The isle of the Gods and Goddesses, of heroes and heroines; a realm beyond time and death, where the bravest and the boldest live out their eternities.
The winterless Blessed Isles of Ancient Greek mythology, where those heroes who chose to be reincarnated three times, and were judged as pure and true enough to gain entrance to the Elysian Fields all three times, live out the aeons.
In the traditions of ancient Hawaiʻi, the living Gods Kane and Kanaloa inhabit “an earthly paradise situated in a floating cloudland or other sacred and remote spot where they drink awa and are fed from a garden patch of never-failing growth. Often this land is located upon one of the twelve sacred islands under the control of Kane believed to lie off the Hawaiian group “within easy reach of and having frequent intercourse with it.” These islands are frequently mentioned in ancient chants and stories before the last Paao migration from Tahiti. Today they are called the Lost Islands or Islands Hidden by the Gods.” [1]
The Isle of Avalon, where King Arthur’s sword Excalibur was forged, and where “the fields there have no need of the ploughs of the farmers and all cultivation is lacking except what nature provides. Of its own accord it produces grain and grapes, and apple trees grow in its woods from the close-clipped grass. The ground of its own accord produces everything instead of merely grass, and people live there a hundred years or more. There nine sisters rule by a pleasing set of laws those who come to them from our country“. [2]
The Yolngu of north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia have spoken for countless generations of Baralku – the island of the dead. Barnumbirr, the creator-spirit, originated there and lives there still; rising into the sky to become visible to all as the astral body we call Venus.
In Russian medieval texts, Буя́н (Buyan) is a mysterious island, appearing only at certain times. The bothers, North, West, and Eastern winds live on its shores, as do the solar Goddesses the Zorya sisters.
In these mystical isles also lie treasures beyond the grasp of mere mortals, guarded by monsters worse than any nightmare ever dreamed.
In Буя́н the soul of Koschei the Deathless lies hidden, meaning that he can never be killed in the mortal realm. The magical stone Алатырь (Alatyr) – with its mystic powers of healing – is guarded there by the metal beaked and clawed Gagana bird, and by the dreadful serpent Garafena.
In Chinese mythology, fucanglong (“treasure dragons“) guard seams of gold and diamonds buried deep beneath the earth, while their European cousins curl their wyrm-bodies around ancient treasure hoards. The hero Beowulf was slain by one of these fire-breathing beasts, all for the theft of a single golden cup.
Dragurs – supernaturally strong, undead Nose warriors – guard the riches hidden deep within their burial mounds. The many-headed serpent Naga of Indian mythology dwell in a subterranean realm filled with jewels and resplendent palaces, which they defend ferociously.
Enchanted armour gathers dust, and great, fat spiders weave their webs between the age-dulled blades of swords which long ago spilled the blood of trolls. Battling through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, the Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Heroines have earned their place in the sun. And yet…
… they grow restless in their retirement. They crave the old days and the old ways, when evil men paid for their evil deeds with their blood. When monsters were slain, and justice prevailed. They sleep a sleep filled with dreams of battle and magic. They await the call to adventures new.
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