Hell

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Hell, according to many religious beliefs, is an afterlife of suffering where the wicked or unrighteous dead are punished. Hell is almost always depicted as underground. Hell is traditionally depicted as fiery within Christianity and Islam. Some other traditions, however, portray hell as cold and gloomy.

Some theologies of hell offer graphic and gruesome detail (for example, Hindu Naraka). Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell as endless (for example, see Hell in Christian beliefs). Religions with a cyclic history often depict hell as an intermediary period between incarnations (for example, see Chinese Di Yu). Punishment in hell typically corresponds to sins committed in life. Sometimes these distinctions are specific, with damned souls suffering for each wrong committed (see for example Plato's myth of Er), and sometimes they are general, with sinners being relegated to one or more chamber of hell or level of suffering (for example, Augustine of Hippo asserting that unbaptized infants, whom he believed to be deprived of Heaven, suffer less in hell than unbaptized adults).

In Islam and Christianity, however, faith and repentance play a larger role than actions in determining a soul's afterlife destiny.

Hell is often portrayed populated with demons, who torment the damned. Many are ruled by a death god, such as Nergal, the Hindu Yama, or some other dreadful supernatural figure (e.g. Satan).

In contrast to hell, other general types of afterlives are abodes of the dead and paradises. Abodes of the dead are neutral places for all the dead, rather than prisons of punishment for sinners. A paradise is a happy afterlife for some or all the dead.

Modern understandings of hell often depict it abstractly, as a state of loss rather than as fiery torture literally under the ground.

The term Hell is derived from Old English Hel and ultimately from Proto-Germanic Xaljo. The English term is related to Old Norse Hel. In relation, surviving representations of Germanic polytheism in the form of Norse mythology feature Hel, the daughter of Loki and Angrboda. Hel rules over Niflheim.

Hell appears in several mythologies and religions. It is commonly inhabited by demons and the souls of dead people.

Hell is often depicted in art and literature, perhaps most famously in Dante's Divine Comedy.

Baha'i Faith

The Baha'i Faith regards the conventional description of hell (and heaven) as a specific place as symbolic.Instead the Baha'i writings describe hell as a "spiritual condition" where remoteness from God is defined as hell; conversely heaven is seen as a state of closeness to God. Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, has stated that the nature of the life of the soul in the afterlife is beyond comprehension in the physical plane, but has stated that the soul will retain its consciousness and individuality and remember its physical life; the soul will be able to recognize other souls and communicate with them.

Baha'u'llah likened death to the process of birth. He explains: "The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother."

The analogy to the womb in many ways summarizes the Baha'i view of earthly existence: just as the womb constitutes an important place for a person's initial physical development, the physical world provides for the development of the individual soul. Accordingly, Baha'i's view life as a preparatory stage, where one can develop and perfect those qualities which will be needed in the next life.

The key to spiritual progress is to follow the path outlined by the current Manifestations of God, which Bahá'i's believe is currently Baha'u'llah. The Baha'i teachings state that there exists a hierarchy of souls in the afterlife, where the merits of each soul determines their place in the hierarchy, and that souls lower in the hierarchy cannot completely understand the station of those above. Each soul can continue to progress in the afterlife, but the soul's development is not dependent on its own conscious efforts, but instead on the grace of God, the prayers of others, and good deeds performed by others on Earth in the name of the person.

Buddhism

As diverse as other religions, there are many beliefs about Hell in Buddhism.

Most of the schools of thought, Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana would acknowledge several hells, which are places of great suffering for those who commit evil actions, such as cold hells and hot hells. Like all the different realms within cyclic existence, an existence in hell is temporary for its inhabitants. Those with sufficiently negative karma are reborn there, where they stay until their specific negative karma has been used up, at which point they are reborn in another realm, such as that of humans, of hungry ghosts, of animals, of asuras, of devas, or of Naraka (Hell) all according to the individual's karma.

There are a number of modern Buddhists, especially among Western schools, who believe that hell is but a state of mind. In a sense, a bad day at work could be hell, and a great day at work could be heaven. This has been supported by some modern scholars who advocate the interpretation of such metaphysical portions of the Scriptures symbolically rather than literally.

China

In Chinese mythology, the name of hell does not carry a negative connotation. The hell they refer to is Di Yu . Diyu is a maze of underground levels and chambers where souls are taken to atone for their earthly sins.

The popular story is that the word hell was introduced to China by Christian missionaries, who preached that all non-Christian Chinese people would "go to hell" when they died. As such, it was believed that the word "Hell" was the proper English term for the Chinese afterlife, and hence the word was adopted.

The Chinese view Hell as similar to a present day passport or immigration control station. In a Chinese funeral, they burn many Hell Bank Notes for the dead. With this Hell money, the dead person can bribe the ruler of Hell, and spend the rest of the money either in Hell or in Heaven. There is a belief that once the dead person runs out of Hell money, and if he does not receive more, he will be eternally poor...

