Pagan Afterlife?

[Animore]

(Disclaimer: In this post I am speaking of general Pagan beliefs, if that exists.)

Alright, so I'll get straight to the point. I know the basics of Pagan afterlife(at least I think I do, to be truthful I honestly am not sure if I have a sliver of a grasp, but that's why I made this thread) but I'm kinda interested in learning more.

1. Do pagans have an equivalent of a heaven and a hell?

2. If so, do they have an equivalent of a Sheol?

3. What determines getting to that haven or that hell?

4. Is there any other tidbits of information that could be useful knowledge?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Nietzsche]

There's more than one kind of "Pagan", dear. I'm Norse, there are Greek, Egyptian, so on so forth.

 

[Animore]

There's more than one kind of "Pagan", dear. I'm Norse, there are Greek, Egyptian, so on so forth.

Well, yes I understand that. I was speaking of general pagan beliefs (if there are). But thanks a bunch anyways.

 

[lovesong]

Alright, so I'll get straight to the point. I know the basics of Pagan afterlife(at least I think I do, to be truthful I honestly am not sure if I have a sliver of a grasp, but that's why I made this thread) but I'm kinda interested in learning more.

There are as many types of Paganism. There are no "general" Pagan beliefs, with anything really, and since it would be impossible for me to answer for everyone, I'll just answer for myself and let others do the same.

1. Do pagans have an equivalent of a heaven and a hell?

No, not at all. In my beliefs there is one afterlife with multiple steps. When we die, we shed our physical body and move to the next step. This is commonly called the astral plane and is the subject of interest for those who practice astral projection. We again shed our bodies, leaving behind an astral corpse as we move to the next step. There's more to say about the nature of the astral corpse but that's another topic. There is debate about how many steps/levels/planes/whatever there are. I personally have experienced three, so while I am more than open to learning the characteristics of others, I only work with the three I know. The third of these steps is the final one (with any others, if they exist, being between the astral plane and this final step). This is characterized by the iconic gates which cannot be passed by a mortal without falling into death. While we are able to roam the astral plane without completely disconnecting from our bodies, we can only reach up and touch the gates of the final afterlife. There is also some debate surrounding this final afterlife, with some claiming that the spirits we call back in necromancy being only astral corpses clinging to life, while others claim we sometimes pull astral corpses but are also capable of speaking to the dead themselves beyond the gates.

2. If so, do they have an equivalent of a Sheol?

Wikipedia defines Sheol as "a place of darkness to which all the dead go, both the righteous and the unrighteous, regardless of the moral choices made in life, a place of stillness and darkness cut off from life and from the Hebrew God." I guess this would be closer to the afterlife? I mean, yes all life goes to the same place, but it isn't stillness and darkness I'm sure. In fact, we have no idea what it's like, we've never been there. The only thing we have is how the dead speak, and they seem to not mind. My guess is that the afterlife is much like our lives now. It's neither good nor bad, it just is.

3. What determines getting to that haven or that hell?

All life follows the same steps, actions, beliefs, personality, none of it has any influence on what happens after death.

4. Is there any other tidbits of information that could be useful knowledge?

I take more of a classical occultist approach to the afterlife and my beliefs are heavily shaped by my practice in necromancy. Every Pagan will probably answer these questions differently, so it's important to remember not to assume one of us speaks for all of us.

 

[Animore]

There are as many types of Paganism. There are no "general" Pagan beliefs, with anything really, and since it would be impossible for me to answer for everyone, I'll just answer for myself and let others do the same.



No, not at all. In my beliefs there is one afterlife with multiple steps. When we die, we shed our physical body and move to the next step. This is commonly called the astral plane and is the subject of interest for those who practice astral projection. We again shed our bodies, leaving behind an astral corpse as we move to the next step. There's more to say about the nature of the astral corpse but that's another topic. There is debate about how many steps/levels/planes/whatever there are. I personally have experienced three, so while I am more than open to learning the characteristics of others, I only work with the three I know. The third of these steps is the final one (with any others, if they exist, being between the astral plane and this final step). This is characterized by the iconic gates which cannot be passed by a mortal without falling into death. While we are able to roam the astral plane without completely disconnecting from our bodies, we can only reach up and touch the gates of the final afterlife. There is also some debate surrounding this final afterlife, with some claiming that the spirits we call back in necromancy being only astral corpses clinging to life, while others claim we sometimes pull astral corpses but are also capable of speaking to the dead themselves beyond the gates.



