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He was not the only Aztec god to be depicted in this fashion, as numerous other deities had skulls for heads or else wore clothing or decorations that incorporated bones and skulls. In the Aztec world, skeletal imagery was a symbol of fertility, health and abundance, alluding to the close symbolic links between life and death. [4]
In Buddhism, the symbol of a wheel represents the perpetual cycle of death and rebirth that happens in samsara. [6] The symbol of a grave or tomb, especially one in a picturesque or unusual location, can be used to represent death, as in Nicolas Poussin's famous painting Et in Arcadia ego. Images of life in the afterlife are also symbols of death.
The inclusion of such a "departmental" deity of death in a religion's pantheon is not necessarily the same as the glorification of death. The latter is commonly condemned by the use of the term "death-worship" in modern political rhetoric. In the theology of monotheistic religions, the one god governs both life and death. However, in practice ...
The ancient Egyptians are most famous for their fascination of death by mummifying their dead and building exquisite tombs, like the pyramids of Giza, for their dead.Many of their deities were death-related, such as: Ammut, the devourer of unworthy souls; Anubis, the guardian of the Necropolis and the keeper of poisons, medicines, and herbs; and Osiris, the king of the dead.
The Origin of Death. New York: Arno Press, 1977. ISBN 0-405-09551-1. Eliade, Mircea (1977). From Primitives to Zen. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-062134-6. Iloanusi, Obiakoizu (1984). Myths of the Creation of Man and the Origin of Death in Africa: a Study in Igbo Traditional Culture and Other African Cultures.
Nevertheless, the skull seems to be omnipresent in the first decade of the twenty-first century, appearing on jewelry, bags, clothing and in the shape of various decorative items. However, the increasing use of the skull as a visual symbol in popular culture reduces its original meaning as well as its traditional connotation. [2] [3]
In this early medieval period people were not concerned with what would happen to their bodies after death. For superstitious reasons they did not want the dead to be buried in cities or near the houses of the living, but if the body was buried in a churchyard and remained under the church's protection, little else mattered. People did not ...
[7] [8] Symbolic culture contrasts with material culture, which involves physical entities of cultural value and includes the usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects. Examples of symbolic culture include concepts (such as good and evil ), mythical constructs (such as gods and underworlds ), and social constructs (such as promises and ...