Christianity

Luke 12:5 records Jesus speaking about God's Judgment: "But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath Power to cast into Hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him." In Paul's letter to the Thessalonian church he describes a separation taking place: "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the Presence of the Lord, and from the Glory of his Power" (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)

Most modern Christians see Hell as the eternal punishment for unrepentant sinners, as well as for the Devil and his demons. Unbelievers are said to deserve Hell on account of original sin according to many conservative denominations. Sometimes exceptions are understood for those who have had extenuating circumstances (youth, mental illness, invincible error, etc.). As opposed to the concept of Purgatory, damnation to Hell is considered final and irreversible.

However, the foundation of the Christian faith is that it is the death of Jesus Christ, and acceptance of his love for us, that allows repentant sinners to avoid the torments of Hell and enjoy eternity with God. Various interpretations of the torments of Hell exist, ranging from fiery pits of wailing sinners to lonely isolation from God's presence. However, the descriptions of Hell found in the Bible are quite vague.

The books of Matthew, Mark, and Jude tell of a place of fire, while the books of Luke and Revelation report it as an abyss. Also, Revelation 20:10 (NIV) illustrates Hell as a "lake with burning sulfur". Our modern, more graphic, images of Hell have developed from writings that are not found in the Bible. Dante's The Divine Comedy is a classic inspiration for modern images of Hell.

Other early Christian writings also illustrate the anguish of Hell. These texts include the Apocalypse of Peter and the Coptic Apocalypse of Paul. Both these pieces of literature tell of the author being taken on a personal tour of Heaven and Hell. These writings tell of what the authors witnessed during their journeys.

Most Christians believe that damnation occurs immediately upon death (particular judgment), and others that it occurs after Judgment Day, which is written about in the book of Revelation. Attitudes by many Christians toward Hell and damnation have changed over the centuries, and most Restorationist groups reject the traditional concept of Hell altogether. These latter theologies allege the mutual exclusivity of barbaric portrayals of Hell with the benevolent nature of God.

Russian Orthodox Church mystic Daniil Andreev (1906-1959) described hell in his opus magnum Roza Mira (Rose of the World). His vision significantly departed from the Christian tradition, depicting an entire hierarchy of multiple Sheols different in appearances, purposes and relationships to human cultures and to 'diabolic' worlds co-existing with the visible Universe.

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Hell

To Hell and Back

In my wanderings through life, and on the Internet, I have often heard people speak about a place called Hell. Hello! Help!

In metaphysics they tell me 'hell' has to do with the lower astrals where demonic spirits exist. Oy Vey!

Again we must return to the old duality theory, Heaven or Hell, Who can tell. Where will you wind up?

Here's the deal ... Everything is either functional and balanced, or dysfunctional and out of balance. Lower emotional frequency people, mentally ill, fractured souls, existing in emotions of rage, fear, guilt, etc. will attract dysfunctional spirits and experiences. This is common sense and, as we know, the DNA programming of that soul. If someone is mentally ill and does not get professional help and medication, they exist in a state of 'hell' where 'demons' tell them what to do, self-destructive behavior patterns. Reality follows patterns. Follow the patterns. Think outside the box. View as a Watcher. Evaluate. Decide.

Is our 3D program the real hell? Is it a 'hell on wheels' synchronicity metaphor?

The Fire of Hell, Is it linked to the ... Creational Flame? Violet Flame? Flame and [DNA] Dragons? -- The Phoenix?

Is the devil ... the trickster?

How many people are truly happy? Are you? How many think they deserve happiness?

How many look for God to help them find divine enlightenment at the end ... of something they really don't understand? [most]

How many have had experiences with dark entities, especially when using tools of divination like the ouija board to channel? [not for the emotionally unstable] This also reflects in their art work. I see it in some Modern Art and cartooning, weird disjointed shapes and colors that reflect channeling from their darkest emotions.

How many people know how to protect themselves from psychic attack? [Shift your grid]

How many people, who go to church every week, know their destiny and purpose? [few, this goes to control issues and brain washing]

How many fear going to hell if they leave religious paradigms behind? [millions] But they're doing it anyway!

Are you born again? Actually this journey is a one-way ticket, but there are various meanings to this expression.

Can you go to hell and back? Many people believe they have after years of abuse .. and finally have completed recovery. Are you in recovery? Professional? Holistic? Both? A little love and compassion from the right partner can also help. Don't sabotage it away.

Let's go to Hell!

In many religions, after death, evildoers either suffer eternally or until they have paid for their bad deeds before reincarnation or redemption. In monotheistic religions, hell is often ruled by demons which torment the damned or is simply defined by an utter absence of God or redemptive force.

Many monotheists believe in different layers of hell, and that some are sent to purgatory, or otherwise sent to suffer in hell until they repent and seek atonement. Some believe that all sent to hell can accept redemption if they repent and seek atonement, but believe that there will be those who never truly repent in spirit, and even those who reject redemption and curse God for all eternity in spite of this.

In polytheistic religions, the politics of hell can be as complicated as human politics. Many Hellenistic Neopagans believe in Tartarus, which may also be considered a version of Hell.

