20 Reiki Tips for Grief and Dying

It is that time of year again when we pay homage to the Ancestors and our Beloved Dead.

Many clients come to us for grief and broken hearts associated with a great loss. Death itself evoked so much fear in our modern society because we have grown to hide from the truth of it.

No one escapes this world untouched by the suffering of losing a loved one.

Not even us as Reiki Practitioners.

So here are a few tips to deal with Death and Dying as well as the Grief that inevitably comes with it. But also know this, with grief also comes acceptance and healing.

20 Reiki Tips for Grief and Dying

1. Allow yourself to cry. Bottling up your pain will only lead to further and deeper suffering down the road. I understand that perhaps you may be in charge of making arrangements for someone who has passed and do not wish to seem weak. You want to be strong for everyone else in this time of need. But you can still allow yourself moments in private where you let it out. Also, allow yourself to show it to your other loved ones. To be steel and hard as stone only shows how cold you can be. Of course, we all grieve differently, but to grieve in a healthy way means that you let yourself weep.

2. Cry some more.

3. Face the reality of your own death. Don’t avoid it. Let’s face it here and now. We will all die. Some day I too will die. My words and pictures will live on in the interweb, but my physical form will grow old and will someday die. Or tomorrow I will get hit by a bus. Who knows? But to live with our heads in the sand about this issue is unhealthy.

4. Allow yourself to get angry. Again, bottling up our pain will only lead to further and deeper suffering. If you are angry at your loved one for leaving you, good! This is normal. It does not mean you do not love them. Remember though, just for today, I will not let anger control me. It is healthy to get angry, but not so to allow that anger from inflicting further harm to yourself or others. Find a creative way to express your anger in a healthy manner. Paint. Dance. Hit a punching bag. Punch water. Swim. Run. And cry.

5. Consider seeing a Therapist. You don’t have to be crazy to see a therapist. You won’t be considered a bad Reiki Practitioner for asking for help. All therapists, this included Reiki Professionals, need and should have their own therapists. If you feel you are not dealing with your grief, death, or dying in a healthy manner, seek assistance. Or, if the situation is an especially sensitive one: a child’s death, murder, or other untimely death you may need the extra support of a trained professional.

6. Bridge the Gap. As practitioners we will sometimes be put in hard situations, but remember your training. In a situation like this we have the dead or dying and then their family or friends. Helping to facilitate communication during this rite of passage is essential.

7. Let the dying person know you are feeling fearful or uncomfortable, or whatever emotion it is that you have. They’re going to figure it out anyway! It will let them know that you are taking steps to get past it and to give them what they need the most during this time.

8. Ask the dying person what they need or expect from you. Some dying people will want to talk very openly about their illness and their impending death. Others will want to avoid talking about it and choose to focus more on fond memories or their loved ones lives. Both are okay but knowing what it is the dying person wants to talk about during your interactions will go a long way. Some will not want to talk at all but may want you at their side to hold their hand, read them a book, or just to feel your presence.

9. Be honest about what you can offer as a practitioner. If they want you to visit daily and you can’t fit it into your schedule or don’t feel like you can handle that much emotional strain, let them know. Remember there will be other trained healthcare workers there to assist as well. The important thing is to not make a promise that can’t keep.

10. Offer a group healing circle for the family. This doesn’t mean that everyone will want to join in, but often during these times everyone needs a little extra love and support. Make arrangements with the proxy guardian or other family members who are interested. Ideally, it would be nice to set up a private session room at the nursing home or home where the dying is living. Obviously hospitals may not have adequate room for this, but you never know.

11. Smile. Do what you need to do to keep your own spirits high. If you yourself are experiencing the loss, remember your own list of things to cope with this most unfortunate situation. Music always works wonders. Similarly if you can’t seem to cry, you may find music particularly moving.

12. Violet Flame before entering the hospital, nursing home, or residence. Dry bathe, Ken-yoku, before and after as well.

13. Self-heal with gusto. Taking care of yourself during this time will be most important. Think aromatherapy baths and body sprays. Make your light shine!

14. Focus on your heart center. While self-healing pay extra attention to your heart center. Incorporate green clothing into your wardrobe. Use Anahata corresponding crystals such as Malachite and Jade to aid with healing. Make a Rose Quartz Elixir. This is where you process all of your grief. Remember, just for today, I am Love.

15. Ask for assistance and pray. Ask your guides, Ascended Masters, and other healers to help you during this time. Remember, just for today, you are not alone. Stay connected to these compassionate energies in your life.

16. Say good-bye and let go. Whether they are dying or you are or you are experiencing something else that is contributing to your grief such as a divorce or break-up; there will come a time when you will need to let go. One of the hardest things to do in life is to say good-bye. But remember, all things are only temporary even the good things. Recognizing that loss is a part of life helps our hearts to open and continue to be open, not closed. Say good-bye in a wholehearted way to your loved one, and know that they are transitioning into just a different form, and different vibration, and a different awareness.

17. Remember the happy person you used to be before you knew them. And know that they would want you to yes, miss them, but they would also wish for you to be happy.

18. Respect and honour their memory. Visit their grave. Light a candle. Create an altar. You will know when to put it away and/or when to put it back up during the Hallowed Times of the year. Tell stories of their legacy. Remember the funny moments. Remember their accomplishments. And remember their failures. Know that they were only human, and so are you.

19. Using all the symbols and energies you feel necessary, Reiki the room they departed, the house, their possessions, their past, present, and future. Remember, their journey is just beginning, and so is yours. Your life has not ceased to exist. You are still alive and filled with love.

20. Ground and Center yourself in Nature. Seeking sanctuary in wilderness is incredibly consoling. Look for retreats to deal with your pain and suffering. Oftentimes fresh clean air and woods with their own therapeutic essential oils help release blocked energies and nature spirits aid healers in recovery.

REFERENCES

• http://dying.about.com/od/thedyingprocess/a/interacting.htm

Rebirth Transformation Meditation

If you choose to come back after this lifetime, what would you choose to come back as?

The Story of Death

This story is from a collection of The Storyteller’s Goddess: Tales of the Goddess and Her Wisdom from Around the World by Carolyn McVickar Edwards.

