Everybody agrees that one day we will all die, however after that opinions vary greatly. Is there an afterlife? If so what is it like? Below and on the next two pages you will find some people's ideas on what Shakespeare called the undiscovered country.

                            Afterlives

1. Adiri: Melanesian dead go to Adiri, the Land of the Dead. Some say it is an island, others say that it is a mountain located in the west
beyond the sunset.

The dead are said to go though a journey past dire obstacles and grim gatekeepers before they can enter Adiri where they will be young forever and free of pain. Those who fail to make it cease to exist. And even those who make it can fade from existence if the living forget them.

2. Ama-No-Hashidate: According to Japanese Shintoism there is a staircase that links earth to the afterlife. This is the Ama-No-Hashidate.

3. Asamando: This is the afterlife of the Ashanti people of Africa. They say it is just like an Ashanti village on earth, only better. No drought, famine or the like. Though the dead still have to farm and tend animals.

4. Asgard: The Norse dwelling place of the gods. It is a complex city of rich places, jewelled walls, and great banquet halls. and Valhalla. Like many afterlifes it is reached via a bridge.

5. Avalon: Also called The Fortunate Isle, this is the paradise of the ancient Celts. And was said to be a place of compleat timeless happiness, filled with music, feasting and dancing.

6. The Astral Plane: The idea of the Astral Plane has been around for some time. Here I am referring to the afterlife that is described in a channelled book titled War In Heaven by Kyle Griffith. (1988 S/R press)

In the afterlife described by Mr. Griffith the Astral Plane is as harsh and dog eat dog as the breathing world.

And you don't live forever but can only exist for as long as the energy you build up during life holds out (30 to 80 years) you then have to reincarnate or fade away.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! It seems that thousands of years ago a group of spirits found a nefarious way to prolong their Astral lives without reincarnating. They invented religion and appear to the newly dead as Jesus, Muhammad or even Elvis. Whom ever is mostly likely to pull them in.

They then continue to exist by draining the energy from those followers of that religion. (starts to channel Criswell) YES FRIENDS! Can you stand the horror of cannibal spirits who take the form of Elvis!

He calls the groups that do this The Theocrats. However they are not without opposition. It seems there are other groups of spirits he calls the Invisible Collage.

His basic suggestion is that once you die, if you are greeted by the Buddha (or Mary, or Saint Paul, or the Angel Moroni) punch him in the nose and say no thanks!

7. Bralgu: The afterlife of the Australian Aboriginals. When a person dies the soul is ferried to Bralgu in an enchanted boat that sails upstream where you are reunited with dead relatives and friends.

8. Chalmecacivati: If all the Rug-Rats were to die on one of their adventures this is where they would go, even Angelica. If they were Aztec.

Chalmecacivati is where the Aztecs believed babies and young children went in the afterlife. It is an earthly realm free of pain, want or human frailty.

9. Ching Tu: This is a paradise described in one form of Chinese Buddhism.

It is said to be to the West beyond the sunset. This is a place to take refuse from the cycle of birth, live, death and rebirth by entering thisland of pure consciousness, enlightenment & liberation.

10. Chinvato Peretav: According to Zoroastrianism after a person dies the soul stays with the body for 3 days. On the forth day angles of protection accompany it to the north to Chinvato Peretav, or as it is also called Al-sirat, or the Bridge of the Separator.

The bridge in question is as thin as a hair and as sharp as a razor and spans a chasm filled with monsters. At the foot to the bridge the
angels and some demons debated the worth of the dead soul. You can guess the rest.

11. City In The Sky: A common belief among a number of African tribes is that the dead go to a great city in the sky, it is like regular village
life only in reverse. People rise as the sun sets, and sleep during the day, men to women's work and women do men's work etc. The City is
connected to earth by rainbows.

12. Dilum: The oldest recorded afterlife is Dilum. We know about it from The Epic of Gilgamesh from around 2500 B.C.E. Dilum means Place of sunrise and is said to be a lush garden full of
fruit and game where favored souls live forever.

