# Reincarnation/Rebirth as a concept



## Ifritus (Jul 31, 2017)

Hi fellow scribes, I've another Question to put to the board.

So after the previous post about my worlds Gods and stuff... I've now decided that Yes, the Gods exist, But NO they generally do not ever interfere directly with Mortal affairs. (bar one exception) 

In my WIP there is heavy emphasis on a Trinity, that is the interlinking Forces that are Chaos, Order and Balance.

there are a total of 14 proper Gods, and Two Natural forces... (or Creation Gods i suppose)
all the gods are grouped together to represent a point of this Trinity.

one trio, (i still havent came up with a title for the overall groups) concerns Life itself:

The God of Life (Chaos)
The Goddess of Death (Order)
The God of Rebirth. (Balance)

So, my question to the collective... is how would it affect people to know that there is in fact life after Death?
I'm rather certain people would still be very attached to their current lives, and still fear Death?
and the god of life in my book isnt all love and happiness. his theme is that life is chaotic, and a constant struggle, and only those that prove themselves worthy deserve to live. ( so no alms for the poor from this God)

my plan is that, when you die, your soul leaves the physical Plane, and shifts to the Spiritual Plane, where the experiences of the life you just left are melded with your previous ones, and you are free to peruse these past lives as you wish, whilst of course you are in the Spirit Plane (which generally isnt for long, in the context of Time as a spirit) It is then Up to the God of Rebirth, to ask you if you learned the lesson he wished to teach you with that life... if you cant give him a good answer, he sends you back to repeat this life (say in your previous one you were an evil tyrant who tortured puppies, so for the next life he sends you back Destined to be the victim, and if you don't come to terms with the fact that you had no right to inflict needless pain on others simply for pleasure...rinse and repeat.

in this way, it is also an opportunity for Heroes to be rewarded after their sacrifice for the greater good... Rebirth generally offers Selfless people some measure of choice in their next life (it could be that the hero wishes to live a simple happy life)

but my general quandry is how the knowledge that people are in fact Reborn would affect them? i mean in the sense that... well the current KinG capital K could've been a lowly farmer in his previous life. 
In the Physical world, you have no knowledge of said previous lives...unless you are a Priest of the God of Rebirth... he allows his dedicated followers to Dream of their past lives in the physical. They also have the ability to, if they look into a persons eyes and concentrates, gain both a sense of the Entirety of their Soul, and their immediate past life.

Their mandate from their God, is to actually not use this power maliciously, but to instead help them come to terms with their lesson in that life. but of course people wouldn't trust that would they?

my first immediate thought is that this Priesthood would not be in the good books of any Leading Body i wand to put in charge? (theres a few Leading Bodies actually) The Collective Priesthoods of the Gods
the trinity of Sorcery school, Magic User Police, and an impartial council to keep the two from tearing each others heads off. then below them the general rulers of state, country, towns etc.

apologies for rambling again, this does seem to be a common theme for me when on a worldbuilding brainstorm.


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## elemtilas (Jul 31, 2017)

I don't think the belief in life after death --- there is no sure knowledge of this, we either have it on faith or we lack that faith --- will radically change much. 

Some people believe in a kind of life after death where previous actions determine the role they will play in their next lives back here in the physical world. Others believe in a kind of life after death which constitutes reward for "being good" or eternal punishment for "being evil".

Does this stop very many people from doing good and bad things in their lives?

I think at most, even for those with sure knowledge of some kind of reincarnation, it will only serve to nudge them into a deeper consideration of their present actions: is the present situation a test of some kind (well, of course it is!) and how should I approach the problem being presented? If the person choose the nobler path, and choose it consistently, then after these kinds of choices become first nature, perhaps that person will feel reassured of a positive experience in the spiritual world. Perhaps a cushy next life as a reward? Though it sounds like the god of rebirth might just send such a person back into the physical world at considerable disadvantage. As a character building exercise.


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## TheKillerBs (Aug 1, 2017)

Whether it be reincarnation or an afterlife,  a great many humans have believed that there is in fact existence after death. It doesn't seem to have particularly affected people's survival instincts, fanatics notwithstanding.