“THERE IS NOT enough room!” the people were crying. “There is not enough room!”
It was true. Plants were so thick on the forest floors that the strongest knives could not cut paths through them. Corn and rice grew so high in the fields that they towered like trees over the people. People had not enough to eat in those times, because no one died. Babies came a grew bigger and bigger, but people did not get old and they never left Earth.
That was when the Goddess Kali turned over in Her sleep. The people’s cry, “There’s not enough room!” became part of Her dream. But She must have been ready to awake because the next cry, “There’s not enough room!” woke Her and She sat up. “You disturb My sleep!” She bellowed, rubbing Her eyes with Her fists.
“There’s not enough room!” the people cried.
Kali drew on Her robes. She walked to Her window and threw it open to look out on the world. She put Her dark hands on the sill and leaned out. Her black hair ruffled in the wind. What She saw made Her draw back into Her room.
She saw crowds of people piled on each other to get at vats of food in buildings crammed together so tightly it was hard to see the sky. Animals swarmed through the throngs. The air was hot with sweat and perfume and soil.
Kali, inside, licked Her lips. Her hands went to Her hips. “Time!” She yelled.
Her servant, Time, came running. “Bring Me My red sari,” She ordered. Time brought the garment, dark as the colour of blood.
Kali threw off the gray robes of sleep and fastened the red about Her. “Clothe yourself,” She said to Her servant. “We are going out. And bring Me My jewels.”
Time did as bidden. He took up Her gray robes for himself and put on shoes the shape of fish. Then he brought Kali Her necklace, glinting with skulls.
“Take these,” Kali said, and She thrust gifts wrapped in golden paper into Time’s hands. “Now call My chariot!”
The chariot came, pulled by eight white stallions and eight black mares. Fire leapt from its wheels when Kali and Time climbed to its platform. With a loud cry, Kali raised Her hand and let loose the rein.
The horses smoked across the distance to Earth. Before each village, Kali drew in the rein. Her servant Time stepped from the chariot and handed the gold-wrapped gifts to people who crowded at each stop.
In each package the people found Kali’s gifts. Spider webs. Dust. Decay. Mold. Worms. Rust. Mushrooms. Crumbling. Rot. Mildew. The smell of rich earth. Aging.
It was on that day that crops knew more than just blooming and growing. They knew also the withering that returned them to the soil. It was on that day that the plants of the forest floor began to add to the blackness of the soil so the trees could grow. Animals had babies, but now the babies grew old. Humans too began to age. They also began to die, so there would be room for their children.
Kali and Her servant Time returned to Her palace. Exhausted She fell, still crimson-clothed, across Her bed. Time undressed Her gently and tucked Her under the covers.
Kali is the Goddess who dances at funerals and sometimes stops babies from being born. Kali still rides with Her servant, Time. Since that first trip, though, Time has carried his own presents. Time gives people the gifts of white hairs, and he wraps them carefully in the gold paper of wisdom and acceptance.

An Artistic Pet Eulogy

“Your silence
Assuring.
Your presence fulfilling…
although small,
You lead your loyal heart
to me.
I cherish more
Than what is understood.
You knew me
Like no other would
And never left my side.
Home will miss our unity.
I will miss your company.
Good-bye
my lovely
Lovely, lovely One.” -Artist Unknown

Making Peace with Endings: A Tarot Process

This is a reblog from my friend and teacher Joanna Powell Colbert over at gaiansoul.com. If you are at all interested or fascinated by the tarot, this is your go to person to show you the ropes in a practical and fun way.

Here she shows us a new tarot spread for dealing with the hard decision of letting things go. Whether it is a creative project, a relationship, or a belief system. Each new question goes deeper from the actual separation, to then the liminal threshold where we confront our fears, and finally the re-integration which will bring hope and nourishment after the separation. There are even some after re-integration questions that we can ask ourselves some months down the line.

I plan on doing this spread for Hallowmas this weekend or next to celebrate the new year. There is truly no better time of year to do this spread. Although any New Moon time would work as well as any actual separation that takes hold, because we all know things can come out of no-where.

How will you make peace with your own endings my friends?

Namaste.

At this time of year, all of nature teaches us to release and let go. But we often struggle with the “shoulds” and “should-nots” of releasing roles, relationships, and projects that we’ve outgrown. We’re often afraid to let go of a familiar way of doing things, because we don’t know what will take its place, or because we are reluctant to let other people down.

One of the core teachings of Goddess Spirituality is the eight-fold lunar cycle as a pattern-holder for the process of life / death / renewal. This cycle is reflected in the eight holy-days and divisions of the solar year as well. The pattern applies to anything with a life cycle: projects, relationships, groups, belief systems, roles we play.

Eight-fold Cycle of Life / Death / Renewal

• New Moon / Winter Solstice:  Dormant / seed capsule.
• Crescent Moon / Candlemas:  Germination / first shoots.
• First Quarter Moon / Spring Equinox:  Shoots, roots & stems / buds.
• Gibbous Moon / Beltane:  Buds / flowers, blooms.
• Full Moon / Midsummer:  Flowers, fruits.
• Disseminating Moon / Lammas:  Fruits, harvest.
• Third Quarter Moon / Autumn Equinox:  Harvest / decomposing / release of seeds.
• Balsamic (Dark) Moon / Hallows:  Death, decomposing, compost, going dormant.

I find it very comforting and helpful to know that all things begin, wax to fullness, wane, then die, before beginning again in a new form with a new cycle. It helps me to make peace with whatever it is that is ending, especially when the ending is one that I choose, instead of one that is thrust upon me.

My astrologer of 20+ years, Sheila Belanger, has been working with midlife transits as initiations as long as I’ve known her. She recently created an e-course out of this material, The True Nature Midlife Map. (Highly recommended!) In the first class of the series, she discusses the three-fold Initiation Journey, and notes that we go throughmany of these cycles during our midlife years. Our understanding of these journeys can be enriched by studying the astrological transits that underpin them.

Three-fold Initiation Journey

The three-fold initiation journey, as Sheila describes it, is one of separation, liminality, and re-integration. When I place this map against the eight-fold lunar cycle, I see that it starts after the full moon, or peak of the life cycle. After our energy and interest in a certain project, role or relationship has peaked, we separate from it, even though we may feel lost. As the metaphorical moon wanes to darkness, we explore the wilderness of not-knowing, before re-integrating as the cycle begins again with the new moon.

An example would be a significant relationship. Let’s follow the eight-fold lunar cycle. You meet someone, fall in love or become friends, ground your relationship in shared interests and activities, and it peaks in a time of mutual love and companionship. Then your interests shift, or perhaps there is a crisis of some sort and a falling out. Your relationship begins to wane. You don’t spend as much time together as you used to, and perhaps you find yourself annoyed with your friend more often than not. Is it time to end the relationship, or do the inner work it takes (perhaps with the help of a counselor) to repair the relationship and shift it to a new level?

