Do nice atheists go to Annwn?

[purplepoppy]

Anyone familiar with ancient roman or Greek culture will have heard of Elysium (Elysian Fields) and of the Asphodel meadows.

Those familiar with celtic culture or Arthurian tales may have come across Annwn.

***Fun fact the place Annún in the Lord of the rings is borrowed from Annwn and follows the tradition of referring to it being a land in the west ( both pronounced an-noon). 2nd fun fact one of the earliest British Kings was called Annun AD355, (alleged son of Magnus Maximus).***

But I digress,
Elysium, Asphodel meadows, and Annwn etc are all described as being underground and nice happy places full of delights that you don't have to live a perfect life free of sin or devotion to God to get in.

I'm sure other cultures have similar nice underworlds for the dead. For the sake of the question, let's assume they all refer to the same place.

Which got me thinking,

Why is Christian heaven above us when other "versions" are underground?

Do Christians see these alternatives as being Hell, even though they're a nice place?

Does Christianity put Hell underground as a way of suppressing other beliefs?

So if you believe in an afterlife, but not God. Do you believe it's beneath us or on another dimension?

Thoughts.

[Lliam]

What a fun question.

Given that the God of Abraham is such a stick in the mud, I wonder how fun "Heaven" would be. Of course, it's better than being burned or enduring other imaginative tortures for all eternity. What a nice God to invent that alternative.

I'd rather be in a place like Elysium or Annwn where there are endless delights Idyllic hedonism for all eternity.

The question of location is interesting.

When people believed that the Earth was flat and the sky was a dome, it was easy to imagine that celestial bodies were gods. And it was easy to fantasize about what was beyond the wondrous dome. "Somewhere over the rainbow 🎶". People could gaze into the blue sky and speak poetically about "Heav'n above."

So I guess it was natural to think that if Heaven was above, Hell must be below.

Christians think that humans are born with "original sin" - they are corrupted. And Earth is adversarial. Life is full of suffering and our reason for living is to be good boys and girls according to God's commandments so that, once we shuffle off this mortal coil, we get our reward.

Thinking that humans are corrupt and that mother Earth is the "below", as in Hell, makes it easy to imagine that Hell - an underground lava field full of demons - is inside the Earth.

But if the Earth was flat and places like Elysium or Annwn were "below", would that necessarily mean that they were underground, or could the be on the other side? I guess that doesn't matter. Either way, they sound delightful.

[jshm2]

My Welsh isn't the best, but isn't Annwn (otherworld) supposed to be the place of The Fae?

In Welsh and other folklore, the sort of creatures who torture and kill humans at a whim?

Sure Annwn is supposed to be nice, but it harbours great dangers when you meet the wrong things in the wrong places. Sort of like atheism I suppose.

[purplepoppy]

Yes but also covers the underworld in general

[FreyaRed]

Ancient Slavs believed in reincarnation. Underworld called 'nav' wasn't a huge torture chamber like for Christians but a place where souls waited for their reincarnation in physical world 'jav'. Term 'Jav' is still present in some Slavic languages as 'jawny' [visible ot public] or 'jawa' [consciousness] and 'nav' as 'nawrót' [recurrence or return].
Abrahamic religions developed punishment and reward after death principle, similar like Nordic paganism that punished cowardice.

Everyone get they deserve.

[Havthrills]

Wow. I really like this. I haven't heard of Annwn in a long time. I started to think it's another dimension. Also wonder if heaven is another form of torture. Live forever and do anything. In a year you'll do it all, and then what? Annwn always sounded better for some reason.

[Twalli]

Apohostel is not a nice place. It's neither good or bad. Elysium is good, bus Isle of the Blessed is where you want. Unfortunately you need 3 Elysium lifetimes to get there, and if you get Aphostle in the last one after getting Elysium twice, you're stuck in Aphostle.

[Red_Arrow]

Going to Elysium would have been nice, but now Elysium nudist resort has closed. Need to find anotheplace to throw off your clothes.

[Guy13]

Nope it is either the Hell or Heaven Express...

[Andres77]

Before the crucifixion paradise and hades were on the same level but separated by an abyss.

[AngryCarl]

I think most atheists don't have such superstitions. You don't go anywhere after you die, because you're dead.