Hela
Goddess of Death Underworld
Germanic Book of The Dead
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The Germanic Book of The Dead
Source: http://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/jvhgermanicbook.htm
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[note translator: This text was written by the inspiration of the Germanic goddess Hell. All this sounds sinister, but it is the opposite. I will let Jan-Anton explain all this himself in the Preface to the Germanic Book of the Dead.
Original text is copyrighted by Jan-Anton van Hoek.]
Preface to the Germanic Book of the Dead
A book of the Dead in the "classical" sense, as it is the case with the Egyptian or the very different Tibetan Book of the Dead, does not need to be rewritten for the new World Year: that which is eternal in these Books of the Dead can not be improved - that which does not apply anymore has already lost its power, without the need to refute. The Germanic Book of the Dead is not like the other Books of the Dead.
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It is not a guide to avoid reincarnation and it is not a manual to avoid judging justice: these concepts are not a focus the Germanic Book of the Dead. The Germanic Book of the Dead has its name because it relies on what Hell -the Goddess of Death- visionary has revealed. Of course, the term "Germanic" is of no other significance than its connection to the Northern European pagan concept, that in its esoteric meaning goes back to the times of emperor Hoetan (the first mortal emperor).
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Her message is intentionally intended for the New World Year and will be of cosmic importance for a long time. When reading it, do remember that many who read a mystical treatise will try to compare it to others which they deem similar. It may be that disappointment will be the result. Hell's words are clear, concise, and sometimes even abrupt. The Goddess does not lose time, although she has time in plenitude.
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Hell herself? How many times did I not see and do I still see Hell, who speaks without even one word and lets me know everything I desire! As she appears, light brown of hair, with helm like crown on her head, wearing a purple attire, her smile lightly mocking and her green eyes lightly closed; her power is tangible by surroundings of by acolytes and demons of death of many appearances, (translator: Jan-Anton van Hoek does not use the word 'demons' in the classical sense; he calls demons a particular class of very powerful and highly spiritual beings which by their appearance or actions can be frightful), also surrounded by dragons and monsters.
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Her irony does not mock anybody but is simply above time, and in so much as the wriggling of mankind is or could not be anything more than just wriggling. Of course, Hell should not be confused with Loki's daughter Hell from the old World Year: it is the same spirit, but now, after Ragnarok (the twilight of the Gods), she has been purified and is one of the most positive creative forces in the cosmos; which also applies for the giants (now guardians of order), the wolf Fenris (guardian of the All, and servant of the Holy dragon), and the serpent Iörmungandr (priest of Eternity and First servant of the Solar cult on earth).
Read More Jormungandr The Great Cosmic Serpent click
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It is there that one of the first seeds of the resurrected esoteric Paganism is. Even in the old Word Year, Rudolf the Wise One (translator: Jan-Anton calls Rudolf his brother whom he has met since ancient time, and who is now on the spirit side and in contact with Jan-Anton), could trust that a dying religion could brought back to a new life. But now the verdict has been made: that impasse is over; the word is for those who posses esoteric knowledge and are able to bring it out into the open, and this is definitive.
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How cosmically inspiring is the thought about Gods, about their holy imperturbability! How blessed is he who is able to feel their power and feels himself connected to them!
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Hell's inspiration is within me and is leading the creations of my spirit. The fact that her name -as with many of the Gods- has been changed for the worst, does not affect her name: a precious stone can be covered with mud but it remains the same precious stone. One can imagine Hell's laughter about this all: "I am Hell, if that pleases you or not. It does please me." Finally this: I cannot say that this Book of the Dead is my creation. It is by Hell's power of inspiration that it was written on paper; in this I am nothing, no mystic in the classical interpretation, even not a medium in the parapsychological meaning of the word. I simply know that Hell wants to communicate this - it is not explainable how. And I am passing it on.
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May the Germanic Book of Death give comfort and understanding; when understanding has been achieved, comfort is not necessary anymore. May it be a contribution to the learning of mankind: the learning of being born, living, dying, living after dying, and everything related to it. Nothing more than a contribution!
