Many sets of religious beliefs have a particular spirit, deity, demon or angel whose responsibility is to escort newly-deceased souls to the afterlife, such as Heaven or Hell. These creatures are called psychopomps, from the Greek word ψυχοπομπóς (psuchopompos), literally meaning the "guide of souls".
They were often associated with horses, whippoorwills, ravens, dogs, crows, owls, sparrows, harts, and dolphins.
In some cultures, acting as a psychopompos was also one of the functions of a shaman. This could include not only acompanying the soul of the dead, but also vice versa: to help at birth, to introduce the newborn's soul to the word.
List by mythology
Aztec mythology
Cahuilla mythology
Celtic mythology
- Belatu-Cadros (especially Wales)
- Epona
- Ogmios
- Ankou
Christian mythology
Egyptian mythology
English mythology
Etruscan mythology
Greek mythology
Hindu mythology
Inuit mythology
Islamic mythology
Japanese mythology
Jewish mythology
Maya mythology
Norse mythology
Persian mythology
Polynesian mythology
Roman mythology
Slavic mythology
Vodun
Zoroastrianism
Literature
Compare Virgil's role in Dante’s Inferno.
In modern literature, the title character of J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is said to act as a guide for children: “At first Mrs. Darling did not know, but after thinking back into her childhood she just remembered a Peter Pan who was said to live with the fairies. There were odd stories about him; as that when children died he went part of the way with them, so that they should not be frightened.”
Sparrows as psychopomps play a notable role in Stephen King's novel The Dark Half.