Otherworld
The Otherworld in Irish and Scottish mythology, is the realm in which the Sluagh are not tolerated, or allowed. In some tales, the Otherworld is located underground, inside the Sidhe mounds, over and beyond the western seas, or it exists parallel to the human world. The Otherworld was the realm of the dead; when men and women died, they crossed over into the Otherworld. Or, the Otherworld were home to deities, or other non-human spirits, or creatures, such as the Sidhe, fairies, or mythical creatures not found elsewhere in the land of the living. Humans were not, as a rule, allowed into the Otherworld if they were still among the living, however, occasionally, they did get in. And sometimes, things in the Otherworld, come out.
Only on certain days, or in certain places however; such as inside fairy rings, or just outside the Sidhe mounds. The mounds may have once been grave sites, or old altars for a more antique Irish civilization. It was later believed that this is where the fairies lived, and on some nights, they would come out and celebrate, or dance. Fairy rings also were the dancing places of fairy creatures, and men, women, or children who ventured inside them were never seen again, –carried off to the Otherworld, either, to become a fairy by eating the food there, which meant you had to stay forever, or, to become the food.
Other times, it was the day, and not the place which dictated whether people could cross over into Otherworld, or whether Otherworld creatures could cross over into the human world. Samhain, November 1st, or otherwise known as the Celtic New Year’s Day, was another special occasion on which the Otherworld opened its borders, and allowed its inhabitants to spill out into the human world. Humans were more often able to cross over into Otherworld on Samhain’s Eve as well; better known as Halloween.