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Our book shows, but it does not teach, that man has to conclude and act by himself - now that he has the freedom to do this. Death harbors secrets for sure, and those are twofold: first the secrets that one can only find by himself, and secondly the secrets that can be written down and that form a passport of life and after-life and at the same time are reflections of both existences of life.
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Because what is called "life" or "death" is nothing more than a door between two rooms of the House of life. Regarding the style of writing, the subject seemed to be sufficiently poetic to let Hell's concise inspiration-sentences to be as they were. Thus I have avoided as much as possible the style of an essay, and I have given the preference to a more poetic approach.
The Germanic Book of the Dead
Birth is not; life is not; dying is not;
They are not: they form parts of a Whole.
He who is born from the womb into the life of flesh
makes one step forwards;
The he makes another step;
Then a third one-
And he already leaves the corporeal shell.
With the first step who will not think about the second one?
And though, who dares to think about the third one
when he is making the second one?
He is vain, suddenly to want to be blind.
It is foolish to cut the threads
which run through the phases of existence.
Existence: from becoming physical
to becoming un-physical.
Who, when breathing in, hesitates to breath out?
Why fear, oh man, to breath out to becoming un-physical?
Everything you perceive is both mortal
and immortal:
Shells die off, like a coat wearing out
of sometimes also being torn: a new shell follows.
But does one wear a coat
When one lies down for a rest?
One time, for any who suffers from the cold,
If he wants; the time will come when cold will not have any hold on him anymore,
And without a coat he becomes happy and satisfied.
As long as he cosmically shivers, he will need shells
And with his earth bound gaze
He attaches himself to them as it was so heavily important.
It is vain, to want to be that warm.
It is foolish, to adore the shells
which guide through the phases of existence.
Shells: from materialization
to dematerialization.
And when attaching oneself to others:
How easy it is to see their shells for humans,
How easy one thinks the breaking of their eye,
Is the breaking of their soul!
How easy:
No one is the property of the other.
One does not feel bereft,
Because also the coats of others
Fall like rags from the shoulders.
Only he who lives in detachment
Really lives:
Nothing is your property, and you are nothing.
Your coat has been loaned to you
Until it drops down when worn out.
That is the way to go
And always direct attention to the goal.
Then one can enjoy the material the most:
One profoundly knows the boundaries.
Is it not the best laughter
which underlies the tempers of melancholy?
Only the four Holy Emperors are immortal
Their body sublimed
When they grasped the hands
Of Him who is incomprehensible.
After them, everyone shed their coats
And it shall be this way in the future.
The last breath escaping from the chest
Makes the seams of the shells pop
And the fabric disintegrate.
The chest collapses,
The belly rattles,
The skin becomes like wax.
You who ascends through the narrow,
Protected by your guides,
Who beholds your fear with wonder:
This is the third step
Called dying,
But dying it is not.
Only he who is detached
Goes from the one into the other.
Him the tunnel is awaiting,
Him the gate is awaiting,
Him the meadow is awaiting;
But he is not dazed!
He shall see them all,
The volatile spirits,
The demons he shall see
And maybe the Gods too.
If his eye is not glued
He shall see.
If his ear is not glued,
He shall hear.
Clarity will be with him in laughter
And he will not distinguish anymore
Between seconds and aeons,
Between miles and fathoms,
Hundredweights from grains.
Tight he felt when he came out of his mother's belly:
That tight he felt again when leaving his shells.
But now he is light and playful
And he does not cry like last time.
He left behind on earth
The threatening authorities of eternity
Together with their suffering soul.
The majesty of the transition
Elevates a soul who gained nobility
And gained in noble fight!
Fear leaves you: great is your luck.
Like moon crescents Hell stretches her hands:
The light thereof is shining your unearthly path.
The angled cross is turning around,
Ever calm, but inevitable.
Seeing it makes you learn many things
And makes you experience the turning of the All.
