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DICTIONARY OF THE PSYCHOPOMP
The "Psychopomp" according to the Oxford Dictionary is "a conductor of souls to the place of the dead". Throughout history, cultures and belief systems, the Psychopomp has appeared in diverse forms to Open the Way to this greatest of mysteries: Death. And no form has more impressed upon the eye than that of the Wild Dog, the Wolf and the Jackal.
This "Dictionary of the Psychopomp" is an attempt to bring together, from around the World, representatives and possible contenders for this sacred and intimate role of Guardian, Challenger and Attendant that we can define as the Psychopomp.
By Su Leybourn Medusa161@yahoo.com.au.
ADU
OGYINAE: (Ashanti):The
first man. He was the leader of the seven men, some women, a dog and
a leopard who were the first beings to come to the surface of the earth
from holes in the ground.
AMAROK:
(Innuit): The
Great Wolf.
ANPU:
(Egypt):The
Royal Child, Anpu, the Jackal God is one of the oldest gods of Egypt,
predating Wesir/Osiris who supplanted him at the beginning of the Middle
Kingdom. Opener of the Roads/West. Psychopompos, messenger, Guardian
of The Secrets and Sacred writings. Anpu is Guardian of the Veil and
Guide of the Soul. Patron of Orphans and lost souls, god of magic(k)
and physician. Personification of Time and Lord of the Circle. He is "Sekem em Pat", the Power of Heaven. Known as Anubis to the
Greeks.
ARALEZ
(Armenia):Beneficent
dog-like spirits.
ARAWN:
(Welsh):King
of Annwn, the Abyss or Underworld. Arawn is the Grey Man of Earth, a
Death Lord who kills in order to bring forth new life. He is first-born
and husband to Modron, the Goddess behind all the Gods. See Cwn Annwyn.
ARTEMIS-DIANA:
(Greek, Roman):Artemis-Diana,
leader of the Scythian alani or "hunting dogs". Goddess of
wild animals, the wilderness in general, the hunt, and a protectress
of women.
BARGUESTt:
(Yorkshire):Possibly
from the German bargeist, meaning "spirit of the (funeral) bier".
A monstrous nocturnal dog with huge teeth and claws. It was believed
that anyone who saw Barghest would die soon after.
BAU:
(Sumeria):Dog-headed
Goddess of the Underworld. Daughter of An. It has been suggested that
An-pu may be a continuation/extension of the idea An-Bau.
BHACAIN:
(Scotland):A
large standing stone that resembles a dog's head, at Cashlie in the
Scottish Highlands. Bhacain is Gaelic for "dog stake". It
is said that Fionn MacCummail's warriors tethered their hunting dogs
here.
BHAIRAVA:
(Hindu):Shiva
in his wrathful form as Bhairava is associated with dogs. The dog is
as much considered his vahana or animal vehicle as is the bull, Nandi.
BITCH
GODDESS: (Indo-European):A
concept known in all the Indo European cultures from antiquity. Includes
the Great Bitch Sarama who led the Vedic dogs of death and Artemis-Diana,
leader of the Scythian alani or "hunting dogs". Harlots or
"bitches" were identified in the ancient Roman cult of the
Goddess Lupa, the Wolf Bitch, whose priestesses "lupae" gave
their name to prostitutes in general.
BLOODY
TONGUE: (West Yorkshire):A
great dog with red eyes and a huge tail.
BOTOS:
(Yakut):The
two dogs Chardas and Botos are invisible assistants of the shaman.
CAILLECH:
(Ireland, Scotland):The
Veiled One. Destroyer and crone. Goddess of disease and plague. Dogs
guarded the gates of the Other-world where she received the dead. In
myth her gatekeeper is a dog named Dormarth "Death's Door."
Irish bards who could curse with satire were often called cainte "dog."
CERBERUS:
(Greek): Watchdog
at the entrance to Hades. Usually depicted as triple-headed (originally
fifty-headed). He permitted all to enter, but none to leave. In mythos
he is only bested by Orpheus, Hercules, Sybil and Aeneas.