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## Vadosity (Aug 1, 2017)

> So, my question to the collective... is how would it affect people to know that there is in fact life after Death?
> I'm rather certain people would still be very attached to their current lives, and still fear Death?
> and the god of life in my book isnt all love and happiness. his theme is that life is chaotic, and a constant struggle, and only those that prove themselves worthy deserve to live. ( so no alms for the poor from this God)



I have often said that life is the most addictive substance on the planet. One breath of it and you never want to give it up! So I would say that regardless of what afterlife or re-live you have people will always want to continue their currant one (unless unbalanced). 



> my plan is that, when you die, your soul leaves the physical Plane, and shifts to the Spiritual Plane, where the experiences of the life you just left are melded with your previous ones, and you are free to peruse these past lives as you wish, whilst of course you are in the Spirit Plane (which generally isnt for long, in the context of Time as a spirit) It is then Up to the God of Rebirth, to ask you if you learned the lesson he wished to teach you with that life... if you cant give him a good answer, he sends you back to repeat this life (say in your previous one you were an evil tyrant who tortured puppies, so for the next life he sends you back Destined to be the victim, and if you don't come to terms with the fact that you had no right to inflict needless pain on others simply for pleasure...rinse and repeat.
> 
> 
> in this way, it is also an opportunity for Heroes to be rewarded after their sacrifice for the greater good... Rebirth generally offers Selfless people some measure of choice in their next life (it could be that the hero wishes to live a simple happy life)



My question would be- Is there a point to the reincarnation? What I mean is, is there some big reward for learning and living a better life than before? As I see it the one problem you might run into is a true motivation for your races to actually put in the effort. What is the point of learning if anything if life is chaos? As then nothing, you gain from you last life is guaranteed to last in your new one.



> but my general quandary is how the knowledge that people are in fact Reborn would affect them? I mean in the sense that... well the current KinG capital K could've been a lowly farmer in his previous life.
> In the Physical world, you have no knowledge of said previous lives...unless you are a Priest of the God of Rebirth... he allows his dedicated followers to Dream of their past lives in the physical. They also have the ability to, if they look into a persons eyes and concentrates, gain both a sense of the Entirety of their Soul, and their immediate past life.
> 
> Their mandate from their God, is to actually not use this power maliciously, but to instead help them come to terms with their lesson in that life. but of course people wouldn't trust that would they?



I don't know about that. I would think that is this is the basis of your religion then you will have your normal range of believers from the  non-believers to the solid, go to the place of worship every "Sunday" and have the belief around them to the avid rabid followers. 



> my first immediate thought is that this Priesthood would not be in the good books of any Leading Body i wand to put in charge? (theres a few Leading Bodies actually) The Collective Priesthoods of the Gods
> the trinity of Sorcery school, Magic User Police, and an impartial council to keep the two from tearing each others heads off. then below them the general rulers of state, country, towns etc.



Why though? Do they interfear with the running of the system? Or is the whole thing a bit like the Dissolution of the Monasteries with King Henry VIII? I see little reason that they would be unliked unless they were gathering power towards themsleves.


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## Ifritus (Aug 1, 2017)

elemtilas said:


> I don't think the belief in life after death --- there is no sure knowledge of this, we either have it on faith or we lack that faith --- will radically change much.
> 
> Some people believe in a kind of life after death where previous actions determine the role they will play in their next lives back here in the physical world. Others believe in a kind of life after death which constitutes reward for "being good" or eternal punishment for "being evil".
> 
> ...



I think I understand, so what while they are Told that they will be reborn... not everyone will take this to heart... perhaps even the most Devout of His Priests?

the actions of previous influencing the next are kind of what Im leaning towards... the rebirth thing is kind of a fledgeling concept that came to mind as i was creating my first "draft" of creation myth lore... which so far is very Rote and boring to be honest... ive realised now that its totally devoid of conflict! which also, i havent really thought of yet what the Game of the Gods will actually be since theyve decided to take a back seat on the daily running of things... just haven't worked out why yet!

and yeah! that's one of the thing I was hoping for, Conviction! i think i might lean away from the "lesson per life" thing... and instead make it a lesson as a whole?... which does bring me to the other point of conflict with rebirth... their "opposite" trinity if you will to life, death and rebirth...the God of Choice & Chance, Goddess of Destiny, and the God of Wisdom & Judgement. 

