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{{short description|Entity believed to escort deceased souls to an afterlife}} {{About|the psychopomp in religion, mythology and psychology|the song by The Tea Party|Psychopomp (song)|the album by Japanese Breakfast|Psychopomp (album)}} {{redirect|Psychopomps|the Danish band|Psychopomps (band)}} [[File:NAMA Hermès & Myrrhinè.jpg|thumb|Relief from a carved funerary {{lang|grc-Latn|[[lekythos]]}} at Athens: [[Hermes]] as psychopomp conducts the deceased, ''Myrrine,'' a priestess of [[Athena]], to [[Hades]], {{circa|430–420 BC}} ([[National Archaeological Museum of Athens]])]] '''Psychopomps''' (from the Greek word {{lang|grc|ψυχοπομπός}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|psychopompós}}, literally meaning the 'guide of souls')<ref name=lex>{{cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dyuxopompo%2Fs |title=ψυχοπομπός - Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott A Greek-English Lexicon |publisher=Perseus.tufts.edu }}</ref> are creatures, [[Non-physical entity|spirit]]s, [[angel]]s, [[demon]]s, or [[deity|deities]] in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afterlife.<ref name="Morreall">{{cite book |author1=John Morreall|author2=Tamara Sonn|title=The Religion Toolkit: A Complete Guide to Religious Studies|date=2011|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=|isbn=978-1405182461|pages=279}}</ref> Their role is not to judge the deceased, but simply to guide them. Appearing frequently on [[funerary art]], psychopomps have been depicted at different times and in different cultures as [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic entities]], horses, deer, dogs, [[whip-poor-will]]s, ravens, crows, vultures, owls, sparrows, and cuckoos. In the case of birds, these are often seen in huge masses, waiting outside the home of the dying.
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