Religion Wiki
Register
Advertisement

This article expresses a personal opinion about a religion or a topic related to religion. Please be respectful in your talk page comments, even if you strongly disagree with the opinions expressed here. You can, of course, write another article about the same subject. Different opinions are welcome on Religion Wiki.

Afterlife usually refers to "life after death", "eternal life", or something of the like of the soul. The soul is believed to be the spiritual part of the body that, as stated above, will live forever in the afterlife.

The afterlife has been a large part of philosophical, esoteric and religious thought amongst various human civilizations. Afterlives vary depending on the culture, philosophies and practices.

Nordic Paganism[]

Nordic Heathens believed in several afterlife locations. These were;

Valhǫll (Valhalla) - the hall of Óðinn (Odin), king of the Æsir clan of deities. Here gathered the men and women who were the most bravest, cunning and most ferocious fighters, that were slain in battle. They are called the Einherjar and will fight for the Æsir when Ragnarøk comes.

Folkvang - the halls of Frøya (Freya), a member of the Vanir tribe of deities and the wife of Odin. She also received a share of the men and women who died fighting. Even Þór (Thor) rules an afterlife hall called Þrúðvangr (Thrudvang). This hall is usually filled with some worthy warriors and mostly farmers and thralls.

Those who drowned at sea went sent to Ran's halls. She is a deity of the sea and hails from the Jötnar tribe of deities. The rest of the deceased were sent to Helheimr, an afterlife realm ruled by the Jötnar named Hel. Contrary to Abrahamic beliefs about Hel, Nordic beliefs stated that Hel is not an infernal realm of demons, tortures and brimstone, but instead is a frigid and dreary place where the dead reside.

Abrahamic Religions[]

In Abrahamic religions in general, there is a heaven, a blissful ethereal realm for those that are considered worthy. Then there is Hell, an infernal realm for those that are sinful, egotistical, self-aggrandizing and lacking even a small amount of humility. However, in Christianity, there is Purgatory which serves as a realm between Heaven and Hell, for the rehabilitation of souls who have done enough good deeds, but also plenty of bad deeds.

Other Afterlives[]

Gaelic Paganism consisted of the Otherworld, an eldritch afterlife realm from where the Tuath Dé (Tribe of Deities) hail from. Not much detail has been given on the otherworld other than it is blissful ream and filled with peaceful mythical creatures.

Hindus and some Buddhists believe that the soul is reincarnated into another animal (incidentally, people don't get reincarnated into plants, fungi, bacteria, protists, or abiotic objects) They will believe this cycle will continue, until you've proven yourself worthy of Nirvana, their ethereal realm. In this case, you'll lose your memory every time, until Nirvana, and the Hell is earth.

Some people believe in ghosts, which are the spirits of people who are on earth, either because they have chosen this way, or they have unfinished business. This means that Earth is Heaven and Hell at the same time. For Scientologists, when humans die, their consciousness is freed from the body and transforms back into an ethereal eternal entity.

Advertisement