Theories Of Death And Afterlife
We all come from the Goddess,
and to her we shall return, Like a drop
of rain, Flowing to the ocean. (Z.
Budapest, 35)
Death in not an end; it is a
stage in the cycle that leads on to
rebirth. After death, the human soul is
said to rest in "Summerland," the Land
of Eternal Youth, where it is refreshed,
grows young, and is made ready to be
born again. Rebirth is not considered to
be condemnation to an endless, dreary
round of suffering, as in some Eastern
religions. Instead, it is seen as the
great gift of the Goddess, who is
manifest in the physical world. Life and
the world are not separate from Godhead;
they are immanent divinity. (Simos
[Starhawk] 1989, 41)
Regardless of their various
beliefs many Pagan's thoughts about
death, afterlife and rebirth are
informed by this story of the cycle of
the seasons. The story of the life,
death and rebirth of the Sun King is
used as a metaphor to describe their own
future. "As the Lord dies and is reborn
through the Lady, so do we. As the
Maiden ages to the Crone who becomes the
Maiden once more, so do we." (JMICALE,
10/16/93 [6] ) Just as the fall harvest
is reborn in the spring from the its
seeds, so also, for many, human
existence is or may be re-created in
some form at some future time. Ideas of
reincarnation as expressed both in the
published material and as posted to the
Internet are similar to but different
from those found in Buddhist and Hindu
traditions. For most Pagans life is not
seen as an evil to be avoided but as a
gift to be used and enjoyed. Instead of
viewing rebirth as a punishment for the
actions of a former life, Pagans see
rebirth as an opportunity to learn new
lessons and continue their spiritual
development. Some believe that between
lives each person spends time in some
type of non-material realm where he or
she can evaluate the lessons learned in
the past life and select the new lessons
and bodies for the next life. This place
goes by many names. Although "Heaven" is
seldom used, "the Summerland," "Isles of
the Blessed" and "Asgard" are fairly
common. While many may view this state
as an actual place, other recognize them
as a metaphor for something they can't
really describe. (lecuyer, 10/17/93) In
this intermediate state "you are at one
with the godhead/universe/whathaveyou
and you have space to think about the
lessons just learned, the lessons not
properly learned. You have time to think
about what your choices are for the next
incarnation will be, etc." (onca,
10/15/93) or "[the soul] based on its
past experience judges a plan of action
of the next life, and when it is ready
returns to the physical world by
selecting an unborn baby of approx. 4
weeks." (u9219722, 10/19/93)
Although some Pagans believe in
the continuation of personal
consciousness, many believe in a more
defuse afterlife. For example, one
network correspondent suggested "we
become like a condom filled with water
floating in a swimming pool. The condom
is there, but it has no real shape and
there's a sort of an exchange in and
around it of water" (vrauls, 10/16/93).
Another suggested "my spirit will return
to the Mother, and become part of the
Earth's Consciousness. I will join the
group mind, and that which was me will
eventually be born again, in a different
form." (WAHART00, 10/17/93) Several used
recycling metaphors to describe their
view of the afterlife, "[t]he psyche
merges into a greater collection of the
consciousness" (milmoe, 10/16/93),
"[f]or me, that means rejoining the
Infinite and being recycled into another
life or way of being....Energy never
goes away; it just transforms. That is
what I base my belief in 'recycling' (as
opposed to reincarnation) on. Who knows
if we come back as a person or come back
as the heart of a star? It's all
energy." (lynsared, 10/16/93)
We can see the expressions of
these types of beliefs in several forms:
personal responses to death and dying,
published obituaries and public rituals
celebrating the seasonal festivals. We
will explore each of these responses
beginning with personal responses to the
death and dying process.
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