The three-fold initiation journey begins after the peak, or “golden age,” of the relationship has passed and you make the decision to separate yourself from it. The role you played in that relationship no longer serves your wisest, deepest Self. Something’s gotta give. So you enter the liminal time of not knowing what to do next, whether to completely end the relationship, or whether it can be transformed. You pay attention to your emotions, listen to your dreams, and follow your intuition in this stage. You make a choice to change, and the relationship changes too. Finally, you enter the stage of re-integration, where you can continue the relationship in a renewed, revitalized way, or end it and allow other relationships to develop.

I created a tarot spread to help illuminate this process. My intention is to provide a process that will help us make peace with that which is ending in our lives, and to point the way to a new path opening up before us.

Tarot Spread for the Three-fold Journey

Think of a situation in your life (a project, dream, belief system, relationship, role you play) that is waning, past its peak. It could be something you are afraid to end, or it could be something you long to end.

Pull a card for each of the stages of the Initiation Journey, and write about the question and your responses to the card in your journal.  Choose just one of the questions in each stage to answer.  Allow the cards to spark ideas or insights, to call your attention to something you might not have otherwise noticed.

Separation.

1. What do I need to release? What am I cutting away?
2. What story no longer fits me?  What role is too small for me?
3. How might I gather up the courage to let go?

Liminality/Threshold.

1. What is it I no longer know?  What is now uncertain?
2. What am I afraid of?  What emotions are strong in me right now?
3. What do I feel or know intuitively?  What dreams are beckoning to me?

Re-integration.

1. What might nourish my Soul?
2. What hope do I have for the future?
3. What is next for me?  What path opens up before me?

BONUS: After Re-integration.

Pull cards and respond to these questions at some point after the situation has been resolved and re-integration has occurred, probably some months down the road.

1. What do I know now that I did not know before the separation and threshold?
2. How can I express the mystery I experienced in the liminal stage?
3. How am I now living a more authentic life?

My Reading:

I decided a few months ago to close my membership site, the Gaian Tarot Circle, in March of 2014. It feels very bittersweet to me. I feel a great release and an opening up, but at the same time I feel a lot of sadness around no longer being in community with the people who are part of the Circle, and I am also concerned about letting them down.

Separation:  What story no longer fits me?

9 of Fire.  I am no longer at a peak of power with the Gaian Tarot (9’s are peak cards), in the sense that I no longer feel “on fire” and charged spiritually by a tight focus on the deck. The man meditating in the cave is a type of spiritual teacher — I can imagine students coming to him, wanting to be taught. I’ve played this role in the Circle, and I am ready to let it go.

Liminality:  What is it I no longer know?  What is uncertain?

3 of Fire. I no longer know what creative project will light me up and get me dancing. I have a number of ideas for teaching, for writing, and for artwork. Which do I work on first? Which will be the best choice to sustain me emotionally, spiritually, mentally, financially? I have a few glimmers, but I am still waiting for direction to be made clear.

Re-integration:  What is next for me? What path opens up before me?

9 of Water. (Oh goodie! Do I get to go back to Cornwall?) This card still does not make it clear to me what the new path is, but whatever it is, it’s something that lifts me up and fills my heart and soul. I bloom, I lift my arms, I sing the praises of the One who fills my heart and spirit. It is another peak card (a 9), but this time in the realm of mysticism, art, and emotional connection. What a lovely promise of the quality of whatever it is that will follow the end of the Gaian Tarot Circle.

(I shared this process with members of the GTC on a teleseminar the other night. I’d love to hear about any readings you do with this process, and how it has helped you to make peace with your own endings.)

Celtic Afterlife: Avalon the Isle of the Blest

The Irish (Celtic) view of the world in the afterlife was far more pleasant than that of the Greeks. These two powerful early western societies contributed much to the continent of Europe and to the entire world, including their fascinating mythologies. The Irish believed in the Isle of the Blest or Tir na n-Og, while the Greeks thought their deceased spent eternity in the underworld of Hades, in either Tartarus or Erebus. The Irish realm of the dead was a land of joy, as opposed to the Greek, a world of sorrow and remorse.

The world of the Irish afterlife is known by many names. The exact location of this wonderful land is not known. The one thing agreed upon by most is that it lies to the west of Ireland. Some of the names associated with it are:

• Tir na n-Og
• The Land of the Young
• Hy-Brasil
• the Isle of the Blest

According to Delaney, the country of Brazil gets its name from this, for when the Spaniards arrived in the New World, they thought it was so marvelous they named it after the splendid afterworld of the Irish (85). Tir na n-Og, The Land of the Young, was a paradise. It “was as sweet as Elysium, as vivid as Nirvana, as desirable as Valhalla, as green and sunny as Eden” (Delaney 85). As Princess Niav states in a poem:

Beyond all dreams my land delights Fairer than any eyes have seen, All year round, the fruits hang bright, As the flowers bloom in the meadows green. Wild honey drips from the forest trees, We have endless stocks of meadow and wine, No illness comes from Across the seas, Nor death, nor pain, nor sad decline. No boredom comes to feast or chase, The music plays as the champions sport, The light and splendours all increase Each day in the Golden Land of Youth. (qtd. in Delaney 87)

Everything in this land was beautiful, bright and colorful. Delaney notes that it is called the Land of the Young because in this paradise, the aging process is reversed, so the youngest are the wisest. Time has no meaning in this place, and day changes to night and then back to day for one person whenever they desired it to do so. Everyone’s soul desired to get to this wonderful place, which was more like a dream world than a land for the dead (85-95). The land was full of color, it was a lively land, bright and cheerful. It was as large or as small of a land as they wanted.

The sacred “Otherworld” of Avalon is a wonderful blend of the unknown and the unknowable. A more sophisticated form of the afterlife, Avalon cannot be called a “land” as it does not exist in any context of the mortal realm and the passage to it is as mysterious as the enchanted place itself.

Avalon is beyond the confines of space and time, sometimes described as in the “cracks of everyday life”. However, the beautiful magic of such belief could not last forever and eventually people tried to place Avalon within a sense of their understanding. Some described it as an island, others as somewhere on the other side of the world and most notably it was the resting place of King Arthur where he would be healed and one day return to his people.

Despite the attempts to drag it back to our world, Avalon remains the model of peace and cosmic order. In a dimension that we are yet to experience the true meaning of beauty, power and wisdom are recognized by those fortunate enough to find their way there.

