Personifications of death are found in many religions and mythologies. In more modern stories, a character known as the Grim Reaper usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other beliefs hold that the spectre of death is only a psychopomp , a benevolent figure who serves to gently sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the afterlife , without having any control over when or how the victim dies.
Death is most often personified in male form, although in certain cultures death is perceived as female for instance, Marzanna in Slavic mythology , or Santa Muerte in Mexico.
Death is also portrayed as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Most claims of its appearance occur in states of near-death. As such, it is common in Spanish-speaking cultures to personify death as a female figure.
A common term for the personification of death across Latin America is "la Parca" from one of the three Roman Parcae , a figure similar to the Anglophone Grim Reaper, though usually depicted as female and without a scythe. In Aztec mythology , Mictecacihuatl is the " Queen of Mictlan " the Aztec underworld , ruling over the afterlife with her husband Mictlantecuhtli.
Other epithets for her include "Lady of the Dead," as her role includes keeping watch over the bones of the dead. Mictecacihuatl was represented with a fleshless body and with jaw agape to swallow the stars during the day. She presided over the ancient festivals of the dead, which evolved from Aztec traditions into the modern Day of the Dead after synthesis with Spanish cultural traditions.
