In honor of national dog day, which was on the 26th of August let’s discuss the importance of dogs in the physical and spiritual world. Even though the calendar date has passed, the crucial role dogs play in guiding our transitions from life to death is a recurring theme seen across humanity.
Dogs spiritually signify intuition, loyalty, healing and unconditional love. This is its text book spiritual definition but once you dive deeper, you also find that they have been associated with death, disease, and the underworld. This doesn’t make dogs a bad omen, on the contrary they’re like a talisman that protects you. They are protectors and since they are familiar with things of the underworld, death and disease they are able to sniff that out. How do you expect someone to protect you from harm they are unaware of? In many cultures they are believed to ward off evil spirits and disease. So many cultures mirror each other in their mythology, all these dog gods and saints shared the same themes.
A primary example was found in ancient Mexico, with the Aztecs. Xolotl the god of death, fire, darkness and disease was a main reason why humans exist according to the Aztecs. When the Aztec gods were first trying to perfect humans, they realized they were missing a material. That material was only found in the underworld with Mictlantecuhtli, none of the gods wanted to take up this challenge except Xolotl. The courages Xolotl then transformed into his favorite animal, a dog and began his journey towards el Mictlan(the underworld). Mictlantecuhtli the god of the underworld peacefully gave Xolotl the material he needed, a bone. Mictlantecuhtli was a skull and bones himself. After Xolotls success traveling through el Mictlan a tradition started, since Xolotl was able to safely travel in and out of el Mictlan as his canine avatar the Aztecs started to believe that dogs had the ability to guide souls through el Mictlan into Tlalocán(Paradise)
In this tradition when someone would pass, their dog would have to be sacrificed. Because then who else will guide you from the underworld into paradise? Everyone ends up at el Mictlan no matter how good you are, maybe that is because we were all created from Mictlantecuhtlis bone. We are all inherently evil as humans, it’s only fair to return to where we came from. The underworld. We just have to find our way into paradise, that is where our pure furry friends come in to help.
It’s so interesting to see these similarities across the globe, especially considering this was so long ago and these cultures probably never knew of each others existence. You go to the other side of the world and find the same symbolism repeated. Bhairava is the Hindu god of the underworld, Shivas most feared form. Bhairava was depicted either mounted on a fierce black dog or using him as a weapon. His feared canine would fight off demons literally and metaphorically since your inner demons are the ones that prevent you from finding God. In Hindu mythology, dogs association with protection is very emphasized. They are the protectors of both gates of heaven and hell. People often leave food and water out for stray dogs out of tradition, they know it’s dogs that lead souls into paradise.
Now let’s travel 5000 km to the East, to Egypt. Where we find the black dog headed god Anubis roaming the tombs of Egypt, where he works. Anubis the Egyptian god of death, burials, embalming and anything that has to do with rituals of the afterlife. He was black in color as a symbol of decay and the Nile river and its fertility, where there is death there is life. Anubis is also in charge of leading souls through the underworld where they get judged by Osiris.
When we get to Christianity, you see dogs association with healing highlighted. A good example of this is St Roch, St Roch a saint of France who rejected and walked out on a life of luxury’s coming from a wealthy family and dedicated his life to healing people spiritually and therefore physically. St Roch left all his riches behind and embarked on a journey with only his faith and canine friends. That is when he stumbled upon a town in Europe where most of its people were suffering from the black plague, St Roch and his dogs healed people with their faith and energy. When St Roch was inevitably infected with the black plague, he accepted his fate and went into the woods to die. That is where a pup found him and licked on his wounds healing them and making them better, thanks to that pup and his owner St Roch was cured. In this story dogs association with death is a little more abstract but St Roch and his dogs all had to dip a foot into death and its energies being surrounded around the black plague. St Roch teaches us that sometimes all you need is your faith, and your loyal pup by your side.
Next time you see your four legged companion, make sure to reward them, with a hug and treat for all the hard work they are doing behind the veil. And if your pup has passed just know they are patiently waiting to see you again next to Mictlantecuhtli.