In Celtic traditions, Avalon translates to an “island or place of apples” and the apple is known as an image of paradise in many cultures. Whether the Tree of Life, which is eternally tended by priestess guardians, is seen as an apple tree or a unique tree only found in this paradise, it is one of the few features of Avalon that can be discussed in terms that mortals comprehend.

The path to Avalon is as enigmatic as the place itself. It could be very close, yet could be far from where we now stand. Like much of its mystery, Avalon’s entrance presents to those it will in a form that only they will know.

As the ancient festival of Samhain was held in honour of the Sun God’s death and transition to the dark lands of Under wave where he then resides as Lord of Death, this is the time that the old Celtic peoples came to terms with death and pondered on their own meeting with the Dark Lord. Like all other pre-Christian peoples they had customs surrounding this inevitable part of life. Some of these Celtic customs and burial rites still can be seen today in Christianized forms, while others may seem strange to our times.

Many superstitions and taboos that are still held today in Celtic parts of the country surrounding the deceased have their origins far back in Pagan times. One example of this is the custom of burning candles day and night until the funeral harks back to the belief that the demons of the darkness could be held at bay by the power and light of fire. In Pagan times the dead were washed using water from a sacred well or by sea water to protect them while passing through the realms of water to the land under wave (Tir-fo-Thonn).

When washed the corpse was wrapped in the Eslene (Death Shirt) and laid on a fuat or bier in the centre of the home for seven days. Rush torches were kept burning for seven days and nights. The rites would begin by the traditional practise of “Caoine” (pronounced Keena, the anglicised word became keening). This would take the form of great lamentation interspersed by periods of praise for the dead person. After three days of Caoine and dependant on the status of the deceased, feasting and games would be held in their honour, the corpse having a bowl placed on their chest filled with food, and gold and weapons etc. were laid out on the bier. This would continue till the day of internment or cremation in some places.

Under Brehon Law there existed the “rights of the corpse”, this law stated that certain personal possessions belonged to the dead and could not be taken from them under any circumstances, even as a debt owed. These items were a horse, a cow, a bed, a house or its furniture. (Considering modern law on this matter how can we call these people Barbaric?) These items would be retained by next of kin.

On the morning of burial a visitor came bearing a measuring rod called a “fey”. This rod, made of Aspen and carved with Ogham letters and symbols, was used to measure the deceased to ensure a proper fit within the final resting place. The mourners would avert their eyes from this rod in awe and terror, it was thought that if this rod caught your measure your death was inevitable. Finally at the setting of the sun on the seventh day the corpse would be carried by seven men or a chariot if of noble status and buried or burned depending on tribal custom.

Ynys Avallach, the Isle of the Apples, is at the heart of Arthurian mythology. It is Avalon, home to the Lady of the Lake and spiritual centre of the old religions.

Geoffrey of Monmouth calls it Avallo in the Historia and Insula Pomorum (Island of Apples) in his Vita Merlini. The association with apples seems to come from its name being similar to many Celtic words which describe the fruit: Old Irish aball, Middle Welsh afall, Middle Breton avallenn, Celtic avallo.
There has also long been a connection with the pagan god Avalloc (Avallach) who is said to be the ancestor of the dynasty of Coel Hen, the eventual rulers of Powys. Avalloc is also said to be the father or Morgen (who later becomes Morgan le Fay) and her eight sisters, who were Celtic priestesses renowned for their ability to turn into animals, to heal the incurable and prophesy the future according to the Gaulish Pomponius Mela. Irish mythology also has the name of the island over the sea belonging to the sea-god Manannian – Emain Ablach.

William of Malmesbury in his De Antiquitate Ecclesiae Glastonie (Enquiry into the Antiquity of the Church of Glastonbury), also maintains that Avalloc lived in Avalon with his daughters and the same name appears in Welsh poetry, where he is the father of the goddess Modron (also connected with the Morrígan), and in later Arthurian mythology under the name Evelake.

The Celts believed in the Otherworld and for them Avalon represented the land of the mythical and mystical. It existed outside of the normal world but was accessible from it. Time moved at a different pace and islands were specifically associated with being gateways into the Otherworld. Most of the islands of the coasts of Britain were known as Isles of the Dead to the early Celts. Lundy, the Isle of Man, the Scilly Isles, have all been associated with being the real life location for Avalon.

References

http://www.richeast.org/htwm/greeks/others/ms/index.html

http://akorra.com/2012/07/26/top-10-most-desired-places-after-death/

http://darkkisses.tripod.com/death.htm

http://alandofmythandatimeofmagic.weebly.com/avalon.html

Life and Death Meditation

Today has been a busy day.

Now let us softly meditate upon life and death…

Where does life and death begin? At which point? Or is there even a point of reference? Could it truly just be a fluctuating cycle beyond time, beyond society?

What does life mean to you?

What of death?

Do you find this meditation pushes you to live life more fully? To live and die with gratitude? To love more. To hug more. To kiss more. To smile and laugh more. To dance more. To play more.

To be there more…

Good night. Sweet dreams my friends.

*Life and Death played by contemporary jazz pianist Paul Layton Cardall, who was born April 24, 1973. Suffering from a congenital heart defect, he was given only days to live, but defied medical expectations, enduring a series of surgeries and illnesses throughout his childhood. Finding comfort in music, Cardall began piano lessons at age eight, but quit six months later, frustrated with the practice routines. He did not play again for a decade. While in high school however, tragedy struck when one of his best friends was killed in a car accident. A grieving Cardall spontaneously composed a musical tribute, going on to write a dozen more songs and in 1995 privately pressed an album.

Norse Afterlife: Places within Asgard

Norse/Germanic mythology and religion contain no formal doctrines concerning what happens to a human, or, for that matter, a member of any other species, when he or she dies. What happens to the body and the other, less tangible parts of the selfvaries widely from case to case, and depends on a staggering array of factors that, unfortunately, are only dimly understood nowadays due to the fragmentary character of the sources we possess concerning Norse mythology and pre-Christian Germanic religion more broadly. Still, some general – although not necessarily universal – patterns can be discerned. The resting place of the dead is located beneath the ground – a literal “underworld” that comprises a spiritual counterpart to the physical grave. The dead can interact with the living and vice versa, and oftentimes a part of the dead person is reborn. Finally, unlike in, say, Christian or Muslim perspectives on the afterlife, there’s little to no moral dimension to the indigenous northern European perspective; there’s no eternal bliss or eternal torment, just a transition to another stage in the endless cycle of being.

