Underworld gods?

Do gods of the underworlds deserve the bad reputations they tend to have? I was wondering about the experiences of those who manage to contact them.

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Though I don't generally work with deities, and most contact with entities I have is done through their initiative, I'd like to say they don't always deserve it. Some paths have had their more 'darker' entities thrown down into being evil like Loki, the Rokkr, Set, Anubis, and countless others. To many who worship/work with these entities they are not evil, maybe darker than some, but not evil. It really depends on the path itself, and the person following said path.

However, it seems now a days that deities are seen in two sides, instead of in varying 'shades of gray' like they were usually seen in the old days. This may be in part to Christianities dormant effects of those who converted to other faiths, or do to other beliefs, experiences, or the information (whether false or not) the person may have.

I try not to ever presume and entity is one way or another until I have met/felt them for myself. Even when one may feel 'evil' to me, I still try to understand their point of view, see myself in their shoes, in an attempt to gain my personal judgement of said entity.

This thread has been moved to Other Paths from Wicca.

It all depends on which god of the underworld. Each god of the underworld is different depending on which Pagan path you follow. But whether their reputation is good or bad, they deserve it because of their history.

Which god are you talking about?

Most pagan cultures honor both the beings of the underworld and their ancestors that they believe have passed through it. It is not seen as evil. Death was not feared like it is now. People had wakes in their living room, not a funeral home. Death has been displaced in modern society and people are shielded from it. How many people can say they've seen someone die in front of them? How many people can say they've seen a corpse without makeup to make it look "alive" still? Back then, everyone could. When someone in the family grew ill, they died at home with their family, not in a hospital. When someone died, they were cleaned and dressed by their family and buried by their family. It was a deeply personal experience and a personal relationship with the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.