Damnation

There has been a popular notion within the New Age movement that the concepts of morality and damnation in the afterlife are the inventions of Abrahamic religions and have nothing to do with ancient polytheist systems. When one examines these systems it is easy to discern the truth that most of the religions in the world have some form of concept surrounding punishments of the dead that were immoral or evil in their lives. Let us begin by going over a short list of such beliefs from around the world, to demonstrate the prolific nature of such a concept:

Egyptian Polytheism: In the Duat, there are twelve caverns in which demons and vile deities feast upon the souls of the sinful. They are tortured in various ways: from being burned in ovens or cauldrons to drowning in their own blood. These ovens are heated by fire-breathing snakes, or they are incinerated by the snakes themselves.

Hinduism: In the Dharmic religions, the place of the damned is called Naraka, and is a place where the spirit is judged and must be punished to atone for their sins. There the beings of torment reside, and bring about suffering to the damned. There they also find the karmic fruits for the next life. Note that the first mentions of Naraka are in the Vedas, which predate any Biblical scripture.

Chinese Folk Religion: In the traditional Chinese religion, the damned are sent to Diyu as a form of atonement for their sins before they are reincarnated. Here they are judged by the Ten Kings of Yama to determine how they are to atone for their misdeeds. Punishments include beheading, being sawn in half, thrown into pits of filth or forced to climb trees covered in sharp blades. Once they have completed their atonement they are allowed to partake in the Drink of Forgetfulness by Meng Po and are then reborn.

Greek Polytheism: In the Greek lore there is the Underworld of Hades, ruled by the God Hades, and separated into two parts (very similar to our own cosmology): Elysium and Tartarus. The latter is the realm of the damned, where the wicked are punished for their misdeeds.

Shinto: In Japan the place of the damned is called Jigoku, and there are many levels to this realm (as with many lands of punishment), and their agony includes being smashed and pulverized by iron-clubs, being hacked to pieces by axes and saws, or having to carry heavy piles of hot-iron across a tight rope over a giant frying-pan.

While this list is by no means definitive or complete, it fully demonstrates that polytheist cultures do contain notions of religious morality, and consequences for the actions one commits in their present life. The idea that our faith is some libertine fantasy has developed from propaganda and New Age philosophies, and has nothing to do with true ancestral religion.

In Germanic polytheism, all the dead go forth to Urðr’s (Hel’s) realm to face the Helþing where the Gods judge them for their transgressions while their fylgja acts as their psychopomp and witness. The dead have spent nine nights traversing the pathways to the Þing, where the unmerciful are torn to shreds by iron barbs in a river or sharp thorns in a forest. The merciful walk through these easily without blemish, while their villainous counterparts are reformed, bearing the marks of their suffering. These marks will also bear witness against them in their trial. If they receive Námæli or the judgment of the damned, they must journey through the realms of bliss so that they may witness what they have forfeited. The Heiptir beat them on their heals with iron rods called Limar until they enter the realm of Niflhel. There they are torn to pieces by demons of punishment, where the last vestiges of their holy elements (the gifts of the Gods) are removed. This is their second death before the halls of the damned. In this realm lies the caverns of Nástrǫnd, where nine grottos contain nine punishments for nine types of transgressions. These have been described above. From this, the damned will become misshapen and purely evil, driven by hatred for the Gods and their creation. At Ragnarǫk they shall be released by Gullveig, and accompany Loki and Fenrir to lay waste to all who stand before them. Leikn rules Niflhel, Loki’s twisted half-alive, half-dead daughter who is the matron of disease, filth, and insanity.

The truth is that the Heathen religion is a religion, and as such it requires a system of morality that keeps its adherents working towards the divine order and away from the forces of destruction and mayhem. The struggle between Order and Chaos is as real as it is eternal; it exists within the world around us as much as within our own hearts. The Gods guide us towards good, for they are good, and those who would be devoted to them will also be devoted to their goodness and the order they represent. For those who would ignore them for the sake of their own vice will find that fate always has a way to bring balance to the universe.