xet’s presence

  • groans heard

  • sometimes see headless corpse right before death

• Both Tia and Ta’xet:

  • like many Indigenous supernatural entities

  • shapeshifters

• Ancient Egypt

  • Usually referred to as God of Death:

    • Anubis responsible for leading souls to afterlife

    • and judging them based on their life’s deeds

  • God may be oldest in ancient Egyptian mythology.

  • Appears in various texts dated to the Old Kingdom (ca. 2700 – 2200 BC)

  • Old Kingdon times, Anubis is ruler of Duat (the Underworld).

  • Principal god of death until replaced by Osiris in the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2030 – 1650 BC)

  • After this, Anubis seen as aide to Osiris

  • Anubis:

    • powerful deity because of responsibility for bodies and souls of dead

    • Extremely important as protector of tombs and cemeteries and god of mummification

    • key figure in mythology of all Egypt

    • city of Cynopolis (“City of the Dog”) in Upper Egypt

    • home to cult of Anubis

    • depicted as man with head of jackal or simply as jackal with long ears and snout

  • Anubis’ head:

    • always depicted as black as is whole body when in animal form

    • Color black undoubtedly connected with death, as well as fertile soil of Nile River.

    • Posited that Anubis presented as jackal because real jackals scavenged dead in cemeteries

  • Typically portrayed carrying was and ankh

  • Was:

    • scepter with forked bottom and image of dog at top

    • symbolized Anubis’ authority as guardian of dead.

  • Ankh:

    • symbol that appears as Christian cross with loop on top

    • widely recognized as symbol of eternal life in ancient Egypt

    • served as Anubis’ symbol of authority to guide souls to afterlife

  • In role of judging dead, considered Guardian of the Scales.

  • Ritual performed for dead and method of judgement

    • well detailed in “The Book of the Dead”

    • with Papyrus of Ani

    • one of best-preserved examples, although incomplete

  • Soul’s fate:

    • weighing of deceased’s heart against weight of feather

    • goddess of truth and justice [Ma’at]

  • If deceased’s heart heavier than feather:

    • person (their soul)

    • devoured by female demon named Ammit

  • If heart lighter than feather, Anubis

    • shepherd deceased to god Osiris to be welcomed into afterlife

• Christianity, Islam, and Judaism

  • Belief in archangel of death

    • name some version of Azrael or Samael:

      • e.g., Azra’il, Izrail, Ezraeil, Ozryel, etc Name “Azrael” - derived from Hebrew and Arabic roots (azra for “help/helper” and el in reference to God)

  • Translates to roughly mean - “Who Helps God”

  • In Koran and Bible:

    • no mention of anyone specifically called Azreal

    • Although “angels of death” (Malaikat al-Maut in Arabic or Malach ha-Mavet in Hebrew) and “messengers of God” appear in texts

  • Angels or messengers mentioned

    • assumption that Azrael assisted by other angels of death.

  • Azrael

    • one of four archangels (Jibril or Gabriel, Mikail or Michael, and Israfil or Raphael)

    • both guide that takes souls to Heaven and entity that initially separates soul from dead body

  • Usually depicted as angel of compassion and mercy

    • lovingly collects souls of dead.

  • Separation of soul from body requires Azrael’s touch.

  • Upon touching dying person, Azrael liberates their spiritual force or energy.

  • Name Azrael

    • not in primary religious texts

    • little information about origins of Azrael in these sources either.

  • Mentions of angels of death appear in Christian, Islamic, and Jewish texts

    • assumed to be references to Azrael.

  • Azrael plays another crucial role in terms of entry to Heaven.

  • Somewhat like Anubis in ancient Egyptian mythology

    • Azrael responsible for judgment of soul’s fate after death

    • in some interpretations, at least

  • Said to assist in weighing deeds of dead individual on a scale.

  • Like scales of justice:

    • divine judgement emphasized fairness and responsibility of person for actions in life.

