308 Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard
of Erebos. Here they pass Lethe, the River of Forget-
fulness. If they drink of its dark waters, they are re-
lieved of their shameful deeds but lose all memory of
their former lives. At last the shades reach the gates of
Hades’s hall. These are guarded by the three-headed
dog Cerberus, who greets all newcomers happily but
refuses to allow any to leave. Grim Hades and stern
Persephone sit on their great thrones, amid the wealth
of gold and jewels from the depths of the Earth.
In the Hall of Hades, the dead are judged by kings
Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus, who decide where
each should go. Heroes and good people who did
wonderful things in life go to the Elysian Fields. This
is a place of eternal bliss where they are reunited with
their loved ones. Souls who are not good enough for
Elysium are sent to the Fields of Asphodel, where they
drift unthinking and unfeeling like zombies. People who
had been particularly wicked in life, such as Tantalus,
Sisyphus, and Ixion, are consigned to Tartarus to
endure an eternity of ironically appropriate punishment.Tartarus is the deepest and most ancient part of
the Underworld, as far beneath the Earth as the
Heavens are above. It is a dank, gloomy pit surrounded
by a wall of bronze, and beyond that a three-fold layer
of night. Tartarus is a prison for the defeated Titans,
who are guarded by the hundred-handed
Hecatonchires. The Cocytus, River of Tears, and Phle-
gethon, the River of Fire, surround Tartarus and flow
into the Acheron.Annwfn and the Summerland
Annwfn, the Celtic Otherworld, is like an archi-
pelago of separate islands in a mystical sea. These con-
tain many different beings, gods and spirits, as well as
the dead. The three major regions are Caer Wydyr,
Caer Feddwid, and Arran. Caer Wydyr (“castle of
glass”) is a dark, gloomy place inhabited only by silent
lost souls. It is the least desirable place to end up after
death. Caer Feddwid (“castle of revelry”) is ruled by
Arianrhod of the Silver Wheel. The air is filled with
enchanting music, and a fountain flows with magick
wine that grants eternal youth and health. Arran is a
land of eternal Summer, with grassy fields and sweet
flowing rivers. In Arran is found the Cauldron of Plenty,
which is linked to the Holy Grail. Only those who are
pure of heart are allowed to enter here. This is the“Summerland” most identified with modern Wicca.
Different gods or lords ruled in various national
regions of the Celtic Otherworld. The most ancient of
these is Cernunnos (“horned one”) who rules over all
the Celtic dead. He is also known as Herne the Hunter,
leading the Wild Hunt on Samhain Eve. A similar hunter
god is Gwynn, who preys on souls, claiming them for
Annwfn. Donn (“brown one”) is the Irish god of the
dead. His realm is a small rocky island off the south-
west coast of Ireland called Tech Duinn (“house of
Donn”), where he welcomes his descendants, the
people of Ireland, to come when they die.
Pywll was a Welsh prince who chanced to meet
Arawn, king of Annwfn, and the two of them agreed
to exchange kingdoms for a time in each other’s bod-
ies. Each ruled the other’s land well and was pleased
with the arrangement when the time was completed.
Mider is a benevolent god of the Gaelic Afterworld.
His wife is Etain. He is a just overlord whose realm is
a place of tedium and sorrow rather than pain and tor-
ture. Bilé, on the other hand, is an evil ruler whose
kingdom is a vast wasteland of crushed spirits and bro-
ken bodies who must pay him eternal homage. Bran
was a mortal hero in Welsh mythology. He angered
the gods, was beheaded, and then banished to rule in
the Underworld as punishment. Bran’s kingdom is filled
with failed heroes who must spend eternity in regret.Valhalla and Hel
(by Diana Paxson)
In the North, beliefs about the afterlife varied from
time to time and place to place. There were a number
of options. Fierce Viking heroes who die in battle are
received by one of Odin’s Valkyries, or “choosers of
the slain.” These beautiful warrior maidens ride through
the air and over the sea on flying horses, following the
progress of every battle. They kiss the fallen heroes
and carry their souls to Odin’s great hall of Valhalla.
There the warriors spend their days fighting over and
over the glorious battles in which they had died and
thus won eternal fame. Each night they feast on wild
boar and drink mead to their heart’s content. Women
who died might go to Freya’s hall. Kings were often
believed to live on in their burial mounds, where they
received offerings and blessed their people. Some
families lived on inside sacred hills, and some continued
to watch over their descendents as alfar (male) and
disir (female) guardian spirits.
However the “default” destination was Hel, which
is the general home of the ancestors. Like most places,
it has both good and bad neighborhoods. The hall
where Balder feasts is cheerful, with plenty of ale and
mead. The part called Nastrond, on the other hand, is
a terrible prison for oath-breakers and other criminals,
its walls woven from snakes whose poison flows along
the floor. This region is ruled by Hella, daughter of
the trickster Loki and the giantess Angurboda, andSisyphusIxionTantalus- Lore.p65 308 1/15/2004, 9:37 AM