Many religions and denominations believe in a physical place called Hell, that can be reached from here on Earth. In this post, I will not get into the question of "Is there a hell?", "Is hell real?", "Is hell mentioned in the Bible?". These questions are in and of themselves a WHOLE other topic. This post is strictly a summation of the History Channel's show titled Gates of Hell and another site or two.
This particular show listed 6 possible Gates to Hell, and recounted information that went along with the local legends of these areas. I'd like to recap them here for you.
1. Mt. Masaya, in Nicaragua
"Taken from research from the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research of Elsevier;
Nicaragua’s conquest started only 30years after Christopher Columbus arrived to America in 1492. At that moment the Masaya and Momotombo volcanoes were erupting simultaneously. Some people believed that it was the Mouth of Hell, whereas others could greedily see in the lava a source of gold or silver. This fact led to many attempts trying to prove it.
During the 1772 eruption, the bishop of Granada, followed by numerous fellows, carried the image of the Christ of Nindiri in a procession and faced the coming lava flow in order to stop it. Oddly enough, the eruption did cease after that For this reason, since 1772, every 16th of March a big religious procession takes place in this region.
From the beginning of Nicaragua’s conquest, the Spaniards referred to the Masaya Volcano as “The Mouth of Hell” or simply “Masaya’s Hell” (Infierno de Masaya in Spanish).
This name was also following the tradition of the Aboriginal people who believed that the Masaya volcano was a god. They made offerings and human sacrifices throwing into the incandescent crater children and maidens, sending them to “fetch water” during the drought seasons. Also, the aboriginal chiefs of the region, when solving important matters, asked for “secret advice” (Monexico in Nahualt language) to a sorceress who appeared inside the volcano. She was described as “an old woman with long and spiky hair, sharp fangs and breasts reaching her waist”
It is thought that this sorceress of the volcano was Chalchiutlicue, the water deity in Mexican mythology which was inherited by the Nicaraos. This image was similar to that which the Spaniards had of the Devil which, added to the idea that all the aboriginal gods were product of the Devil and contributed to the belief that the volcano was the mouth or gates of Hell. This led to Mercedarian Fray Francisco de Bobadilla climbing the volcano in 1529, where he erected a cross in order to exorcise what he called “The Mouth of Hell”.
The Dialogues of Saint Gregory (Book IV Chap.36) in which he states that volcanoes are the Mouths of Hell. This is evidence of the strong influence of the Classics and the Catholic Church over the thinking of this time.
The Carmelite Fray Antonio Vazquez, who visited Nicaragua at the beginning of the XVII century, speculates on the possible causes of the volcanic eruptions, thinking that they were the Earth’s vents from which the “fire of Hell” escaped. According to the theologians of the time, Hell was located at the centre of the Earth and according to the cosmographers it was exactly at 1030 and three quarters and a half leagues from where the humans lived!!! Furthermore, many of them pointed out that all known volcanoes, sometimes spat out fire smoke or ash and other times they didn’t. The big difference was that the Masaya volcano never ceased doing it and was in permanent activity. This led Friar Toribio Benavente (1541) to say “that the fire of the volcano of Nicaragua [Masaya] without fuel (…), must be the mouth of Hell and its fire must be supernatural and hellish, and the place from which the condemned are thrown by the demons” and further on, he makes a comparison with the Vulcano volcano (which in The Dialogues of Saint Gregory is named as the Mouth Of Hell into which King Theodoric was thrown) and adds “thus, if that one [Vulcano] is the Mouth of Hell, this one [Mayasa] not only seems to be the Mouth, but is Hell itself”. Lastly, in that time there were very popular versions told by sailors, who had visions of demons when they were near “those mountains that spit fire”. They also heard cries of the condemned or voices that mocked them and untied the ropes, lines and riggings if they didn’t make the sign of the Cross.
What I noticed from the name of this site was that its spelling sounds like messiah."
from Gates of Hell - Mystery of the Iniquity http://mysteryoftheiniquity.com/dreams-visions/gates-of-hell/
2. Xibalba - Central America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Xibalba (Mayan pronunciation: [/ʃiɓälˈɓä/]), roughly translated as "place of fear", is the name of the underworld in K'iche' Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the vicinity of Cobán, Guatemala. According to some of the K'iche' Maya presently living in the vicinity, the area is still associated with death. Cave systems in nearby Belize have also been referred to as the entrance to Xibalba. Another physical incarnation of the road to Xibalba as viewed by the K'iche' is the dark rift which is visible in the Milky Way.
