Avichi
is the Theosophic hell. Though it is a place of torment, it differs in great degree from the ordinary conception of hell. Its torments are the torments of fleshly cravings, which for want of a physical body, cannot be satisfied. A man remains after death exactly the same entity as he was before it, and, if in life, he has been obsessed with strong desires or passions, such obsession still continues, though, in the astral plane in which he finds himself the satisfaction of these desires or passions is impossible. Of course, the manner of these torments is infinite, whether it be the confirmed sensualist who suffers them, or more ordinary men who, without being bound to the things of the flesh, have nevertheless allowed the affairs of the world to bulk too largely in their lives, and are now doomed to regret the small attention they have bestowed on higher matters. Avichi is a place of regrets for things done and things undone. Its torments are not, however, eternal, and with the passing of time of which there is no measure in the astral plane-they are gradually discontinued, though at the cost of terrible suffering. Avidya in Theosophy is the ignorance of mind which causes man before starting on the Path to expend vain effort and pursue vain courses. It is the antithesis of Vidya. (
See Path, and Vidya, and Theosophy.) It Awyntyrs of Arthure at the Tern Wathelyn : an Arthurian poem of the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries.
is believed to be of Scottish origin, but its authorship is doubtful. Amongst other adventures, the poem relates one which King Arthur and his queen Guinevere, accompanied by their favourite knight Sir Gawane, had whilst hunting in the wilds of Cumberland. They were overtaken by darkness, while separated from the rest of the party, and the ghost of the queen's mother appears to them. The apparition tells of the torments to which it is being subjected, and entreats that prayers will be offered up for its release. This the queen and Sir Gawane promise, and on their return to Carlisle millions of masses are ordered to be sung on its behalf.
Babau from Psalm LXXIII. François de la Tour-Blanche, who remarked upon this, does not tell us how the diviners made use of the hatchet. We can only suppose that it was by one of the two methods employed in ancient times and still practised in certain northern countries. The first is as follows: When it is desired to find a treasure, a round agate must be procured, the head of the axe must be made red-hot in the fire, and so placed that its edge may stand perpendicularly in the air. The agate must be placed on the edge. If it remains there, there is no treasure, if it falls, it will roll quickly away. It must, however, be replaced three times, and if it rolls three times towards the same place, there the treasure will be found. If it rolls a different way each time, one must seek about for the treasure.
The second method of divination by the axe is for the purpose of detecting robbers. The hatchet is cast on the ground, head-downwards, with the handle rising perpendicularly in the air. Those present must dance round it in a ring, till the handle of the axe totters and it falls to the ground. The end of the handle indicates the direction in which the thieves must be sought. It is said by some that if this divination is to succeed, the head of the axe must be stuck in a round pot, but this, as Delancre says, is absurd. For how could an axe be fixed in a round pot, any more than the pot could be sewed or patched if the axe had broken it to pieces ?