I'm reading The Map of Heaven, a follow-up to the huge bestseller Proof of Heaven. Like the first book, this one was written by Eben Alexander and Ptolemy Tompkins; unlike the first book, The Map of Heaven makes more of an effort to understand Alexander's complex NDE and to locate it within spiritual and mythic traditions.
One particularly interesting section concerns ancient ideas of the afterlife and how they evolved under the influence of the Eleusinian mystery cult. The book relates early descriptions of the afterlife realm as a dim, murky region inhabited by joyless, half-aware spirits—think of the Greek Hades or the Hebrew Sheol. This sad underworld was a limbo of darkness and mist, in which even the most heroic figures were mere shadows of their former selves—enervated, muttering shades with only vague recollections of their earthly glories.
This depressing outlook was challenged by the Eleusinian mysteries, a secret cult that survived for more than a thousand years and was a major spiritual force in the Greco-Roman world. Some of its iconography persisted in later cultures. Indeed, its elemental mythic narrative—of a psychically wounded male hero guided by a mysterious female consort into a new realm of understanding—survives even today in the many movies and novels that use this story arc as a basis for the plot. (For example, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code ... or my own novella Chasing Omega.)
Though the details of the mysteries were a closely guarded secret and remain largely unknown, it seems clear enough that their purpose was to guide the initiate through a symbolic death and rebirth, while teaching that the afterlife, properly understood, was not a realm of terror or malaise but of joy. The mysteries had a powerful effect on many people, similar to near-death experiences in our era. The famed 1st century AD biographer Plutarch, who underwent his own initiation into the mysteries, writes about the afterlife in terms not much different from modern NDErs or spiritualists:
Thus death and initiation closely correspond; even the words (teleutan and teleisthai) correspond, and so do the things. At first there are wanderings, and toilsome running about in circles and journeys through the dark over uncertain roads and culs de sac; then, just before the end, there are all kinds of terrors, with shivering, trembling, sweating, and utter amazement. After this, a strange and wonderful light meets the wanderer; he is admitted into clean and verdant meadows, where he discerns gentle voices, and choric dances, and the majesty of holy sounds and sacred visions. Here the now fully initiated is free, and walks at liberty like a crowned and dedicated victim, joining in the revelry; he is the companion of pure and holy men, and looks down upon the uninitiated and unpurified crowd here below in the mud and fog, trampling itself down and crowded together, though of death remaining still sunk in its evils, unable to believe in the blessings that lie beyond. That the wedding and close union of the soul with the body is a thing really contrary to nature may clearly be seen from all this.
[Fragment from "On the Soul"; source here.]
A different translation of the same text is included in the postscript to this post.
The Map of Heaven covers this territory in an interesting way:
"Happy is he who has seen this," says the mystery text of the initiate who has seen through the terrors of death to the wonders lying beyond. "Who has not taken part in the initiation will not have the same lot after death in the gloomy darkness." That gray, grim realm bears more than a little similarity to where I started out on my journey: that elementary, mud-like "place" that in Proof of Heaven I call the Realm of the Earthworm's-Eye View ... It bears a great resemblance to the dim, swampy, lower areas of the afterlife as described by many ancient societies.
The realm of the soul is like an ocean. It's vast. When the physical body and brain, which act as buffers for this world while we are alive, fall away, we risk falling into the lower realms of the spiritual world: realms that correspond directly to the lower portions of our psyche and are, as such, murky in the extreme.
That, I believe, is what the ancients were talking about whenever they brought up realms of afterlife that were grim, dark, and miserable. And that's why initiation was so important, both in Greece and in so many other ancient cultures. Through initiations, people were reminded experientially of their true identities as cosmic beings whose inner structure directly mirrored the structure of the spiritual worlds that waited at death. The idea that the human soul is modeled on the spiritual world met that by following the ancient Greek injunction to "know thyself," one learned to know the cosmos that gave us birth as well.
Initiations were often frightening in parts because the spiritual world has its darker areas, just as the human psyche does. But mostly these rites appear to have been deeply affirming. The initiates knew that the rites they had experienced had prepared them both to bear the burdens of earthly life and to find their way back home to the higher regions of the world beyond when they reentered it at death. These were realities for these ancient peoples. What they had to say about them was based at least in some part on experience, which is why their writings on the subject can be thrilling and, for some people, terrifying.