Structure
Xibalba was a large place and a number of individual structures or locations within Xibalba are described or mentioned in the Popol Vuh. Chief among these was the council place of the Lords, the five or six houses that served as the first tests of Xibalba, and the Xibalban ballcourt. Also mentioned are the homes of the Lords, gardens, and other structures indicating that Xibalba was at least a great city.
Xibalba seemed to be rife with tests, trials, and traps for anyone who came into the city. Even the road to Xibalba was filled with obstacles: first a river filled with scorpions, a river filled with blood, and then a river filled with pus. Beyond these was a crossroads where travellers had to choose from among four roads that spoke in an attempt to confuse and beguile. Upon passing these obstacles, one would come upon the Xibalba council place, where it was expected visitors would greet the seated Lords. Realistic mannequins were seated near the Lords to confuse and humiliate people who greeted them, and the confused would then be invited to sit upon a bench, which was actually a hot cooking surface. The Lords of Xibalba would entertain themselves by humiliating people in this fashion before sending them into one of Xibalba's deadly tests.
The city was home to at least six deadly houses filled with trials for visitors. The first was Dark House, a house that was completely dark inside. The second was Rattling House or Cold House, full of bone-chilling cold and rattling hail. The third was Jaguar House, filled with hungry jaguars. The fourth was Bat House, filled with dangerous shrieking bats, and the fifth was Razor House, filled with blades and razors that moved about of their own accord. In another part of the Popol Vuh, a sixth test, Hot House, filled with fires and heat, is identified. The purpose of these tests was to either kill or humiliate people placed into them if they could not outwit the test.
3. Peloponnesse - (tip of Greece) - it was said that Hercules found entrance into the underworld through the caves of Peloponnesse. His 12th and final Labour is detailed below. I found during my research that some of the caves are explorable currently on tours of Greece. And there are quite a few very lengthy Youtube videos of some of them.
Hercules' Twelfth Labour: Cerberus
from Wikipedia
Capturing Cerberus alive, without using weapons, was the final labour assigned to Hercules by Eurystheus, in recompense for the killing of his own children by Megara after he was driven insane by Hera, and therefore was the most dangerous and difficult.
After having been given the task, Hercules went to Eleusis to be initiated in the Eleusinian Mysteries so that he could learn how to enter and exit the underworld alive, and in passing absolve himself for killing centaurs. He found the entrance to the underworld at Tanaerum, and Athena and Hermes helped him to traverse the entrance in each direction. He passed Charon with Hestia's assistance and his own heavy and fierce frowning.
Whilst in the underworld, Hercules met Theseus and Pirithous. The two companions had been imprisoned by Hades for attempting to obtain Persephone. One tradition tells of snakes coiling around their legs then turning into stone; another that Hades feigned hospitality and prepared a feast inviting them to sit. They unknowingly sat in chairs of forgetfulness and were permanently ensnared. When Hercules had pulled Theseus first from his chair, some of his thigh stuck to it (this explains the supposedly lean thighs of Athenians), but the earth shook at the attempt to liberate Pirithous, whose desire to have the wife of a god for himself was so insulting he was doomed to stay behind.
Hercules found Hades and asked permission to bring Cerberus to the surface, which Hades agreed to if Hercules could overpower the beast without using weapons. Hercules was able to overpower Cerberus and proceeded to sling the beast over his back, dragging it out of the underworld through a cavern entrance in the Peloponnese and bringing it to Eurystheus. The king again fled into his pithos, and asked Hercules to return it to the underworld in return for releasing him from his labors. After completing the labours Hercules joined the Argonauts in the search for the Golden Fleece.
4. Mt. Hekla - Iceland
Detail of map of Iceland by Abraham Ortelius, via Wikimedia Commons.
