The Grim Reaper Fact Or Fiction?

Plus apologies i wasn't sure were to put this lol

Iv always been interested in the old folklore of the Grim Reaper and wondered if the legends have any truth in them so I decided to have a dig around and see what I could come up with.

Quoted from Wikipedia, the article is by no means verified but will give you an idea about the legend of the Grim Reaper and how far back it stems

Death as a sentient entity is a concept that has existed in many societies since the beginning of history. In English, death is often given the name the "Grim Reaper" and from the 15th century onwards came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood. It is also given the name of the Angel of Death stemming from the Bible.
In some cases, the Grim Reaper is able to actually cause the victim's death, leading to tales that he can be bribed, tricked, or outwitted in order to retain one's life. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving only to sever the last tie from the soul to the body and guide the deceased to the next world and having no control over the fact of their death.
In many languages Death is personified in male form (English including), while in others it is perceived as a female character (for instance, in Slavic languages, e.g. in Polish).

en.wikipedia.org...(personification)

The origins of the Grim Reaper go back far into the past and he was known by many names. In old Celtic folklore he was known as L’Ankou, sometimes called Father Time. To the Greeks he was known as Cronus and the Romans called him Saturn.

www.urbandictionary.com...

during my searching around I came upon a few apparent accounts from people who have said that they have witnessed the grim reaper below I will post a few of them

n 2001 at around 6:30 p.m. on the 13th of June, I was about 1/2 a kilometer into my woods in order to feed the guineas I had bought to scare away the neighbor's blasted mutt. I brought out the feed and looked to a hill in the forest and immediately dropped everything to stare. Behold, just to the south about quarter of a mile to the side of me, a figure with a gray robe and small wings walked across the hillside. It stood around 20-25 feet tall and carried a large (about 5-foot) mace. I continued to gaze at it until it turned and walked away, out of sight.

paranormal.about.com...

I have had a strange experience twice. When I was four years old, I saw the Grim Reaper. It was tall and very scary, wearing a black hooded cloak with a sickle in the right hand, while the left hand motioned for me to come to it. My mom told me to come to her room, but I screamed in terror since it was blocking the hall to her bedroom. So she came to me and walked right threw it! She told me to pray and went back to bed, and the Grim Reaper faded into a mist, then haze then into thin air.

paranormal.about.com...

I can't really put it into words. I checked the machine and had my back turned. All of sudden, something or someone tapped me very hard three times on my right shoulder. Frightened, I didn't dare to turn around. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw what looked like a long bony finger with three raised bony knuckles. The apparition was kind of cartoon-ish in that it was blue and green but real bright. I stood still and really didn't know what to do. Then I heard a voice that haunts me to this day. 'NOBODY'S HOME' it said in a deep guttural angry tone.

www.yourghoststories.com...

also some more sightings at the following
www.castleofspirits.com...
www.experienceproject.com...

Obviously all the above can be attributed to many things other than actually witnessing the so called *true* angel of death, all throughout folklore there are many stories that have been told about *angels of death*, *death bringers* , *the grim reaper* all different stories have various names for it.

Many religions and cultures have formed an Angel of death:
• In Muslim and Islam theology, Azrael is the angel of death who is “forever writing in a large book and forever erasing what he writes: what he writes is the birth of man, what he erases is the name of the man at death.”
• In Judeo-christian lore, Michael, Gabriel, Sammael, and Sariel are all named as the angel of death.
• In Zoroastrianism, the angel of death is Mairya.
• In Babylon, it is Mot.
• In Rabbinical lore, there are 14 Angels of Death: Yetzerhara, Adriel, Yehudiam, Abaddon, Sammael, Azrael, Metatron, Gabriel, Mashhit, Hemah, Malach ha-mavet, Kafziel, Kesef, and Leviathan.
• In Falasha lore, it is Suriel.
• The Arabic angel is Azrael.

So it seems even throughout my searching no positive thing can be ascertained except myth and legends and stories, perhaps the angel of death is evil or the devil or perhaps it is just an entity that helps those who’s times have come to pass more easily

Some more info and links of interest

www.allaboutspirituality.org...
tinwiki.org...(the_Grim_Reaper)
books.google.co.uk... hl=en&ei=PeBUSuCDAZu6jAeko-WVCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6
www.bbc.co.uk...
folklore.start4all.com...

