[Countess]

I know within belief systems the idea of what happens after death varies greatly. I was wondering what you all think. Is there simply one place all souls/spirits go, is there a place for those who lived a good life & a place for those who didn't & what is it like? I am trying to sort out my own beliefs on this & just wanted to see what some others felt.

[Anaya]

WEEEEEEELL

I don't follow any set religious system, but instead have beliefs that are based on my encounters with spirits and what they have told me. Now, whether or not my terms and interpretation of what has been said is true or not, well, to error is human.

In the beginning, there were beings that were nonlinear. They would create their own worlds and do as they wished within. They could do whatever they wanted, create whatever they pleased, and be whatever they could imagine. These beings would become so enthralled with their created worlds, they wouldn't want to leave. Overtime, their powers (unused) left them, making them become mortal beings. Some became the plants, others the animals (including humanoid creatures) and were known as the linear beings. The brothers and sisters that still were nonlinear watched over their brothers as they began to live lives much different than their own. As time progressed, they watched a new life cycle being created, and found that they needed to be within these hosts in order to make the life continue. Some volunteered to live; others created new beings out of energy to inhabit the child hosts. As time progressed, they noticed that when they were 'reborn' in this way, they were cut off from their powers. Concerned, they began to work on giving the linear beings their powers back. Something during this process caused a rip through out the planes... Imagine a piece of lined paper. Every white space between the horizontal blue lines is a plane of existence. This rip is that one vertical blue line on the edge, shooting through all of them. The rip corrupted something or just created new beings--to be honest, I haven't been told if any of the spirits even know where they come from--that are referred to as 'the Source', and I'll explain why. This Source began to slip into the planes of linear beings and due to their... format, they were capable of sliding into the minds of the linear beings. It wasn't long until the nonlinear began to notice that their linear siblings were slaying one another without any motivation. The souls that were touched by the Source and failed to fight against them and eventually committing a form of 'linear suicide', (my term) which is the soul removing itself from it's host and severing all ties within (this some times results in an actual sucide, other times, just allowing the source to take over the body to do as it will), become tainted and what most people would title (lack of better terms for modern day) demons. In this way, demons are human souls that are 'fused' with this source contamination. In the opposite idea, there are the angels (again, lack of better terms for modern day) who are tempted with the source but overcome it through until their dying day. They have a taste for the taint without losing part of their will. The ones who are not touched by the source and reborn as linear spirits (human souls) that cannot leave. Though the process of returning their powers--which is believed to have triggered this rip--was a success, there was a high risk price. A soul had to be reborn a number of times before their full potential can be achieved. After so many lives, when they finally die and are reborn, they are again nonlinear beings once more. This is a rare thing as the source continue to contaminate and eradicate the potential people. Demons and Angels can be reborn, mind you, though it is harder for them to stay within a mortal host--and they will forget all of what they are--for the vessels that they take are not sized properly. Now, this isn't related in a history style, per say, but a tidbit to be known. There are 3 ranks of each spectrum (angel/demon) which are as follows: arch, (angel/demon), and fallen. Arch is a title placed before angel or demon to announce that they were in the stronger stage of rebirth when they became what they are. The normal title of angel or demon is the average soul that is now related to the taint, while Fallen are people resist the urges caused by the taint and become the opposite of what their new soul craves. A Fallen Demon may help the angels in the protection against the source while a Fallen angel may try to corrupt a mortal for create another demon. They all have their own levels that rank their power. The angels have Havens and the demons have Hallows (again, lack of better terms). The strongest are always from the first haven or hollow (and the numbers are small) and the weakest are from the higher number haven/hollow which I haven't encountered anything past 37 (who knows where it ends). When a spirit that will become either an angel or a demon is released back into the astroplane, they are all weak. The amount of time they spend as spirits and however long they survive determines their rank of haven or hallow. Generally, older spirits are in the higher numbers--thus have had the most time to further their powers--while newer spirits have only the powers they had in life as a starting point. Yes, it is possible for two spirits to die and start at different ranked havens or hallows (such as 17 and 22). There are eternal beings which I am not sure how to explain them exactly, but they pick a spirit that they wish to become part of, allowing them to interact within the mortals and spirits. It is as if they are not complete without this other half in order to have a life force or something like that. I don't know a lot about them cause I've only ever encountered three (one bound to a local; the other two on the astro plane with their counter parts near by). I am told that the gods of the religions do exist, but they exist like the eternal beings--though more... complicated. They appear when they wish to and they do as they please, but they cannot be trapped or coxed. They 'feed' off the life forces that allow them to and in turn, they give them the protection they can provide. I don't touch that subject because I don't feel it's right for me to know. Finally, there are the spirits/souls who are created by the other types of beings. They are known as the children of the metaphysical--metachild for short. They are unstable souls that COULD be born and should they hold on to the host throughout the linear life, they may become stable and be incapable of being broken apart and returned to the energy forms that they once were.

If you have questions, I can answer them to the best of my ability but that's the basics of what I know/believe from my past experiences. NOTE: Please don't dis my belief! I get really defensive...

[Countess]

Anaya, that's a really good reply! I love the metaphor of the lined paper. I have to say I do share  some of the same thoughts. Thank you for your input.

PS- I don't dis other's beliefs because I expect the same respect in return & until something/one/whatever proves to all humanity what actually happens beyond any doubt beliefs are personal & unique but no one has the absolute answer.

[onishadowolf]

I don't know, but I do know this; you decide what becomes of you after you die. If you think there will be a bright light and you go to heaven, than you do. If you think you go to hell for your sins, than that's where you'll go. If you think that you'll be ferried across the river of Styx by the boatman Charon to Hades, than you will. It all really depends on your view of the afterlife in the end. You make it, you create your own heaven, hell, or purgatory. There is no definite answer in my opinion.

My encounters with the paranormal, has lead me to believe in life after death, but not what it is for sure.

[chaoticpsyche]

I don't think I'm going to hell, or heaven, however, I'll probably be stuck in limbo watching the living and wondering when the beings will come to help us fade out of existence.

Although what little thought I have given to this recently hasn't changed my belief that there is no such thing as Hell, I have no idea what an "afterlife" would be, or if there is such a thing at all. There will either be one or there won't. Worrying too much about it is a vast distraction from the business of living the best life that you can in the here and now, and the sooner Man grasps that idea, the sooner we might achieve some semblance of world peace and harmony. Conducting one's life on the basis of some theoretical punishment/reward system makes a mockery of the concept of free will - how can your choices truly be free if you base them on something that might happen after you are dead?

I don't need a carrot or a stick to decide whether something that I am doing is moral or immoral. Anybody who does lacks a true self-identity; the works of William Damon probably express this concept better than I could, however.

[Moloch]

My beliefs are complicated to say the least. DV's assertions concerning free will and the whole possibility of post-mortem rewards is identical to my own. Beyond that, I believe that each person is a blank canvas, and that there is no 'God' per se, aside from the potential one within each individual.

That being said; I also believe that each person has infinite potential. We can each become God.

In my case, basically, the sky is the limit. We each will be whatever we want to be. I believe, due to experiences I have had in the last year when my parents died, in trhe concept of the human soul. However, I have no idea of the specifics of an afterlife. Hence my lack of concrete belief on the subject.

I'm going to die and be confined to a black room for eternity most likely due to my refusal to choose a concrete afterlife, lol.

[Anaya]

I'm going to die and be confined to a black room for eternity most likely due to my refusal to choose a concrete afterlife, lol.

Just know I will be waving at you from the room next door.