Mount Hekla: Iceland's particularly active volcano developed a reputation as a gateway to Hell in the 12th century, after its 1104 eruption. Benedeit's 1120 Anglo-Norman poem Voyage of St. Brendan mentions the volcano as the prison of Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus. That reputation continued with further eruptions; after the 1341 eruption, there was a report that people saw birds flying amidst the fire—birds, some thought, that must really be swarming souls. Even in more recent times, Hekla has maintained its diabolic status, as some superstitious folk have claimed that it's a spot where witches meet with the devil. (http://io9.com/13-places-on-earth-thought-to-be-entrances-to-hell-1441628317)
5. The Necromanteion - Greece
The Necromanteion or Nekromanteion was an ancient Greek temple of necromancy devoted to Hades and Persephone. According to tradition, it was located on the banks of the Acheron river in Epirus, near the ancient city of Ephyra. This site was believed by devotees to be the door to Hades, the realm of the dead. The site is at the meeting point of the Acheron, Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus rivers, believed to flow through and water the kingdom of Hades. The meaning of the names of the rivers has been interpreted to be “joyless,” “burning coals” and “lament.”
The word Nekromanteion means “Oracle of Death”, and the faithful came here to talk with their late ancestors. Although other ancient temples such as the Temple of Poseidon in Taenaron as well as those in Argolis, Cumae, and Herakleia in Pontos are known to have housed oracles of the dead, the Necromanteion of Ephyra was the most important. It belonged to the Thesprotians, the local Epirot Greek tribe. According to Herodotus’ account, it was to the Nekromanteion that Periander, the 6th century BC tyrant of Corinth, had sent legates to ask questions of his dead wife, Melissa. In Homer’s Odyssey, the Nekromanteion was also described as the entrance by which Odysseus made his nekyia.
Ritual use of the Nekromanteion involved elaborate ceremonies wherein celebrants seeking to speak to the dead would start by gathering in the ziggurat-like temple and consuming a meal of broad beans, pork, barley bread, oysters, and a narcotic compound. Following a cleansing ceremony and the sacrifice of sheep, the faithful would descend through a chthonic series of meandric corridors leaving offerings as they passed through a number of iron gates. The nekyomanteia would pose a series of questions and chant prayers and the celebrants would then witness the priest arise from the floor and begin to fly about the temple through the use of Aeorema-like theatrical cranes.
The pilgrims were going to the necromancy to communicate with the underworld souls but the ritual was not that simple as, they as living beings, had to be submitted to a diet including raw food like oysters, causing the effect of illusions and trances which was resulting in speaking with the souls and getting the prophecy desired.
The architectural structure of the Necromanteion was helping the psychosomatic process. The building had two levels, the upper one for the world of the living and the lower one for the world of the dead, where the dark Temple of Hades (Αδης) was built, the room where the pilgrims could “meet” the souls of the dead. The corridor that lead there was whirling because the purpose was to make the vertigo more intense for the believer, with the result of him believing that he was walking the “road” to Hades. Then he had to cross the three Iron Gates to enter the Kingdom of the dead.
We are forbidden in the Bible to communicate with familiar spirits and/or spirits of the dead. This is once again becoming quiet popular with the new spree of ‘ghost hunting’ programs. These programs enforce communication, and in fact, this is not only very dangerous, they warn but yet they persuade by enticement.
6. Lough Derg - Ireland
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Photo of Station Island by Egardiner0, Wikimedia Commons.
St. Patrick's Purgatory: One legend about the Irish Saint Patrick involves Station Island, a speck in Ireland's Lough Derg. According to the legend, after Patrick had become frustrated with his doubting followers, the Christ appeared to him and guided him to a cave on Station Island. Inside the cave was a pit, which was the gateway to Purgatory, where the souls of the dead must endure punishments for their sins before entering Heaven. While there, Patrick also received visions of the torments of Hell. From the 12th century on, Station Island has attracted Catholic pilgrims looking to sit close to Purgatory. In 1632, the lords justices of Ireland ordered the cave closed and most of the records of pilgrimages prior to that year were destroyed, but we do know that the pilgrims would fast and pray for days before spending a full day shut inside the cave. Despite the cave being shut, the pilgrimages continued unbroken; modern pilgrims can still visit Station Island for three-day pilgrimages, during which they must keep a 24-hour vigil while fasting on the island.
