First, Happy National Hermit Crab Day!
I have a few true ghost stories in the works right now, but none are finished. You know, I'm actually not a fan of the word "ghost"--I prefer the word "spirit" for the incorporeal. I usually only use "ghost" for fake tales. I guess this week, I'm not feeling that picky, so "ghost" for my true stories it is!
Going on again...
Last night, Manannán mac Lir said, "Psychopomp" to me after a Virtual Fire ritual, featuring Samhain and all of our Ancestors--Blood and Spirit. I took it as Him calling to me. So as I sat in front of my computer, struggling to finish a post, I grabbed my ogham bag and asked Him what I should blog about for my next spirit story. I pulled:
Otherworld Collecting. Or as I took it...Psychopomp.
If you don't know already, Psychopomps are guides of the dead--kind of like collectors, only they don't own the spirits, they're just helping them to the Spirit World. Well, some might--such as Deities. I have delivered the recently dead to deities before, and then They take them somewhere else. What happens beyond that, I don't--but I'll remember when it's my time, I'm sure.
Some Psychopomps:
- Hekate
- Hermes
- Dionysus
- The Melissae / Bees
- Ariadne
- Vultures
- Hades
- Persephone
- Baba Yaga
- Death
- Hel
- Óðinn
- Valkyries
- Manannán mac Lir
- Ravens
- Crows
- Dogs
- Horses
- Ancestors
- Some Clergy
- Death Doulas (helping the dying get their affairs in order, deal with the dying process, caring for them til the end, making sure they get the funeral they want)
- Morticians
- Funerary Workers
- Funeral Officiants
- Cemetery Workers
- ...and others.
Here are a few of my experiences as a psychopomp.
As a devotee and servant of several Death and Psychopomps Entities, being a death guide is one of my spiritual jobs. I've been in situations where families/the dying have asked me to help them pass from their bodies to a waiting Psychopomp. I've also had the recently deceased find me and wait until Someone comes to collect them. I've done this with humans and pets.
I don't physically have to be present, as I'm quite proficient working in the astral--a liminal space between our realm and other realms. At least that's my current understanding of this space. Through Astral Projection, I can go to where the dying are and become a bridge, and gently coax them to where family may be waiting. Not killing them, just helping them die without fear.
I've sat with confused, fearful, and calm dead until Psychopomps arrive to take them wherever.
Once a little autistic boy was brought to me by Hekate. He attached himself to me. Some of his mannerisms came through me. I let him play with fidget toys on my desk and flap his hands and giggle. He just hang out until a winged entity came. He knew who this entity was, and joyfully went to them. Faded into a lit space within the Liminal.
Where I used to live, there was a bit of woods and a river. I could see the river from my bedroom window. In 2020-21, during the colder months when the trees were skeletal, I could see more of the swollen icy cold river. Apparently one morning, when a neighbor was walking his dog, he found a woman's body on the bank, directly in line with my window. All I could see was a bit of white of their clothes.
The police were called and they processed the area.
I was overcome with tears and emotion.
I went down to my closed gate and set up a small shrine on the freezing cement. I gave offerings and asked the Death Gods to make that person's transition easy. Then I was told to "Guide them".
Once the police were gone and everything calmed down, I closed my eyes, anchored myself between earth and sky, and entered the Liminal. I went into the woods, down the makeshift stairs and stopped just short of where the body was found.
I was confronted by a monster--fear, anger, and confusion. A shield that the deceased had thrown up. I shifted into my Astral Form, which has wings. This calmed the deceased down. I spoke to them, told em it would be okay. I asked if they knew what was happening--they didn't understand, so I explained what I knew.
They wept. Depression. Addiction. Suicide.
I sat and comforted them as they sobbed.
From behind me, I saw the Winged Isis walk towards us. She took the spirit's hand and they disappeared into the river.
I returned to my body, feeling peace. I wept, too.
So far, this is what most of my psychopomp work has been like. Mostly just sitting with the recently deceased, comforting them, providing them a safe space to speak and even to vent. Sometimes they're angry, scared, confused. Sometimes they want to fight. I've been able to diffuse those situations with patience and compassion. They can't harm me, even though their contorted face or monster projection may say otherwise.
I find them and stay with them until a Psychopomp Entity comes.
Very rarely do I come across enraged spirits who just want to fight me--blaming me for what's happening. I do have weapons in the Liminal--most of the time I don't have to use them. Most of the time just showing them my winged form calms them down--whether it's a feeling of safety or a respect for winged ones or just acknowledgment that they're not going to win the fight. Takes the wind out of the sails usually.
They're grieving, too, and grief can be an unpredictable creature.
Honestly, the most trouble that I've had with a recently deceased person was my mom. She showed up confused, and I had to tell her that she was dead. I asked her to leave because her energy was too chaotic and I was still processing, and she wouldn't listen. She kept appearing dead in my kitchen--she died in hers--and reaching under doors for me. It fucked me up for a bit, to the point that I had to ask the spirits in my home to not be active at night, because every sound caused me to panic. They were understanding. This went on for a few months.
Eventually, I had to ask Mama Hekate to banish her from my home, because I didn't have the strength to do it. My mom didn't respect my boundaries in life, and certainly wasn't doing so in death. Hekate removed her, took her where she needed to go.
I didn't want to be her guide, nor did I have the energy. She and I had a rocky relationship with lots of grief. I just wasn't ready to deal with her at all.
I don't think she came to me because I was meant to be her guide...or maybe so? I mean, she did eventually get picked up. I still don't understand why Mama Hekate allowed her through my wards. I have helped my recently deceased loved ones--it's not unusual for recently deceased family members to show up at my house, even if we didn't know each other very well. There was a lot between she and I, though. Some kind of lesson from Mama. I certainly learned a lot during that time.
There's a little bit about my psychopomp work. It's sacred work that I'm grateful to be able to do. It's challenging, but extremely rewarding, humbling, and fulfilling, too.
I've looked into the death field, like becoming a Death Doula or perhaps a grief counselor, but I'm not very good at working with the living as I am the dead. Less legal risks, too, working with the dead. But I'd still like to work for a funeral home, officiate funerals (I've tried weddings--they're not my thing), or just volunteer at a cemetery. Sacred work. I'm still researching the field and looking for programs and at places in my area, too. I'm just feeling it out. My ancestors tell me that it's a field I belong to, but we'll see.
Thank yall for the support!Face to the Sun.
Trust in Joy.
Follow the Bees...
- Priestess Foxlyn