Afterlife Dictionary

Afterlife

The life after death, the spirit world. the astral world. etc.

(See also: Afterlife , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

reincarnation: "Re-entering the flesh." Punarjanma; metempsychosis. The process wherein souls take on a physical body through the birth process.

Reincarnation is one of the fundamental principles of Hindu spiritual insight, shared by the mystical schools of nearly all religions, including Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism (and even by Christianity until it was cast out by the Nicene Council in 787). It is against the backdrop of this principle of the soul's enjoying many lives that other aspects of Hinduism can be understood. It is a repetitive cycle, known as punarjanma, which originates in the subtle plane (Antarloka), the realm in which souls live between births and return to after death. Here they are assisted in readjusting to the "in-between" world and eventually prepared for yet another birth.

The quality and nature of the birth depends on the merit or demerit of their past actions (karma) and on the needs of their unique pattern of development and experience (dharma). The mother, the father and the soul together create a new body for the soul. At the moment of conception, the soul connects with and is irrevocably bound to the embryo. As soon as the egg is fertilized, the process of human life begins. It is during the mid-term of pregnancy that the full humanness of the fetus is achieved and the soul fully inhabits the new body, a stage which is acknowledged when the child begins to move and kick within the mother's womb. (Tirumantiram, 460: "There in the pregnant womb, the soul lay in primordial quiescence [turiya] state. From that state, Maya [or Prakriti] and Her tribe aroused it and conferred consciousness and maya's evolutes eight- desires and the rest. Thus say scriptures holy and true.")

Finally, at birth the soul emerges into earth consciousness, veiled of all memory of past lives and the inner worlds. The cycle of reincarnation ends when karma has been resolved and the Self God (Parasiva) has been realized. This condition of release is called moksha. Then the soul continues to evolve and mature, but without the need to return to physical existence. How many earthly births must one have to attain the unattainable? Many thousands to be sure, hastened by righteous living, tapas, austerities on all levels, penance and good deeds in abundance.

See: reincarnation, evolution of the soul, karma, moksha, nonhuman birth, samsara, soul.

(See also: Reincarnation , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

force

Form of power, radiesthesia or energy, having the capability of operating on matter, on intellect, form, thought, behavior. An electric-like power source of the energy that carries communication and other phenomena between planes, i.e. life and afterlife

(See also: Force , Body Mind and Soul)

DEATH –

1. life’s other side, afterlife, discarnate realm of existence.

2. end of this life, cessation of the vital functions.

3. Tarot #13; transformation.

4. sleep; field of service and learning; entrance into fuller life; freedom from the handicaps of the fleshly vehicle; continuance of the living process in consciousness and carrying forward of the interests and tendencies of the life (Bailey)

5. that which is fixed, petrified, attached (Joseph Campbell)

6. process of dissolving ourselves to become more harmonious on another level (Michio Kushi) (NAD)

(See also: DEATH , Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

afterlife

A spiritual state transcending physical death. The continuing existence of a soul, a spirit, an entity following the death of its physical body

(See also: Afterlife , Body Mind and Soul)

Heaven

1)    The place where God dwells

2)    the spirit world

3)    erroneously, the afterlife, another name for Paradise. Judeo-Christian scripture speaks of three heavens. The first is to the atmospheric heavens of the birds and clouds. The second heaven is the area of the stars and planets. The third heaven is the abode of God.

(See also: Heaven , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Wicca: The single largest tradition within Paganism, which is earth-centered, celebrates the eight Pagan holidays, envisions Deity as both male and female (which it calls the God and the Goddess), practices magick, and believes in an afterlife known as the Summerland. The Wiccan ethical system is stated in the Rede and the Rule of Threes. The Rede contains the ethical instruction to "harm none and do what you will." The Rule of Threes states that whatever you send out from yourself will come back threefold.