Wikipedia defines Sheol as "a place of darkness to which all the dead go, both the righteous and the unrighteous, regardless of the moral choices made in life, a place of stillness and darkness cut off from life and from the Hebrew God." I guess this would be closer to the afterlife? I mean, yes all life goes to the same place, but it isn't stillness and darkness I'm sure. In fact, we have no idea what it's like, we've never been there. The only thing we have is how the dead speak, and they seem to not mind. My guess is that the afterlife is much like our lives now. It's neither good nor bad, it just is.



All life follows the same steps, actions, beliefs, personality, none of it has any influence on what happens after death.



I take more of a classical occultist approach to the afterlife and my beliefs are heavily shaped by my practice in necromancy. Every Pagan will probably answer these questions differently, so it's important to remember not to assume one of us speaks for all of us.

Thanks a bunch for the info!

 

[Aštra’el]

1. Do(es Ashtara) have an equivalent of a heaven and a hell?

Heavens and Hells

3. What determines getting to that haven or that hell?

Death, various phases of reincarnation... and/or posthuman apotheosis

 

[Quintessence]

1. Do pagans have an equivalent of a heaven and a hell?

The problem with making this comparison is that heaven and hell are not simply otherworldly planes of existence; they serve a very specific purpose within the framework of the classical monotheist religions they originate from. They are connected to the ideas of original sin and salvation, and both of these concepts are absent in Paganisms. So I'd have to answer that question with a "no," given the otherworlds in various Pagan traditions are really not equivalent.

 

[Whiterain]

There are ways to get there, what I need are licenses, sanctions and narcotic painkillers, my dear...

The best of the best went to various halls to ascend into Godhood or some other "Duty," not like some fairy land Heaven where you're all friends with hippy Jesus, not emaciated bony iron back hand Jesus that I would prefer if I had to experience his light and mercy entirely... The catastrophe all of this has caused for so little retribution. IT would all be fine with me if it were in Krieg Spiel, I accept comradery and what chivalry we can have on the battlefield, no matter the cause, just that armed men are willing and anxious to procure their steel and make mettle. Then so much lying, blase blase, conspiracy intertard.

I can't just brush everything off that is thrown at me... There is guilt and all... I accept and am prepared for total dissolution in death. What I have experienced leads me to prepare myself for more.

Not going to go on flatulent of the mouth. I'm out, it sucks, no reindeer games.... Just banal existent in this life for the time being, no action. And the excrement they pump out of West Point... Belittle Men and Women, no matter the causalities, animals. These are the best we got and all, they are invaluable.

Martial Arts, The Sweet Science, about all I got to cooth my carnal needs.

 

[1137]

I do not believe in heaven or hell, but nonexistence, unification, and deification. I get a lot of my ideas from the ancient religious ideas of Egypt, especially the pyramid texts.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I agree with @lovesong that there are many types of paganism and beliefs in general. So, I'll answer from what I believe. Whether it's pagan or not, I don't analyze it anymore. I can't speak for all.

Do pagans have an equivalent of a heaven and a hell?

There isn't a heaven or hell, just different passages we go through from one "stage" to another. So, right now we have our bodies, then when our bodies pass away, our souls/spirits still live on the earth. They help the living and especially those kin to them. We become ancestors to the younger generations.

If so, do they have an equivalent of a Sheol?

No. We have consequences for our actions and they can upset the Spirits. However, like on earth, what we do affects others. I don't know how souls interact after this life; but, I do know there are ones who can be quite negative while others positive in nature. Depending on the aura, area you're in, and what you own. There's only one life. No heaven and hell.

What determines getting to that haven or that hell?

What determines how we live in this life (regardless of the nature of our bodies) depends on what we do and how it affects others. Since there is no physical heaven and hell, I guess heaven and hell would be a state of mind. At least that's how The Buddha terms it (I have Buddhist morals as well as Pagan).

Is there any other tidbits of information that could be useful knowledge?

It depends on which paganism you're talking about. I notice a lot of what I believe is similar to African beliefs as they have heavy emphasis on ancestors and how they are between us and how they define god. I also notice we share the beliefs on how ancestors interact with us and so forth. I wouldn't call African religions paganisms; but, by default, they came way before Abrahamic faiths, so they are pagan in that sense.

 

[George-ananda]

There's more than one kind of "Pagan", dear. I'm Norse, there are Greek, Egyptian, so on so forth.

So what do Norse think?

 

[Nietzsche]

So what do Norse think?

There are a number of after-lives, depending on how you lived and died. The most well-known are the likes of Valhalla and Hel. Valhalla is the hall(halla) of the slain(val). Half of those who "died but never fell" enter Valhalla. Hel is where the majority of the dead end up. It's similar to Hades. It isn' a "reward", but it is by no means a punishment. For the average individual living in 9th century Scandinavia, Hel's Hall would be an upgrade.