Salem, Massachussetts - In 1692 initial residents of Salem, Massachusetts believed that the devil inhabited the woods near them, and there was a gate to Hell there. 150 people accused of colluding with Satan, 19 executed.
(I also found this site that lists a couple of the ones already talked about, but a few more as well)
While in some belief systems, the afterlife
can only be accessed by spiritual means, in others, the underworld could be
accessed directly from the Earth. Here are 13 real spots that people have
thought (and in a few cases, still do) lead straight to the lands of the dead.
Some of these involve the Christian concept of
Hell, while others were supposed to lead to other (sometimes not unpleasant)
afterlives. And there are plenty of other spots that have hellish names,
including Hells Gate in British Columbia, the flaming Door to Hell in Derweze, Turkmenistan,
and the southern pit of Erta Ale in Ethiopia, which is called the "gateway
to Hell."
Just a quick note: This piece was inspired by
an Atlas Obscura piece about the beautiful Cenote Xkeken. In the course of researching
this piece, I realized that Atlas Obscura had recently posted their own piece, "Go to Hell: 11 Ways to Enter
the Underworld." I avoided reading the piece so as to
avoid overlap, and while there is some, Atlas Obscura has a few underworld hot
spots that aren't mentioned here—plus, they . I highly recommend checking out
their list (with some gorgeous photos) and also following Atlas Obscura in
general, because it's an incredible site.
The Ploutonion at
Hierapolis: The ancient city of Hierapolis, near modern-day Pamukkale
in Turkey was once home to a site considered sacred to Pluto, the god of the
dead. Although the site was rediscovered in 1965, it was just this year that
archaeologists announced the otherworldly significance of this holy spot. The
same gases that heat the famous hot springs of Pamukkale originate from a cave
beneath the Ploutonion, and because the vapors are toxic, the people of
Hierapolis believed that they had been sent from Pluto himself and the site was
treated as a ritual entrance to the underworld. Pilgrims would travel from all
over the classical world to make sacrifices to Pluto; animals led into the cave
would drop dead from the toxic fumes, while acolytes of Pluto would prove their
devotion to the god by entering the cave and emerging alive (perhaps thanks to
their knowledge of pockets of breathable air within the cave).
Fengdu, China: The
2,000-year-old City of Ghosts, located in Chongqing municipality, has long been
thought to be the place the dead stopped on their way to the afterlife, though
it seems to have gotten this reputation in a roundabout way. A legend from the
Han Dynasty tells of two imperial officials, Wang Fangping and Yin Changsheng,
who forsook the court life to practice Taoism in Fengdu and became immortal.
Their names combined sounded like "King of Hell," and so Ming Shan,
the hill that overlooks Fengdu, became known as the abode of Tianzi, the King
of Hell. The city is filled with Buddhist and Taoist temples, said to be filled
with immortal spirits that judge and torment the dead. A freshly dead soul, it
was said, must first cross the Bridges of Helplessness to have their virtue
judged, then face the Mirror of Retribution at the Ghost Torturing Pass and
either become immediately reincarnated or face a series of torments before
reaching the Wheel of Rebirth. Living visitors can reach the city by boat (the
lower portion was flooded after the construction of the Three Gorges dam along
the Yangtze River) and walk the bridges, face the demons who guard the spirit
world, view sometimes gruesome dioramas of the afterlife, and gaze upon the
138-meter-high statue of the Ghost King, the largest sculptured carved onto a
rock. While Fengdu is centuries old, some its symbolic structures were created
rather recently. For example, the Last Glance at Home Tower, the final sight
ghosts will see of the living world, was constructed in 1985.
