Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

HADES

Hades is one of the ruling gods of the Greek pantheon, the son of Cronus and Rhea, brother of Zeus, and husband ofPersephone. With the division of the world that came following the overthrow of Cronus, Zeus took the sky, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld; the earth was shared between them.

Hades also is regarded as a god of riches because precious stones and minerals as well as crops and water from springs come from the earth. This was one reason that he was called Pluto, the giver of wealth; the other reason was that no one wished to voice his deadly name. He rides in a black chariot drawn by four black horses. His underworld home is the House of Ais. The closely guarded gates of his kingdom, also called Hades, are identified in the Odyssey as lying beyond the ocean at the edge of the world, and in the Iliad as lying directly beneath the earth.

Hades was the habitation of the dead, or shades. His name as ruler is Polydegmon, receiver of many guests because of the multitudes that streamed through the gates. Hades was a subterranean Zeus - chthonios, of the dark realm, as opposed to the cult of the sky god, hypsistos. Through Hades run the rives Styx, besides which the gods made their hallowed oaths, and Lethe, with its waters of forgetfulness. In the Odyssey these rivers are identified as the Pyriphlegethon and Kokytos (a tributary of the Styx), which flow into the Acheron.

According to legend Hades abductsPersephone, the daughter of Demeter, and keeps her for four months of each year, winter, as his queen in his underworld realm. He is depicted as a dark-bearded god carrying a two-pronged harpoon or a scepter, and a key. The concept of Hades a place for the dead was a late development, but even then this dim realm bore no resemblance to the Christian hell, and it was never a place of punishment.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc