Hela
Hela by Mary MacGregor-Reid, all rights reserved by artist.
Hela is the goddess of the dead, and unlike many monotheistic religions (and some polytheistic ones), Hela's domain is not one to fear; the realm of the dead is a good place to be, when it's your time to go.
"Death is before me today:
like the recovery of a sick man,
like going forth into a garden after sickness.
Death is before me today:
like the odor of myrrh,
like sitting under a sail in a good wind.
Death is before me today:
like the course of a stream;
like the return of a man from the war-galley to his house.
Death is before me today:
like the home that a man longs to see,
after years spent as a captive."
–From “Dialogue of a Misanthrope with His Soul” (ca 2000 BC), now called “Dispute between a man and his Ba,” from a papyrus of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.
Image source: http://www.marymacgregor-reid.com/galleries.php
"Death is before me today:
like the recovery of a sick man,
like going forth into a garden after sickness.
Death is before me today:
like the odor of myrrh,
like sitting under a sail in a good wind.
Death is before me today:
like the course of a stream;
like the return of a man from the war-galley to his house.
Death is before me today:
like the home that a man longs to see,
after years spent as a captive."
–From “Dialogue of a Misanthrope with His Soul” (ca 2000 BC), now called “Dispute between a man and his Ba,” from a papyrus of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.
Image source: http://www.marymacgregor-reid.com/galleries.php