I think it might make for an interesting point of conflict if the goddess has a design for someone, but Rebirth puts them at a disadvantage to fulfil said destinty... then there's the pesky thing called Free Will. (rambling again) 



Vadosity said:


> I have often said that life is the most addictive substance on the planet. One breath of it and you never want to give it up! So I would say that regardless of what afterlife or re-live you have people will always want to continue their currant one (unless unbalanced).
> 
> 
> 
> ...




1 - this is true... so their overall attitude would be they would fight to stay alive...especially with my god of Life's survival of the fittest theme?

2 - yeah as I've said above to Elemtilas... i haven't really fleshed out the purpose yet... since it would have to work into the purpose of the gods?

3- well regardless of the fact that rebirth is a true fact in the world, though not everyone would believe it... would a monarch truly trust the Priests to keep their knowledge of his past lives/true motivations/soul laid bare to the masses (they aren't allowed to, but would he trust that?)

maybe I'm just looking at it the wrong way... as you say Why? perhaps the flip side of the coin is that the Rulers always have a Rebirth Priest as a Spiritual Advisor? (ooh i like that idea cause it gives me the opportunity for some character depth)

see I've came up with the idea (during the previous post actually) where someone posed the question of what people gain from worhsipping one god/goddess over the other... and my Answer is that they gain acess to their Gods power. But the catch is only people who Are or couldve been Sorcerers can actually use said power... and they have to give up access to "normal" magic as well... there is some synergy there... since it could be that the User already had a talent for maniplation of water/force energies... so doesnt really lose much by plegding himself to the Sea God.

the Conflict of interest stems from the backstory where Magic Users nearly broke the world, and as such are forbidden from holding positions of genuine authority... are widely mistrusted... and are forbidden from using magic in combat unless under conscription to the army under order of the "Ruling Bodies"
----
so i do have a lot of nit picking to do... first and foremost to figure out the Motive of the Gods...which helps me solve the WHY for the rebirth...


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## Michael K. Eidson (Aug 1, 2017)

Ifritus said:


> ... my general quandry is how the knowledge that people are in fact Reborn would affect them? ...



Well, you could ask someone who practices Hinduism or Brahmanism.


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## Vadosity (Aug 1, 2017)

Ifritus said:


> 1 - this is true... so their overall attitude would be they would fight to stay alive...especially with my god of Life's survival of the fittest theme?



Yes! I would. I mean given the world you have made they humanity is going to have a "fight for what is mine" mentality, which will bleed over into what is always theirs - their life. 



> 2 - yeah as I've said above to Elemtilas... i haven't really fleshed out the purpose yet... since it would have to work into the purpose of the gods?



Or.... To the humans? This is just an idea of the top of my head so please feel free to dismiss at will, but what happens if your gods are gods of more than one place? But rather they come, create, lead the people to a goal - some kind of nirvana or perfect world (not afterlife) at which point they will move on and do the same thing again. This also answers the need for a reason for the people to follow the ways set out as who would not want a perfect world? Or even better, what about those who don't want that outcome to come about? 


> 3- well regardless of the fact that rebirth is a true fact in the world, though not everyone would believe it... would a monarch truly trust the Priests to keep their knowledge of his past lives/true motivations/soul laid bare to the masses (they aren't allowed to, but would he trust that?)



I am more of a heaven kind of gal...  Maybe. maybe not. There could be bonds, links, contracts to make sure that they can't spill the beans. If you want a way around that possibility there are ways. On the other hand, maybe one priest does spill the beans and your story is about the after effects of this bean spilling? 



