Anyone recognise this figure?

[Infinitum]

I might be looking for a figure that exists only in my own imagination, but at least I'll get it out there. Can anyone think of a goddess associated with death and darkness, but who is described as young and attractive instead of the usual more frightening attributes? This seems to be a figure more commonly found in popular culture, and there too there are mostly glimpses and references (apart from Death in the Sandman, who also remains a mystery). A song I like describes the Maiden of Death as a wrathful being tending the gardens of death. I'm curious to know where the image originated and who she is.

 

[Nietzsche]

I might be looking for a figure that exists only in my own imagination, but at least I'll get it out there. Can anyone think of a goddess associated with death and darkness, but who is described as young and attractive instead of the usual more frightening attributes? This seems to be a figure more commonly found in popular culture, and there too there are mostly glimpses and references (apart from Death in the Sandman, who also remains a mystery). A song I like describes the Maiden of Death as a wrathful being tending the gardens of death. I'm curious to know where the image originated and who she is.

There's Hel. She's half-skeletal but the other half is youthful & beautiful(while she is normally depicted as that being left & right, there is reason to believe it was top-half/bottom-half, so you'd only see the, err, skeletal stuff if you looked up her skirt).

 

[dgirl1986]

Makes me think of Isis

 

[Jainarayan]

• Persephone, wife of Hades. She became queen of the Underworld, though she doesn't control any aspects of death. She is just associated with it via Hades.
• Freyja is associated with warriors' deaths. She is beautiful and youthful, but she is not associated with darkness.
• Ereshkigal (Sumerian).

You could check through here: Category - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Death_goddesses (remove the space between the : and D otherwise it sticks a smilie in there Categoryeath goddesses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Hey infi...unsure when ill get time, but if youre not limiting this search to more common forms of paganism i can check out my tribal references.

 

[Sapiens]

The Valkyries are similar. Brünnhilde's described as a beautiful Valkyrie.

 

[dgirl1986]

There are also non goddess forms like sirens in greek (i think) stories. They would lure men in with beautiful looks and beauty but would lead them to their death.

 

[Infinitum]

• Persephone, wife of Hades. She became queen of the Underworld, though she doesn't control any aspects of death. She is just associated with it via Hades.
• Freyja is associated with warriors' deaths. She is beautiful and youthful, but she is not associated with darkness.
• Ereshkigal (Sumerian).

You could check through here: Category - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Death_goddesses (remove the space between the : and D otherwise it sticks a smilie in there Categoryeath goddesses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I looked through the lists plus did a search on Theoi before posting. Even Hecate seems to have some traits that make her fit as a candidate. For some reason I didn't notice Freyja, but you're right. Both beauty and death seem to be attributed to her.

 

[Jainarayan]

I looked through the lists plus did a search on Theoi before posting. Even Hecate seems to have some traits that make her fit as a candidate. For some reason I didn't notice Freyja, but you're right. Both beauty and death seem to be attributed to her.

Lore has it that Freyja shares half of the slain w/ Odin. I don't know how they divvy them though. Her share go to her residence of Folkvangar. She also has attributes of love and sexuality.

 

[Nietzsche]

Lore has it that Freyja shares half of the slain w/ Odin. I don't know how they divvy them though. Her share go to her residence of Folkvangar. She also has attributes of love and sexuality.

She gets first pick, the remainder goes to Valhalla.

 

[Infinitum]

She gets first pick, the remainder goes to Valhalla.

Huh? I'd love to hear more about that. Do you have some source I could look at?

 

[Nietzsche]

Huh? I'd love to hear more about that. Do you have some source I could look at?

Poetic Edda, Grímnismál;

Fôlkvang is the ninth, there Freyia
directs the sittings in the hall.
She half the fallen chooses each day,
but Odin th' other half

There is also the fact that she appears as a Valkyrie. Literally a 'chooser of the slain'.

 

[Jainarayan]

She gets first pick, the remainder goes to Valhalla.

Thanks.

 

[Quintessence]

Most of the goddesses are depicted as attractive in the arts and stories, regardless of their domain.

The Morrigan is also a possibility.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

This is a dakini - any good? Not really pagan though.

 

[Jainarayan]

This is a dakini - any good? Not really pagan though.

Dakinis are mainly a Tibetan Buddhist deity, In Tibetan Buddhism they're not associated with death, but rather with spiritual practice on the tantric order.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Dakinis are mainly a Tibetan Buddhist deity, In Tibetan Buddhism they're not associated with death, but rather with spiritual practice on the tantric order.

Sure but you could borrow her if you like.

 

[Jainarayan]

Sure but you could borrow her if you like.

Certainly.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Dakini in Hinduism (Dakini - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"According to one legend Dakini and Shakini were the wives of Tripurasura. After Tripurasura was slain by Shiva, they received the boon from Shiva that they could live in the forest without any threat and people would have to chant their names before they could visit the shrine of Bhimashankara. Hence the forest around there became known as Dakini Forest.

In Hindu tantra, Dakini, Shakini, Kakini, Kamini are names of shaktis or powers who control the different chakras. Thus, dakinis come to be seen as "guardians of the deeper mysteries of the self", and it is through them that the secrets of inner transformation are opened."

 

[Aštra’el]

Lilith
Ereshkigal

Who in my pantheon are one and the same...​