Hell, as it exists in the Western popular imagination, has its origins in Hellenized Christianity, particularly taken from adaptation of the Hellenistic afterlife known as Tartarus. Judaism, at least initially, believed in Sheol, a shadowy existence to which all were sent indiscriminately. Sheol may have been little more than a poetic metaphor for death, not really an afterlife at all: see for example Sirach. However, by the third to second century B.C. the idea had grown to encompass a far more complex concept.

The Hebrew Sheol was translated in the Septuagint as 'Hades', the name for the underworld in Greek mythology and is still considered to be distinct from "Hell" by Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Lake of Fire and realm of Eternal Punishment in Hellenistic mythology was in fact Tartarus. Hades was not Hell in Hellenistic mythology, but was rather a form of limbo where the dead went to be judged. The New Testament uses this word, but it also uses the word 'Gehenna', from the valley of Ge-Hinnom, a valley near Jerusalem originally used as a location in which human sacrifices were offered to an idol called "Molech" (or Moloch).

It was later used as a landfill in order to emphasize the disgusting nature of its original use. Hebrew landfills were very unsanitary and unpleasant when compared to modern landfills; these places were filled with rotting garbage and the Hebrews would periodically burn them down. However, by that point they were generally so large that they would burn for weeks or even months.

In other words they were fiery mountains of garbage. The early Christian teaching was that the damned would be burnt in the valley just as the garbage was. (It is ironic to note that the valley of Ge-Hinnom is today, far from being a garbage dump, a public park.) It is argued by theologians opposed to hell but desirous to defend the Bible as a source, that a reference to a place on Earth where rubbish was burnt can not refer to any conscious after-death state.

Punishment for the damned and reward for the saved is a constant theme of early Christianity.

Hell appears in several mythologies and religions in different guises, and is commonly inhabited by demons and the souls of dead people.

Some accounts of Hell describe it as a series of numbered layers or levels. What the layers consist of differ from religion to religion, but the descriptions of certain numbered layers often coincide even between different religions. Examples of these coincidences include a layer of intense flames numbered 54 in several religions or a layer where the world looks like earth but is inhabited by demons; the soul experiencing it is never sure enough that it is in Hell to reveal their suspicion for fear of appearing insane, and is numbered 78 in at least 3 distinct religions.

R a b b i n i c J u d a i s m

G e h e n n a i s f a i r l y w e l l d e f i n e d i n r a b b i n i c l i t e r a t u r e . I t i s s o m e t i m e s t r a n s l a t e d a s " H e l l " , b u t t h i s d o e s n ' t e f f e c t i v e l y c o n v e y i t s m e a n i n g . I n J u d a i s m , G e h e n n a i s n o t h e l l , b u t r a t h e r a s o r t o f P u r g a t o r y w h e r e o n e i s j u d g e d b a s e d o n t h e i r l i f e ' s d e e d s . T h e K a b b a l a h d e s c r i b e s i t a s a " w a i t i n g r o o m " ( c o m m o n l y t r a n s l a t e d a s a n " e n t r y w a y " ) f o r a l l s o u l s ( n o t j u s t t h e w i c k e d ) . T h e o v e r w h e l m i n g m a j o r i t y o f r a b b i n i c t h o u g h t m a i n t a i n s t h a t p e o p l e a r e n o t i n G e h e n n a f o r e v e r ; t h e l o n g e s t t h a t o n e c a n b e t h e r e i s s a i d t o b e 1 2 m o n t h s . S o m e c o n s i d e r i t a s p i r i t u a l f o r g e w h e r e t h e s o u l i s p u r i f i e d f o r i t s e v e n t u a l a s c e n t t o O l a m H a b a h ( " T h e w o r l d t o c o m e " , o f t e n v i e w e d a s a n a l o g o u s t o H e a v e n ) . T h i s i s a l s o m e n t i o n e d i n t h e K a b b a l a h , w h e r e t h e s o u l i s d e s c r i b e d a s b r e a k i n g , l i k e t h e f l a m e o f a c a n d l e l i g h t i n g a n o t h e r : t h e p a r t o f t h e s o u l t h a t a s c e n d s b e i n g p u r e , a n d t h e " u n f i n i s h e d " p i e c e b e i n g r e b o r n .

Ancient Greece

Another source for the modern idea of 'Hell' is the Greek Tartarus, a place in which conquered gods and other spirits were punished. Tartarus formed part of Hades in Greek mythology, but Hades also included Elysium, a place for the reward for those who lead virtuous lives, whilst others spent their afterlife in the asphodels fields. Like most ancient (pre-Christian) religions, the underworld was not viewed as negatively as it is in Christianity.

Christianity

In Western Christianity , Hell is a place designed for God's punishment of the Devil, Lucifer, Beelzebub, or Satan, who is popularly depicted as a being or creature who carries a pitchfork (which in turn is actually a trident), has flaming red skin, horns on his head, and a long thin tail with a triangle shaped barb on it. This description of the Devil is popular, to the point of being a cliche' and nearly comical to most, but is not supported by scripture. Hell is often depicted as a place underground, with fire and molten rock.

Eastern Orthodoxy

For many ancient Christians, Hell was the same "place" as Heaven: living in the presence of God and directly experiencing God's love. Whether this was experienced as pleasure or torment depended on one's disposition towards God.