Then you will perceive your task with awe
And silently you will acknowledge your fall
And you will hear that you have risen,
resurrected from the deep indignity.
Then, stirred, grasp with both hands
Your fate and help decide your aid
Which will be your dwelling after the spiritual world!
All who honor the Gods, who acknowledge the All in respect,
May claim such an unfolding.
Calm he may be he who grows without attachment.
He may hope to come here for the last time
before the shells would cloth him in another earthly attire.
The detached ones do not return;
The attached ones remain bound to the earthly cycle.
They help to choose the mother's belly which shall give birth to them;
They determine their fate;
Their fate is always suffering.
He who has left behind everything;
He who is death to preaching of penance;
He who goes his path undeceived:
He will be detached,
Will be free,
Will shake the cycle from him
Like a dead snake.
The chains falls off: the spirit stands free,
Disconnected from any compulsion
And already half blessed in Him who is home to everyone.
If his eyes don't wander,
He will not get under any spell!
His innate being will evaporate
And dissolve into the being of Him.
But if he looks behind,
His heart is moved with compassion!
And already he decides to rescue
Who just was sheltering himself.
His eyes are radiating throughout the All,
A string is offered to him,
A string of taking pity, rich
Of so many beads
As will be his return to
The earthly realm of need.
A God dissolves,
His task of Lord accomplished:
His place determines the fate
Of he who freely and fully
With majestic benevolence,
Makes the earth vibrate
With his golden foot.
He will not be given a lot of gratefulness.
He already it knows well beforehand
And unwavering he traverses his cycle.
No other need pressures him
Than his holy pledge,
As he has already ascended the earthly bonds.
Out of free will he takes the heavy cane,
Bearing the backpack and the heavy boots.
The body around him pays its toll
What silently needs to be paid:
A Great Spirit does not stagger and bides his time.
He knows how long his candle will burn
And is ready, to extinguish himself the wick at the end.
That which man believes to be his luck,
He does not care about: he knows it already
And knows man's illusion.
But shall he really snarl from his high post,
Or only allow his body, to despise
The wriggling of the lusting brood of man?
He knows very well, how many times he has left
Passing through this earth again.
The burden becomes heavier each time
He takes it upon his shoulders.
Then, bending through his knees during the last time
He knows he will ascend into the Will,
The only one who always prevails
And who he knows as Something, with nothing behind.
That 'absolutum' is only granted to him
Who escapes from the cycle by way of offering:
The others dissolve,
The Godhead, being free itself, knows.
Has the old World Year gone
And the new One arisen,
Even than the Law does not change.
The biggest things remains true to their selves.
But at the end of it:
Many will go the path
Through the tunnel and the gate
To the meadow.
Very many.
Very Many.
How many among them
Will be detached
And free?
He who is not, will wake,
Wake in the Night,
The Night of All,
That comes
And lies between All and All.
Who will ascend into Him
Behind whom there is nothing?
Woe!
Woe!
Wake o man, now the time is here
That you will not wake
And lonely try
To drown a System that does not exist anymore.
In the need of loneliness
Until a grim day dawns
Of chaotic new Universe.
Breathe the breath in;
Breathe the breath out.
Be your own master,
Your own priest,
Your own religious lord!
Free yourself!
Very many will go,
Few will reject themselves.
Sharp be your gaze-
The Law never changes.
In the Night of All,
Do not wake!
Then you are not supposed to be anymore;
Be in Him, until at dawn He
Splices Himself again, evaporating
And throwing away substances of soul.
Purify yourself of strange contamination
And listen to the voice in your soul,
The rustling of your spirit.
In there every answer is present.
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Read More Jormungandr The Great Cosmic Serpent click
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Read More Surtr The Great Black Fire Giant Jotunn Guardian click
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Pictures Videos Music and Additional Reading
Dark Meditation
In Útgarðr, ambient runes resonate, calling upon Móðguðr for passage over Gjöll into the underworld. A sonic incantation, this chant aids meditation, guiding Thursatruar in the footsteps of Garmr to commune with Hel.
