Blood of the Pure - Chapter Thirteen - The Scythe

The Scythe

Medieval and Renaissance art made use of a number of emblems to symbolize death and mortality. Although a central theme of Christianity for hundreds of years was the triumph of life over death, the onset of the black plague altered public perception, and the emphasis was placed on the triumph of death over life and the necessity of repentance. Symbols of resurrection common in Christian art became less popular, as reminders of the impermanence of life and the punishments of hell became ubiquitous.

One of the most common symbols of mortality was the Grim Reaper and his Scythe, an icon appropriated from Greek and Roman Paganism. Slogans such as "remember death" and "all is vanity" were omnipresent - death was around the corner, and one had better repent if one was to avoid an eternity of damnation. The source of this symbol was, ironically, the paganism that Christianity had supposedly replaced.

In ancient times, the Scythe was an emblem of the God Saturn (Chronos to the Greeks), which represented the nature of the Cycles of Time. The Scythe symbolized not only impermanence (all things living will be cut down), but also the Nature of the Life Cycle- plants must die to feed animals, and the tool of the harvest depicts the necessity of death for the renewal of life. Death was then depicted as a natural part of the passage of time.