> maybe I'm just looking at it the wrong way... as you say Why? perhaps the flip side of the coin is that the Rulers always have a Rebirth Priest as a Spiritual Advisor? (ooh i like that idea cause it gives me the opportunity for some character depth)
> 
> see I've came up with the idea (during the previous post actually) where someone posed the question of what people gain from worhsipping one god/goddess over the other... and my Answer is that they gain acess to their Gods power. But the catch is only people who Are or couldve been Sorcerers can actually use said power... and they have to give up access to "normal" magic as well... there is some synergy there... since it could be that the User already had a talent for maniplation of water/force energies... so doesnt really lose much by plegding himself to the Sea God.
> 
> ...



I like the idea of the Kings having chosen advisers. It has worked really well in some other series that I have read and it creates a nice way of easily viewing the internal thoughts of a character as they "share" with their adviser. 

I think that having the God/Power thing could work but maybe not so much with the limitations set with the magic thing. That leaves a large part of your worlds populous without much of a reason to be worshipping any of the gods.


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## Ifritus (Aug 2, 2017)

Michael K. Eidson said:


> Well, you could ask someone who practices Hinduism or Brahmanism.



as always the best answer is usually the simplest one 



Vadosity said:


> Yes! I would. I mean given the world you have made they humanity is going to have a "fight for what is mine" mentality,
> which will bleed over into what is always theirs - their life.



So there is an interesting question... if its survival of the fittest, would that then mean that someone who has managed to survive in this world AS someone who has nothing... has more of a right to live than the ones who start out with everything? hm... Insert interesting character here 




Vadosity said:


> Or.... To the humans? This is just an idea of the top of my head so please feel free to dismiss at will,
> but what happens if your gods are gods of more than one place? But rather they come, create, lead the people to a goal
> - some kind of nirvana or perfect world (not afterlife) at which point they will move on and do the same thing again.
> This also answers the need for a reason for the people to follow the ways set out as who would not want a perfect world? Or even better,
> what about those who don't want that outcome to come about?



not at all i welcome all ideas! but yeah definitely need to think on the End Goal for the rebirth thing... but One possible motive for wanting to get in the Gods Goodbooks... is that in the Rarest of Circumstances... Humans have been gifted with Demi Godhood after death. This is perhaps more of a motive for the Devout though, because being A Demi God, Essentially takes your Soul out of the Cycle, so that you may Serve whichever Deity, in your own fashion, for Eternity. And as an added Rub... each God/Goddess can only have one Ascendant at a time.
so this could act as a point of conflict since these spots are a finite resource/reward...

my current line of thought is having each trinity... still have one "space" left... so 4 potential rewards... but then that's 8 slots filled in the space of like 12,000 years of history! (just ask The Chronicler, Ascendant to the Goddess of Destiny)



Vadosity said:


> I am more of a heaven kind of gal...  Maybe. maybe not. There could be bonds, links, contracts to make sure that they can't spill the beans.
> If you want a way around that possibility there are ways. On the other hand, maybe one priest does spill the beans and your
> story is about the after effects of this bean spilling?



I think I've got a nice clear idea here for one of the "Rules" that the Gods decide as part of their game... they cannot Act before something has happened... they can only react... and again not directly, unless It's Dire Circumstances... such as a Devout Priest spilling his beans... so that could work! since the priest would know that they are exempt from punishment until
they do actually as you say "spill the beans" (oh look... the king is actually the current life of the most Evil Souls in existence and he wants to Destroy Everything!) 

and I would probably go the Subtler route for punishment too... id have Rebirth maybe force the priest to See the really bad future life he has planned for his betrayal, or something along those lines




Vadosity said:


> I like the idea of the Kings having chosen advisers. It has worked really well in some other series that I have read and it creates a nice way of easily viewing
> the internal thoughts of a character as they "share" with their adviser.
> 
> I think that having the God/Power thing could work but maybe not so much with the limitations set with the magic thing.
> That leaves a large part of your worlds populous without much of a reason to be worshipping any of the gods.



I do too! it clicks with me more so than the priests being self serving... although as my train of thought went above it could work... but then Something would  have to happen to make the priest lose faith? which takes us to your Heaven/Hell idea...