The less-known ones include the likes of Folkvangr(Freyja's hall, where the first half of the chosen slain go), Ran's Hall(a place for sailors and the sea-dead) and finally the closest the Norse have to a Gehenna, a "punishing" afterlife is Nastrond, a place at the roots of Yggdrasil where you're chewed on by Nidhogg. To get to Nastrond you must be a coward, a murderer or an oath-breaker.

 

[George-ananda]

There are a number of after-lives, depending on how you lived and died. The most well-known are the likes of Valhalla and Hel. Valhalla is the hall(halla) of the slain(val). Half of those who "died but never fell" enter Valhalla. Hel is where the majority of the dead end up. It's similar to Hades. It isn' a "reward", but it is by no means a punishment. For the average individual living in 9th century Scandinavia, Hel's Hall would be an upgrade.

The less-known ones include the likes of Folkvangr(Freyja's hall, where the first half of the chosen slain go), Ran's Hall(a place for sailors and the sea-dead) and finally the closest the Norse have to a Gehenna, a "punishing" afterlife is Nastrond, a place at the roots of Yggdrasil where you're chewed on by Nidhogg. To get to Nastrond you must be a coward, a murderer or an oath-breaker.

Do you personally believe any of this?

 

[Nietzsche]

Do you personally believe any of this?

I'm not sure. I do not think it matters all that much. The important is here, now.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

The 18th century Deist Thomas Paine said that he didn't know what would happen to him after death but that he trusted that the God who had given him this life would continue to maintain him. That would be my approach and I suspect different people may have different futures: people may get what they expect.

Many pagans believe that some punishment after death may be due to particularly evil people, but this would not be a common thing, nor would it be like Hell.

Traditional paganism divides as to whether human souls remain in this world as spirits or whether they go to a different one. The "this-worldly afterlife" is found in Africa, East Asia, and parts of the Americas and it was also the general view in ancient Europe and the Near East. The "otherworldly afterlife" is accepted by some native Americans and was the belief of the ancient Egyptians.

In Africa, a distinction is made between the "living dead" and others. The living dead are the spirits of those who have living relatives they knew. They naturally continue to take an interest in their relatives and are remembered in the cult of ancestors. Those who have no-one still living that they knew naturally have more in common with other, non-human spirits; they take less interest in their descendants and they are not generally venerated. A similar approach is found in East Asia, where one remains in touch with those ancestors whom one knew.

Some deceased people become gods. In Hellenism, we call them heroes. The west African god Shango was originally human. Deification is also found in Japan and it's very common in China, where the deified humans seem to out-number the original gods.

Belief in re-incarnation as a normal procedure rather than as an exceptional event seems to be introduced into religion from philosophy. It first appears in Hinduism in the Maitri Upanishad (post 400 BC) and in Ancient Greece (where it never caught on) in Pherecydes of Syros (6th century BC). It is obviously incompatible with the veneration of ancestors.

 

[VioletVortex]

The Pagan community is extremely diverse, however, I will speak for my own views.

I don't believe in a Heaven and Hell style dichotomy. I believe that the concept of an afterlife is logical, however, I have no idea as to what the afterlife will hold.

Alongside a person living on in spirit, I also believe that a person symbolically lives on in this world through their accomplishments; their legacy. I suppose that a concept slightly analogous to Heaven and Hell can be applied here- one can either earn a good legacy or a bad legacy through their actions in life.

I don't concern myself too greatly with the afterlife, because I am in this world right now, and I want to make the most of my life here before I die.

 

[Aupmanyav]

1. Do pagans have an equivalent of a heaven and a hell?
2. If so, do they have an equivalent of a Sheol?
3. What determines getting to that haven or that hell?
4. Is there any other tidbits of information that could be useful knowledge?

I have always considered Hinduism to be a pagan religion, so:
1. & 2. Yes, we have a heaven as well as hell. (Wikipedia tells me that Sheol is hades, same as hell).
3. Deeds, and deeds only. Worship can help but it does not over-ride deeds.
4. The office of the designated God of Death, Yama, works according to set directions. He is helped by an excellent accountant, Chitragupta, who records the deeds of all people in the world. When a soul reaches Yama's office, Chitragupta provides the balance sheet, and the person is rewarded in proportion to his/her good deeds and punished in the same way for his/her bad deeds. Yama's assistants bring the souls from earth after their slated sojourn is over, the meritorious are sent luxury transport (Vimanas), while the sinners are dragged by their hair. The judgement is prompt, instantaneous, and not kept pending, as we do not have an end of time phenomenon.

 

[pandagurl71]

Heaven and Hell?
I am a neo-pagan witch who was a practicing christian for most of my adult life. I had a NDE in 2002. I no longer fear death or a 'hell.' There is a beautiful afterlife for all of us.