  • Debate:

    • likeness of Azrael in various portraits

    • depicted in flowing robes and holding scythe

    • like the Grim Reaper

    • with book of deeds to be judged.

  • Occasionally, archangel of death presented or described with hourglass containing trickling stream of sand

    • amount of life remaining before death

Concept and function of ancestral spirits in 1 culture

• The Hopi

  • Indigenous Hopi - Arizona in Southwestern United States

    • Belief in existence of more than 500 divine and ancestral spirit beings

  • Spirit beings

    • interact with humans and affect outcomes of daily lives

    • Spirits are referred to as kachinas

  • Each Hopi group have distinct forms of kachinas

  • Spirits

    • reside in spirit world for ½ the year and with members of tribe for other ½

  • Kachinas

    • typically arrive in February (after winter solstice)

    • usually leave in July (after summer solstice)

  • Niman Ceremony

    • when sun at northernmost point in sky

    • sends them back to spirit world until next year

  • One reason is kachinas believed to bringers of rain for Hopi spring crops

  • Spirits allow themselves to be seen by living

    • if men in community properly perform traditional ritual dance wearing kachina masks and other ritual dress

  • Kachina depicted on mask

    • believed to present with or within performer

    • temporarily transforming him into spirit or spirit ancestor

  • Kachinas

    • dancers

    • act as go-betweens for world of spirits and world of living

  • Also make kachina dolls

    • carved out of wood and heavily decorated with paint, leather, cloth, feathers, etc

  • Typically, men carve dolls for young girls

    • Seems to be gendered tradition

    • boys do not receive kachina dolls

  • Wooden dolls

    • primarily used to teach girls about identities of the kachinas based on decoration

    • Paint colors and patterns and added leather, cloth, and feathers

    • symbolically represent specific kachina

    • Decoration on dolls is the same as dancers’ masks

Living Dead

• Old Norse - Draugar

  • Old Norse mythology

    • dead can re-animate following burial and become a draug

  • Also known as aptrgangr (after-walker) or haugbúi (howe dweller/mound-dweller)

  • Draugar

    • typically considered antagonistic and aggressive

  • Some believe bellicose nature of draug

    • reflection of hostility and unkindness of person in life

  • Draugar appear as humans in process of early stages of decomposition

  • Described in Norse myths

    • hideous creatures

    • either black, blue, or very pale in color

    • smell like decay or biological decomposition

  • Believed to larger than average person and possess super-human strength

  • Increased size

    • connected to bloating associated with process of human decomposition?

    • Some descriptions have clawed hands

  • Draug

    • typically lives in or near own burial mound (howe)

    • most likely guarding treasure buried with it

    • Some live in abandoned forts or castles

  • Presence of draugar

    • demonstrated by bright light above grave

    • similar to idea of “will’o-the-wisp”

    • created by bioluminescence of insects

    • or ignition of swamp gas produced through decay of plant matter

  • Bringers of destruction and suffering

    • destroy physical property, bring disease, and poison person’s mind

  • Draug

    • suspected to be around when houses were damaged, animals died, and people became ill or died

  • In some stories, leave an object behind to prove they had been to visit someone/caused someone harm

  • In some stories, can enter people’s dreams to torment them

  • Powers

    • creation of darkness, shapeshifting, prophecy, or controlling wind and storms

  • Each individual

    • behavior will vary

    • generally agreed draug not stop until killed

  • Normal humans cannot kill draugar only mighty heroes could

  • After killed, body had to be destroyed

    • typically burnt

    • or decapitated to prevent it from returning

    • the ashes of draug taken far away from where people lived for safe disposed

  • Prevent malevolent person from becoming draug

    • iron scissors placed across the body

    • could not rise

    • needles stuck in feet

    • could not walk around

  • In some cases, runestones engraved with magical incantations

    • bind body to grave

    • prevent draug from rising

• Eastern Europe - Vampires

  • In some instances, vampires considered type of draugar

  • Resistance to idea for various reasons most important

    • great antiquity of creatures similar to vampires (drinkers of blood) in many cultures around world

