The 'people who give way to the soul' in myths

In many ancient myths, there is one thing in common: people always have faith in a god who can lead the soul after death. There are good 'gatekeepers', but there are also people who bring pain or torture souls .

Ogmios

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Ogmios is a god in Celtic mythology (England) who is talented in rhetoric and a soul guide. His prototype is believed to be the Greek Spirit of science and Greek science.

Ogmios used his power to persuade people to follow him to the afterlife. He is also capable of creating god pills called defixione to bind human souls to himself. When a soul is convinced, Ogmios will use the chain to pierce their tongue and pull them through his ear. According to history books, captured souls are often very grateful to Ogmios and will be very distressed and sad if released.

Papa Ghede

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Papa Ghede is the God of Death in the Voodoo religion (Haiti). It is believed that this is the soul of the first person to die in this world. Papa Ghede will wait for souls at the crossroads of life and death to bring souls to Guinee - the spiritual world. Because of the faith of African slaves, Papa Ghede's afterlife is also rich in African colors. Papa Ghede knows about every moment of human existence, even when they are dead.

He is often portrayed as a god who wears hats and sucks cigars and has a lot of humorous talents to come. The myth says, at the gods' party, Papa Ghede attended but was drunk and ruined the whole party. So he was driven down to govern hell.

Izanami-No-Mikoto

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Izanami-No-Mikoto is the creation goddess of life and death in Shinto religion (Japan). Izanami-No-Mikoto is not only a common god of death but a shinagami - meaning that the god is capable of killing others directly or indirectly.

Izanami-No-Mikoto is also known as the creator of the first land along with her husband Izanagi-no-Mikoto. After giving birth to his son, Kagu-Tsuchi, the Fire God, her husband killed the child because he thought it was the cause of his wife's death.

Oya

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Oya is the goddess of fire, war and hell in the myth of Yoruba (Nigeria). Oya is also known as the Niger River goddess and is a mighty warrior.

She is the gatekeeper of hell to wait for spirits and lead them through the afterlife. She is the embodiment of life more than death, which is faith in rebirth and reincarnation. Legend has it that if a person wants to be happy from Oya, offer her an eggplant and red wine.

Anguta

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Anguta is the supreme being of the Inuit. Anguta's mission is to drag the dead souls to Adlivun - a kind of purgatory that tortures their souls.

Anguta will use whips to beat them, the more sins in the world, the more they will be hit. After the duration of the attack, usually lasts about 1 year, the spirits will be allowed to move to Quidlivun - the land of the moon or in other words paradise. Anguta's name means 'Cutting Man' because, according to the myth, he shreds his daughter to turn her into a goddess.

Although in different religions, beliefs and civilizations, it is easy to see that human beliefs about death are quite similar. They all believe that after death, people will come and live in a "new land" ruled by souls.