There are two main aspects of UnderWorld spirituality and magic: Transformation and Regeneration. These have been the two pillars of the UnderWorld traditions worldwide for millenniums, regardless of culture, religion, race, or geographical location. (I use the spelling UnderWorld intentionally, to refer to a realm of energy and consciousness, so that we do not think of organized crime under the surface of the planet).During the 21st century, at least in the West, we are finally emerging from a long suppressive phase of group consciousness, in which the UnderWorld was equated with evil or, at least, undesirable earth forces. Why are such earth forces undesirable? Because, we have been told repeatedly, they are Below rather than Above. It takes a long time for the collective psyche to emerge from religious manipulation, and we find a divisive pattern in much of our current spiritual revival.
Yet, I would propose, such a naïve dualistic argument fails, even in terms of common sense. Above and below are illusions fostered by gravity…go far enough below and you come to the sky again. It is the journey to the stars beneath that leads us through the UnderWorld, and liberates us from antagonistic dualism.
More simply, all growing things are nourished from below: our very existence on Earth fails without the life forces that rise from Below. A tree cannot survive without roots, and the circulation of energies from Below is the foundation of all growth in our world. In the spiritual traditions we discover that truths of nature are also truths of spirit.
If we refer back to ancestral times, no more than a century or so, we find folkloric traditions of the faery and underworld powers in Western culture. Some of these have been discussed in my earlier articles in this series. A little further back again, and we begin to find UnderWorld spirituality at the core of the oldest traditions, such as those of the Celts, the Norse and Germanic peoples, the Greeks, and the Romans. Far from being outmoded old junk and superstition, such traditions provided a working model of relationship between humanity and the land, the planet, couched in terms of gods and goddesses, and practiced as ceremonies and magical techniques. Today we would call this Environmental Magic, perhaps. But in the past there was no “environment”, there was only Life. And life begins, and ends, in the nourishing, regenerative, transformative depths of the Earth…in the UnderWorld.
So where, exactly, is this deeper UnderWorld that our ancestors understood to be the source of life? It is somewhat below the faery realm, though it includes the faery realm, and it also includes collective ancestral memories. I will rephrase that for clarity: the faery realm is that spiritual dimension where humanity intersects with all plants and living creatures, with the elemental forces of sea, wind, earth, and fire. This is where the faery races are found, somewhere between the surface world and the deeper planetary forces. Indeed, they act as go-betweens or mediators.
The UnderWorld is deeper than the faery realm alone, and is embodied to us by the older gods and goddesses, the titans and giants, and the vast planetary being itself, of which they are all a part.
In ancestral sacro-magical practices, the UnderWorld was often the realm of a dark goddess. She brought transformation, as she was, and still is, the goddess of destruction and regeneration. This dark goddess, known by many names worldwide, personifies the transformative forces of the planet.
And yes, these are forces that we can, and do work with. I say, “do work with” because we interact with such forces continuously, as part of our life on Earth. We could not exist without the dark goddess, by whatever name she chooses to be called. There is a difference, of course, between intentional work and unconscious interaction. If we work with these planetary UnderWorld forces intentionally, the transformative process is greatly enhanced and accelerated.
This is one of the so- called “secrets” of the old magical traditions: if you consciously interact with the planetary forces of the UnderWorld, you will become transformed. First destruction (of the false self, of delusion) then regeneration (of the true self, unalloyed by temporary personality).