But there is no need to fear. Once free of the buffering system that our physical brains and bodies provide, we will make it to where we belong. Even if we are not perfect (and I know a little about this because I certainly am not) we will make it to that realm of light and love and acceptance … It is, I believe, about being open. Open enough to allow ourselves to be pulled from the realms of darkness in the afterlife, which correspond to the sea of our own darker, dimmer regions, up into those regions of light that we all have the ability to enter if we want to ...
But there are people who are not open to that good, when it comes for them. When that light descends, nothing in them says yes to it. So they stay where they are—in the dark—until they are ready to be brought out of it. Knowing this ahead of time is invaluable. That's why, for the ancients, knowledge of the existence of the worlds beyond, and of what they look like, was one of the greatest gifts of heaven.
[pp 11-13; I broke up a long paragraph into shorter ones for easier reading.— MP]
I think there's a lot of truth in this, and that it serves to encompass both the "earthbound" and low-level entities encountered by mystical explorers as well as the higher beings. And I'd point out that some NDErs who report hellish or nightmarish experiences also say that when they prayed for help, or opened themselves to the possibility of rescue, they suddenly found themselves in a better place. Howard Storm's NDE is one example.
Increasingly I think that these negative experiences are under-appreciated, and that they suggest levels of the afterlife realm that can be most unpleasant. The natural temptation to focus on positive, reassuring NDEs (which do seem to be the majority) may have blinded us to the flip side of the experience, which can be equally important and equally real. The long-term significance of NDEs, then, can be compared to the cultural significance of the Eleusinian mysteries, which opened people's minds to a more positive vision of the soul and its destiny, and thus apparently made it easier for the newly dead to navigate the sometimes treacherous waters of the next world.
====
P.S. An alternative translation of the fragment from Plutarch's "On the Soul":
When a man dies, he is like those who are being initiated into the mysteries. The one expression teleutan the other teleisthai correspond ... Our whole life is but a succession of wanderings, of painful courses, of long journeys by tortuous ways without outlet. At the moment of quitting it, fears, terrors, quiverings, mortal sweats, and a lethargic stupor, come over us and overwhelm us; but as soon as we are out of it pure spots and meadows receive us, with voices and dances and the solemnities of sacred words and holy sights. It is there that man, having become perfect and initiated—restored to liberty, really master of himself—celebrates crowned with myrtle the most august mysteries, and holds converse with just and pure souls.
Oddly enough, it all puts me in mind of Van Morrison's song, 'Whenever God Shines His Light'.
That aside, I read once (forget where) that it is important to shed any state of depression before death. Perhaps blind optimism is the order of the day? :)
Posted by: Julie Baxter | November 15, 2014 at 07:41 AM
"What Dreams May Come", a movie in which Robin Williams had the main role depicted an afterlife which seemed to be based on similar kinds of afterlife reports. I enjoyed this movie, but it was not appreciated by the movie critics. I see that it is sometimes not included on lists of movies in which Robin Williams starred. Apparently the mainstream public is not ready to entertain such ideas of the afterlife.
Posted by: Amos Oliver Doyle | November 15, 2014 at 10:04 AM
\\Matthew 18:18 "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."//
-------------------------
I just want it all back. Everything and everybody I have loved and lost, I want it back. All the stuff and people that I have loved in this life that I have lost, been separated from, I want back. If this side is just a holographic projection and the other side is the original holographic film which our universe is projected from, then whatever is here should be there. I believe we get it all back. Whatever we have loved in this life is there waiting for us; and whatever we haven't loved isn't. I think it's as simple as that.
Excerpt from Mark H's NDE description,
"Suddenly I thought of a mountain, I had seen as a child. When I looked up from the road there it was; The Mountain! Not just the mountain! But the most breathtaking mountain I had ever seen!"
http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/NDE_Experiences/mark_h's_nde.htm
Posted by: Art | November 15, 2014 at 12:33 PM
The usually reliable Leonard Maltin rated "What Dreams May Come" a "bomb"- a rating reserved for the worst of the worst. I thought this showed a strange bias on his part. While the movie is far from perfect, it is imaginative and features beautiful production design and impressive special effects. There are some effective scenes and good performances, and the basic idea is highly original; it's not just another sequel, reboot, or generic action flick. It deserves at least two stars, maybe three. So why the "bomb" rating? I assume Maltin (or whichever contributor wrote the review) was simply turned off by the subject matter, which he found either disturbing or inherently ridiculous.
