The Grim Reaper

The Grim Reaper

When you hear the name, "The Grim Reaper," a very familiar image probably pops into your head. With the black robe and cowl, skeletal face and hands or the visage of a dour corpse, a threatening scythe, and hourglass at its last sands, this is the image the modern, western person thinks of when we personify death. But where did this visual come from? How do we know what death looks like? And since death has always been with us, isn't this image as old as that finality itself? One might think so, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Surely since there have been humans, we have wondered what becomes of us once we die, where do we go when we shuffle off this mortal coil, and how do we get there? What we have found is that yes, we have always created myths and put a face on death in order to help comprehend such an abstract and mysterious concept, but that face has morphed through the ages and varies by culture. In the ancient western world, the concept of a Grim Reaper was more of a psychopomp, a guide that takes the freshly departed to their place in the afterlife. But since we have doubts nowadays when it comes to a more universally accepted idea of an afterlife, perhaps the notion of a ghastly specter that merely extinguishes our spark when our time has come is more relatable. And he's just a mythic character, right? A cartoon? Well not if you ask some folks who claimed to have seen him and lived to tell about it. Whatever the truth, in one sense, in the end, it doesn't matter if you believe at the moment of death that we are whisked away to another realm or it's just "lights out." As the saying goes, whether king or pauper, a Grim Reaper comes for us all.

For more information on this episode visit our website!

Jaksot(432)

The Pearl of Siberia

The Pearl of Siberia

What's down there? Lost treasure? Legend has it. 20% of the world's unfrozen freshwater sitting on 4.3 miles of sediment? Science confirms it. What about humanoid creatures almost 10 feet tall, wearin...

27 Helmi 20161h 45min

Polybius Ultra

Polybius Ultra

Our ancient ancestors spoke of a legendary place -- where the young and young at heart could test their skills against a magical, electronic device, using strategy, and their reflexes at 25¢ a pop. Th...

4 Helmi 20161h 34min

Kincaid's Cave of the Grand Canyon

Kincaid's Cave of the Grand Canyon

On March 12, 1909, The Arizona Gazette published an article titled, "G. E. Kincaid Reaches Yuma." It was a short, mildly interesting announcement that Mr. "Kincaid" was only the second person to make ...

19 Tammi 20161h 46min

The KGC: An American Conspiracy Part 3

The KGC: An American Conspiracy Part 3

They had lawyers, guns and money, as well as cartographers and engineers, tradesmen, politicians and professionals of all station, all embedded in American society and the money in the earth itself. O...

19 Joulu 20152h 12min

The KGC: An American Conspiracy Part 2

The KGC: An American Conspiracy Part 2

The Confederate Army’s losses at the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg in July 1863 marked a turning point in America’s Civil War, one that was not favorable for furthering the cause of “Southern In...

7 Joulu 20151h 25min

The KGC: An American Conspiracy Part 1

The KGC: An American Conspiracy Part 1

America in the mid-nineteenth century was still a very young nation in the process of finding its own identity, its states not yet fully or harmoniously united. Differing ideas on what methods of prod...

23 Marras 20151h 2min

Shadow People

Shadow People

They watch us. They wait. Lurking in the shadows or in bright daylight, from afar, in the corners of our eyes or in our very own bedrooms, staring directly at us, sometimes with eyes of red fire. They...

27 Loka 20151h 15min

Kidnapped by Bigfoot: The Albert Ostman Story

Kidnapped by Bigfoot: The Albert Ostman Story

Some tales are tall tales, and some tales involve an ape-like creature that stands over 7 feet tall and weighs around 700 pounds. Such was the tale of Albert Ostman, who claimed that in 1924, while on...

9 Loka 20151h 34min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
kaksi-aitia
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
i-dont-like-mondays
uutiscast
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
kolme-kaannekohtaa
joku-tietaa-jotain-2
sita
aikalisa
mamma-mia
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
rss-murhan-anatomia
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-nikotellen
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
lahko
rss-haudattu