Where is Heaven, and where is Hell? Those who have faith in such things generally regard Heaven as being somewhere in the sky, and Hell as being in the bowels of the Earth. This is, however, a recent development and, I suspect, has its roots in the observation that upwards means moving towards light—the sun—while underground is dark and gloomy.
The ancient peoples had one thing in common, despite widely differing beliefs. The ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Celts, Picts, the Maori, all believed (many still believe) that the paths souls travelled after death were underground.
Consider: in all the studied cases of reincarnation or past-life regression, nobody has ever reported a previous incarnation on another world. Always this one. There are no reincarnated Martians or Alpha Centaurians among us.
Air travellers, astronauts, cameras and other sensors sent to the moon, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and other floating rocks report no paranormal activity at all. I’m not one to study UFO’s but if they are real then I don’t think they have any spirit connection.
Mines have long had reports of kobolds (Germany) tommyknockers (America) coblynau (Wales). Knocking spirits infest mines all over the world. Goblins and demons are generally regarded to come from underground. Fairies—originally souls of the dead from Celtic lore—live in hills, in underground caverns. Haunted caves abound, while every tale from folklore describing things like vampires and ghouls describe them rising from the soil, not falling from the sky.
It seems we are tied to this particular ball of soil for the long haul.
Why? Is there some gravitational effect on spirits, just as on the living? Is it because this is where we were born, and where we choose to stay after death, or do spirits have no ability to leave this world? I’ll be disappointed if that turns out to be the case since I was hoping to travel extensively.
There is only one way to test this, and that’s to die on another planet. It’s not something I’d wish on anyone (well, not on many people) but it’s certain to happen one day. Especially if plans to set up permanent colonies on the moon or Mars ever come to fruition. One day, through accident or old age, someone will die on another world.
Will they travel subterranean passageways on their new home planet, or will they return to this one? Will the mines of Mars one day have kobolds of their own, directing miners away from the highways of the dead? Or will they all come home to the crowded underworld of Earth?
I doubt I’ll see the answer to that. Not with living eyes, anyway.
6 comments:
Hmmmm? I wonder how far away from the earth one would have to get.
How about the astronauts and teacher who exploded during blast off? I wonder if they are 'haunting' that space or did their physical remains, such as they were, tumbling back down to the surface bind them to it?
Has anyone died yet on one of the space stations?
Aircraft exploding in the air are the closest we've yet come to an off-planet death, and there are reports of haunted crash sites so I guess they fall back along with the bits. Does gravity work on the incorporeal? Maybe. Reports of levitating ghosts are very rare.
Off-planet death is eventually inevitable. What I wonder most about is what happens to those who die in space, say halfway between Earth and Mars. Will they be pulled to one planet or the other? Will they forever wander the void? Can they hitch a ride on a passing spaceship?
Something for future generations to worry about, I think. There's not likely to be enough manned space travel in my lifetime to let something like this happen. When there are off-world colonies, there'll be deaths from old age, disease and accidents, but not yet.
You say: "Consider: in all the studied cases of reincarnation or past-life regression, nobody has ever reported a previous incarnation on another world. Always this one. There are no reincarnated Martians or Alpha Centaurians among us."
But what if they are not recognizable to us or don't have a method to communicate with us - living or dead? Who is to say that the 'undesireables' that Ouija boards or whatnot call forth are NOT from other planets? Or that not all dust motes are really dust but perhaps alien space ships so small we can't even fathom it?
Oh well, YOU dis say to think deep!!! But alas, all I found down there were more questions not answers! grins!
That's the dilemma of science. Every answer generates a host of new questions.
Even in parapsychology, where we have few 'answers', new questions pop up all the time.
Nobody knows where non-human spirits come from. Perhaps they do come from other planets. Perhaps they can't reincarnate in our bodies, which would explain why they generally seem to be in a bad mood. Perhaps, on their planets, we are the demons.
There might be spaceships as small as dust motes, piloted by nanobeasties. Someone once had the idea that the moon was a huge hollow space ark, and that's how we arrived here. That idea has been shown to be totally nuts, but the concept isn't.
If you wanted to build a huge spaceship, as big as the Moon, you couldn't. It would take so much of the Earth's resources that the planet would be left as a husk. To make something that big, you'd look for a hollow asteroid, or one you could make hollow. Perhaps an asteroid containing some valuable mineral. You'd mine it, then enlarge the mines, stick an engine on the back and off you go.
We're centuries away from being able to do that, and it might never become necessary, but it's not unthinkable.
There are few things that can definitely be said to be completely impossible. A politician with a social conscience, or an administrator with common sense, are the only two examples that come to mind.
Shoot. I didn't get to spend enough time here and read everything. I have questions and comments. I'll be back.
I know, I talk too much.
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