The Underworld represents the archetypal realm of the dead, darkness, and shadow. Across world mythologies,
this subterranean or hidden domain serves as the destination for souls after death, a place of transformation,
judgment, and sometimes return. Often guarded by fearsome beings and separated from the living world by
rivers, gates, or other barriers, the Underworld embodies humanity's deepest fears and mysteries about
death, the afterlife, and what lies beyond mortal existence.
Cultural Manifestations
Content coming soon: Greek Hades, Norse Hel, Egyptian Duat, Mesopotamian Kur,
Hindu Naraka, Buddhist Diyu, Aztec Mictlan, and more...
Symbolic Themes
Content coming soon: Death and rebirth, shadow integration, descent and return,
transformation, judgment, memory and forgetting...
Guardians and Inhabitants
Content coming soon: Psychopomps, underworld deities, guardians, judges,
tormentors, and denizens of the realm of the dead...
Journey Narratives
Content coming soon: Katabasis myths, heroic descents, rescue missions,
initiatory journeys to the land of the dead...