The Land of the Dead

The pre-Christian spiritual traditions of the Germanic peoples, like those of animisticand pantheistic peoples the world over, view spirit and matter as being intimately intertwined rather than separable into an exclusively corporeal realm and an exclusively “incorporeal” realm. Thus it should come as no surprise that the heathen land of the dead is a literal underworld that closely corresponds to the grave, located within the ground and especially concentrated around burial sites. The Norse mythological texts record three primary places where the dead were perceived to go: Helheim (Old Norse Helheimr, “the home of the goddess Hel“),Valhalla (Old Norse Valhöll, “the hall of the fallen”), and Folkvang (Old NorseFólkvangr, “the field of the people” or “the field of warriors”). Countless theories have been proposed regarding exactly what the differences between these places are, but a closer look at the primary sources reveals that they’re practically indistinguishable from one another and are all slightly different conceptions of – one could even say that they’re merely different names for – the underworld. Helheim (or simply “Hel,” as it is also sometimes called) is the vaguest and most general term for the underworld. In Old Norse colloquial usage, it means “the grave” or something to that effect.[1] Valhalla is presided over by Odin, and to gain entrance to it, one must be chosen by him and his valkyries, the “choosers of the fallen.” Similarly, entrance to Folkvang is dependent upon being selected by Freya. The distinction between Valhalla and Folkvang isn’t altogether clear, because the principal Old Norse source that describes the two halls depicts Freya in terms that suggest she’s a valkyrie herself.[2] Valhalla is often depicted as a realm where distinguished warriors engage in a continuous battle, and just such a place is described, in important early sources, as being located beneath the ground – and, intriguingly, without the name “Valhalla” or a cognate anywhere in the account.[3] Furthermore, the very name Valhöll, “the hall of the fallen,” is a late development that seems to have arisen out of the name Valhallr, “the rock of the fallen,” a title given to certain rocks and hills where the dead were perceived to dwell in southern Sweden, one of the greatest historical centers of Odin-worship.[4][5] The only Old Norse text that makes a sure distinction between Valhalla and Helheim is the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson. Snorri, a thirteenth-century Christian scholar, claims that those who die in battle are taken to Valhalla, while those who die of sickness or old age are taken to Helheim. Yet he blatantly contradicts this statement in the one extensive account of Helheim he provides – namely the tale of the death of Baldur, Odin’s own son, who was killed violently and was nevertheless borne to Hel. No other source makes this distinction – and several contradict it – which means that this distinction between Helheim and Valhalla is certainly an invention of Snorri’s.[6] Thus we see that the different versions of the underworld are hardly distinguishable, if at all. What, then, is this place like? The sources present no uniform portrait, and some depict it in much more pleasant terms than others, but the one theme that stands out in all of these disparate accounts is just how much it resembles the world of the living: the dead eat, drink, carouse, fight, sleep, practice magic, and generally do all of the things that Viking Age men and women typically did. To die is merely to continue living, albeit in a somewhat different form.

Rebirth and the Continuing Presence of the Dead

In the pre-Christian Germanic worldview, as in the worldviews of other animisticpeoples from every corner of the world, the self is not thought of as being an isolated, monadic entity, as it is in Christian and post-Christian societies, for example. Rather, the boundaries between the self and its environment are exceedingly blurry, and the self is composed of various detachable parts. Upon death or sometime thereafter, these parts go their separate ways. Part of the self lingers in the underworld and retains his or her former personality and appearance. This part of the self is venerated as an ancestor (unless the person had been especially hated or feared, or had returned to haunt the living with malicious intent), and the living can communicate with this part of the dead person indefinitely. But other parts of the dead man or woman don’t rest in the grave. The hamingja (an Old Norse word for “luck” that was conceived of as being a personal entity in its own right) is often reborn into a descendent, especially if the child is given the name of the original owner of the hamingja. This was a very common practice in the Viking Age.[7] It’s often impossible to distinguish between ancestors and elves in Old Norse literature, to the point that it wouldn’t be amiss to speak of a part of the dead human becoming an elf in some cases. One example of this comes from The Saga of Olaf the Holy, one of the first Christian kings of Norway. Olaf and a servant ride past the burial mound of the king’s ancestor and namesake, who is now called by the name of Ólaf Geirstaðaálfr – literally “Olaf, the Elf of Geirstad,” a title that clearly implies the currently elfin state of the king’s forefather. The same passage also insinuates that King Olaf is the reincarnation of the deceased Olaf,[8] presumably through the hamingja. The possibility of transmigration – being reborn as a different species – is also present in the surviving material concerning the ancient Germanic worldview, although, fragmentary as the sources are, no specific instances of this have come down to us. Another prominent part of the self is the fylgja (Old Norse “follower”), an animal spirit that has a significant influence on the person’s character. (Having a bear fylgja is a sign of noble birth, a wolf of savagery, a pig of gluttony, etc.). We also know that the ancient Germanic peoples saw the boundary between the human and animal worlds as being quite porous, as evidenced especially by the numerous examples of shapeshifting andtotemism in the period sources. No surviving source tells us what happens to the fylgjaafter death, but – and this is an open question – is it far-fetched to surmise that it’s reborn into its proper species?

Conclusion

In the worldview of the pre-Christian northern Europeans, life is eternal. But not in the sense that most people today automatically think of when they hear that phrase; rather, the particular bundle of fragmentary parts that you call your “self” dissolves into its components, who then go on to vitalize your descendents and their world, just as your rotting corpse nourishes the beings around it – worms, bugs, trees, flowers. Death is a threshold in the wider process of life, not so much an end as a continuance and a transformation.

To gain access to Asgard, more is required than a good death and a nod from a boatman. The only path, except for rare exceptions, is over Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge, which is over seen by the god, Heimdall. Bifrost isn’t a permanent feature, only being produced from a crag on the wall of great world. The wall of Asgard, although partially damaged, is a reflection of the nature of the Norse culture. It was created to protect the Aesir in their armed camp that arose after a war between them and the Vanir, another race of Norse mythology. With such defenses, Asgard became a place where the Gods of Aesir could live in peace, undisturbed by the attacks of other jealous races. Even the tales of Asgard’s creation are often about treachery and deceit. Parts of the world are created from the bones of other gods and even the builder of the amazing world was killed and transformed into a landmark. While there are some rolling hills and a majestic mountain range, the largest space in the whole of Asgard shows no sign of growth or habitat as the plain of Vigrid is saved as a battlefield for the future. The most famous city of Asgard, as there are a number of them, is Valhalla. The eternal home of the Einherjar, Valhalla was often the sought after destination for many soldiers and Norse warriors. That is because the Einherjar were those particularly heroic souls who died in battle and were chosen by Odin for special honor. While many people of this culture had to accept that they would probably never be invited to the world of Asgard, it was still a dream of most that the Gods would see them as noble, honorable and Asgard-kind-of-people.

