The Grim Reaper is a European personification of death, usually a skeleton wielding a scythe. The image of a skeleton harvesting the souls of the dead became popular during the Black Death, but predates it. The Grim Reaper is sometimes depicted with other objects such as an executioner's sword or an hourglass. These objects are usually further reminders of death, such as the hourglass symbolizing one's lifetime running out.
Early depictions of the Grim Reaper sometimes adopted the burial shroud and wings of Thanatos, an ancient Greek personification of Death. Over multiple iterations across the centuries, the white burial shroud eventually turned into a black robe. The imagery of the Grim Reaper would go on to influence the iconography of San la Muerte. It has also influenced, to a lesser extent, the iconography of the female Santa Muerte. Through European cultural transmission, the Grim Reaper has been used as an icon for several local personifications of death when no depiction has yet gained universal acceptance, such as with Shinigami.
Both San la Muerte and Santa Muerte are known by the names of Saint Death or Holy Death. San la Muerte is male and is more commonly venerated in South America and is sometimes also called Saint Skeleton. Santa Muerte is not simply the Central American female counterpart of San la Muerte but is a separate figure. Both are folk (i.e., non-canon) Saints venerated primarily by Catholics in the "outer cult." However, both have a substantial pagan followings as well.
San la Muerte is sometimes treated as a syncretic figure that blends various indigenous deities into one. He has particular origins in the iconography of Ayucaba and many ritualistic elements of Supay, both gods of death. The Grim Reaper imagery likely constitutes the acknowledgement of a singular deity of death and an attempt to blend in during Western colonization. This Christianization of Ayucaba lead to him being considered either an angel named Azrael or a Saint named Ray Pascual.
An Argentinian "inner cult" of San la Muerte identifies him with Cain, with syncretic elements of Japeusa from Guarani myth. This means there are 3 competing explanations for how San la Muerte can fit into Abrahamic mythology. This inner cult additionally identifies three aspects of San la Meurte distinguished by different colored robes. This includes a white, red, and black death.
Despite having a reputation for granting curses, aiding in violence, and being associated with crime, San la Muerte is generally more tolerated by the Church than Santa Muerte.
Santa Muerte, much like San la Muerte, is a folk saint with indigenous origins that takes iconographic elements from the Grim Reaper. She is usually seen with a globe or crystal ball along with her scythe, although this is sometimes a scale. These instruments are not typical of more general Grim Reaper imagery.
Santa Muerte has elements of the skeletal goddess of death from Aztec mythology named Mictecacihuatl. She has been additionally influenced by the Mexican La Catrina and the sugar skull imagery of the Day of the Dead. As such, Santa Muerte has links to wholly original Mexican personifications of death as a skeletal woman. This makes her quite separate from both the Grim Reaper and San la Muerte, despite superficial similarities.
A number of different colors have been proposed for Santa Meurte's robes to symbolize different aspects, similar to San la Meurte. Almost every color imaginable has been said to be some new aspect of Santa Muerte, and often the same color has multiple contradictory meanings. Like San la Muerte, Santa Muerte is a popular figure among criminals, but she is venerated by people from all walks of life
Azrael is the angel of death in Islam and Wendell's preferred name for Death. Rather than causing death, Azrael is normally seen in the role of a necropomp. I intend to go into further detail about Wendell's relationship with Azrael at a future date.
Wendell's perspective of Azrael is not solely relegated to Islam and is more perennial. Her use of the name of Azrael is based more on the fact that Azrael is one of the few wholly positive, holy, and sacred forms of Death in religion.
Death appears in the Major Arcana of most tarot decks. Often, historical decks would omit the name of the 13th card of the Major Arcana, leaving only the image to imply an association with death. Different regions would historically decorate this card with the name of death in the local language and provide an image of the local personification of death. For example, it was quite common for this card to be named "Mors" and carry a depiction of the Roman personification of death.
Later, famous esoteric decks such as the Raider-Waite deck and the Thoth deck attributed complex Hermetic and Qabalistic symbolism to this card. In cartomancy, XIII Death normally represents endings in general, which only sometimes includes physical death as it is only one of many types of endings. He also represents unexpected transformations, renewal, and new beginnings.
In the Rider-Waite deck, Death is associated with Scorpio. The symbolism of the deck connects Death to the Hebrew letter Nun, placing it at the path between Tiphareth and Netzah. This can also be interpreted as connecting Venus with Solus.
Hebrew Qabalah therefore further associates Death with the colors teal and brown. It is interesting that teal is often used to represent spectral or spiritual planes in pop culture, such as in Legacy of Kain and Wolfenstein. Brown is also often used to represent shadows or darkness, when purples and deep blues are not more appropriate.
Additionally, between the Golden Dawn, Waite, and Crowley, Death is associated with a number of other aspects. This includes time, mortality, destruction, corruption, and contradiction. Contradiction is an interesting one because it ties to Japeusa, Supay, and a number of other spirits. Time also recalls the link between Cronus's scythe, Chronos being syncrtized with Cronus, and the Grim Reaper.
This form of Death is the major one in modern Hermetic occultism.
Samael is a complex figure in Judeo-Christian lore. In Christianity, sometimes he is an angel, sometimes he is a demon, and sometimes he is Satan himself. Samael is sometimes give the title ha-Mawet, meaning "of Death," making him an angel of Death. Samael is also often the angel that is identified with Old Testament mentions of an accusor or adversary sent by God. The "Satan" in the Book of Job is often identified with Samael, for example, although he is seen as working for God rather than against him.
Nonetheless, Samael is also sometimes associated with the Yetzer Hara or the "godless impulse" in Judaism, which tempts men to sin. Due to his role as an accuser, his relationship with death, and his association with the Yetzer Hara, Samael is likely the major inspiration for the Christian Satan. In some Gnostic sects, Samael is used as a name for the malevolent Demiurge which created the material world to imprison spirits in fleshly bodies.
Despite this, in grimoiric tradition, Samael is often listed separately from Satan. Samael is still often associated with Saturn and the underworld in occultism, even when he is depicted as a holy angel rather than a devil. He is the only figure with prominence in both the Qliphoth and the Sephiroth, ruling over a husk and a sphere in each respectively.
Mastema is an angel that only appears in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible. He replaces an ambiguous reference to Death in Exodus as the figure responsible for killing the firstborn of Egypt. The name is likely a corruption of the Hebrew word "maweth" meaning "death."
However, the Hebrew "maweth" likely originates from Mot, an ancient Sumerian death deity. Mot was feared rather than worshiped. He personified both the underworld and death itself, as he was said to swallow up the dead and store them in his stomach. Mot may have been an inspiration for the concept of the hellmouth. Mastema is sometimes identified with Samael, although there is no consensus on this identification.
Thanatos is one of several Greek personifications of death. He is depicted with wings, a burial shroud, and sometimes an upside-down torch. His twin brother is Hypnos, the personification of sleep. Rather than a skeleton, Thanatos was depicted as a sleepy young boy with curly hair or a bearded old man.