Roman Catholicism

The present Roman Catholic view of Hell is stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from Him for ever by [one's] own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called 'Hell'."(1033) Thus, Pope John Paul II said), "The images of hell that Sacred Scripture presents to us must be correctly interpreted. They show the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. Rather than a place, Hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy."

The Catholic version of Hell was described by Lucia Dos Santos, one of the three seers of the approved apparitions at Fátima in 1917, as follows, "Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent."

Most Christian groups teach that Hell is eternal. Some, however, believe that Hell is only temporary, and that souls in Hell cease to exist after serving their time there, and others believe there is no conscious Hell at all but the word refers to the decay of Earthly remains in the ground. Both these beliefs are called annihilationism. Others believe that after serving their time in Hell all souls are reconciled to God and admitted to heaven, or ways are found at the time of death of drawing all souls to repentance so that Hell is never experienced. Both these beliefs are called Universalism.

Latter-day Saints believe in a concept of temporary hell, commonly called Spirit Prison, for the disembodied spirits of the wicked awaiting resurrection. They also believe in a concept of permanent hell, commonly called Outer Darkness, a place of eternal emptiness after the resurrection for Sons of Perdition, those who are irredeemably evil to their core. While not fully universalist, they do not believe in a permanent state of hell for any soul who is at all susceptible to the light of God. A parallel may be seen here: Even as Hades has Tartarus and the Elysian Fields, so does the lot of the spirits of the dead comprise both Paradise (". . . today shalt thou be with me in Paradise . . . ") and Prison (e.g., the abode of the wicked who rejected Noah's preaching referred to in 1 Peter). Latter-day Saints might also believe that as the lake of fire and brimstone in the Revelation of John depicts destruction, and as both death and hell are to be cast into it, that therefore both death and hell must have a permanent end, meaning that outer darkness (Perdition) and Hell are distinct states.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Bible presents "hell", as translated from "Sheol" and "Hades", to be mankind's common grave for both the good and the bad, whereas "Gehenna" signifies eternal destruction.

The Christian idea of Hell is different from the Sheol of Judaism. The nature of Hell is described in the New Testament on several occasions. For example, in Matthew 3:10-12, 5:22 and 29-30, 7:29, 8:12, 22:13 and 33, 25:30 and 41-46, Luke 3:9, 12:5, 13:28, 16:19-28, and the Book of Revelation 12:9, 14:9-11, 19:20, 20:10 and 14-15, 21:8; in the Book of Revelation Hell is also mentioned as the "abyss" and "the Earth".

The Biblical descriptions of Hell tell about a place of darkness, fire, sulphur, an oven of fire, and lakes of fire and sulphur, where weeping, tears, gnashing of teeth and torment are eternal for those souls that will be condemned to live there. Hell is referred to as a place apart from Heaven, and implies that after the end of the world the Earth (or what it becomes) will be Hell, too (as well as all that it is not Heaven).

The population of Hell comprises of the souls of those who died without accepting Christ as their saviour, God's grace, in sin and without repentance, although beliefs on these categories differs among Christian denominations. Some consider the fate of righteous people who lived before the time of Christ (thus being non-Christian through no fault of their own) a complication, especially for the many righteous Jews of the Old Testament. In some traditions, these people went straight to Heaven despite not being Christians because Christ had not come and gone yet. In other traditions, they had to wait in Limbo until the Harrowing of Hell during the three days between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.

According to Western Christian beliefs, the Devil and his angels (demons), who are receiving punishment, reside in hell along with the souls of the damned. This doctrine is not part of Eastern Orthodox teachings. Yet, Matthew 25:41 mentions the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. According to the Book of Revelation, after the Day Of the Lord soul and body will be united again, and so those who were condemned to Hell will remain there physically, tormented by eternal fire that will never consume them nor be extinguished.

According to Luke 16:19-28 (Lazarus and Dives) nobody can pass from Hell to Heaven or vice versa, and fire is not the only tormentor, thirst being another, and more that are not described; in this biblical passage it is also mentioned that the souls that are in Hell can see those that are in Heaven and vice versa, but nothing is said of the sight of God; those that are in Hell can see the happiness reigning in Heaven, and those in Heaven do not feel compassion for the others in Hell. It should be noted, however, that Jesus tells this story as a parable, and its meaning may not literally define the existence in the afterlife, but instead serve as a lesson about the dangers of wealth and the unwillingness to listen to God.

As light and brightness were associated with God and Heaven, it is not strange that darkness was associated with Hell. Concerning the fire, some scholars speculated that the idea came from the fire consecrated to some Pagan deities like Adramelech, Moloch, etc., to whom children were sacrificed by throwing them into the flames; but other scholars, more recently, speculated that, since Hell is considered an underground place, fire was associated with volcanic eruptions; the idea that volcanoes could be gateways to Hell was present in the mind of the ancient Romans, and later of Icelanders and other European peoples. Some claim that the conditions thought to prevail in Hell are influenced by the generally hot, dry climates found in the cradlelands of Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike; these observers point to the fact that the equivalent of Hell in Norse mythology, known as Niflheim, is pictured as a cold, foggy place (the name itself meaning "home of the fog").