References:

[1] Ellis, Hilda Roderick. 1968. The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature. p. 84-85.

[2] The Poetic Edda. Grímnismál, verses 8 & 14.

[3] Ellis, Hilda Roderick. 1968. The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature. p. 85-86.

[4] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 55.

[5] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. p. 347.

[6] Ellis, Hilda Roderick. 1968. The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature. p. 84.

[7] Ibid. p. 138-147.

[8] Óláfs Saga Helga. In Flateyjarbók.

Blessings for the Dead & Dying

Any of the poems and blessings here can be used just after a friend’s death, to help the spirit cross over, at a funeral, wake, cremation, green burial. They also help bring a sense of creation and rebirth to any dying situation.

The Untitled by Starhawk and El Dia de los Muertos by Anne Hill are ones to read with a tissue at hand. Just typing those two verses brought tears to my eyes.

Namaste

Blessing of the Elements

May the air carry your (her/his) spirit gently.
May the fire release your soul.
May the water cleanse you (wash you clean of pain and sorrow and suffering).
May the earth receive you.
May the wheel turn again and bring you to rebirth.

Blessing of the Dead

Be free, be strong, be proud of who you have been, know that
you will be mourned and missed, that no one can replace
you, that you have loved and are beloved.

Move beyond form, flowing like water, feeding on sunlight
and moonlight, radiant as the stars in the night sky. Pass
the gates, enter the dark without fear, returning to the
womb of life to steep in the cauldron of rebirth. Rest, heal
grow young again. Be blessed.

Goddess of Death, God of Grain

Goddess of death,
you who are the end inherent in the beginning,
scythe to the ripe grain,
the fall of berries,
and the coming of night.
You are called the Implacable One.
but we know you
as the most gracious Goddess.
Healer,
end of sorrow,
relief of pain,
Receive our sister (brother) _____________.
May she/he become a star
in your night sky cauldron
and be brewed back to life.

God of grain, God of seed,
You who every year’s end
are cut down and buried,
You who know the dark places
underground,
the way down and the way up,
the fall and the rising,
guide our sister/brother _____________,
show her/him the long road
through the maze
to the place of rebirth,
to the place of return.

Blessing for Washing the Dead

(Of course some lines that are gender-specific won’t fit everyone, however feel free to be creative)

I bless your hair
that the wind has played with.
I bless your brow,
your thoughts.
I bless your eyes
that have looked on us with love.
I bless your ears
that listened for our voices.
I bless your nostrils,
gateway of breath.
I bless your lips
that have spoken truth.
I bless your neck and throat;
we will remember your voice.
I bless your shoulders
that have borne burdens with strength.
I bless your arms
that have embraced us.
I bless your hands
that have shaped wonders.
I bless your breasts
that nurtured us,
formed in strength and beauty.
I bless your heart
that loved us.
I bless your ribs and lungs
that sustained your life.
I bless your solar plexus,
seat of power.
I bless your belly,
sacred storehouse of the body.
I bless your womb
that gave life,
that bled with the moon.
I bless your hips,
the child’s first cradle,
strong support.
I bless your vulva,
gateway of life,
jewel of pleasure.
I bless your cock,
its rising and its falling.
I bless your testicles,
carriers of seed.
I bless your buttocks,
smooth and round.
I bless your thighs,
strong foundation.
I bless your knees
that knelt at the sacred altars.
I bless your legs
that carried you.
I bless your feet
that walked your own path through life.

Prayer for Burial

Beloved one,
we give your body to the earth.
Earth Mother, Root Mother,
Father of soil,
we give you this body
of our beloved _____________.
These eyes will never greet us again
return to earth.
We will not kiss these lips
return to earth
or touch these hands
return to earth
or hear her/his voice speak our names
return to earth.
What she/he has been is gone.
What she/he is now has passed the gate,
leaving this body
to become soil,
this flesh to nurture flowers,
these bones to be roots of trees.

Chant: And so return, return, return,
return to the mother.

For Burial at Sea or in River

From water all life arises.
Mother of waters,
Father of rain,
You have taken back your own.
As a  stream flows into a river,
as a river flows into the sea,
may her/his spirit flow
to the waters of healing,
to the waters of rebirth.

Chant: We all come fro the Goddess.

Cremation Prayer

Goddess of fire,
sun’s fire, lightning,
flame on the hearth,
fire that cleanses and destroys,
fire that purifies,
you have taken our beloved one _____________.
She/He has become
flame and ash.
From her/his spirit
a pure flame arises.
We warm our hands
at the hearthfire
of memory and love.

Inanna’s Prayer by Starhawk & the Goddess Inanna

(For those who die from AIDS* contracted through sexual intercourse, or another Sexually Transmitted Infection.)
(*AIDS is neither just a gay disease nor just a sexually transmitted disease. When Starhawk was aspecting Inanna in a ritual, She spoke and said that those who have died from AIDS and did catch it through sexual activity- gay or otherwise- are Her holy martyrs. She was very angry how they were being treated and wanted shrines erected for them everywhere. While working on these shrines, we can begin with this prayer.)

You for whom the house of love
has become the house of death–
I Who am the Goddess
of love and death
open My arms to embrace you.

You are My heras, My heroes,
My saints, My holy martyrs.
You know Me intimately
as few have ever known Me.
And whether you come to me joyfully,
or recklessly, or accidentally,
I welcome you.

Come, enter My house, renew yourself.
Eat from My table,
Sleep in My bed,
taste unimaginable pleasures.

Do you think you paid too high a price
for pleasure?
I reward those who do not bargain
Who willingly or unwillingly
give their all.

The worst is over
Death is not so terrible
It’s the getting there that hurts
Now rest
Now take comfort, now take joy
In the exquisite love
that you have earned.

Untitled by Starhawk

Ashes flying on the air,
ashes scattered on the sea,
burned to ashes in the fire-
so many gone.

Falling down a well of grief,
drowning in a sea of despair,
how can love begin again?
So many gone.