Posted by: Michael Prescott | November 15, 2014 at 01:18 PM
To understand the astral realms, a good starting pont is knowledge about our own subconscious mind. Dreams and synchronicities (being aware of certain coincidences) can be learning tools for most of us.
My question is: how much can we influence what we will perceive after moving on, by preparing ourselves in advance?
Posted by: Rossoli | November 15, 2014 at 02:47 PM
I like What Dreams May Come and I think some parts of it are probably close to true, or as true as one can get with what little information about the other side we can glean from the evidence we are allowed to know about the other side.
I wasn't crazy about the ending though (spoiler alert) where Chris and Annie are reincarnated to do it all over again. Yuck! After the life they had the first time why in the world would they want to repeat the heartache and loss they suffered? Who would want to come back to this life once they were in Heaven? Thanks but no thanks!
Posted by: Art | November 15, 2014 at 04:01 PM
Yes I agree Michael. I think the subject matter was just too far from mainstream thought for materialist reviewers to seriously consider. True, the movie is not perfect but there are some interesting concepts depicted in it. I think a movie like that must be difficult to put together so that it won't come off as a cartoon. I don't think it was a 'bomb', I just think one has to be primed to appreciate what the writer and director were trying to do. - AOD
Posted by: Amos Oliver Doyle | November 15, 2014 at 06:43 PM
Oh yes Art! Seeing the afterlife as a projection of our thoughts I firmly believe that we'll have *there* everything we ever wanted *here*!
Posted by: Luciano | November 15, 2014 at 06:52 PM
Art,
Yes, I would like to have it all back too. I just finished posting a couple of poems by Patience Worth about the afterlife at http://www.patienceworth.com/patience-worth-philolsophy and if we are to believe her, we will 'awake in yesteryear'. She continues by writing that "I do promise at the waking—old joys,and sorrows ripened to a mellow heart; and e’en the crime-stained wretch, abasked in light, Shall cast his seed and spring afruit!" - AOD
Posted by: Amos Oliver Doyle | November 15, 2014 at 06:59 PM
Art, I don't like the feeling that I have failed. So if I failed with something big in my life I think I might want to repeat that life in hopes I'd get it right the next time. Or even do that as many times as it took to get it right.
Maybe life might make most sense as a game, one in which we will - well, one of the things, but maybe a very important one - learn how to deal with failure, by not letting it get us down, or to allow this to compromise our principles, in a situation where we have no guarantees that such things as justice exist.
Posted by: Marja | November 15, 2014 at 09:34 PM
Michael, excellent and extremely educational post illustrative of the fact, I posit, that one's state of mind, or mode of thinking, at death is critical to the immediate experience of the afterlife, viz., the Tibetan Book of the Dead's requirement, or admonition, that the book's contents be read into the ear of the recently deceased continuously for three days after death. Three days also correlates with the Resurrection of Jesus and is supposedly the amount of time it takes for the soul to leave the body - one reason I do not believe in embalming or organ donation :-)
Posted by: JW | November 16, 2014 at 01:04 AM
Perhaps the ancients saw the afterlife as dim and murky with half aware muttering spirits because that is how communication from the other side seemed to them? They had Mediums that communicated with departed spirits and perhaps the messages they received seemed disjointed and difficult to understand because they were filtered through the mind of the Medium?
Fredrick Myers said about communicating through a Medium, "The nearest simile I can find to express the difficulty of sending a message is that I appear to be standing behind a sheet of frosted glass, which blurs sight and deadens sound, dictating feebly to a reluctant and somewhat obtuse secretary."
http://www.trans4mind.com/spiritual/myers1.html
One of the complaints of skeptics is that messages from the other side seem so inane and banal. With knowledge of the Universe at their fingertips spirits talk about Aunt Edith and her dentures or the last time you talked.
So it's no wonder that ancient people thought that spirits had lost their mind and the other side was dark and murky - because that is how communication with the other side seemed to them. They didn't understand that the problem was not with the spirits or the other side but with what separates this side from the other side.
