How you you deal with death?

In Mexico, the Día de los Muertos is celebrated on 2 November, a festival for the dead where everything is cheerful. In Europe, many people do not associate death with cheerfulness. Nevertheless, death is personified in various cultures. We will see how in this article.

Read this article in: Deutsch, English

Estimated reading time:2minutes

In Catholic-Aztec syncretism in Mexico, it is assumed that the souls of the deceased visit the living on the night of All Saints' Day and that a happy reunion is then celebrated. Death is seen as part of life in that culture. What is it like elsewhere?

It should be said at the outset that this is only a selection that will be looked at.

Grim Reaper and Sensenmann

In German-speaking countries, Death is usually depicted as a skeleton with a cape and a scythe, by means of which he can mow people down. This representation dates back to the Middle Ages. A precursor possibly comes from Greek mythology. A connection with death as a reaper is found in the Bible. Death is here best known under the names Sensenmann or Gevatter Tod.

In the Anglo-American-speaking world, this personified death is called the Grim Reaper and corresponds outwardly to the German Sensenmann. Due to the strong dominance of Anglo-American culture, many cultures (especially in Europe) have adopted this anthropomorphic image of death. However, there are many cultures that traditionally have their own image of death.

La Faucheuse and her friends

While the word death is a masculine noun in German, for example, it is feminine in the Romance languages. For this reason, in French one tends to imagine a woman with a scythe.

In Slavic mythology Marzanna (also called Morena, Marena or Mara). As a death figure, she is an old and ugly woman.

In Lithuania there is the death goddess Giltinė, who also appears as an old and unattractive woman.

Feminine death personifications are also found in Celtic mythology.

Santa Muerte

Rather beautiful personifications of death can be found in Mexico, for example, with colourfully decorated and beautifully dressed skeleton women. These are particularly common on Día de los Muertos. These ideas are of Aztec origin and over the years a syncretism developed between Catholic Christianity and pre-Hispanic culture.