O I can see the faces there- many ages, many colors –
as they gaze far away into the evening.
There are friends that I know and so many, many others,
and they’re eager for the journey to begin.
Some have come there with their loves, some have come alone;
they all embrace in the light and in the shadow.
And we say our farewells, with our arms around each other,
and you tell me I will see you again.
And you tell me I will see you again.

Well, i am happy for you then,
on your journey toward a new home,
but, when I wake, all that I know
is: you are gone.
And I can dream you in that place –
laughing, smiling, healthy, and strong,
but when I wake, all that I know
is: you are gone.
Well, some days tears are all I have,
some days, anger and despair,
and, sometimes, dreams are all I have
since you are gone,
You are gone.

So fly away, my love, on that violet ship of beauty,
fly away through the night to the morning.
Fly away, my love, on the silken, purple sails,
fly away through the darkness to the dawn.
Fly away, my love, on the violet ship of beauty,
fly away through the night to the morning.
O fly away, my love, on the silken, purple sails,
fly away through the darkness to the dawn.
Fly away into the night,
fly away into the stars,
fly away into the dawn,
to lover’s arms.
Fly away into the night,
fly away into the stars
fly away into the dawn,
to lover’s arms.

El Dia de Los Muertos by Anne Hill 

(November 1991, For the death of a child)

Wrap his little body in black silk,
reach down the damp hole
shoulder deep – place him there,
where the roots of oaks gather
to suck in the cold. The roses,
short-stemmed, go in next, with
stones that sound of the ocean.
Tell the children to get a piece
of candy, a teething toy, and they
do, though he never had teeth at all.
Push the dirt in, first with little hands
then bigger ones, pat it down as acorns
fall onto knuckles and laps. A stone,
gray as the body beneath, marks
the place like a navel, and marigolds
are scattered over earth and rock,
sinking like embers from the sun.
At last, now, int eh cold blue air,
a new voice rattles the leaves,
then rises like smoke
through the veil of the day,
into the world’s cradle.

For A Miscarriage or Stillbirth or Infant Death

Mother of life,
Mother of death,
here is a spirit so new
that the gates of life and death
are just an archway in her dancing ground.
She has danced her way back to you.
Her passage is easy
but mine is hard.
I wanted to hold her living flesh
and feel her soft breath and her heartbeat.
(I nurtured her in my body;
I would have fed her from my breasts.)
I would have cared for her
and watched her first steps
and listened for her voice.
No other child that may come to me
will ever be what she would have been.
Nothing, nobody, will ever replace her.
Whatever healing I may find,
this loss will always be a part of mine.
(Bless my womb, which has the power
to create life and death.)
Bless my arms
that would have embraced her.
Bless my hands that would have lifted her.
Bless my heart that grieves.

For One Who Has Died Violently or in Great Distress

Mother of healing,
help us to believe in the
place where wounds can heal.

Mother of weaving,
show us that what has been torn
can be mended.

The worst has happened.
How can we believe again
in hope, love, kindness?
[Name the loved one three times.]

Boatman, Ferryman,
she has had a rough crossing.
Carry her gently.

Comfort her, Mother,
in your warm arms of
night; rock her to sleep.

And by our rage,
Mother of Justice,
May justice be done.

For One Who Has Died to Save Others

You who have made your life an offering,
who have laid down your sweet flesh
that others may taste life (freedom),
you have become like the sun
whose radiance sustains us.
You have become like the grain
cut down to feed us.
May you rise
as the buried seed rises.
May the Mother of All
gather you in.
May He who falls and rises
guide your way.
May you return to us
when we are afraid
and teach us to be fearless, generous,
and kind.
May we love our lives the more
for your sacrifice
and may we learn to love
as you have loved
so that boundaries of self and life
dissolve
and the night sky is filled with stars.

References

The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over by Starhawk.

Roman & Greek Afterlife: Elysium, Fields of Elysian

Photo courtesy of Camil Seisanu

The Elysian Fields, or Elysium, were originally the home and sanctuary of the Gods. There they were able to share eternity, both heroes and mortals to whom the Gods were related. In time, although some feel there is no time in the afterlife, the entry criteria was extended to include those selected by the Gods for the righteous life or heroic deeds.

Nestled cozily on the banks of the Oceanus River, the Elysian Fields are understood to be at the end of the Earth. However, there was speculation that it was on the Fortune Islands or the Islands of the Blessed, located in the western ocean.

To reach the land of peacefulness and beauty, one had to cross the River Styx. This journey involved being ferried across by Charon, the Boatman, and then facing judgment in Underworld; the final decision on the specific part of Underworld in which the soul was to reside for eternity would be made by the judges and gods.
Interestingly, there is little description of the physical beauty of the Elysian Fields other than the presence of pale liliaceous asphodel and poplars. However, there is much greater interest shown in the potential to share ideas and conversations with the other heroic and brilliant residents. This may be a telling statement on the aspects of life that was valued most highly by the Greeks and Romans.

The ancient Greek conception of the afterlife and the ceremonies associated with burial were already well established by the sixth century B.C. In the Odyssey, Homer describes the Underworld, deep beneath the earth, where Hades, the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, and his wife, Persephone, reigned over countless drifting crowds of shadowy figures—the “shades” of all those who had died. It was not a happy place. Indeed, the ghost of the great hero Achilles told Odysseus that he would rather be a poor serf on earth than lord of all the dead in the Underworld (Odyssey, 11.489–91).

The Greeks believed that at the moment of death the psyche, or spirit of the dead, left the body as a little breath or puff of wind. The deceased was then prepared for burial according to the time-honored rituals. Ancient literary sources emphasize the necessity of a proper burial and refer to the omission of burial rites as an insult to human dignity (Iliad, 23.71). Relatives of the deceased, primarily women, conducted the elaborate burial rituals that were customarily of three parts: the prothesis(laying out of the body (54.11.5)), the ekphora (funeral procession), and the interment of the body or cremated remains of the deceased. After being washed and anointed with oil, the body was dressed (75.2.11) and placed on a high bed within the house. During the prothesis, relatives and friends came to mourn and pay their respects. Lamentation of the dead is featured in early Greek art at least as early as the Geometric period, when vases were decorated with scenes portraying the deceased surrounded by mourners. Following the prothesis, the deceased was brought to the cemetery in a procession, the ekphora, which usually took place just before dawn. Very few objects were actually placed in the grave, but monumental earth mounds, rectangular built tombs, and elaborate marble stelai and statues were often erected to mark the grave and to ensure that the deceased would not be forgotten. Immortality lay in the continued remembrance of the dead by the living. From depictions on white-ground lekythoi, we know that the women of Classical Athens made regular visits to the grave with offerings that included small cakes and libations.