The Thurisaz-forged melody acts as a guide through Midgardian distractions, leading Thursatruar into deep meditation, unlocking the secrets of the Thurses. Its ambient sigilized sounds become a channel, binding minds to the esoteric truths within Útgarðr, where power and wisdom intertwine. The Thursatruar, veiled in sonic runes, journeying into the realms of Hel.
Dark Ambient Meditation
This is told from a perspective of person who has died and dwells in Hels abode until the time of Ragnarok. It truly captures the sounds of Helheim and the sounds of Naglfar coming to get the dead.
" We march in masses to be met with her gaze
Such beauty and horror we stand amazed
Child Of Loki and Angrboða
Pale face glimmering in the warmth of the light
Near where ...
Baldr the shining one sits with no light
No light shines from him on this night
We are here to wait until Naglfar comes to board the dead
The serpents tongue is heard once again
She prepares for the end of all things
And waits for her father to return again"
Who Is Hela?
Source: http://www.northernpaganism.org/shrines/hela/welcome/who-is-hela.html
Hel, or Hela, the Goddess of the Underworld, is the eldest child of Angrboda and Loki. She is also the Goddess of Death in the cosmology of the Nine Worlds, and the Keeper of the Underworld. She is one of the most powerful - some might say the most powerful - of all the Jotun deities.
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She usually appears in her half-rotted or half-skeletal form, divided down the middle vertically. Her hair is usually pale and long on her living side, although sometimes it is black. Sometimes she has appeared living above the waist and rotting below it; sometimes as a pale white woman who merely smells of rot. (In fact, the rot smell is always present with her, and it is a good way to know that you are actually speaking with Hela.
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The general coldness of the atmostphere around her is another tip-off.) Part of her insistence on keeping these shapes rather than a "normal", unrotted form is to force the understanding of Death onto people. She does not hold with any kind of denial around Death; she requires that it be seen and respected as the natural process that it is, and not euphemized or buried or prettied up.
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Hela is tall, generally clad only in a long, simple robe of black or grey, and does not stand on ceremony. She has been described by several people as having a low, quiet "whiskey-and-cigarettes" voice, and She moves slowly and sometimes with a limp on her skeletal foot.
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Her great stillness is one of the things that people notice about Her. When She sits, She may move her hands some to gesture, but very little else; psychically She is like a great pool of black stillness. Every move is made with graceful, ghostly slowness. It is said that She moves fast only when she is angry, and then you're in too much trouble to notice.
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If She holds out a hand for you to take, it will be Her skeletal one. This is a test. Remember that She was born in the Iron Wood, where showing your acceptance of the physical deformities of others is part of how you show respect and friendship.
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Take Her rotting, skeletal hand (which, as some people have reported, feels exactly like a dead limb except that it moves) and kiss it. If you can't bear to do such a thing, you have no business dealing with her. It is said that she only offers her living hand to the Dead, so you should be grateful for small favors.
