Underworld— A Place of Suffering in Many Beliefs

When life on this earth expires, many ponder on where the soul of a person goes to. A person is made up of three main aspects, the physical body, the mind or spirit and the soul. The physical body feels the physical pain and excitement, the mind feels the emotional and mental aspects of living in this world, while the soul gives it life and essence. Where does the soul go to after death? Does it go to a Heaven or Paradise when he had done good most of his life, or does he go to the Hell when he doesn't choose to be reunited with God popular to many beliefs?

The Underworld or Hell is a whole different realm that is present in many beliefs and mythologies. Some believe that it is the place of eternal punishment where the souls of the departed are sent either immediately after death and judgment or after a certain time being buried underground and the souls stay for all eternity or only for a very long time. Some believe that it is the place where everything had come from and everything has to return to after death with no punishment or negativities. Under the Greek belief, this is the place that lies deep beneath the earth or at its farthest reaches. It is where the souls of the departed go to and is made up of many different realms. The first part of it is the Great Pit of Tartarus which is the prison of the great Titan Gods and over time became the dungeon of damned souls. The land of the dead or the place where the neutral souls are sent is next and is ruled by the God of Death Hades. Even after death, the Greeks have believed that the souls of the great heroes of mythology are given a special place which is called the Isles of the Blessed or the Elysian Fields and is ruled by Rhadamanthys. In Buddhist tradition, the Underworld is made up of 8 Cold and Hot Narakas, which is their term for Hell.

The souls here are punished by different means that adhere to the Hot and Cold temperature of the Naraka, the higher the number the hotter or colder the place is and the more savage the torment is. But the souls that reside here only stay for a limited number of years but for a very long time and are punished according to the karma that they have done while alive. In the Christian tradition, Hell is the place where unrepentant sinners are sent. It is defined from the Bible and is understood literally, often referring to place of eternal flames that burn and scorch the souls for all eternity. Some sects of the Christian belief though still believe that there is salvation after death, whether the souls will be reunited with God at his blessed temple or he is sent to the Purgatory where souls that are neither good nor bad are sent and given trials to determine where he should belong. These are only some of the interpretations of the Underworld and many variations are still present in different beliefs.


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When the Shadows Began to Dance, Is a fascinating fictional story of Nelly Reyes, whose life is weighted down by "the shadows." She struggles with family crises and mental illness, until she learns that she has the power to unleash the chains that the shadows have placed around her and those she loves. http://alternativevibrations.com/index.html