Medieval imagination added cauldrons inside which people will be "cooked" forever by demons and Christian demonology acquired a "terrifying" aspect concerning imagery of Hell. Medieval theologians were keen to portray all manner of hideous tortures, designed to inflict horrific pain upon the eternally-damned inhabitants of Hell.

More recently and to some theologians, the idea of an underground Hell gave place to the conception of an abstract spiritual status in an also intangible plane of existence, which is sometimes associated to a site in an unknown point of the universe or also abstract, but tradition continues referring to Hell as "down", meanwhile religion refers to it as the place of eternal punishment and torment, far from God's presence.

The Greek words "Hades" and "Gehenna" are sometimes translated into the word "hell", though the concepts are dissimilar. Martin Luther, for example, translated the word "Hades" five times as the German word for "hell" (Hölle) (for example Matthew 16,18), and twice as "the dead", twice as the "world of the dead", and once as "his kingdom" (all in German). "Gehenna" was translated by Martin Luther eight times as "hell" (for example: Matthew 5,22,29,30; 18,9; Mark 9,43,45; and so on) and four times as "hellish". In Norse mythology the underworld was a cold, monotonous place, which was commanded by the goddess Hel. Later the place was called Hel, too.

Newer translations of the Bible translate "Hades" or "Sheol" into the words "world of dead", "underworld", "grave", "crypt" or similar, but still translate the word "Gehenna" into the word "hell".

The word "Hades" of the New Testament is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "Sheol" of the Old Testament (Ap. 2,27, Psalm 16,10). What happens in Hades, or rather Sheol, Ecclesiastes tells us: "for in the Sheol, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." (Ecclesiastes 9,10) and "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. " (Ecclesiastes 9,5; see also Psalm 89,49; 139,8; Numbers 16,30). "The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the Sheol and raises up. " (1. Samuel 2,6). The souls of all human beings are going to Hades, whether they believe or not (Joh. 5,28-29; Job 3,11-19, 14,13; Ez 32,18-32; Ps. 31,17; Dan. 12,2).

Geenna (or Gehenna) is the name of a real place. It comes from Hebrew and means "Gorge of Hinnom (Ge-Hinnom)". This gorge can still be visited today near Jerusalem. In the time of the Old Testament it was a place where children were sacrificed to the Ammonite god Molech (2 Kings 23,10).

That cultic practice was, according to the Old Testament, imitated by King Solomon in the 10th Century B.C.E. and under the leadership of king Manasseh in the 7th Century B.C.E. and in times of crisis until the time of exile of the Jews in Babylon (6th Century B.C.E.). The prophet Jeremiah, who condemned that cult strictly, called the valley the "gorge of killing" (Jeremiah 7,31-32; 19,5-9). Gehenna became later a central garbage dump, to stop the practice of child sacrifice.

At the turn of the 1st Century C.E. the gorge was used also to burn the dead bodies of criminals after their execution. The imagination of burning dead bodies probably inspired Jewish, and later Christian theologists to translate that place into the word "hell".

The sea of fire after the last tribunal in Revelation 20,14 isn't translated into the word "hell", but sometimes gets the connotations of "hell". In that sea of fire are thrown the beast, the devil, the false prophet, and Hell (Hades) itself, along with evil-doers, according to Revelation 20,12-15. "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for aeons of aeons." (Revelation 20,10) Many people mistakenly assume "Ages of Ages" to mean forever, but Aeon is definately a fixed length.

Islam

T h e M u s l i m b e l i e f i n j a h a n n a m ( s i m i l a r t o H e b r e w g e, h i n n o m a n d r e s e m b l e s t h a t o f o t h e r A b r a h a m i c r e l i g i o n s ) . I n t h e Q u r ' a n , t h e h o l y b o o k o f I s l a m , t h e r e a r e l i t e r a l d e s c r i p t i o n s o f t h e c o n d e m n e d i n a f i e r y H e l l , a s c o n t r a s t e d t o t h e g a r d e n, l i k e P a r a d i s e e n j o y e d b y r i g h t e o u s b e l i e v e r s .

T h e m e a n i n g o f j a h a n n a m i s t o d o w i t h h o t n e s s ( w h e r e a s i n H e b r e w G e h e n n a i s s a i d t o m e a n a n a r r o w d e e p v a l l e y ) . T h e w o r d f o r p a r a d i s e i s " j a n n a h " w h i c h l i t e r a l l y m e a n s g a r d e n .

I n a d d i t i o n , H e a v e n a n d H e l l a r e s p l i t i n t o m a n y l e v e l s d e p e n d i n g o n t h e a c t i o n s t a k e n i n l i f e , w h e r e p u n i s h m e n t i s g i v e n d e p e n d i n g o n t h e l e v e l o f e v i l d o n e i n l i f e , a n d g o o d i s s e p a r a t e d i n t o o t h e r l e v e l s d e p e n d i n g o n h o w w e l l y o u f o l l o w e d A l l a h w h i l e a l i v e . T h e r e i s a n e q u a l n u m b e r o f m e n t i o n s o f b o t h h e l l a n d p a r a d i s e i n t h e Q u r ' a n .

