Drinking Deities

Buddhist in Tibet believed that after a person died, his soul would wander into a place that is dominated by the law of karma. People will be judge according to the things that they’ve done in the past.  The thing contained inside ones heart will be judges by the Peaceful Deities and the brain by the Wrathful Deities.

The Wrathful Deities is also known as the 5 blood drinking deities.  The deities will make their appearance 8 days after once death.  Vajra will appear on the 9th day which is the order of the wrathful deities.  The intellect will be personified by Bhagavan Vajra Heruka which is depicted by the Tibetan monk as a deity that holds a human scalp on one of his hands.

Embracing him was his mother who was holding a red shell that is filled with blood. Vajra Krotishaurima would place the shell filled with blood into her son’s mouth.  On the 10th day, Ratna-Heruka would appear which has a striking similarity with Vajra-Heruka but only with different colors.  The next day another deity would appear, Padma-Heruka wearing red clothing.

The 12th day would mark the appearance of the blood drinking deities, Lotus Order. They were said to possess different head of animals that engaged in blood drinking activities.  Some of their behaviors are also attributed to ghoul like cannibalizing corpse.  Several other vampiric deities would appear up to the fourteenth day.

The body of the decease will never be attack by the deities.  They are just a representation of the things that the deceased person committed during his lifetime.