Read More Jormungandr The Great Cosmic Serpent click
Read More Yggdrasil The Cosmic Tree click
Read More Ymir The First Giant Jotun The Story of Creation click
Read More Fenrir The Giant Wolf He Who Dwells in the Marshes click
Hagalaz' Runedance - Hel: Goddess of the Underworld
Lyrics
Cold, this misty night
A black moon's preparing my mind
Out here, I seek her shrine
I welcome the queen of the lowest world
Into the ice hall
Where mirrors reflect my soul
She's freezing my tears
Taking all fears
Two sides to her face
Her claws pierce or embrace
Enter, with open eyes
You'll see her garden of delight
To the within
Beyond our memory
Falling so deep
Where unborn souls sleep
Hail, to the queen of death
Her shadow walks with you
Remember her kind
And understand life
Invisible mate
Waiting to seal our fate
Watch my strife
Hel, guard my life
Cold, this misty night
A black moon's preparing my mind
Beneath eternal fog
I have seen clear
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/glhphotography/
Black Messiah - The Naglfar Saga: Mother Hel
Lyrics
[Chorus:]
[Warrior:]
Oh Mother Hel, I’m standing here
A man of fear and sorrow
I’m on my knees in front of you
To plead for mercy,
Mother Hel, I lived my life
In a fatal way of darkness
Forgive my soul and set me free
I lived my life in a malicious way
Hate and grudge were my constant companions
Now I regret what I have done
I beg you to spare my soul
All my sins are coming back to me
All my doings brought me to the abyss
Now I realize my faults
Oh, grand goddess, please forgive me
[Chorus:]
[Goddess:]
Warrior, the golden hall is out of reach for you
Your soul is doomed, for you there is no rescue
Valhalla is reserved for the worthy men,
So I’ll send you to the abyss again
As an undead, will-less body
[Chorus]
[Goddess:]
I will send you on board of the Nail-Ship
Týr - Gates of Hel
Lyrics
Barking
Here north and nether he's bound
And here he dwell
Snarling
At passing ghosts though he guard
The gates of Hel
They're leaving like a funeral procession on the prowl
Behind the hearse of all our hope
Their coming may forebode the end of all we once held high
Before us darkness gathers
You'll take the high road
I'll take the low road
Neither sand stays their striding
Nor does the dark and deep blue sea
Frontlines fell
You'll take the high road
I'll take the low road
Turned to stone by the sunrise
Hordes in the distance, marching out
The gates of Hel
Graven
Under the gathering grime
Statues forgrow
Fieldstones
Before the floodgates of time
Wayfarers flow
Their marching may grow louder than the thunder in the sky
Behind the hearse of all our hope
Our footfalls only fade into the distant future far
Before us darkness gathers
You'll take the high road
I'll take the low road
Neither sand stays their striding
Nor does the dark and deep blue sea
Frontlines fell
You'll take the high road
I'll take the low road
Turned to stone by the sunrise
Hordes in the distance, marching out
The gates of Hel
They're leaving like a funeral procession on the prowl
Behind the hearse of all our hope
Their coming may forebode the end of all we once held high
Before us darkness gathers
You'll take the high road
I'll take the low road
Neither sand stays their striding
Nor does the dark and deep blue sea
Frontlines fell
You'll take the high road
I'll take the low road
Turned to stone by the sunrise
Hordes in the distance, marching out
The gates of Hel
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/virusbolen/
Danheim - Hel (Official Music Video)
"Hel" is a song about the the nine kingdoms of the dead in Viking mythology. "Hel" is very different from the Christian "Hell"
Hel rules the nine worlds of death, which correspond to the nine worlds of life, and she assigns to anyone who arrives a suitable abode in proportion to the good or bad qualities of the souls or deeds. Some deceased can tumble on sun-drenched meadows, while others suffer.
Those who suffer are led through the gates leading to the depths of Helheim and Niflheim, where matter must be decomposed. Hel is a realm where death represents a relaxing interlude and where souls spend an appropriate amount of time in their legitimate environment. The Eddas state that elves (human souls) sleep among the gods while celebrating with lots of mead, which is a symbol of the experiences of a previous period of life, and in this way the souls that rest after life are present in the divine spheres, even though they are unaware of their surroundings.
In the Edda's "Vagtamskvadet" for example, the legend about the sun god's death and arrival at Hel's home, tells us that a sumptuous apartment has been arranged, and mead is ready and freshly brewed upon his arrival.
(Language is Danish, translated to English)
My vision grows faint, eerie darkness.
Hateful Norns, knit my destiny-thread.
Battling your destiny is in vain.
The starving raven tells of Hel, the nine kingdoms of the dead.
Where can I rest? with those I remember, among my own.
Far from the depths of Helheim and Niflheim.
My hope is golden mead, and lit logs,
What should I do to warm my hands?
Nine rings I sacrifice, runes I carve, songs I sing.