(See also: Wicca , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

God/dess who guides souls to the underworld or afterlife

(See also: psychopomp , Magic, Shamanism, Pagan Dictionary)

Lifeline: Derivative of Hemi-Sync. Its theory posits an afterlife and healing dolphin energy.

(See also: Lifeline , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Egyptian Book of the Dead

A collection of over two hundred prayers, spells, and illustrations from the second millennium BC believed to ensure a joyous afterlife for the souls of the dead.

Knowledge or possession of these spells facilitated a verdict of innocence of earthly sins in postmortem judgment and provided protection against divine punishment.

(See also: Egyptian Book of the Dead , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

MITHRAISM: The Persian religion centered on the reverence of Mithra, god of Light. It emphasized the conflict between good and evil and the reward of virtue or punishment of wickedness in the afterlife. It was the principal rival of Christianity in the first three centuries CE and is believed to be the foundation of the concept of hell and Satan in Christianity.

(See also: MITHRAISM , Magickal Traditions, Magickal Paths, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Psychology of evil: Nascent Christian psychological philosophy endorsed by M. (Morgan) Scott Peck, M.D. Peck is the author of The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth (Simon & Schuster, 1979), People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil (Simon & Schuster, 1983), Further Along The Road Less Traveled: The Unending Journey Toward Spiritual Growth (Simon & Schuster, 1993), In Heaven as on Earth: A Vision of the Afterlife, and The Road Less Traveled and Beyond: Spiritual Growth in an Age of Anxiety (Simon & Schuster, 1997).

(See also: Psychology of evil , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

materializing medium

The physical medium supplying ectoplasm for visual manifestation, such as manifesting the face or the form of one who is in afterlife

(See also: Materializing medium , Body Mind and Soul)

Book of the Dead

Also Egyptian Book of the Dead (known to the ancient Egyptians as The Book of Coming Forth by Day.

A collection of ancient Egyptian religious and magical texts, hymns and formulas concerned with the ensuring the safe passage of the soul (Ka) through Amenti (the Egyptian afterworld).

The Egyptians believed that knowledge of these formulas, hymns, and prayers enabled the soul to ward off demons attempting to impede its progress, and to pass the tests set by the 42 judges in the hall of Osiris, god of the underworld. The soul passing these tests was allowed to mingle with the gods. If it failed the tests, it was devoured by a monster that was part hippopotamus, part crocodile, and part lion.

The texts of the Book of the Dead also indicated that happiness in the afterlife was dependent on the deceased's having led a virtuous life on earth. Part of the Book of the Dead is believed to have originated in the predynastic period of Egyptian history. In the 5th and 6th dynasties the Book of the Dead was inscribed on the sarcophagi in the pyramids of the kings and therefore became known as the Pyramid Texts. By the 18th Dynasty it was inscribed on papyri, which were frequently from 50 to 100 feet long and illustrated in color. These papyri were placed in or near the coffins of the dead and were sometimes called Coffin Texts.

(See also: Book of the Dead , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Heraclitus

(ca. 540-480 BC) A Greek mystic philosopher from Ephesus who wrote about the Word of God (Logos) in an obscure and oracular style.

 Heracleitus identified the sole deity variously as Zeus, Thunderbolt, War, and perhaps Fire. Although everything is in flux, all things are one. Only divine judgment is inerrant and sees that all is good; humans are woefully confused.

Heracleitus rejected religious anthropomorphism and ridiculed the mythographers. The afterlife would not be what we expect; Heracleitus did not say, however, what it would be.

(See also: Heraclitus , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Nephthys (Greek) Nebt-het (Egyptian) Lady of the house; an Egyptian deity, especially associated with the Underworld. Generally regarded as the daughter of Seb and Nut, sister of Osiris, Isis, and Set. In earliest times she is always Set's consort, giving birth of Anubis (Anpu). But more often she is mentioned with Isis, as the faithful sister.