13. Djanna: Djanna or Al-Janna is the paradise of the Islamic religion. In the "garden of Allah" the faithful enjoy delicious food, fruit in abundance, and freedom from pain.

There also they indulge in everything that was forbidden on earth (I have to wonder why the hell was it forbidden in the first place?) In it flow four rivers filled with milk, water, wine, & honey.

Each inhabitant is served by Houri (it's where our word whore comes from) beautiful virgins with ebony eyes, creamy completions and purple nails who exist to serve their masters.

Whether this means Djanna is an exclusive men's club you will have to ask a Muslim.

14. Egyptian Souls, (Ancient):

Khat (Kha) - The physical form, the body that could decay after death, the mortal, outward part of the human that could only be preserved by mummification.

Ka - The double that lingered on in the tomb inhabiting the body or even statues of the deceases, but was also independent of man and could move, eat and drink at will. (There was both a higher, guardian angel like Ka and lower Ka that came from knowledge learned on earth.)

Ba - The human headed bird flitted around in the tomb during the day brining air and and food to the deceased, but travelled with Ra on the Solar Barque during the evenings.

Khaibit - The shadow of a man, it could partake of funerary offerings and was able to detach itself from the body and travel at will, though it always was thought to stay near the Ba.

Akhu (Akh, Khu, Ikhu) - This was the immortal part, the radiant and shining being that lived on in the Sahu, the intellect, will and intentions of the deceased that transfigured death and ascended to the heavens to live with the gods or the imperishable stars.

Sahu - The incorruptible spiritual body of man that could dwell in the heavens, appearing from the physical body after the judgement of the dead was passed (if successful) with all of the mental and spiritual abilities of a living body.

Sekhem - This was the incorporeal personification of the life force of man, which lived in heaven with the Akhu, after death.

Ab (Ib) - The heart, this was the source of good and evil within a person, the moral awareness and centre of thought that could leave the body at will, and live with the gods after death, or be eaten by Ammut as the final death if it failed to weigh equally against Ma'at.

Ren - The true name, a vital part to man on his journey through life and the afterlife, a magical part that could destroy a man if his name was obliterated or could give power of the man if someone knew his Ren - naming ceremonies in Egypt were secret, and a child lived his whole life with a nickname to avoid anyone from learning his true name!

The multiplicity of Egyptian thought is so different from the traditional view of western thought that it can be hard to imagine.

The dead man is at one and the same time in heaven, in the god's boat [Re, the sun-god's, celestial barge], under the earth, tilling the Elysian fields, and in his tomb enjoying his victuals.

-- Lionel Casson, Ancient Egypt

15. Elysium: At first the Greek afterlife was pretty grim. Just take a look at Ulysses's conversation with the resent dead in the Odyssey.

Later however they talked about the Elysian Fields. Which depending of the person telling about them are to be found on the Moon, Underground or elsewhere in the kingdom of Hades.

Most it seems are doomed to the gloomy afterlife that Ulysses heard about. However for the most deserving souls there is a secret road that leads to a land of endless delight. Where "souls take ease among the blessed groves."

16. Gwenved: Another Celtic afterlife. Some Celts believed that after a series of rebirths in which a different inborn evil is purged the perfected soul is at last let into Gwenved the White Place where one can experience great rest as well as earthly pleasures.

17. Happy Hunting Ground: Basically a white man's term for different Native American views about the afterlife. Mostly the Indians just called it the Spirit Land.

Among the Algonquian, Iroquois, & Cherokee it is said to be a place where both human and animals go after death and is a place of endless Spring and Summer.

However before a human can enter this place they must have lived a life in which they exhibited at least one of the three virtues of loyalty, kindness or courage. Those who do not make it are lost a wandering spirits. Those who do are able to help the living with advise.

18. Hawaiki: The people of eastern Polynesia believe in Hawaiki which means "our homeland." It is reached only after a long and dangerous journey. Most do not make it but die on the way. However for chieftains, warriors and other important people the journey is easy.

Though if you give another gifts to the gods they can make it. On the whole sounds like a bum deal to me.

Continued Next Page. . . . . . .