Now, the way I've always heard it told is that if you see the Grim
Reaper, then he's coming for YOU and you're as good as toast. Well, I'm one
who lived to tell about it. Here's the story.
Me, my sister and her boyfriend were getting kinda antsy one Sunday night
after church so we decided to load up and run to town to get something to
eat. Well we live about thirty minutes from town, but we made it there and
chowed down and were on our way back. We were about halfway there when we
passed by the Friendship Cemetery. Now, I don't know what made me take a
good long look at that place that night, but I did, and what I saw scared me
pretty bad. Standing there between the gate and some trees was what I took
to be the Grim Reaper. There he stood, tall and menacing. You couldn't see
his face, but the dark cloak that hid it was enough for me. My sister saw
him too. Her boyfriend slammed on the brakes
and we did a U-turn for a closer inspection. Of course, he wasn't there, so
we headed on home, but not a word was spoken between us. That night a couple
of hours later, I lay in my bed trying to get to sleep, but I only succeeded
in being able to stare at the ceiling. Thats when I heard it. Scratch,
scratch...on my window. I sat bolt upright. My first thought was that it
was my sister's boyfriend. This was not a funny joke. But then I remembered
he had to drive back to college that night- it couldn't be him. I told
myself I was just imagining things. I laid back down, but not before turning
the closet light on. It wasn't but a minute before it happened again, but
this time more intense. SCRATCH, SCRATCH. Before I could even think about
it, I sprinted to my sister's room and jumped in the bed with her.
The next morning, I woke up feeling pretty stupid. It was all just a
dream. At least, thats what I thought until I walked into my room. My
window was open, the screen tossed into the yard. My curtains were in the
floor. The only other thing was my pillow. It looked like it had been torn
in half, like it had been slashed with something long and sharp. I guess he
just decided he didn't want me that bad, and you know what? I'm not offended
in the least.

listsearches.rootsweb.com...

So guys Fact or just a good story?

FACT!

True story - happened to a family I know.

The adult sister was pregnant with a baby that was a week away from being born. The adult brother lived in another state. The adult brother was bathing his child in the tub when he saw the grim reaper come floating through. His veins turned to ice and he screamed for his wife. When she got there he said 'I just saw death'. A few days later his sister delivered a dead child. The child had been alive at the time of this incident but died in the womb. All anyone can figure is that 'death' knew a child was to die in that family and was looking for her.

I've lost contact with these folks (I grew up with them), but I promise .... according to them it's a true story. The death of the still born child was traumatic and I have no reason to believe they'd make up the story.

Once, when I was about ten years old I was very sick and was in bed. I awoke in the afternoon to see a man at the bottom of my bed. He was dressed in black and wore a hat and a cape. He seemed somewhat transparent and I just looked at him for a moment. I closed my eyes for a split second and he was gone.

The reason i got so interested in this was because when i was about 11 yrs old i had an experience of my own.

I remember lying in my bed and was getting ready to go to sleep, when suddenly i heard soft thudding footsteps coming from the opposite end of the room coming towards my bed, the thing sat on the end of my bed and i could hear it breathing, deep ragged breaths, i felt something touch my face, whatever it was felt boney to me, this experience must have lasted only a few minutes at best. i was to scared to open my eyes.

a few days later my gran died, coincidental maybe? i dont know but thats what got me interested in this.

If there is one, I hope he's like Pratchett's 'Death.'

Other than that, I'm reminded of those stories that say if you die in a dream you die in real life. It makes sense to many, but begs the obvious question...
I guess my idea of grim reapers means that if you've seen him/ her/ it, you aren't around to tell anyone about it.

In another sense, the GR can be argued to be a cultural fabrication. A dress-up doll for pre-Enlightenment cultures whereby he wears the clothes most familiar to the people claiming his existence. The death figures of parts of Africa, S. America and Europe are quite distinct. If all people had identical descriptions *maybe* the old bones would be more persuasive. I'm saying 'fiction' and all the better for it...horror novels, movies and Iron Maiden covers wouldn't be the same without the guy.

reply to post by Fromabove

Probably not the Grim Reaper or, if it was, he's really slipping on his job and about to get a poor performance review. Since, you know, you're here posting.

I've never had an incident nor do I know anyone that has, and I'm not complaining about that. But I have heard many stories similar to the ones you shared, I read about some quite a while ago in a folklore book that my Dad gave to me. Every time I hear about the Grim Reaper now, I think of those couple episodes of Family Guy.

As for obvious things that this could be attributed to, sleep paralysis, halucinations caused by being sick or from drugs. But family members dying shortly after would make for an awful, awful coincidence.

reply to post by wisefoolishness


yea those are things that i had considered as i look over my particular experience, my mother recalls it as well and says that she remembers hearing footsteps in my room and a light thud but thought it was just me moving around and didn't think to check, wonder what she would have seen if she did.

• In Muslim and Islam theology, Azrael is the angel of death who is “forever writing in a large book and forever erasing what he writes: what he writes is the birth of man, what he erases is the name of the man at death.”
• In Judeo-christian lore, Michael, Gabriel, Sammael, and Sariel are all named as the angel of death.
• In Zoroastrianism, the angel of death is Mairya.
• In Babylon, it is Mot.
• In Rabbinical lore, there are 14 Angels of Death: Yetzerhara, Adriel, Yehudiam, Abaddon, Sammael, Azrael, Metatron, Gabriel, Mashhit, Hemah, Malach ha-mavet, Kafziel, Kesef, and Leviathan.
• In Falasha lore, it is Suriel.
• The Arabic angel is Azrael.