T h e Q u r ' a n a l s o s a y s t h a t s o m e o f t h o s e w h o a r e d a m n e d t o h e l l a r e n o t d a m n e d f o r e v e r , b u t i n s t e a d f o r a n i n d e f i n i t e p e r i o d o f t i m e . W h e n J u d g e m e n t D a y c o m e s , t h e f o r m e r l y d a m n e d w i l l b e j u d g e d a s t o w h e t h e r o r n o t t h e y m a y e n t e r i n t o P a r a d i s e .

Chinese and Japanese Religions

The structure of Hell is remarkably complex in many Chinese and Japanese religions. The ruler of Hell has to deal with politics, just as human rulers do. Hell is the subject of many folk stories and manga. In many such stories, people in hell are able to die again, but no one seems to care about the apparent contradiction. (Note: the strong influence of Buddhism on Chinese and Japanese Hells means that this is not necessarily a contradiction.)

Unlike some opinions on Biblical, Jewish and Islamic Hell, the Chinese depiction of Hell doesn't necessarily mean a long time suffering for those who enter Hell, nor does it mean that person is bad. The Chinese view Hell as similar to a present day passport or immigration control station. In a Chinese funeral, they burn a lot of Hell Bank Notes for the dead. With this Hell money, the dead person can bribe the ruler of Hell, and spend the rest of the money either in Hell or in Heaven

Hinduism

In Hinduism, there are contradictions as to whether or not there is a hell. For some it is a metaphor for a conscience. But in Mahabharata there is a mention of the Pandavas and the Kauravas going to hell. Hells are also described in various Puranas and other scriptures.It is believed that people who commit 'paap' (sin) go to hell and have to go through the punishments in accordance to the sins they committed. The god Yama, who is also the god of death, is the king of hell. The detailed accounts of all the sins committed by an individual are supposed to be kept by Chitragupta who is the record keeper in Yama's court. Chitragupta reads out the sins committed and Yama orders the appropriate punishments to be given to the individuals. These punishments include dipping in boiling oil, burning in fire, torture using various weapons etc. in various hells. Individuals who finish their quota of the punishments are reborn according to their karma. All of the created are imperfect and thus have at least one sin to their record, but if one has led a generally pious life, one ascends to Heaven, or Swarga after a brief period of expiation in hell.

Buddhism

A s d i v e r s e a s o t h e r r e l i g i o n s , t h e r e a r e m a n y b e l i e f s a b o u t H e l l i n B u d d h i s m . M o s t o f t h e s c h o o l s o f t h o u g h t , T h e r a vad a , M a ha y n a , a n d V a j r a ya n a w o u l d a c k n o w l e d g e s e v e r a l h e l l s , w h i c h a r e p l a c e s o f g r e a t s u f f e r i n g f o r t h o s e w h o c o m m i t e v i l a c t i o n s , s u c h a s c o l d h e l l s a n d h o t h e l l s . L i k e a l l t h e d i f f e r e n t r e a l m s w i t h i n c y c l i c e x i s t e n c e , a n e x i s t e n c e i n h e l l i s t e m p o r a r y f o r i t s i n h a b i t a n t s . T h o s e w i t h s u f f i c i e n t l y n e g a t i v e k a r m a a r e r e b o r n t h e r e , w h e r e t h e y s t a y u n t i l t h e i r s p e c i f i c n e g a t i v e k a r m a h a s b e e n u s e d u p , a t w h i c h p o i n t t h e y a r e r e b o r n i n a n o t h e r r e a l m , s u c h a s t h a t o f h u m a n s , o f h u n g r y g h o s t s , o f a n i m a l s , o f a s u r a s , o f d e v a s , o r o f d e m o n s a l l a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i n d i v i d u a l ' s k a r m a .

Baha'í Faith

Baha'ís do not accept Hell as a place, but rather as a state of being. "Heaven is nearness to Me and Hell is separation from Me.", Baha'u'llah

Taoism

Taoism has a slightly nebulous version of Hell. Some claim it has no Hell at all, but, particularly in its home country China, popular belief endows Taoist Hell with many deities and spirits who punish sin in a variety of horrible ways.

Eschatology

Eschatology is a part of theology (End Times) and philosophy concerned with the final events in the history of the world or the ultimate destiny of human kind, commonly phrased as the end of the world. In many religions, the end of the world is a future event prophesied in sacred texts or folklore. More broadly, eschatology may encompass related concepts such as the Messiah or Messianic Age, the afterlife, and the soul.

T h e G r e e k word m e a n s " a g e " ; s o m e t r a n s l a t i o n s m a y r e a d " e n d o f t h e a g e " i n s t e a d o f " e n d o f t h e w o r l d " . T h e d i s t i n c t i o n a l s o h a s t h e o l o g i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e , f o r t h e " e n d t i m e s " i n m a n y r e l i g i o n s m a y i n v o l v e t h e d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e p l a n e t ( o r o f a l l l i v i n g t h i n g s ) , b u t w i t h t h e h u m a n r a c e s u r v i v i n g i n s o m e n e w f o r m , e n d i n g t h e c u r r e n t " a g e " o f e x i s t e n c e a n d b e g i n n i n g a n e w o n e .