CHARDAS:
(Yakut):The
two dogs Chardas and Botos are invisible assistants of the shaman.
CHARON:
(Greek):The
Ferryman who traversed the river Styx delivering souls to Hades. He
had the ears of a wolf. CHERNOBOG:
(Slavic):The
old, Pre-Vladimir Slavic black demon (lit. "Black God") of
the Varlagi Russians, represented by a black dog. In the nuclear power
plant disaster of 1987, the similarity of the name Chernobog to Chernobyl
caused great distress amongst Russian people.
CHORONZON:Demon
of dispersion, guardian of the Abyss or the 10th aether. Choronzon may
appear as male, female, androgyne, neuter. He has been known to appear
as a black snake, fox, or jackal.
COYOTE:
(Southwestern Indians and elsewhere):A
trickster, a clown. The creator and teacher of men. The Chinook people
tell how Coyote and Eagle went to the land of the dead to bring back
their dead wives. However the plan devised by the two gods went amiss
and Coyote accidentally let loose the spirits of the dead who rose up
like a cloud and disappeared to the west. So it is that people must
die forever, not like the plants which die in winter and are green again
in turn. See Heyokah. CU:
(Celtic):A
prefix meaning "Hound of -" often seen in the names of heroes
and warriors eg Cu Chulainn as the Hound of Culann.
CU CHULAINN (Celtic): The
Hound of Culann. Cu Chulainn originally was named Stanta but after killing
the guard dog of Culann the Smith he changed his name as a penance and
assumes the dog's place for a time.
CWN
ANNWYN: (Welsh):The
Hounds of Annwn were death omens, described in an early Welsh poem as
small, speckled and greyish-red, chained and led by a black-horned figure.
These were ghost dogs which appeared only at night to foretell death,
sent from Annwn to seek out corpses and human souls. See Arawn.
CYNOTHERAPISTS:
(Greek, Roman):In
Greece and Rome dogs were considered messengers of the gods. It was
even thought that they could smell out disease. Special healing dogs,
cynotherapists, were kept in temples to comfort the sick and dying,
and to lick their wounds which sometimes caused a miraculous recovery.
Their divine patron was Hermanubis (Hermes + Anubis) with the head of
a dog on the body of a man.
DEVIL'S
DANDY, The: (Devon):Also
known as the Dando Dogs.
DATTATREYA:
(Hindu):In
depictions of Dattatreya, a deity combining the three male gods Shiva,
Vishnu and Brahma, four dogs representing the four Vedas, stand at his
feet. They accompany him as hounds of heaven that track pure souls,
and are the watchdogs of dharma in the sense of ultimate truth.
DHARMA
- the Law: (Hindu):In
the epic the Mahabharata a dog that accompanies Yudhishthira, the King
of Pandavas through a series of ordeals to heaven is revealed as Dharma
in disguise.
DORMARTH:
(Ireland, Scotland):Meaning "Death's Door". The dog guarding the afterworld ruled by Caillech,
goddess of disease and plague, the "Veiled One".
DUAMUTEF:
(Egypt):Duamutef:
was one of the Four Sons of Horus and the protector of the stomach of
the deceased, along with goddess Neith. He was represented as a mummified
man with the head of a jackal.
FENRIR:
(Norse): Child
of Loki, an immense sky-wolf, chained until Ragnarok, the End of Days.
His fate is to devour the Sun at the end of time, and then to be slain
by Vidar.
FRIAR
TUCK: (Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire): In
one story Robin Hood encounters Friar Tuck who agrees to carry Robin
across a moat to an island on the understanding that Robin will return
the favour on the way back. However, Robin drops Friar Tuck in the water
half-way back. A fight ensues in which Friar Tuck summons 50 hounds
and Robin Hood summons 50 archers. In the introduction Friar Tuck is
introduced as "Master of the Hounds".