  • Western cultural contexts – vampires

    • product of Eastern European folklore

  • In eastern European countries, notably Romania

    • vampires believed to be people

    • possessed by evil spirits

    • who had potential to rise from grave after death

  • Reanimated/reborn creatures believed to return from dead to harm living

  • Fear of vampires in Eastern Europe

    • inspired by same fear responsible for witch trials across Europe and North America

  • Fear of vampires and fear of witches

    • fear of unknown and concern for Christian souls’ fate

  • 15th century Europeans

    • worries about how person’s life shaped destiny of soul after death

  • For example

    • being born out of wedlock, not being baptized, being born with teeth, or with physical deformity

    • all damn person and pollute their soul

    • cause ‘unclean’ soul trapped in body to remain in world of living rather than travel to heaven

  • Solution to prevent deceased’s soul’s continued existence in land of living

    • bury person with objects to ward off evil (apotropaics)

  • Like iron scissors buried with draugar objects

    • e.g., sickle blades, heavy stones

    • placed across throat or in mouth of corpse

    • prevent deceased from rising from grave

  • Debate about origin of vampire in Eastern Europe – 2 dominant explanations

  • First explanation

    • existence of blood-drinking entities in Slavic mythology called strigoi

  • Concept of strigoi is very old possibly dating back to Iron Age people (the Dacians)

  • Different concepts of strigoi all possess evil souls

  • Belief in strigoi

    • fever pitch in 17th century Eastern Europe

  • Slavic mythology there are 2 different forms of strigoi

    • strigoi viu and strigoi mort

  • Strigoi viu

    • cursed individuals

    • the living strigoi

    • recognized based on sign at birth

    • unusual physical feature/deformity (e.g., red hair, large birthmark, birth defect [cleft palate, extra digits])

    • 7th child of same sex born to parents thought to be strigoi

  • People feared strigoi viu as oddities

    • believed to possess magical abilities that could cause harm

    • debate to whether such children killed right away or allowed to live

  • Whenever they died, carefully handled and buried

    • fear of rising from graves as strigoi mort

  • Strigoi mort

    • cursed spirits

    • risen from grave

    • eventually regain human form

  • Strigoi mort origins – vague – except for strigoi viu

  • Whether all strigoi mort are initially strigoi viu is not clear in folk tales

  • Slavic mythology

    • strigoi mort rise from grave a spirit to visit loved ones

  • Return to family home and wreak havoc

    • moving objects, making loud noises, and hurting people (e.g., pushing, pinching, tripping, pulling hair)

  • About 1 week after rising from grave, strigoi mort assumes original physical form and no longer just a spirit

  • Strigoi mort had to return to gravesites every night or perish

  • How they perished isn’t clearly explained (possibly sunlight)

  • Strigoi

    • possessed special powers

    • invisibility, lycanthropy (change into animal form), draining energy (possibly life force?) from victims

    • not always described as blood drinkers

  • One theory

    • idea of blood (as source of life)

      • developed later

  • Strigoi mort were thought to be immortal unless killed in specific ways

  • Like draugar, strigoi mort

    • exhumed from graves during day, decapitated, and burned to ash

  • Believed strigoi mort that survived for 7 years

    • no longer tied to grave/could leave it forever

  • Different form of strigoi

    • considered mortal (moroi)

    • only lived normal human lifespan

    • eventually die (including of old age)

  • Second explanation is based on existence of historical figure

    • Vlad II of the House of Drăculești in Romania

    • Also known as “Vlad the Impaler”

  • Earliest description of creature like a vampire in Old Russian text (AD 1047)