OOH brainstorming incoming... Cheers for pointing that simple fact out Vado! 
so YES, that would cut off a large portion of the People from direct benefits.. but What if it was not always this way? (so before the Event, I'd say pretty much 80% of the population had the potential to be a Magic User... though not of sufficient strength for it to manifest on its own, so it would be hidden? then after the event, people actively avoided, hated and feared Sorcerers
were punished themselves for mating with them, and even immediately after the event resorted to a Salem style witch hunt... until people realized that it would be a good idea to keep the magic people around, just keep an eye on them.

so by the timeframe of the WIP, the potential for magic is greatly reduced...to say 5-10% of the population (point in check here... two sorcerers 90% of the time breed a non user... Balance you see, but a Sorc and a Normal 90% of the time, breed a magic User)

so perhaps again this is a chance for some uprising? someone discovers Lore or a book referencing the time where almost all the worhsippers of a particular god reaped the rewards directly and not just the upper priesthood... (so normal magical potential has nothing to do with potential with God magic... its as long as they Could Have?)

fast forward the plot and the revolutionaries discover that the entire Spiritual Leadership...is in fact all Sorcerers (gasp horror) 
now i Just need to start brainstorming the story to figure out the world, rather than try to build the story inside the world.

there is even a nice little bonus plot point there... all the ruling bodies could be in on it? or it could be a secret the that the Collective Priesthoods keep to themselves?


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## Vadosity (Aug 2, 2017)

Ifritus said:


> So there is an interesting question... if its survival of the fittest, would that then mean that someone who has managed to survive in this world AS someone who has nothing... has more of a right to live than the ones who start out with everything? hm... Insert interesting character here



It would be intersting to throw in a wild card character. One who has nothing but has done many things (not nessarily heroic, just important) and so has a big effect in reentering his new life? 




> not at all i welcome all ideas! but yeah definitely need to think on the End Goal for the rebirth thing... but One possible motive for wanting to get in the Gods Goodbooks... is that in the Rarest of Circumstances... Humans have been gifted with Demi Godhood after death. This is perhaps more of a motive for the Devout though, because being A Demi God, Essentially takes your Soul out of the Cycle, so that you may Serve whichever Deity, in your own fashion, for Eternity. And as an added Rub... each God/Goddess can only have one Ascendant at a time.
> so this could act as a point of conflict since these spots are a finite resource/reward...
> 
> my current line of thought is having each trinity... still have one "space" left... so 4 potential rewards... but then that's 8 slots filled in the space of like 12,000 years of history! (just ask The Chronicler, Ascendant to the Goddess of Destiny)



Oh I am so glad! I know that some times others can be a bit funny about others suggesting ideas . The idea of the demi god thing is good but I would offer the idea to add another layer to this (people may think that all the spot are already taken and subvert things) is to have a lesser rank below the Demi's that can be earned by any who reach the criteria. 



> I think I've got a nice clear idea here for one of the "Rules" that the Gods decide as part of their game... they cannot Act before something has happened... they can only react... and again not directly, unless It's Dire Circumstances... such as a Devout Priest spilling his beans... so that could work! since the priest would know that they are exempt from punishment until
> they do actually as you say "spill the beans" (oh look... the king is actually the current life of the most Evil Souls in existence and he wants to Destroy Everything!)



Ah! That is an interesting rule indeed. It also allows for some room to have events happen where you would expect godly intervention or at least forewarned priestly intervention. 

and I would probably go the Subtler route for punishment too... id have Rebirth maybe force the priest to See the really bad future life he has planned for his betrayal, or something along those lines.[/QUOTE]



> I do too! it clicks with me more so than the priests being self serving... although as my train of thought went above it could work... but then Something would have to happen to make the priest lose faith? which takes us to your Heaven/Hell idea...



Maybe he finds out something about the gods plan that hasn't been known before? 