The most lavish funerary monuments were erected in the sixth century B.C. by aristocratic families of Attica in private burial grounds along the roadside on the family estate or near Athens. Relief sculpture, statues (32.11.1), and tall stelai crowned by capitals (11.185a-c,f,g), and finials marked many of these graves. Each funerary monument had an inscribed base with an epitaph, often in verse that memorialized the dead. A relief depicting a generalized image of the deceased sometimes evoked aspects of the person’s life, with the addition of a servant, possessions, dog, etc. On early reliefs, it is easy to identify the dead person; however, during the fourth century B.C., more and more family members were added to the scenes and often many names were inscribed (11.100.2), making it difficult to distinguish the deceased from the mourners. Like all ancient marble sculpture, funerary statues and grave stelai were brightlypainted, and extensive remains of red, black, blue, and green pigment can still be seen (04.17.1).

Many of the finest Attic grave monuments stood in a cemetery located in the outer Kerameikos, an area on the northwest edge of Athens just outside the gates of the ancient city wall. The cemetery was in use for centuries—monumental Geometric kraters marked grave mounds of the eighth century B.C. (14.130.14), and excavations have uncovered a clear layout of tombs from the Classical period, as well. At the end of the fifth century B.C., Athenian families began to bury their dead in simple stone sarcophagi placed in the ground within grave precincts arranged in man-made terraces buttressed by a high retaining wall that faced the cemetery road. Marble monuments belonging to various members of a family were placed along the edge of the terrace rather than over the graves themselves.

THE ELYSIAN FIELDS was the final resting place for the souls of heroes and virtuous men. The ancients often distinguished between two such realms–the islands of the Blessed and the Lethean fields of Haides.

The first of these, also known as the White Island or the Islands of the Blessed, was an afterlife realm reserved for the heroes of myth. It was an island paradise located in the far western streams of the river Okeanos, and ruled over by the Titan-King Kronos or Rhadamanthys, a son of Zeus.

The second Elysium was a netherworld realm, located in the depths of Haides beyond the river Lethe. Its fields were promised to initiates of the Mysteries who had lived a virtuous life. The gods of the Mysteries associated with the passage of initiates to Elysium after death include Persephone,Iakkhos (the Eleusinian Hermes or Dionysos),Triptolemos, Hekate, Zagreus (the Orphic Dionysos), Melinoe (the Orphic Hekate) andMakaria.

When the concept of reincarnation gained currency the two Elysian realms were sometimes tiered–a soul which had thrice won passage to netherworld Elysium, would, with the fourth, be transferred permanently to the Islands of the Blessed to reside with the heroes.

It should be noted that Elysium was an evolving concept. Homer knows of no such realm, and consigns all of his heroes to the common house of Haides, while Hesiod and many other poets speak only of a paradisal realm reserved for heroes. Roman writers (such as Virgil) combine the two Elysia–the realm of the virtuous dead and the realm of heroes become one and the same.

No matter our faith or beliefs, we as human beings, can relate with our ancestors when it comes to taking care of our beloved dead.

Elysian Fields echo the Field of Reeds of the Egyptians as well, perhaps because their cultures seemed to be co-created with many similarities in practice as well as worship.

The rituals and myths surrounding death and dying do so much for our psyches and hearts, allowing them to be dealt with compassionately and with warmth and honour. The Elysian Fields are one such place where we may wish to venture in both meditation and perhaps, in our own time, at the end of our lives with our last breath on the wind.

Namaste.

REFERENCES

1. Department of Greek and Roman Art. “Death, Burial, and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dbag/hd_dbag.htm (October 2003)
2. http://www.theoi.com/Kosmos/Elysion.html
3. http://akorra.com/2012/07/26/top-10-most-desired-places-after-death/
4. Homer, The Odyssey – Greek Epic C8th B.C.
5. Hesiod, Works & Days – Greek Epic C8th-7th B.C.
6. Stasinsus or Hegesias , Cypria Fragments – Greek Epic C7th-6th B.C.
7. Pindar, Odes – Greek Lyric C5th B.C.
8. Pindar, Fragments – Greek Lyric C5th B.C.
9. Aeschylus, Fragments – Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
10. Euripides, Bacchae – Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
11. Aristophanes, Frogs – Greek Comedy C5th-4th B.C.
12. Plato, Apology – Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
13. Plato, Gorgias – Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
14. Plato, Meno – Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
15. Plato, Phaedo – Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
16. Plato, Republic – Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
17. Plato, Theaetetus – Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
18. Apollodorus, The Library – Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.
19. Apollonius Rhodius, The Argonautica – Greek Epic C3rd B.C.
20. Lycophron, Alexandra – Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.
21. Greek Papyri III Anonymous, Epigrams – Greek Elegiac C3rd B.C. – C3rd A.D.
22. Greek Papyri III Poseidippus, Fragments – Greek Elegiac C2nd B.C.
23. Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History – Greek History C1st B.C.
24. Strabo, Geography – Greek Geography C1st B.C. – C1st A.D.
25. Pausanias, Description of Greece – Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.
26. Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History – Greek Scholar C1st-2nd A.D.
27. Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses – Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.
28. Aelian, On Animals – Greek Natural History C2nd-3rd A.D.
29. Virgil, Aeneid – Latin Epic C1st B.C.
30. Virgil, Georgics – Latin Bucolic C1st B.C.
31. Ovid, Metamorphoses – Latin Epic C1st B.C. – C1st A.D.
32. Propertius, Elegies – Latin Elegy C1st B.C.
33. Pliny the Elder, Natural History – Latin Natural History C1st A.D.
34. Valerius Flaccus, The Argonautica – Latin Epic C1st A.D.
35. Statius, Thebaid – Latin Epic C1st A.D.
36. Statius, Achilleid – Latin Epic C1st A.D.
37. Statius, Silvae – Latin Poetry C1st A.D.
38. Apuleius, The Golden Ass – Latin Novel C2nd A.D.
39. Colluthus, The Rape of Helen – Greek Poetry C5th-6th A.D.
40. Nonnos, Dionysiaca – Greek Epic C5th A.D.
41. Servius, On Virgil’s Aeneid – Latin Scholiast C5th A.D.
42. Photius, Myriobiblon – Byzantine Greek Scholar C9th A.D.
43. Suidas – Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.