  • Term ‘vampire’ first appears in print in 1725

    • concerns exhumation, staking, and burning of body that was terrorizing village

  • Creatures like vampires exist in many cultures

  • Sekhmet

    • Egyptian feline warrior goddess of healing and disease

    • father (the sun god, Ra) sent her to earth to punish humankind for disobedience

    • As Sekhmet slaughtered people, insatiably drank their blood

  • Philippines: manananggal

    • shape-shifting creature

    • turns into woman

    • sucks blood from bellies of pregnant women

  • Bram Stoker, author of Dracula

    • put legend of vampire “on the map”

    • combined strigoi with stories of Vlad the Impaler

  • Whether Stoker based Count Dracula on Vlad the Impaler is debated

  • Vlad II was born in Transylvania to wealthy, aristocratic family

    • as adult ruled Walachia in Romania at various points in time between 1448 – 1477

    • devout Christian and staunch opponent of Ottoman Empire

    • brilliant military strategist

    • renowned for horrible cruelty

  • Moniker “Vlad the Impaler” derived from legends

    • Vlad’s penchant for impaling dead

  • For example

    • Ottomans sent diplomats to demand tribute from Vlad

    • nailed their turbans to their heads

    • returned bodies

  • Also said to impale his dead victims on wooden stakes

    • warning to foes

  • Tales detailing practice of dipping bread into blood of enemies before eating it

  • Characteristics and powers of vampires vary

    • seems to be some consistency

  • Vampires:

    1. could only exist at night (sunlight could kill them).

    2. had fangs and drank human blood to sustain themselves.

    3. had power of lycanthropy - could turn themselves in to wolves, bats, and sometimes rats.

    4. were very strong.

    5. possessed special charisma that could mesmerize people.

    6. some versions - had no shadow and had no reflection in mirror

  • In Middle Ages, many superstitions surrounded actual biological and psychological symptoms of diseases

    • Some may have contributed to creation of vampire

  • One example

    • bubonic plague (“Black Death”)

    • decimating Europe at the time

    • People with plague often suffered from mouth lesions

    • bleed causing them to spit up blood or have blood on lips

  • Other examples – pellagra, porphyria

  • Pellagra

    • dietary deficiency

    • results from corn-heavy diets

    • extreme skin sensitivity to sunlight

  • However, corn not part of European diet until after contact with Indigenous peoples of Americas

  • Porphyria – blood disease

    • sufferers cannot be exposed to direct sunlight

    • causes skin blisters

    • also experienced hallucinations

    • had receding gums (gave impression of elongated teeth)

  • Extreme cases

    • light sensitivity so severe

    • could suffer from deformed ears and noses or lose them completely

  • Some symptoms of porphyria argued to be relieved by ingesting blood

  • Fourth possible illness – rabies

    • dramatic and lethal disease

    • includes symptoms, such as insomnia, hallucinations, paralysis, and aversion to light and water

    • eventually causes loss of bodily control, including painful muscle spasms

    • perhaps mimicking twisting of victim of lycanthropy (like turning into werewolf)

    • excessive salivation

      • lead to associations with animals (e.g., dogs, wolves)

  • Bite from wolf, dog, or bat - transmit rabies

    • may have also contributed to connection between rabies and vampirism

  • Individual afflicted with rabies slip into coma and may have appeared as living dead person

  • What happens to dead body supported belief in vampires

  • Pressure builds up in corpse during decomposition

    • potential to push corpse’s fluids into mouth and nose (also known as “purge fluid”)

    • creating illusion of creature that drinks/drank blood

  • Corpse’s skin eventually shrinks in size during decomposition

    • gives illusion that teeth/nails have grown longer

  • Concepts of killing vampire

    • stake through heart, exposure to sunlight, splashing with holy water

    • collectively draw inspiration from early ideas

  • Real practices observed in Eastern European burials

    • driving stake through suspected vampire’s corpse, placing sickle blade or heavy stone in mouth/across neck/on chest

    • prevent it from rising from grave

    • Decapitation and burning of corpses