ELLIE'S ARCHIVES 2006

ELLIE'S ARCHIVES AND ADVENTURES

ELLIE'S WORLD Trail of Tears, Queen Tiy, Feathers, Princess Dena, Sea Peoples

Trail of Tears

Dig Adds to Cherokee "Trail of Tears" History
National Geographic, January 24, 2006

Trail of Tears Crystalinks

Researchers discover 3,400-year-old artifact depicting Queen Ti MSNBC, January 25, 2006

Akhenaten was the son of Amenhotep III and
Queen Tiy, a descendent of a Hebrew tribe.

Queen Tiy wearing a double feathered crown.

Read All About Feathers

Princess Dena

Read this file with Music

January 22, 2006

Tonight I was contacted by the son of one of my clients, Princess Dena.

In the days BC, Before Crystalinks, I used to teach class here on a weekly basis. One of the regular students was a colorful client who went by the name Princess Dena. She lived in my area, was a few years older than I, looking young and having lots of energy, and spoke to the students about Native American traditions and her bloodline, which is where her title Princess derived.

Princess Dena was interested the spiritual sides of metaphysics, often joining Native Americans in different parts of the US, for sacred ceremonies.

Through the years she enjoyed many careers, including acting in Hollywood while in her 20's, where she met a famous producer, married, had a son, divorced and eventually moved to NYC. She had some very colorful stories to tell about the life and times of the Hollywood set in the 1960's and 1970's.

When we met, she had moved to Brooklyn, not far from where I live, and was active in all sorts of civic affairs. Her son had grown and was trying his hand at acting, which, as with most actors, he eventually gave up, settled down, married and is raising a family.

Always stylish in her fashions, her long dark hair coiffed in a stylish bun, Princess Dena had gone from selling women's boutique fashions to sales at FAO Schwartz toy store in Manhattan, where perhaps some of you may have met her in passing.

For many years we would run into each other on 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn and say hello. As with most students and teachers, classes are attended for a period of time, then student must move on to experience other teachers as their soul guides.

In February 2004, Princess Dena came for a reading in reference to her career as FAO Schwartz had shut down. It was only recently that she had returned to her job at the store, now working as a personal buyer, and according to her son, she was happy to be back.

Sadly, her son called me with unfortunate news. Saturday, around 7 pm, as Princess Dena was returning home from work, while crossing the street at 4th Avenue and 93rd Street, she was killed by a hit and run driver. For those familiar with Bay Ridge, this is near Dunkin' Donuts. I live on 4th Ave. and 101 Street which is not far away.

This morning at 3:33, Princess Dena woke me up. I immediately knew that we had been talking on 'the other side.' I thought 3:33=9-endings.

Princess Dena asked me to write down 3 messages to post, so I turned on the light, grabbed the notepad and pencil I keep in my nightstand, to write dream messages, as she began.

2. With my life ending so abruptly, I realize that one should embrace each day to its fullest, just as I did. I was never afraid to ride the NYC subway system for fear of terrorists attacks, etc. I was never afraid of death. When your time is up, so shall it be. Do not walk in fear.

3. Native American Prophecies are coming to pass as prophesized. The sacred ceremonies speak the truth of the next coming. My death came with a soft black cloud of smoke, rising, clearing, then the brilliant golden light of a new age shown to me. This will soon come to pass.

Thank you for reading this and listening.

After we spoke, I fell back to sleep, waking at 5:55 to the sounds of Native American chanting.

Everything Returns to the Sea

We go from last weekend's

Aquarius Meditation

to the sad ending of the wayward whale who

died during the Thames rescue
and the lessons we will glean from his journey ...

to the Sea Peoples who caught my attention while updating the files on the Middle East.

Sea Peoples is the term used for a mysterious confederacy of ship-faring raiders who sailed into the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, invaded Cyprus, Hatti and the Levant, and attempted to enter Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty, and especially year 5 of Rameses III of the 20th Dynasty. The term "Sea Peoples" was never used in Egyptian records, but has been popularized in the last century.

The earliest mention of the Sea Peoples proper is in an inscription of the Egyptian king Merneptah, whose rule is usually dated from 1213 BC to 1204 BC, although mention of individual groups does occur earlier (for example Denyen, during the reign of Amenhotep III and Shardana, as mercenaries to Rameses II. Merneptah states that in the fifth year of his reign (1208 BC) he defeated an invasion of an allied force of Libyans and the Sea People, killing 6,000 soldiers and taking 9,000 prisoners.

About 20 years later the Egyptian king Ramses III was forced to deal with another invasion of the Sea Peoples, this time allied with the Philistines. In the mortuary temple he built in Thebes, Ramses describes how, despite the fact "no land could stand before" the forces of the Sea People and that they swept through "Hatti, Kode, Carchemish, Arzawa, and Alashiya" destroying their cities, he defeated them in a sea battle.

