Tales of Lights and Shadows: The Mythology of the Afterlife

Tales of Lights and Shadows: The Mythology of the Afterlife

Future life
Mythology

This work offers a fresh approach to the traditional mythology and literature of the afterlife, centering on tensions and polarities in the afterlife concepts: bright vs. dismal, heaven vs. reincarnation, theocentric vs. anthropocentric heaven, etc. Presenting examples from virtually all the world's religious cultures past and present, this book puts the concepts clearly in the context of the worldview and social issues of that society. The author depicts the many rich mythologies of the afterlife from the ancient Mesopotamians, Japanese, Greeks of the Homeric era, to Christian views of heaven or the Buddhist western paradise. He explores views of the concept of reincarnation as well as the arduous preparation for the afterlife that must be taken in some traditions. He concludes by looking at the way varying views of the afterlife influence religious and even secular culture, and how in turn culture can influence the popular heavens and hells of the time and place.

Robert Ellwood

London ; New York : Continuum

2010

In that good night, what dreams may come? : myth, meaning, and afterlife -- Hungry and happy fields of the dead : gloomy vs. bright views of the afterlife -- The several homelands of the heart : abodes of the soul -- Circling paths, endless journey : reincarnation vs. eternal life in heaven or hell -- God or garden of delights? : is heaven theocentric or anthropocentric? -- Ghostly fear and love : the dread of ancestral spirits vs. respect and honor -- On the long march : community and religious solidarity vs. individual reward and punishment -- Amazing grace : difficult vs. the easy path -- The end of days : linear and cyclical time -- Common and uncommon faith : the afterlife in folk religion and the great tradition -- Retrospect : afterlife and culture.

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