Land of departed souls

In Welsh poetry, orally transmitted by the bards, a strange land of Annwn is often mentioned. These poems are dated back to the sixth century. In a later poem, The Spoils of Annwn, king Arthur and his knights are traveling through the land of Annwn. They search for a magical squadron possessed by nine women. Only a few return back home, including Arthur, of course. So what was behind the word Annwn for Welsh people?

In their mythology Annwn was the otherworld, ruled by Arawn, and later by Gwynn ap Nudd. It was a world of delights and eternal youth where disease is absent and food is ever-abundant. Welsh thought that Annwn was located somewhere very far to the west. Wit the advent of Christianity, Annwn also became Christianized. People started to identify it with the land of souls that had departed this world. One could only reach Annwn by dying himself.

There was one catch, though - the door to Annwn. Those living could enter Annwn if they could find this door. Welsh legends mention that the door was somewhere near either Lundy Island of Glastonbury Tor. On a certain day of the year, this door would open, and the inhabitants would welcome humans in for feasting and celebration. There was one condition - living should not take nothing with them to the human realm. This went on until one human visitor kept a flower in his pocket. From that day on, the door has remained closed. There is always some kind of hidden truth in these old legends, but one has to get to the bottom of it. Not so long ago, archeologists discovered an ancient temple near Lydney that seems to be important in Druid esoteric spiritual readings.

A couple of centuries later we hear about the land of Avalon, which gives shelter to king Arthur. Well, this is actually land of Annwn, that we were talking about. As the years went by, Celtic legends transformed it and Annwn became identified with Avalon.