GABRIEL
HOUNDS, The: (Britain):Also
known as Gabble Retchets. A pack of spectral hounds that are seen as
a portent of death or disaster.
GARM:
(Norse):The
Hound of Hel, the watchdog chained to the gates of Under-Earth. The
coming of Ragnarok will be signalled by His breaking the binding, allowing
him to run wild over the earth.
GERI:
(Norse):One
of the two hounds of Odin who keep watch one sleeps by day and the other
by night outside the fortress-hall Lyfjaberg (mount of healing) of Mengloth.
See Gifr.
GERYON:
(Greek):A
monster with three heads and three bodies, whose oxen ate human flesh,
and who were guarded by Orthrus, a two-headed dog.
GIFR:
(Norse):One
of the two hounds of Odin who keep watch one sleeps by day and the other
by night outside the fortress-hall Lyfjaberg (mount of healing) of Mengloth.
See Geri.
GLUSKAP:
(Algonquin):The
Creator, or the creator force. Generally benevolent, but often capricious.
He created the plains, the food plants, the animals and the human race
from the body of the Mother Earth. Gluskap's brother and rival is Malsum,
a wolf. When his work was finished, Gluskap paddled towards the sunrise
in a birch bark canoe. Some day, it is said, he may return.
GULA:
(Sumerian):Goddess.
A healer and patroness of medicine, usually accompanied by a dog.
GUNDESTROP
CAULDRON, The: Depicts
a dog underneath the cauldron in which a man or child is being immersed
head first
Gurt
Dog: (Somerset):A
black dog signalling death.
GUYTRASH:
(Lancashire):Also
known as Trash or Striker. A large shaggy dog with broad webbed feet
and drooping 'saucer' eyes.
GWYLLGI:
(Wales):The
Dog of Darkness. Notable for its red eyes.
HECATE:
(Greek):"Opener
of Ways". Queen of the Dead. Greek goddess of the dark moon, crossroads,
magick, wealth, wisdom, victory and navigation. She is said to be the
daughter of Perses and Asteria, while other traditions say she was the
daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hecate embodies the regenerative nature of
destruction. She is accompanied by dogs. Sometimes depicted as dog headed.
Associated with Cerberus. Hecate and her hounds were overseers of cyclical
time, guardians of life and the awakening of vegetation.
HEL,
HOLLA or HOLLE: (Germanic):Goddess
of the Underworld. Holle escorts the dead to the Underworld assisted
by a wolf or dog.
HEROA:
(Aztec):Heroa,
the initiator of agriculture and the calendar, was helped by worms and
bees on his journeys to the Land of the Dead. He transformed them into
a dog.
HEYOKAH:
(Southwestern Indians and elsewhere):Alternatively
recognised as Coyote. Sometimes known as Whiskey Jack, the archetypal
trickster. See Coyote.
HYDRA:
(Greek):The
Lemean Hydra was a nine-headed fresh-water Serpent, or a beast with
a dog-like body who was a guardian of the Golden Apples of the Hesperides.
If one head were removed another two replaced it. This monster was the
offspring of Echidna by Typhon and was killed by Hercules as his second
Labour.
INDRA: (Hindu):Indra, god of Thunder and Fire was associated with the dog.
KE'LETS:
(Chukchi/Siberia):Demon
of death. With his pack of dogs he hunts men, and brings death to them.
KHORS:
(Slavic):God
of sun and light, and one of the eight primary Slavonic deities. He
seems to have an association with dogs as well.
KUKKURIPA:
(Buddhism): Kukkuripa
was reputed to live on an island surrounded by dogs. He was a Mahasiddha
(one of the 84 greatest yogis). In the legends of Guru Rinpoche, after
some tantric scriptures landed on the palace roof, King Indrabodhi brought
them to Kukkuraja for interpretation.
KWAKIUTL
TRIBE, The: (British Columbia):One
of the Kwakiutl myths tells how the ancestors of these people took off
their wolf masks and became humans.