She was the personification of darkness; while Isis symbolized birth, growth, development, and vigor, Nephthys typified death, immobility, and the fountain of all. As in the case of Mut and Hathor, the darkness spoken of was the darkness of spirit as the womb of cosmic space, and hence the association of her name and attributes with death and the afterlife -- death being the reservoir of all that has lived, and therefore the fountain of all that shall live in the future, the reproductions of the former.

Isis represented the part of the world that is visible -- hence the light or manifested part or day; Nephthys, or Neith, the part which is invisible -- hence mystical, holy, and everlasting night, the precursor of day, and dark only because its mysteries in their fullness are utterly inscrutable to human intelligence. Thus one was associated with the things which are in manifestation, the other with those which are to come, or which forever are and produce what is to come.

(See also: Nephthys, Nebt-het , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

psychological astrology (astro-psychology): Combination of horoscopic astrology (see astrologic medicine) and Jungian psychology. psychology of evil: Nascent Christian psychological philosophy endorsed by M. (Morgan) Scott Peck, M.D.

Peck is the author of The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth (Simon & Schuster, 1979), People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil (Simon & Schuster, 1983), Further Along The Road Less Traveled: The Unending Journey Toward Spiritual Growth (Simon & Schuster, 1993), In Heaven as on Earth: A Vision of the Afterlife, and The Road Less Traveled and Beyond: Spiritual Growth in an Age of Anxiety (Simon & Schuster, 1997).

In The Road Less Traveled (p. 273), Peck equated laziness with original sin,a condition that Christianity ascribes to the first human's act of disobedience to God. Peck stated that the lazy part of the self...may actually be the devil. In People of the Lie, which he called a dangerous book, Peck claimed that he had met Satan. He stated: As well as being the Father of Lies, Satan may be said to be a spirit of mental illness. In Further Along The Road Less Traveled, he asserts (pp. 186-187): Spiritual/religious ideas and concepts are necessary in the treatment of many people....I realized that there was no way to treat...people (with phobias) effectively without trying to convert them to a more benign worldview: a view of the world...as...at least...a place in which they....had some kind of protection in the form of God's grace.

(See also: Psychological astrology , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

The ability to communicate with those who have passed into the nonphysical or "died" gives a person a unique perspective on life and death. Working as a medium has blessed me with the opportunity to communicate with many in the spirit world. Often through the years, as clients have thanked me heartily for bringing through a loved one, I have found myself sincerely returning their gratitude for the opportunity to "meet" the spirits who came through for them. I have learned a great deal from these communications about the nature of life and "death."

Read more here: » AfterLife: Death is a Dream - What the Dead have taught me about the Afterlife

Afterife - Life After Death

An encyclopedia of different cultures mythology  around afterlife, including : Adiri, Ama-No-Hashidate: , Asamando, Asgard, Astral Plane, Avalon, Bralgu, Chalmecacivati, Ching Tu, Chinvato Peretav, Dilum, Djanna, Elysium, Fortunate Isle, Gwenved, Happy Hunting Ground, Hawaiki, Inkolwe, Isle of the Blest, Kevala, Khun-Lun, Ki-Agpga-Pod, Kotluwalawa, Land of the Moon, Lewu Liau, Limbo, Mizumu, Moksha, Mormon Heaven, Mount Kailasa, Mount Meru , New Age Afterlife, New Jerusalem, Nirvana, Otherworld, Sheol, Summerland, Tain, Tamoanchan, The Pole Star, Tlalocan, Tum and Valhalla.

Read more here: » Afterlife: Encyclopedia of Afterlife Mythology in Different Cultures

 Would it surprise you to hear that there are many people who would prefer NOT to believe in an afterlife? For many, the prospect of what they may face after death can be quite horrifying. "When you're dead, you're dead" is a way of looking at life grounded totally in the physical world and its body, but for many, this concept of life and death offers great comfort. This is because believing this way allows the individual to do whatever he or she wishes to whomever he or she wishes without having to worry about "paying the price" at some later time, in some other realm of life.

Read more here: » Spirit World: Heaven and Hell - Places or States of Mind?