Myths of the Afterlife Made Easy by Annamaria Hemingway

Author:Annamaria Hemingway [Hemingway, Annamaria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978 1 84694 425 3
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing

Chapter Seven

Otherworldly Journeys

Many mythic traditions include stories of heroes, prophets, kings, and everyday mortals, who enter the threshold of death to learn its secrets and bring back messages for the living. But why does the human being look to images of the dead, imagined realms of an afterlife, and the stories of those on the threshold of death? Perhaps it is because only the myths of the dead can illuminate the darkness of death. In The Dominion of the Dead, Robert Pogue Harrison writes:

The primary reason why the dead have an afterlife in so many human cultures is because it falls upon them—the dead—to come to the rescue and provide counsel when that debilitating darkness falls. Why this special authority? Because the dead possess a nocturnal vision that the living cannot acquire. The light in which we carry on our secular lives blinds us to certain insights. Some truths are glimpsed only in the dark. That is why in moments of extreme need one must turn to those who can see through the gloom. (158-59)

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.