However, all these religions have imported the idea from the same regional mythology - all these semitic religions owe their debt of mythology to Sumerian, Akkadian and Babylonian mythologies. In this much, they are all the same myth, not several different ones. You need to stretch the net far wider for a meaniungful survey of beliefs worldwide.

A listing of loads of death deities here:

en.wikipedia.org...

Cheers.

[edit on 8-7-2009 by d60944]

thank you d60944, i posted the wiki article of the personification in my OP but thanks for the other one.

wow,almost 10 posts in and i'm the first to star and flag ya..Wow, this beats reptilians and crop circles any day..

Absolutely beleive..I've seen some strange things around dead bodys..Something that you turn your head back to say what the # was that??

This was my first avitar here..

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cec4623f1739.jpg[/atsimg]

[edit on 8-7-2009 by Redpillblues]

I am not sure why this is put into cryptozoology/mythical beasts, because really it's an entity. Like a ghost, angel, or demon(COUGH). But anyway the entity is very real, I have seen him and felt an electric charge in the air and got zapped by Him. He can look many different ways, but the most common is being hooded, and wearing a black robe andholding a sicle(SP).
Most of the time, they (there are several) are not to be seen. The only real reason I saw him is because of my being spirtually connected to Energy and the fact that the land we were on, was consecrated and it's vibration was very high; a very odd thing as it was a christian denomination church. But, I digress, the land was very sacred...and my connection to it very deep, so I had caught him in my view, the shock he sent to my foot through the ground was a warning, though I had no idea whoTH he was there for, so it was stupid, as if I'd tell any of them christians this story of how I saw him anyway, they'd have probably tried to Excorcise me...
edited for spelling.

[edit on 8-7-2009 by ldyserenity]

ye i wasnt sure were to put it to be honest so no doubt the mods will move it to more appropriate forums.

and thanks for sharing your stories, ldyserenity your one was particularly interesting, so would you believe that they are evil in nature or a messenger of the other side escorting lost souls to the light so to speak

I personaly think he's a hired hand to guide souls either up or down..but I don't know for sure beins i don't know if its spelled out in the Bible or not..

i don't think its evil,but i have never had a ''true'' experience as others here..I feel as its more or less a job,that gets done when its your time to be judged..

But i have always imagined him like this..I really do..lol



[edit on 8-7-2009 by Redpillblues]

reply to post by Redpillblues


In the Bible, various names are applied to angelic beings. For example the Greek word angelos means messenger, either human or divine. In Jewish thought and lore, angels were referred to as bnei elohim or bnei elim, “children of God.” They were gifted with limited powers dependent upon the Master’s (God’s) decrees and orders. In 1 Chronicles 21:16, the angel of the Lord is described as standing between earth and heaven with a drawn sword in his hand: ”David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown” Isaiah 37:36 says, “Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning — there were all the dead bodies!
2 Samuel 24:16 says, “When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, ‘Enough! Withdraw your hand…’”

reply to post by Redpillblues


Im sure its nothing, but why where are you around so many dead bodies...

Unless you is death! and was attracted to this thread, to find people who has seen you.!! ( i see nothing..)

[edit on 8-7-2009 by MR BOB]

[edit on 8-7-2009 by MR BOB]

reply to post by MR BOB


Being in a few morgues..I have even been in the ice chest playing a prank on someone that back fired on me..Theres no handles on the inside...DuH..lol Its true what they say about the smell of death..i can still smell it..

And my mother always told me I was damien,and had a tattoo of 666 on my head..true story..lol

[edit on 8-7-2009 by Redpillblues]

[edit on 8-7-2009 by Redpillblues]

reply to post by ronishia


No, I don't think He is evil, just doing a job, more specifically, I think since this happened pretty well near a month before the 14 Yr old he stood behind was ran over and killed by a drunk, that he is basically not causing the death per se, but maybe like the bible says, erasing their name or noting a date on which the soul was to be expected to depart. I don't really know how to explain it. I mean it was an early arrival, by any means it still stumps me. I wasn't expecting her to die, not at that age. The shock I really think is I just caught him off gaurd and he was worried, since I am very defiant in nature just typically, if he thought I would try and protect her from being at the appointed place and the appointed time, but whether I wanted to or not, things just wouldn't work out for me, I knew that, becuase you can't escape when it's your time. Plus I knew it wasn't me he was after, because the shock also was indicative of that. He would not have cared if I saw him and it was my time. Because I wouldn't know the when or how anyway.I don't know I didn't even know the who, so it still perplexes me as to why he shocked my foot. The only thing I can think of is that he sensed I was psychic and thought maybe I would figure out who when and how and intervene, but to intervene would certainly have meant death for both of us. IMO, anyway.

it certainly makes you wonder if our destiny's and days we die are pre determined already, the movie final destination comes to mind when i think of that. when its your time to go its your time to go so to speak.

reply to post by Redpillblues


ok , fair enough. med student?

tell me do they ever put beer in them to keep them cool?