LAMASTU:
(Akkadian):Female
demon who was supposedly responsible for the fevers and diseases of
infants. She is depicted with breasts bared and suckling a dog or pig.
LOKI:
(Norse):The
Trickster who challenges the structure and order of the Gods. The god
of Fire. He is neither Aesir nor Vanir, but of the race of Ettins (Elementals)
and thus possesses some daemonic qualities. He is both friend and foe
to the Aesir. His offspring include the Fenris Wolf and Jormurgandr,
the Midgard Wyrm, the goddess Hel (Hella, Holle), and Sleipnir, Odin's
eight-legged horse.
LUPA:
(early Etruscan-Roman): The
Great Goddess. A she-wolf who suckles Romulus and Remus.
LUPERCUS:
(Roman):God
of wolves, significant to Romans in that the mythological founders of
the Roman Nation (Romulus and Remus) were suckled by a she-wolf in infancy.
LYKEGENES:
(Greek):Epithet
for Apollo meaning "born from the she-wolf".
MADRA:
(Old Irish):Dog.
Note similarity to words pertaining to mother ie. the Latin "mater",
"matron", "matrix", and the Sumerian "mama".
MAITREYA:
(Buddhism):The
Bodhisattva Maitreya appeared to the hermit Asanga as a maggot infested
dog, near to death. Asanga, moved by the dog's suffering, yet mindful
of the maggots, gently removed the maggots with his own tongue. At that
point Maitreya appeared in the dog's place and spoke with the hermit.
Note that the word "maitri" equates to "loving-kindness".
The lessons taught pertained to the idea that there is no clean nor
unclean, and that repugnance is a learned condition. Also that whatever
we experience, all of reality, depends only on the state of our mind.
Asanga (c. 300-370ce) was a brahmin from Peshawar and is considered
the founder of the Buddhist approach called Yogachara, or Consciousness-Only.
MALSUM:
Alonquin):Wolf
and brother to the Creator god Gluskap. Malsum made rocks, thickets
and poisonous animals. He was killed by his brother and his magic driven
under the earth.
MAUTHE
DOOG: (Isle of Man):Variation
of name, the Moddey Dhoo. This entity may have provided the inspiration
for "The Hound of the Baskervilles," by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
MITHRAS:
(Roman):Dogs
were held sacred to the Roman god, Mithras, as symbolic of sincerity
and trustworthiness. MUSHRUSHSHU:
(Sumerian):Red
dragon. A composite creature with the body of a dog, the head of a serpent
and a long tail.
MUSTI:
(Finland):The
Finnish hero Kullervo hears the voice of his dead mother instruct him
to take the black dog Musti with him into the forest so that the dog
may attend him. Kullervo returns to the forest where he seduced his
sister unknowingly. In despair he throws himself on his own sword.
OLDER BROTHER, YOUNGER BROTHER: (Shoshone):A Shoshone myth which explains how death came into the world highlights a difference betweenWolf and Coyote who are referred to as older and younger brother, respectively. In the First Days, Wolf was the Creator of order in this world, while Coyote always tried to oppose him. Wolf considered that people could be renewed from Death but Coyote disagreed, saying that the world would be get filled up with people. The consequences of Coyote's opposition was that death became final.
PAWNEE
TRIBE, the: (Great Plains):The
hand signal for "wolf" and "Pawnee" are almost identical
commensurate with their strong identification with the wolf in stories
and myth .
POOKA:
(Ireland):Sometimes
referred to as a Black Dog of death.
QUILETE & MAKAH TRIBES, The: (Pacific North-West):The Quilete and Makah Indians performed wolf dances to heal sick members of their tribe.
RHYMNI: (Welsh):A supernatural she-wolf known for her swiftness. In the Welsh "Tale of Culhwch and Olwen" Culhwych has a quest to seek the two whelps of Rhymni.
SARAMA:
(Hindu):Great
Bitch who led the Vedic dogs of death.