Masaya Volcano: The
Aboriginal people of Masaya in modern-day Nicaragua did not believe that the
mouth of their caldera was a gateway to the afterlife, but there was a local
tradition that the volcano was a god and that a sorceress lived inside its
fiery pit. But it was the Spanish explorers who arrived in the 16th century—and
had little familiarity with volcanos—who associated with volcano with diabolic
activity. In 1529, Mercedarian Fray Francisco de Bobadilla hauled a cross up
the volcano, hoping to exorcise what he believed was the Mouth of Hell. And he
wasn't alone; Friar Toribio Benavente wrote in 1541 that the volcano's
persistent activity must have a supernatural cause and that it must be,
"the place from which the condemned are thrown by the demons.” Various
religious figures pointed to the volcano as evidence of the horrors that would
await sinners in Hell. Not all Spanish friars felt the same way, however. Friar
Blas del Castillo led the first Spanish expedition inside the volcanic crater
in 1538 to search for gold and silver. And, while debates as to the nature of
the volcano raged through the 16th and 17th centuries, Friar Juan de Torquemada
published a theological analysis of Masaya and other volcanos in 1615,
asserting that it was ridiculous to view any volcano as an entrance to Hell.
Among his arguments was that since souls are incorporeal, Hell has no need of
physical mouths.
The Seven Gates of Hell: A
local legend claims that in the woods off Trout Run Road in Hellam Township,
Pennsylvania, sit the Seven Gates of Hell. According to popular fiction, the
gates appear near the site of a tragic asylum fire, and if you step through all
seven gates, you land straight in Hell. (Of course, that same fiction claims
that no one has ever made it past the fifth gate, so how would anyone know?)
There are a couple of problems with this story, even aside from the whole
going-to-Hell thing. One is that, according to the Hellam Township website,
there never was such an asylum on that spot. Also, there's only one gate, a
rather ordinary-looking thing a local doctor installed to keep people off his
property. (Weird USexplains that
the other six gates are supposed to be invisible during the day.) That hasn't
kept curious trespassers from sneaking onto the property, however, in search of
a direct route to Hell. Hellam Township isn't the only place in the US rumored
to host a gateway to Hell; urban legends claim that the devil can be found in
the Gates of Hell, a collection of drains in Clifton, New Jersey, and in the
Stull Cemetery in Stull, Kansas. And some voodoo practitioners claim that the
Seven Gates of Guinee, which lead to the afterlife of the voodoo traditions,
can be found in various parts of New Orleans. (Read about the Gates of Guinee
on Atlas Obscura.)
Lacus Curtius: Today, this pit in
the Roman Forum doesn't look like much, but in a legend told by the Roman
historian Livy, it was once a wide chasm. Livy tells the story of Marcus
Curtius, who may have given the pit its name. According to Livy's account, the
chasm appeared in the middle of Rome, and nothing could fill it. An oracle
prophesied that the chasm would not close and the Roman Republic would be
destroyed unless the city sacrificed that which had made it strong. Marcus
Curtius realized that Rome's strength lied in the weapons and bravery of its
citizens and so, fully armed and armored, he rode his horse into the chasm and
straight into the underworld. The chasm closed and the city was saved. It may
well be this legend that classed Lacus Curtius as a mundus, a place where one
could easily commune with the underworld. It was also a conduit for buying off
the gods of death; during the reign of Augustus, Roman citizens would toss
coins into the lacus to pray for the Emperor's safety.
St. Patrick's Purgatory: One
legend about the Irish Saint Patrick involves Station Island, a speck in
Ireland's Lough Derg. According to the legend, after Patrick had become
frustrated with his doubting followers, the Christ appeared to him and guided
him to a cave on Station Island. Inside the cave was a pit, which was the
gateway to Purgatory, where the souls of the dead must endure punishments for
their sins before entering Heaven. While there, Patrick also received visions
of the torments of Hell. From the 12th century on, Station Island has attracted
Catholic pilgrims looking to sit close to Purgatory. In 1632, the lords
justices of Ireland ordered the cave closed and most of the records of
pilgrimages prior to that year were destroyed, but we do know that the pilgrims
would fast and pray for days before spending a full day shut inside the cave.
Despite the cave being shut, the pilgrimages continued unbroken; modern
pilgrims can still visit Station Island for
three-day pilgrimages, during which they must keep a 24-hour vigil while
fasting on the island.
Mount Hekla: Iceland's
particularly active volcano developed a reputation as a gateway to Hell in the
12th century, after its 1104 eruption. Benedeit's 1120 Anglo-Norman poem Voyage
of St. Brendan mentions the volcano as the prison of Judas, the
apostle who betrayed Jesus. That reputation continued with further eruptions;
after the 1341 eruption, there was a report that people saw birds flying amidst
the fire—birds, some thought, that must really be swarming souls. Even in more
recent times, Hekla has maintained its diabolic status, as some superstitious
folk have claimed that it's a spot where witches meet with the devil.