He gives the names of the tribes of the Sea People as including: the Peleset, the Tjeker, the Shekelesh, the Denyen, and the Weshesh. However, because this list is identical to the one Merneptah included in his victory inscription, and because Ramses also describes several fictitious victories on his temple walls, some Egyptologists believe that he never actually fought the Sea Peoples, but only claimed the victories of Merneptah as his own, a common practice of a number of the Pharaohs.

A Sea People appear in another set of records dated around the early 12th century BC. Ammurapi, the last king of Ugarit (c.1191 BC, 1182 BC) received a letter from the Hittite king Suppliluliuma II warning him about the "Shikalayu who live on boats" who are perhaps the same people as the Shekelesh mentioned in Merneptah's list. It may be relevant that shortly after he received this communication, Ammurapi was overthrown and the city of Ugarit sacked, never to be inhabited again.

The abrupt end of several civilizations in the decades traditionally dated around 1200 BC have caused many ancient historians to hypothesize that the Sea People caused the collapse of the Hittite, Mycenaean and Mitanni kingdoms. However, Marc Van De Mieroop and others have argued against this theory on several points. Grimal argues that the kingdoms of the Mittani, Assyria, and Babylon were more likely destroyed by a group who dwelled on the edges of the settled lands called by the Akkadian word Habiru. Another argument Grimal makes is that the attempted Sea People invasion of Egypt that Ramses III foiled is now seen as nothing more than a minor skirmish, the records of his victories on his temple walls being greatly exaggerated. Though it is clear from the archeological excavations that Ugarit, Ashkelon and Hazor were destroyed about this time, Carchemish was not and other cities in the area such as Byblos and Sidon survived unscathed.

Another hypothesis concerning the Sea People, based on their recorded names, and on the fact that the pottery associated with Sea Peoples such as the Philistines and Tjekker in the Levant is of Mycenean derivation, is that they may have been formed of people involved in the Greek migrations of this period, either the Greek-speaking invaders (identifying the "Ekwesh" with the Achaeans and the "Denyen" with the Dananoi, an ancient name for the Greek people). This theory implies that the Philistines were part of this Greek-speaking confederacy.

This theory was recently revived by the archeologist Eberhard Zangger in 2001 (earlier in German) that the Sea Peoples were the early semi-literate city states of the Greek Mycenaean civilizations, who destroyed each other in a disastrous series of conflicts lasting several decades. There would have been few or no external invaders and just a few excursions outside the Greek speaking part of the Aegean civilization.

The city states were semi-literate in the sense that very few individuals could master the complex syllabary used to write Linear B and other written forms of the early Greek language, and, thus, relatively few documents were produced in daily life to bear witness to the fratricidal nature of the wars. In contrast, the completely alphabetic writing system which started to appear with the rise of Ancient Greece around 800 BC was relatively easy to learn and use, thus giving rise to the production of many documents, both fictional and non-fictional.

In addition to the foregoing interpretation of relevant textual records, the archaeological record provides a substantial basis to believe that peoples from central Europe and the Italian peninsula may have contributed to the Sea Peoples phenomenon. Pottery and bronze weapons of a distinctly Italic type have been found in quantity at excavations of structures built atop the charred ruins of cities believed to have been burnt to the ground by the Sea Peoples. Attempts have been made to identify certain Sea Peoples with Italian peoples; for example, some scholars have speculated that the Shekelesh can be identified with the ancient people of Sicily.

Additionally, brooches of a plainly Central European type, and amber beads, have also been found at some of the sites. None of these items appear in the archaeological record of the area prior to the Sea Peoples period. Also worth noting is that some of the knives and cups of an Italic design bear a strong resemblance to knives and cups unearthed in Hungary and central Germany, dating to the period 1800, 1600 BC.

One thing about the Sea Peoples is beyond doubt: following violent conquest, the Sea Peoples always burnt rich cities to the ground. They made no attempt to retain this wealth, but instead built new settlements of a lower cultural and economic level atop the ruins. This demonstrates a deep scorn and contempt for what these cities represented. It is unlikely that the traditional Helladic warrior classes would have so discarded the spoils of victory, if the writings of Homer are to be considered a guide.

A recent theory proposed by Holst and others is that the Sea Peoples, facing starvation, migrated from the Black Sea, in cooperation with the Phoenicians, seeking food and land upon which to settle. Supporters of the theory point to the Phoenicians being uniquely not attacked by the Sea Peoples, though this is more usually attributed to the Pheonicians and Philistines being the same people at different times in their history.

Textual and archaeological records show that Greek and Egyptian state structures utilized mercenaries from the north and west. It is possible that these mercenary groups eventually allied themselves with indigenous slave classes to bring down a number of complex but ossified state structures in Greece and the Near East.

Some scholars have tenuously identified the Tribe of Dan with the Danua or Denyen, one of the Sea Peoples, speculating that the Danites abandoned the Sea People confederacy and joined the Israelite tribal confederacy sometime during the twelfth century BC. Such an identification would explain the special enmity between the Danites and the Philistines found in the Book of Judges.

Reference

ELLIE'S ARCHIVES 2006

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