Questions tagged [afterlife]
For questions about what a being may encounter after death, such as a heaven, hell, or underworld.
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Do humans become angels when they die?
Where does the belief that humans become angels after death come from?
Who (which groups) have this belief? Is it an idea from other religions that has been incorporated into Christian beliefs? Has ...
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What is the original ancient Egyptian names for the "Book of Two Ways"?
After much research, I am asking for help with this matter. I can find no reverse translation for the "Book of Two Ways." Is it like the "Book of the Dead," a modern convenience ...
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What is the ancient Egyptian name for "The Book of Gates"?
The Book of Gates is an ancient Egyptian funerary text which describes the various bxn.t (gates), also known as a pylon (πυλών) in ancient Greek. I have been unable to find the full name of the Book ...
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What is Tír Jovincon in Celtic Mythology?
In a song by Eluveitie, called "Black Water Dawn", we hear about a voyage across the sea, a journey to the Otherworld. At the end of the song the place Tír Jovincon is mentioned. The question is what ...
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What is the Native American term for Happy Hunting Ground?
The web has only the English term, or other European languages
(most of those translate to "eternal hunting land", rather than "happy"). Frustratingly, even native storytellers use the English ...
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Why do Mormons believe they will become gods when they die?
The LDS scriptures declare that the ultimate goal of a Mormon is to become a god and procreate for all eternity in their own worlds.
Why is the goal to become a god in their own world and rule over it?...
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What is the origin of the 'Light' as a ghost?
As a ghost (or after death), it is popularly believed that you will see a light and that light will take you to the afterlife. Where, and/or when, does this 'light' emerge in folklore's history?
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Was Aaru considered part of the Duat (underworld) in ancient Egypt?
The sources I've found don't make a clear statement of whether Aaru was formally considered part of the Duat or distinct from it. I'm trying to understand if the deceased pass through the Duat and ...
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Why is the ferry toll for Charon placed in the dead person's mouth?
In Greek mythology, the deceased pays a ferryman, Charon, to take them across the river Styx. Apparently this reflects a common custom in the funeral rites of antiquity. Sometimes, though not always, ...
CommunityBot
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What sources describe the rivers of the Underworld?
Many stories about the Greco-Roman Underworld mention the rivers flowing through it: the Styx, the Acheron, the Lethe, the Pyriphlegethon, the Cocytus, the Eridanus, and sometimes others.
Sources ...
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Traditional beliefs regarding guardians of burial grounds
Many years ago (the mid-1980s) someone described to me a belief that a Christian burial ground was guarded by the spirit of the most recently interred body. For this reason, when a burial ground was ...
CommunityBot
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Why are the three Judges of the Underworld Zeus's sons?
The Judges of the Dead in Greek Mythology are Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus.
Minos was a tyrant king of Crete. He made war with Athens because his son died there. He demanded 14 virgin youths, 7 ...
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Do all (or most) religions believe in the existence of an afterlife?
I'm talking about both modern and ancient religions that we know of.
Christianity -> Heaven, Hell
Greco Roman -> Hades
Egyptian -> Anubis, Osiris
among many others. Are there any exceptions to this ...
CommunityBot
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Why did Charon collect a toll at the River Styx
Charon is known as the ferryman of the River Styx, letting certain people cross the river with a fee. Charon himself is well known for helping many significant heroes in multiple Greek legends.
He ...
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How was it decided which warriors would go to Fólkvangr and which to Valhalla?
I have read numerous times that some Norse warriors, upon death, would go in Fólkvangr, while some others would go to Valhalla. How was it decided which warrior would go to which place? Why did the ...
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Did anyone make it to the Isles of the Blessed?
The Isles of the Blessed, also called the Fortunate Isles, was a place heroes went if they successfully were allowed entrance to Elysium, or the Elysian Fields, three times (the Greek believed in ...
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Why were the Isles of the Blest ruled over by Cronos and Rhea?
As I was researching Isles of the Blest, I came across something very confusing. According to Maicar...
Rather, after three lifetimes, the souls of the good are conveyed to the Island of the Blest, ...
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Why were the lungs left inside the mummy of Herakleides, instead of the heart?
In ancient Egyptian mummies, the heart was the only organ that stayed in the body. This was because the heart would be weighed against the feather of Ma'at in the Hall of Two Truths.
The Romano-...
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Why are the "Fields of Reeds" the Egyptian paradise?
Aaru, the Field of Reeds was the Egyptian idea of paradise. Food was unlimited, and menial funeral statues could gather it for you.
However, it is described as a “mirror image of one's life on earth”....
CommunityBot
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How did Christianity come to equate the place of punishment and the place of demons?
In Hinduism, the cosmology works roughly like this: there's Earth; there are worlds above the Earth called Swargas where you go as a reward for good deeds; there are worlds under the Earth called ...
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Mythologies with a warrior afterlife, similar to Valhalla?
So I am currently researching into ancient war gods and goddesses of various ancient religions and also learning about all the various afterlives the dead go to.
I'm trying to learning something ...
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