Odinism:The Nine Worlds.
The Nine Worlds.

The nine worlds are situated on three levels, of which Yggdrasil is the axis. On the first level is Asgard, the world of the Aesir, the principal Gods of our Forefathers. Also on that level is Vanaheim, the realm of the Vanir, another, and perhaps older, family of Gods. In addition, this level contains Alfheim, the land of the Light Elves, a god-like race of Elves. This first level is connected to the second level by Bifrost, a flaming rainbow bridge of shimmering light.
On the second level is Midgard, the world of mortals. With it is Ni-davellir, land of the Dwarfs, Svartalfheim, land of the Dark Elves, and Jotunheim, land of the Giants. On the third level is Niflheim, the dark and bitter-cold realm of the dead, and Muspelheim, the world of fire. Yggdrasil has three great roots. Each one of these roots are sunk into one of the three levels.
Under the first root, which is in Asgard, is the Well of Urd, by which sit the three Norns, who are goddesses of destiny. Each day the Gods and Goddesses (Aesir and Vanir) gather there for council. The second root is in Jotunheim; land of the Giants, Under this root is the Spring of Mimir, which is a great source of wisdom. The third root is in Niflheim, and under this root is the Spring of Hvergelmir. It is the source of many rivers, and where the aforementioned Nidhogg and other serpents tear apart corpses and gnaw at the root. Our Forefathers understood that there were three basic levels of consciousness: that of the conscious mind, with which we do all of our perceiving and reasoning; the subconscious mind, in which is stored all of our suppressed desires, emotions, fears, guilt, and vanities; and the superconscious mind, the mysterious intuitive faculty from which comes the unexplainable omniscient knowledge, premonitions, and other superhuman abilities. The nine worlds symbolize different aspects of these levels of consciousness.
Asgard is the realm of superconscious awareness, which is truly the realm of the Gods. Valhalla, the hall of Odin or, Wotan is the joyous realm which is reserved for all true warriors who fall in battle: those who have, by will and self-discipline, overcome the barrier of the subconscious and evolved beyond the narrow ego to the first stages of superconscious awareness. Vanaheim and Alfheim are other levels of superconscious awareness. The Well of Urd in Asgard symbolizes the intuitive faculties of the superconscious mind. This is the highest source of knowledge and wisdom, appropriately symbolized as the place of council of the Gods.
The Norns symbolize destiny. For most, destiny is determined by hidden desires and other baggage of the subconscious mind. For the highly-evolved, those who have obtained super-conscious awareness, desitiny is self-directed, and is always in harmony with the natural order. Midgard is the realm of the conscious mind, the everyday world which we see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. But also in this world, and just as significant to our existence, are our material desires, selfishness, fears, hatreds, vanities, and inhibitions. These are symbolized variously by the Giants of Jotunheim, the dark elves of Svartalfheim, and the Dwarves of Nidavellir.
As our Forefathers depicted with their allegorical imagery, these are all detrimental to our evolution, and rightfully considered evil and in need of timely eradication. While the male Giants symbolize material desires, fears, hatreds, and other negative emotions, many of the female Giants symbolize spiritual desires, which can be beneficial to the path of higher evolution. Hence, in the allegories Gods are often married to, mothered by, or aided by, female Giants.
The Spring of Mimir in Jotunheim symbolizes the all-seeing eye of intuition, also known as The Eye of Wotan, the use of which is obtainable only by purity and self-discipline. The Bifrost Bridge which connects Asgard to Midgard, or the superconscious to the conscious, symbolizes the channels and vortexes of life energy within the human spinal cord, which begin functioning at higher levels of evolution, connecting the conscious with the superconscious. Through the all-seeing eye of intuition, these energy channels and vortexes appear in shimmering, rainbow - colored light.
Niflheim symbolizes the deep desires, fears, guilt, and selfishness which lurk in the darkest corners of our subconscious. These greatly affect our personality, limit our abilities, and often warp our character. They are difficult to identify and overcome. The realm of the dead is an excellent symbol for this level of the sub - conscious mind. It is a great obstacle to higher evolution, and without cleansing it, one is "dead" to any higher evolution. Muspelheim symbolizes the fiery passions and emotions of the sub-conscious, especially the sexual urge. Uncontrolled, this natural instinct can cause great problems physically and emotionally.
The Spring of Hvergelmir is the point of concentration of the primordial life energy in the base of the spine. The many rivers are the channels through which this energy flows into the physical body. Nidhogg and the other serpents which rip apart corpses and gnaw at the root of Yggdrasil symbolize this primordial life energy which is stored in the base of the spine. Gnawing at the root indicates that this energy, uncontrolled, pulls our consciousness downward toward sensual aggrandizement and away from higher evolution. Ripping apart corpses symbolizes the uncontrolled desires for sensual urges which remain in our subconscious after death and cause suffering.