Haven't we all once cried out I'm "going through Hell"? James Bennett examines that feeling more closely: If heaven and hell represent an intellect and body that have become polarized and destructively antagonistic, what does that suggest for healing? Come into this book and experience the images of the dark realm beneath consciousness: the wrathful deities, threatening serpents, cold long-barrows, loss of everything in death. The meanings of those myths may only come to us through intuition, so "Allow the stories, pictures and images to sit with you and speak to you, to spark your own connections and open doors for you in unexpected meaningful ways." Let us see if we can translate the ancient legends of journeys through Hades into modern guidebooks for therapy; to stand in the space between the worlds, and see beyond suffering to renewal. Could that renewal be not only of self but also of global cultures?

INTRODUCTION 7
VIDEO READING 10
OUT THERE 11
Heaven's Gate . . . . . . 11
Archetypal abduction. . . . . . 12
Independence Day . . . . . . 13
Flight from earth . . . . . . 13
Spiritual versus physical . . . . . . 13
Cybele and Attis . . . . . . 14
The archetypal drama. . . . . . 15
Great Mother Ship . . . . . . 15
Purple drapes . . . . . . 16
Poles yoked together. . . . . . 17
Physical awareness . . . . . . 17
Transcend or suffer death?. . . . . . 18
ARCHETYPAL UNDERWORLD 20
"As Above, So Below" . . . . . . 20
Words With Deep Roots. . . . . . 22
Black Goddesses. . . . . . 23
Cave temples. . . . . . 24
Matter-spirit opposition . . . . . . 28
The Myths of Divison. . . . . . 28
One God in Many Aspects. . . . . . 29
Initiation Into the Unseen. . . . . . 30
Birth in a Cave. . . . . . 31
Day is born of Night. . . . . . 31
The Serpent Oracle. . . . . . 34
Apollo's temple at Delphi.. . . . . . 35
The Serpent Goddess. . . . . . 36
Twining Serpents. . . . . . 38
Grabbed by the Underworld . . . . . . 39
Stripped of status. . . . . . 40
Eternal Return of Ouroboros. . . . . . 42
The Daimon. . . . . . 43
Alienated from the primordial mind. . . . . . 43
What do we fear in ourselves?. . . . . . 44
The sacredness of matter . . . . . . 45
THE SPACE BETWEEN 48
Rites of passage. . . . . . 51
Guardian and gatekeeper . . . . . . 54
Deconstruction. . . . . . 56
Tricks and Jokers. . . . . . 57
May. . . . . . 59
Harvest and Death. . . . . . 59
Natural thresholds. . . . . . 61
Archetypes find modern forms. . . . . . 62
Are we in a dream?. . . . . . 64
Soul-making . . . . . . 65
LETTER FROM A POET 69
BIBLIOGRAPHY 70
BOOK REVIEWS 72
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 75
SOURCES OF IMAGES 76