Animalele și lumea lui Thanatos
Animals and the World of Thanatos

Summary/Abstract: Human attitudes towards death have generated beliefs, rites and funeral rituals loaded with strong symbolism. This is found in all the mythologies of the world, each with their own cultural and religious specifics. Throughout history, people have associated animals with good or bad signs. All over the world, certain animals and birds have fueled tenacious legends and beliefs. Of all the nocturnal birds that foreshadow death, the owl was the most feared messenger throughout Europe. The representation of the soul of the dead in the form of a bird comes from Greco-Roman antiquity. Animals foreshadowed the approach of death, served as guides to the realm beyond, were sacrificed during various funeral rituals, and, in certain cases, served as bodies for reincarnated souls. In the beliefs of Christian Europe, for example, vampires appeared in human form, but could transform, in exceptional cases, into a wolf, dog, cat or bat. In popular beliefs, the human soul wanders, in the form of a bird, through the places near the house and the grave, and also near those where it walked in life, for up to six weeks after death.

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