Pharasma is said to be the ultimate arbiter of souls -- as one of the oldest deities, she determines the eventual destination of souls on the Outer Planes. As far as we've been led to believe, she judges each and every soul that passes through the Boneyard.
If this is the case, however, what role do other deities of death (Charon, Osiris, etc.) play in the process of the afterlife? Are these sundry "supplementary gods of death" part of Pharasma's court, weighing in on an arbitration process over which the Lady of Graves presides? Do some souls never reach the Boneyard to be judged -- sent off to secret tribunals by longstanding agreement, snatched away by the Horseman of Death, or just lost in a cosmic shuffle? Or are all death deities simply fragments of a multifaceted uber-deity, of which Pharasma is the oldest and greatest?
Death is a mysterious thing in Pathfinder, I know. But this question has some serious implications for the powers, status, and worship of all those other gods of death, whose roles are called into question by the alleged primacy of Pharasma.
Charon is less focused on the afterlife as he is the actual process of death...so I presume there isn't conflict there. But yeah, I have that same question, since presumably other death gods exist in Pathfinder, especially with Osirion having all the old Egyptian Gods.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sit around and wish they were Pharasma?
Pharasma does appear to be the only arbiter of true Death.
Charon as the Horseman of Death, simply wants mortals to understand that death is inescapable, and all souls will pass though his fingers.
The other Death Deities don't appear to help Pharasma with any of her duties as judge of the dead, unless specifically stated.
I enjoy Urgathoa and Zyphus as death deities because they actually represent in their own ways a resentment of death, and promote it only because those who suffer in death often come to see "the flawed mortal existence" in the same way as they did.
Remember that the Not-Egyptians split death into various aspects.
Anubis was a guardian of the dead and could be considered "God of the Dead" with the dead being a people. Osiris was "God of the Underworld/Afterlife" as a place.
Pharasma presides as the Goddess of Death itself and as judge of the dead. You could say that she takes the place of Ma'at. She places the feather of truth and the mortal's heart on the scales and makes her judgement.
The other death gods probably act in this way as well. They focus on a specific view or form of death and they come into play after Pharasma makes her judgement.
Pharasma, as arbiter, has a rather specific role, and looks basically to keep the cycle of life and death going.
Most of the other death deities are more about killing or undead than they are about death per se as part of the process of life.
Urgathoa, Fumeiyoshi: undead.
Norgorber, Yaezhing: murder.
Charon: a personification of dying.
Zyphus: specifically accidental death.
Orcus: necromancy.
I don't think gods have to do anything
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I don't think gods have to do anything
"We're the piratesDeities who don't do anything!"
I'd imagine that if there were other arbiters of death, they'd deal with a subset of souls rather than all of them like Pharasma does. Then another arbiter might exist under them, followed by another and another, subdividing the massive torrent of souls until hey get categorized down to their ultimate fate in the afterlife.
Actually, we're told that Pharasma does not judge every soul. Many souls don't need any judgement at all. Others do but are relatively routine and are handled by the Yamaraj, who themselves usually specialize in handling a particular type of soul. Above them are the psychopomp Ushers who, though we really don't know much about them, seem to have jurisdiction over broad types of souls, like atheists. Pharasma herself only seems to get involved when the status of the soul in questions is particularly complicated and their destination would have significant consequences. If you are familiar with the article on the soul-trade, I'd say Pharasma only handles the highest tier souls. Mythic character who sold their soul, but stole the contract, worshiped LG deity but acted more CG, and recently committed an act that put them at N, you go see the Lady herself. Anybody else, there are bureaucrats for that.
I imagine that other gods of death, like Anubis and Osiris take the place of the Ushers for their worshipers or regions where they are prominent. They handle the complicated cases, or, if they aren't too busy, all souls requiring judgement. They may even great all the souls personally. Point is, they are concerned about death as it applies to their worshipers. Pharasma is concerned with souls as the central resource of the planes.
"Lawful Good paladin of Iomedae? No contract or other soul bindings? Please continue on to the pearly gates." -Nosoi
"Worshiped Iomedae but really more of a neutral sort? Hmm. Let's see..." -Yamaraj
"So, you sold your soul to a devil in return for a modest fortune. You used that fortune to help the poor and needy, improve the livelihoods of those in your town, and generally promoted good all your days. However, no you say you wish to not proceed anywhere, but join the souls of the unaligned? This may take a while." -Usher