Journeys into the Underworld

(1)   First, metaphysical and theological concepts are hinted in greek mythology, not plainly revealed as one would like, but since nowadays people are more receptive to spirituality, this knowledge can begin to be revealed.   Proclus in his Platonic Theology says that Tartarus is both a place and a god, the lowest phase of any given realm. According to Proclus, he is the inspective guardian of any realm, surveying those souls that both descend and ascend.(2) This concept was perfectly depicted in the form of a dog, for what is a dog other than the inspective guardian of the land, prowling and sniffing around potential enemies? (3)   Now to the iconography of Cerberus:   Hades is depicted pointing his finger to the ground(4), signifying the Earth, with Cerberus by his side.   Now both Porphyry and Eusebius said that Cerberus represents the three phases of the sun above the earth, morning, midday and sunset, and also Porphyry said that the sun below the earth is ...

  The Cave of the Storm Nymphs, by Edward Poynter There is still much confusion, or rather, ignorance about what the underworld is, in general, and in particular, what Hades, the greek underworld is. Starting from the very concept of the underworld, it suggests an immaterial dimmension located underground where the spirits of the dead go to. But moving beyond this initial contradiction of an 'immaterial realm in a physical location' 1 , maybe the underworld is not actually 'under the ground', but, like what it also suggests, a place where the dead seem to be hiding from sight. Well, this doesn't require that it should be 'underground', since ghosts are invisible. Perhaps, like what the names of Hades and Hel imply, it's just a state of concealment from from physical perception, as if the dead would be hiding 'under' physical perception itself. If this is true, then the underworld can be de facto 'underground', above the ground, in the air...

  The recent event of the Brazilian presidential elections, in which Jair Bolsonaro remained silent after his opponent's victory, reminded me of an important concept in metaphysics, and it's a good opportunity to address it. As we know, silence is already an answer, if no answer is given to a question. Why? Because if no answer is given to a question, and the person remains in silence, that probably means that either the person is refuses to answer, or that the answer can be found by the questioner, if he/she only uses his/hers reasoning faculties. This is analogous to the jewish custom of answering a question with a question, to imply that the person can find the answer by itself, with nonetheless with a little help from the other, the question as an answer, a sign to lead the questioner where to go to intellectually to find the answer.   This in turn reminds me of one of Herakleitus sayings (DK93):   "The lord whose is the oracle at Delphi neither speaks nor hides his...

  In answer to Jackson Crawford's video " The Afterlife and Hel in Norse Myth ": Baldr is welcomed with a feast because he reached a place of need. If you look at her attributes, storm-increaser, it reminds an emotional upheaval/chaos; hunger, not satisfaction; starvation, not abundance; the walking pair of slaves, that is, mankind; and half dead, half alive, well, this can be best understood learning the meaning of the myth of Osiris, but essentially it has to do with reincarnation. If the higher gods and entities are not trapped by this cycle, they can be portrayed fully alive, and never subject to dying. But because the soul (Baldr) in the cycle of reincarnation experiences growth and decay, like a plant that grows and shrinks, but never really dies, it can be said that the soul that goes to Hel blossoms (after physical death), and, because it's a cycle bound to Earth, shrinks on the way down to Earth (death, Kor, deathbed). That's why Hel, the Being, and the S...

Ghost at crossroad Today I finnaly understood the meaning of crossroads whether in mysticism or just plain witchcraft. I recall reading about rites concerning the deceased being performed in crossroads , because that's where spirits are usually found. Why? Obviously the physical crossroad is of no use to the spirit of a recent deceased person, but the meaning of crossroad is important precisely because that kind of spirit finds itself in a sort of crossroad. "Where do I go from here?" Thus the rites to communicate with them are performed on crossroads, because non-physically, that's where they find themselves. Symbolism is everything. 1   But why should it be a crossroad? Because like attracts like: a) if there's ignorance of the life after death, the ghost will seek what it knows - the physical habits, and will remain close to this plane. b) if there's knowledge of life after death, it will go after a spiritual life, and will distance itself from here.   Also...

The god Diónysos is one of the most difficult to decipher. The knowledge of him belonged to the mistery cults, and those are lost. Nonetheless, there are a few interesting clues.   It all started when I was searching about the meaning of dwarfs and deers in norse mythology. Apparently the dwarfs Dáinn and Dvalinn share the same name with two of the four deers who eat from Yggdrasil, Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór, and so are related. But how and why?   In Samael Aun Weor's lecture on Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung he says that the dwarf Alberich symbolizes the mortal ego, which is frail and afraid, trying to encapsulate or dominate the soul that pervades the body, represented by Siegfried, who eventually taunts and even mocks Alberich, for his small stature, ugliness and overall small-mindedness. This is probably not the meaning of a dwarf in norse mythology, but the dwarfs, also associated with the svartálfar, the black-elves, may suggest a "light" being (el...