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The human skull is an obvious and frequent symbol of death, found in many cultures and religious traditions. [1] Human skeletons and sometimes non-human animal skeletons and skulls can also be used as blunt images of death; the traditional figures of the Grim Reaper – a black-hooded skeleton with a scythe – is one use of such symbolism. [2]
French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss proposed a structuralist theory that suggests the raven (like the coyote) obtained mythic status because it was a mediator animal between life and death. [1] As a carrion bird, ravens became associated with the dead and with lost souls.
The anthropologist Lynne Isbell has argued that, as primates, the serpent as a symbol of death is built into our unconscious minds because of our evolutionary history.. Isbell argues that for millions of years snakes were the only significant predators of primates, and that this explains why fear of snakes is one of the most common phobias worldwide and why the symbol of the serpent is so ...
Makara (Hindu mythology) – half terrestrial animal in the frontal part (stag, deer, or elephant) and half aquatic animal in the hind part (usually of a fish, a seal, or a snake, though sometimes a peacock or even a floral tail is depicted) Mug-wamp - (Canadian) giant sturgeon monster said to inhabit Lake Temiskaming in Ontario. Name is of ...
Achlys, a primordial goddess of the clouding of eyes after death, the eternal night, and poison; Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, and wild animals, who was commonly associated with the moon; Astraeus, Titan god of the dusk, stars, planets, and the art of Astronomy and Astrology; Asteria, Titan goddess of nocturnal oracles and ...
This story makes use of folktales where black dogs symbolize death. [citation needed] Another famous ghostly black dog may be found in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series: the "Grim", a "giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards" [107] is "the worst omen of death" [107] according to Harry Potter's divination teacher, Professor Trelawney.
Fylgja – a companion external to the body that often takes on the form of a woman or animal and is usually only able to be seen by certain individuals or in dreams. The fylgja is linked with the fate of the individual and can leave the individual after death, or transfer to family members. [3] Hamingja – an entity that comprises the luck of ...
Before its adaptation to the Japanese dream-caretaker myth creature, an early 17th-century Japanese manuscript, the Sankai Ibutsu (山海異物), describes the baku as a shy, Chinese mythical chimera with the trunk and tusks of an elephant, the ears of a rhinoceros, the tail of a cow, the body of a bear and the paws of a tiger, which protected ...