Psychopomp
Entity believed to escort deceased souls to an afterlife / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Psychopomp?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
SHOW ALL QUESTIONS
This article is about the psychopomp in religion, mythology and psychology. For the song by The Tea Party, see Psychopomp (song). For the album by Japanese Breakfast, see Psychopomp (album).
"Psychopomps" redirects here. For the Danish band, see Psychopomps (band).
Psychopomps (from the Greek word ψυχοπομπός, psychopompós, literally meaning the 'guide of souls')[1] are creatures, spirits, angels, demons, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afterlife.[2]
Their role is not to judge the deceased, but simply to guide them. Appearing frequently on funerary art, psychopomps have been depicted at different times and in different cultures as anthropomorphic entities, horses, deer, dogs, whip-poor-wills, ravens, crows, vultures, owls, sparrows, and cuckoos. In the case of birds, these are often seen in huge masses, waiting outside the home of the dying.