I’m obviously a Hypnos devotee, but you know, twins be twinning. I do think about Thanatos a lot too. And it’s given me some thoughts I figured I’d drop into the void. Maybe someone will find some meaning in it.

I think everyone, but especially those who work with death deities, should visit death centric sites at least once. By death centric sites I mean things like historical sites where death is prominent in its history (like Pompeii, the valley of the kings, Paris catacombs etc), the restored or memorialised site where a tragedy occurred, a famous graveyard, hell even somewhere like the suicide forest where death is still a present force. Of course, do so when you’re in a stable mental state for your own good. But visiting these kinds of places gives you a lot to think about in terms of death and mortality.

When I was in Pompeii, despite all the visitors and tours going on, there was still a lingering sense of “people died here”. And the casts of the bodies, seeing the exact positions people died in, it really solidifies that these were real people. I’ve also been to an ancient Egypt museum exhibit that had real mummies, and my first thought was ‘they’re so small’. These were real people, and seeing them in person, how small they were, it put things into perspective. If I was alive back then, they’d have thought I was super tall when by today’s standards I’m average. If I was there when Vesuvius erupted, would archaeologists have found me curled up in fear or lying down accepting my fate? All these people that end up in historical sites, famous graveyards, with their faces on memorial plaques, they’re all real. They all lived, had families, friends, goals, favourites and treasured possessions. Some lived long, full lives. Some were unfortunate enough to die young. Some went peacefully, some were ripped violently from this world. And all the people who loved them that are still alive, they have to grieve. In some cases fight for justice, or grapple with the reality that a tragic accident can’t have been changed or predicted.

And when you stand there, in the place people have died or in front of their graves above their bodies, it makes you face your own mortality. Not necessarily in the same shocking and violent way one would face it if they’d gotten into a near death situation, or witnessed someone die. But in a less scary and threatening way. It prepares you, little by little for the reality that people you love and you yourself will one day die. That thousands of years ago, someone died here and now you’re looking at the very spot it happened all these years later. That hundreds of years ago, this person died and you’re now looking at their final resting place. That one day, someone will look at your own headstone, and have the same thoughts. Maybe they’ll leave flowers, maybe they’ll cry and process their own fears of death and loss, maybe they’ll just read your name and move on. Either way, one day you’ll be the one that makes someone stop and think about their own life.

Death itself isn’t scary when you realise it’s happened to millions of people, and will continue to happen to millions of people. That all those people lived, had memories and treasured people and possessions. Just like you’re living right now. No one will ever be alone in death, because there’s so many who’ve already faced it, and so many who will face it one day.

That’s why deities like Thanatos and Hades, while they can have their strict and darker aspects, aren’t really ever depicted as outright scary. It’s natural, in most cases it’s old age and peaceful. In the cases it’s not, it’ll eventually be over and that person will be a rest. To grieve and mourn is completely normal, a natural reaction to loosing people you love. But so is smiling at the memory of them, laughing about something that happened years before they died, seeing something that reminds you of them and pointing out to your friend ‘they would have loved that’

Death isn’t as scary, and is easier to cope with when you’ve seen it before in small, palatable doses. Like seeing ruins from so long ago you have no personal relationship to the victims. Or walking past a strangers headstone and seeing the flowers a family member left behind. So when the day comes Thanatos comes for someone you love, and eventually yourself, it won’t be has hard to face. Let yourself grieve and mourn, yes. But when that overwhelming emotion simmers, you’ll be able to see things in the lens of peace.

Which death/underworld deities do my pagan mutuals have in your lives?

🥀🐺💀🗝️🥀

So, I’ve been doing some reading about Gods of the Dead - Pluto/Hades/Nyja, etc.

I have a question for anyone who feel inspired to answer in either a comment reply or a reblog.

In many descriptions it is written that they are a “god of the underworld and guardian of souls when they leave the body.”

Do you think this could also be true for those who do soul travel or astral projection? Would the god of the dead also protect those who practice traveling?

And if not him, who? Would anyone be the watcher of this practice? Another psychopomp?

 Anubis - egyptian mythology

credits: ig @fionahsieh 

Marzanna - slavic mythology

credits: ig @kate_voynova_art

Morta - roman mythology

credits: La Parca by the mexican artist: Antonio Garcia Vega

Mictlantecuhlti - aztec mythology

credits: Andres Rios

Izanami - japanese mythology

credits: @noxypia on DeviantArt

Thanatos - greek mythology

credits: ig@nipunidraws 

Donn - celtic mythology

credits: @salaino2016 on DeviantArt

Ogbunablai - igbo mythology

credits: taken from Medium.com 

Hel - norse mythology

credits: @federica costantini

Yama - South Asian Vedic “Hindu”