Culsu

Culsu stands at the door of the dead. She is a named figure, not an anonymous demon: the sarcophagus of Hasti Afunei from Chiusi labels her, and shows her dressed much as Vanth is, with shears in her hand. Her name is built on the same element as that of Culsans, the two-faced keeper of city gates, so that between them the pair hold the thresholds of the living world and the dead one. The shears are usually read as cutting the tie to life, which is plausible and unattested in so many words; the record says what the image shows and marks the rest as interpretation.

Domains

• underworld
• boundary

Powers

• to keep the entrance of the underworld, shears in hand

Relations

• ally: CulsansCounterpart of Culsans: he keeps the gate of the city, she the gate of the dead. The pairing is one of function and name, and no source makes them kin.Reference discussion of Culsu as the female counterpart of Culsans. (secondary)

Sources

• Culsu is an Etruscan female underworld demon who guards the entrance of the dead with shears in hand, named and depicted on the sarcophagus of Hasti Afunei from Chiusi and dressed in the manner of Vanth.: Sarcophagus of Hasti Afunei, Chiusi. (archaeological); Reference discussion of Culsu as gatekeeper of the underworld and female counterpart of Culsans. (secondary)