> OOH brainstorming incoming... Cheers for pointing that simple fact out Vado!
> so YES, that would cut off a large portion of the People from direct benefits.. but What if it was not always this way? (so before the Event, I'd say pretty much 80% of the population had the potential to be a Magic User... though not of sufficient strength for it to manifest on its own, so it would be hidden? then after the event, people actively avoided, hated and feared Sorcerers
> were punished themselves for mating with them, and even immediately after the event resorted to a Salem style witch hunt... until people realized that it would be a good idea to keep the magic people around, just keep an eye on them.
> 
> ...



Sounds good!  Sounds like you have a plan!



> there is even a nice little bonus plot point there... all the ruling bodies could be in on it? or it could be a secret the that the Collective Priesthoods keep to themselves?



Both? If you have the priests in advisory positions to the learders it would make sense that something as big as this would be a shared secret, shared because both would possibly be needed to cover it up. You can't have the kings finding something out in some long forgotten record or some such. You would need them on your side to keep things hush hush.


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## Ifritus (Aug 2, 2017)

Vadosity said:


> It would be intersting to throw in a wild card character. One who has nothing but has done many things (not nessarily heroic, just important)  and so has a big effect in reentering his new life?
> 
> Oh I am so glad! I know that some times others can be a bit funny about others suggesting ideas . The idea of the demi god thing is good but I would offer the idea to add another layer to this (people may think that all the spot are already taken and subvert things) is to have a lesser rank below the Demi's that can be earned by any who reach the criteria.



thats me just trying to feel out how people in this country would react to beggars/people down on their luck. Aww no worrries! I'm always open to opinions, because there's always something to learn from them...even if that something is "no, that doesnt click" or "hey, that sounds good!" 



Vadosity said:


> Ah! That is an interesting rule indeed. It also allows for some room to have events happen where you would expect godly intervention or at least forewarned
> priestly intervention.
> 
> Maybe he finds out something about the gods plan that hasn't been known before?



cheers! I like to think sometimes I do have a good idea. 
well, I'm thinking that maybe that some of the gods might be working together in secret to break the status quo that is the Game?, using dutiful humans with the promise of ascension?
but at this stage I dont even have names for even a quarter of the Gods... and I kind of want that first. It might sound stupid, but I think that having a name for the God/goddess helps 
me gain a sense of who they are/what sort of being they are.

ooh in fact i just had a little idea...Mother Chaos & Father Order were "betrayed" by the entities they created when they attempted to self desruct (they got bored of being stuck
in the stalemate of creation/destruction) their "souls" splitered and created the Twins of Balance... beings equal parts Chaos/Order. the betrayal was that, the other Gods were created 
from the other shattered fragments of their "parents" "souls" (soul here is a bit of a misnomer(not sure ive got the right word there)) in that... chaos and order are Natural Forces, that somehow gained 
sentience... and these "fragments" are the representation of that sentience...so they essentially turned them back into a "background" force of the universe like gravity.

so my idea is that the Gods want to overthrow the twins?  hmm... back to the drawing board methinks.




Vadosity said:


> Sounds good!  Sounds like you have a plan!



ooh, some scraps maybe... at this stage its kind of all over the shop, I dont have a basic plot yet, ive got a vague beginning...i dont have a setting yet but ive got the materials to start the bare frame. 



Vadosity said:


> Both? If you have the priests in advisory positions to the learders it would make sense that something as big as this would be a shared secret,
> shared because both would possibly be needed to cover it up. You can't have the kings finding something out in some long forgotten record or some such.
> You would need them on your side to keep things hush hush.



that makes sense...on a side point, i think i need to research the evolution of communities and such, and the ruling bodies for them... since i Know in my History, the first peoples were Nomads, with a Shaman for a Spiritual Advisor/Leader of the tribe.


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## Vadosity (Aug 3, 2017)

Good luck!  That is all I can think of to say as it seems like you are on the path!


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Aug 4, 2017)

Reincarnation is a big point in my books; characters can never be resurrected, [basically, all deaths are final], but they can reincarnate as many times as they want, and often do so during each book.


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## SMAndy85 (Aug 7, 2017)

Michael K. Eidson said:


> Well, you could ask someone who practices Hinduism or Brahmanism.