Posted by: Art | November 16, 2014 at 10:38 AM
Art, I think reincarnation could be very useful for the soul (actually I think that the soul decides to reincarnate) if he/she wants to experience something in this life that it could not experience before (in another life). If I died at age 15, I would like to return and to know what sex feels like, what to drive a car feels like. Or what to live in Australia feels like.
Life is not only misery, it can be beautiful too, and I think souls decide to come here because they love what we can experience here: A dinner with our family, falling in love like it was the first time, being with the friends you love. That's what has the soul so enamored with *this* life here.
Posted by: Luciano | November 16, 2014 at 01:32 PM
This description reminds me a lot of what the writer Ursula LeGuin wrote of the afterlife in her "Earthsea" books. She described the afterlife as a sort of dim, murky place where all passion and emotion was gone. For instance, lovers who had died for each other on earth barely acknowledged each other with a nod. I thought it was very chilling. Those are excellent books by the way. They're in the Tolkien fantasy genre, but the author really explored life and death in very interesting ways I thought.
Posted by: Kathleen | November 16, 2014 at 05:49 PM
I'll tell you what Luciano, if you want to come back, be my guest but the only way they'll get me back here is kicking and screaming! I'm going to grab hold of whatever is closest and pitch a fit if they try and get me to come back here! Buy you go on right ahead if you want to!
Posted by: Art | November 16, 2014 at 06:08 PM
@Luciano: If we can experience our heart's desire on 'the other side' then, surely,we can have those experiences over 'there' too?
Posted by: Julie Baxter | November 17, 2014 at 05:48 AM
Great post and comments!
That is *very* interesting about the evolution of thought/perception from Hades/Sheol to what we typically call the Summerland these days. I have seen the actual Summerland in my dreams/visions, and I find Alexander's and Petrarch's descriptions to jibe with what I have experienced.
Posted by: Matt Rouge | November 17, 2014 at 11:23 AM
Check out The Road to Eleusis by Gordon Wasson and Albert Hoffman.
Posted by: Roger Knights | November 17, 2014 at 11:51 AM
@Art: I don't think anyone is going to force you back into this life in Earth. I'm sure you won't have to come back if you wish to stay in the spiritual realm. And you will reincarnate when you want to do it.
@Julie: Of course, but if I was to experience something new that belongs to the physical realm, I'd go first with the 'real thing' and then re-create it in the non-physical. But maybe that won't be necessary when we arrive there!
Posted by: Luciano | November 17, 2014 at 12:31 PM
"Check out The Road to Eleusis by Gordon Wasson and Albert Hoffman."
Wasn't that a Hope & Crosby picture?
We're off on the road to Eleusis.
Hey, look out, well, clear the way, 'cause here we come!
We'll drink a potion, skip our meals, grope our way through some caves -
Seems to us it shouldn't be so tough for our souls to be saved!
We're off on the road to Eleusis.
We'll soon kick back with Queen Persephone and Demeter her kid!!
(Didja meet her? Demeter? Nice gal!)
Underground we'll hang our hats with the bats all winter long
Then pop up in the springtime singing this crazy song!
We're off on the road to Eleusis.
'Cause like Philo Vance and Mr. Moto, we love a Mystery!
Posted by: Michael Prescott | November 17, 2014 at 01:01 PM
What's interesting with regards to Negative NDEs is that, according to the data we have, the majority of negative NDEers ultimately come to view the negative NDE as having a positive effect on their lives. Not in all cases, but certainly in the majority, the negative experience serves to disrupt old thought patterns and unhelpful habits.
I find it interesting that they eventually come to the realisation that the experience was beneficial to them in the final analysis.
With this in mind, maybe we need to think of the negative NDE as a confrontation with deep-rooted fears and character traits that the higher self/super ego (or whatever you want to call it) wants to move beyond. It's an extreme way of doing it, but perhaps necessary in some cases.
Posted by: Douglas | November 18, 2014 at 05:26 AM
Off-topic, here's a long NY Times Magazine article about James Randi:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/magazine/the-unbelievable-skepticism-of-the-amazing-randi.html?_r=0
Posted by: James Oeming | November 18, 2014 at 10:09 PM
I didn't read the whole article, but as far as I've read, it seems to portray James Randi as an honest person. But I don't quite trust him...
Posted by: Luciano | November 22, 2014 at 05:12 PM