Talk:Psychopomp

Something to remember

Psychopomp = escorter. Not death god, not death judge, just death escort. 24.126.199.129 01:01, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

... which would seem to be clear from reading the article, no?

Artemis and original research

Given the definition of psychopomp that appears at the top of this article, I am puzzled that the Greek section lists Artemis rather than Charon. Is this a case of the latter doing the real work while a divine middle manager takes the credit? -- Alan Peakall 18:24 Dec 10, 2002 (UTC)

Charon doesn't actually escort anybody to the Afterlife, he just takes them across the river into Hades proper. With that said, it's certainly debatable if he counts as a psychopomp or not, though I'd be inclined to say no unless I see an authoritative source define him as such, but I wouldn't remove it if you added him. Artemis is more confusing -- I'm the one that made the list and added her -- and, honestly, I don't know why she is considered one, but I created the list by doing a search for "psychopomp" on google and adding whoever came up, described as one. If I remember correctly, Artemis is believed to have been worshipped extensively in really ancient Greece and her function was slightly different, so I'm guessing she was originally a psychopomp, though Hermes fulfilled that role during the classical period of Greek mythology. I could certainly be wrong about all this, but I think that's why the list is as it is. Tokerboy 20:19 Dec 10, 2002 (UTC)

lol. You know that's a clear cut case of ORIGINAL RESEARCH, right? Charon ferried the dead across, but the main psychopomp of Greek mythology was Hermes. I think "Artemis" was just bad data. 24.126.199.129 00:39, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

psychopomps

Reckon someone should make a page for 'pyschopomps' that redirects to the psychopomp page. Or maybe I should actually bother to learn how to really edit this site and just do it myself... but I haven't touched html in years and I have some papers to finish. cheers.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 169.233.68.47 (talk)

Japanese shinigami

Does shinigami belong to this list? It's simply Japan's name for the imported Grim Reaper; it's more of a pop culture figure than a mythological one. O not 01:18, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Wade

I'm unsure why Wade (or Waetle) is listed as an English Psychopomp. I've not seen anything that even likens him to Charon, although he is associated with fords and rivers. His page on Wikipedia doesn't mention anything. The English equivalent of Valkries are Wælcyrge according to Ellis Davidson, H. R. "Gods and Myths of Northern Europe". They are most definately Psychopomps, their name meaning "choosers of the slain". Having also read the Norse section, why are Odin (certainly NOT just a death escorter) and Baldr (dead, living in Hel, and unable to return) listed? --Swahilli (talk) 22:56, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

All mythology

If we're going to use the term mythology, even to describe modern religions, should we not also use something like "Jewish Mythology" instead of "Judaism"? It seems to me like it'd match the rest of the article better, and is not particularly offensive or inaccurate - JustinWick (talk) 09:06, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Being a mythologist that's fine with me, but do know that some religious observers are not very comfortable with associating their religious "beliefs" with the term "mythology."

USA12345 keeps removing the Jewish and Christian sections claiming they aren't mythology or that by putting them in here violates WP:NPOV. I don't think there is a POV issue as evidenced by my reverts of his edits. I was hoping we could get a consensus on this. Personally I think that since it states in the first sentence that Psychopomps are part of religious beliefs that there is a NPOV. sdgjake (talk) 20:29, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

I, on the other hand, think there is a POV issue since the article itself states that it is about the mythology of the psychopomp. Even though the article does refer in passing to belief systems, its content is 99% mythology and gives the impression that anything included in the page is mythological. Moreover, it belies a distinct POV to argue that an angel in Judaism or Christianity is in the same category ("psychopomp") as Charon or any other mythological being, since the category itself has a profoundly mythological/fictional connotation. -- USA12345 —Preceding unsigned comment added by USA12345 (talk • contribs) 20:44, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

The problem is, why are we being selective about which modern religions to include (e.g., Hinduism and Islam) and which to exclude (Christianity and Judaism)? Consistency is important, and I agree with Sdgjake's assessment that the intro properly scopes it as religious beliefs being part of it. —C.Fred (talk) 17:03, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Further, the article stated it was about the religious term. I have recast the otheruses heading and, pursuant to the section saying mythologies or belief systems, changed the obvious extant religions (i.e., Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Zoroastrianism) to delete mythology from their section headers. Hopefully this shows the broadness of the article. —C.Fred (talk) 21:06, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm on board with Fred's revision, I think it's a good one; my only remaining reservation is with the inclusion of Jesus in the Christianity category since the article states that the psychopomp does NOT judge, whereas in Christianity, Jesus judges the dead. —Preceding unsigned comment added by USA12345 (talk • contribs) 16:54, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Good point! The definition of psychopomp does exclude Jesus. —C.Fred (talk) 17:45, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

contested statement removed

• [Inclusion of] Yama {{Fact|date=December 2006}}

Please do not return this information to the article without a citation.--BirgitteSB 15:35, 6 June 2008 (UTC)