SHUCK:
(Norfolk):A
spectral black dog, said to be headless. Old Shock in Suffolk. From
O. E. scucca meaning "demon". SEDNA:
(Canadian and Greenlandic Inuit):She
who has boundless command over the destinies of mankind. Controller
of rains and storms. Moon goddess, who rules the land of the dead and
is attended by a dog.
SENMURW:
(Iran):A
winged monster, pictured as a dragon with a dog's head.
SIAW:
(Armenia):"The
Black". The Hound of Death. Guardian of the threshold, attends
the dying. See Spitak.
SKYLLA
or SCYLLA: (Greek):Female
monster with six wolf-heads and twelve feet who devoured passing seamen.
SONS
OF THE BLUE WOLF: (Mongolia):The
Mongols viewed themselves as "sons of the blue wolf", descended
through Genghis Khan from a mythical wolf that came down from heaven.
SPITAK:
(Armenia).
"The
White". The Hound of Life. Guardian of the threshold, can restore
life. See Siaw.
ST
CHRISTOPHER: (England):He
lived by a ford and in legend carried the incognito Christ across a
river. In the Old English Passion of St Christopher the saint is described
as being "He was of the race of mankind who are half hound".
It was said that "He had the head of a hound, and his locks were
extremely long, and his eyes shone as bright as the morning star, and
his teeth were as sharp as a boar's tusks".
SVANASYA:
(India):In
the mandala of Vajravarahi, in the western quadrant, direction of the
Dead, there is the red dog-headed dakini who is called Svanasya.
TIEN
KOU: (China):The
Chinese Celestial Dog. A storm deity.
TORNGARSUK:
(Eskimo):Tor
ngarsuk was a benevolent one-armed god who married a malicious woman,
sometimes called his mother, who lived under the sea with a guardian
dog.
TYR:
(Norse):A
war god, also known for his correctness in judgement and rulership.
He is said to be one-handed, having lost a hand to Fenrir when the Wolf
was chained up. Tyr will be slain in combat with Garm.
UP-NAT:
(Central Asia):Dog
Deity. "Opener of the Way".
UR-IDIM:
(Sumeria): The
constellation Lupus, a wolf-like animal.
UTE
TRIBE, The: (Rocky Mountain area of Colorado):In
Ute mythos the wolf played a major role in how the people came to the
earth. The wolf had carried a heavy bag on his back and therefore could
only move very slowly. When he stopped to rest the bag burst and all
the people poured out and went to the different places on earth.
VLKODLAK: (Slavic):A wolf-man in Slavic folklore. The wolf was the most feared creature in northern and eastern Europe and Vlkodlak was the personification of the wolf.
WEPWAWET:
(Egypt):The
Messenger of the Road, Opener of the Ways. Jackal or wolf god of War.
The twin of Anpu. Leader of the Gods. Watcher and Guide to the dead,
protector of the innocent. Defender of Truth. Energy that permeates
the universe.
WHISKEY
JACK: (Southwestern Indians and elsewhere):See
Heyokah.
WHITE
DOG:It
was a custom of the Iroquois people to use a white dog as a sacrificial
scapegoat, and white dogs have often been considered unlucky. In the
Treasury of Good Sayings, a Bon chronicle of Tibet, the coat of a white
dog was dressed with a poisonous substance by a son of King Trikum's
widowed queen called Rulakye. When it went home to the Bon ruler, Lonam,
who had held the throne for thirteen years, he could not resist patting
the dog and so he subsequently died.
WILD
HUNT, The: (Germany):A
pack of spectral hounds that are seen as a portent of death or disaster.
WISHT
HOUNDS: (Devon):See
Yeth Hounds.
WODEN'S
HUNT: (Scandinavia):A
pack of spectral hounds that are seen as a portent of death or disaster.
XOLOTL:
(Mexico):Dog
deity.
XOTL:
(Aztec):The
dog-headed god of death. Xotl guided the sun safely through its underworld
passage each night.
YETH
HOUNDS: (Devon):The
word "yeth" means "heath". The appearance of these
dogs signalled a death. Also known as the Wisht Houn