I don't know how much this knowledge will help, if at all...

I follow one of the Pagan paths, and as part of that, I believe in reincarnation. Not everyone on the Pagan paths believe the same thing, so it's not something you can ask everyone.

It doesn't affect me in terms of what I do on a daily basis. I don't partake in extreme sports that might kill me, and I don't feel like I would jump in the way of a sword to save someone, believing that I might get a better life next time for doing so. I value my life, and that of others. I do however put other people first, and will happily suffer some discomfort, or sacrifice some of my own time to make things easier for others. Holding a door open for someone costs you a couple of seconds, or a gallon of fuel to pick up a friend from the airport.

To me, I think the god of rebirth would know your reasons for doing things, and so would be able to weed out those who are performing "selfless" acts for the express purpose of gaining a better life. 

eg. A man sees a woman being targeted by a rifleman, he thinks "If I save her, I might get a better reincarnation", dives in the way, saves her life, but god goes "~sigh. idiot." and as punishment, makes you watch the rifleman just take a second shot at his intended target before you're allowed to move on.

Same situation, but the thought is "no! I love her and don't want her to die!" then you get rewarded for such a selfless act. Perhaps the God's influence in this stretches enough to make that rifleman think about his actions. He's just killed someone he didn't mean to, and that might make him think about someone doing that to his own family, and decides not to. So you get to see how your actions save her.


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## Queshire (Aug 7, 2017)

In my pet setting reincarnation tends to be the default option. The divine in charge of souls leaves it as the result for those who are just average while the exceptional have a chance to have their own heaven, hell or try for a chance at being resurrected. Generally the heavens or hells are temporary too, though temporary in this case can be centuries or millennia until they're reincarnated.


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## Ifritus (Aug 9, 2017)

SMAndy85 said:


> I
> I don't know how much this knowledge will help, if at all...
> I follow one of the Pagan paths, and as part of that, I believe in reincarnation. Not everyone on the Pagan paths believe the same thing, so it's not something you can ask everyone.
> To me, I think the god of rebirth would know your reasons for doing things, and so would be able to weed out those who are performing "selfless" acts for the express purpose of gaining a better life
> ...


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## SMAndy85 (Aug 10, 2017)

That makes sense. If you don't have access to memories of past lives when you're alive, then they would get integrated into your complete memory when you die, and it could be quite easy to get lost in that. 

What if the God of Rebirth chooses who is ready to be reborn based on revelations about the life they have just had, in relation to their entire stack of lives? Like they have to come to terms with things they've done, and can't be reborn until that has happened?

I suggest that because given enough time, lots of souls could get Lost (I appreciate the use of capitalising that in this context), but they could also have come to terms with their memories, be ready to go, but don't want to because of (for example) someone they loved and don't want to forget them.

Do souls have Perfect Recall of memories? So something they forgot when they were alive, they remember again when in the Spiritual plane?


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## Ifritus (Aug 10, 2017)

good point... so maybe some sort of failsafe that nudges Souls to become more and more "ready" or perhaps something of a longing to feel the physical world again?

EH the Lost thing ive actually got my solution to that... Rebirths' Ascendant is a special case, in that she is His adopted daughter. Her official title is the Lady of Lost Souls.... which she earned because, as a devout priest of Rebirth... she had access to her Past Lives through her dreams... but got struck on the head and was comatose for X years... essentially forcing her to Dream of her past lives in the physical plane... which when she woke up... She was essentially a Split personality... but as part of the backstory, the MC (her adoptive father in the real world) aides the God of Rebirth in putting the pieces back together before she was "put to sleep"

I'm imagining some really touching scenes in my head where because of his notoriety, and the fact the Lady always wears a hooded cloak in the Spiritual plane... for more or less 50 years the MC has no idea that his daughter now helps Souls come back to themselves just as he did for her.


Yes they do... absolute and total recall of every moment. eh when they are alive standard human brain stuff... unless said person was a Sorcerer with a very strong Mental talent... in which case they might have a higher recollective ability than the normal person.


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