Acheron: The
Acheron is a real river that flows through northwest Greece, but it also
figures prominently in classical mythology. In Homer's Odyssey,
Circe directs Odysseus to the underworld, telling him that he must find the
point where the Acheron meets the Pyriphlegethon and of a branch of Styx. The
poet Vergil mentions also Acheron in the Aeneid, identifying it as
the river from which the Styx and Cocytus rivers flow. The ferryman Charon was
supposed to transport newly dead souls across the river into the afterlife,
something he even does in the pages of Dante's Inferno. In Dante's
poem, the souls of the Uncommitted, who chose neither good nor evil, find their
eternal home on the banks of the Acheron, not condemned in Hell, but still
forever punished for their indecision.
Lake Avernus: While
the Acheron is in Greece, in the Aeneid Aeneas enters the
underworld through the Avernus crater near Cumae in Italy. The crater lake was
sacred to the Cumaean Sibyl, and according to myth, she could lead a living
traveler into the underworld. It name offers some hints as to why it might have
been deemed such a deadly portal. Avernus comes from the Greek word αϝορνος,
meaning "birdless," which links to the belief that birds flying over
the lake would die due to the toxic fumes the lake emitted. It's unclear how
much truth there is to this belief; in modern times, birds are quite happy to
fly about the lake.
Cape Matapan: If
you don't want to deal with Charon the ferryman, you could enter the classical
underworld of Tartarus through the back door. In Book Ten of Ovid's
Metamorphoses, Orpheus enters the underworld not via Acheron, but reached the
Styx through the gate of Taenarus, located in Cape Tainaron (also known as Cape
Tenaro or Cape Matapan) on the southernmost tip of Greece on the Peloponnese.
The Mayan Cenotes: The
Maya certainly had some of the most picturesque entrances to the underworld.
These natural underground waterways, located in Mexico and Central America,
were thought to be the home of the rain god Chaak and portals to Xibalba, the
afterlife. Caves were often seen as gateways to the afterlife in the Mayan
worldview, literal passageways between the living world above and the realm
below. Archaeologists have found Mayan temples and human remains in the cenotes
of the Yucatan peninsula, a possible legendary site of Xibalba, while other
traditions put entrances in Cobán, Guatemala, or Actun Tunichil Muknal in
Belize. These days, the cenotes are seen more as tourist destinations than the
entrances to the mythical "place of fear."
Mount Osore: The
Europeans were hardly the only folks to believe that volcanos marked the
entrance to the underworld. Mount Osore, region filled with volcanic cauldrons
located on the remote Shimokita Peninsula of Japan's Honshu island, is
literally named "Fear Mountain." And with its barren, gray landscape,
bubbling waters, and persistent smell of sulfur, it's easy to see how it got
its macabre reputation. Like Acheron and the River Styx, the Sanzu River, which
runs through the region is said to be a spot souls must cross to pass into the
afterlife.
Houska Castle: According
to folklore, Houska Castle, located in Blatce, north of Prague in the Czech
Republic, is built over a "bottomless" hole that leads to Hell. One
legend claims that in the 13th century, King Ottokar II of Bohemia (or else a
nobleman of the Dubá clan) offered a pardon to any condemned prisoner who
consented to be lowered into the pit and report what he saw. The first prisoner
lasted only a few seconds before he began screaming. When he was pulled back
up, the story goes, his hair had turned white and it seemed he'd aged 30
years—and he babbled incoherently about half-human creatures who flapped
through the darkness of grotesque wings. The castle was built, likely on
Ottokar II's orders, over this supposed hell-hole, without proper
fortifications, a water source, or kitchens. The myth asserts that this was
because the castle was meant not for human habitation, but to capture demons.
(The chapel was supposed to be actual portion of the fortress erected directly
over the Gate of Hell.) The fortress was, however, used as an administrative
building, has been used as an aristocratic residence at various points in its
history, and was renovated and expanded during the.
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