Transition from this realm to the next...

[fantasy_trance]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* For my next thread, I am interested in how you scribes would transition a physical person in the living world to the next in the spiritual plane without killing them. In my story, I thought my character could follow her friend into the next life without actually dying, but I wasn't sure how. It doesn't make sense physically, but how would you guys achieve a transition like this? *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Her friend passes away, and she is lead by his spirit to the next world. I'm not sure how her spirit would leave her body though and then what would happen to her body once she left it for the other world. It could be like sleeping or once her spirit leaves, her body could die, but I'm interested in your ideas too.*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Please share~!*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

 

[Lynea]

Well, I suppose it doesn't have to follow that Christian theology in order to make sense...there's a Greek myth where someone literally walks into hell without dying to save their loved one. However, if your story is bound by Christian theology then you could have a chariot- the one that came down from heaven and took Elijah away. No corpse needed.

 

[Insolent Lad]

I could not check any of the choices in that 'spirits,' in the normally understood sense, do not exist in my world. However, it is possible to physically move from one world to another, which is the method I would use if faced with such a need. Not necessarily the entire body, but a part of it, so to speak.

 

[fantasy_trance]

Well, I suppose it doesn't have to follow that Christian theology in order to make sense...there's a Greek myth where someone literally walks into hell without dying to save their loved one. However, if your story is bound by Christian theology then you could have a chariot- the one that came down from heaven and took Elijah away. No corpse needed.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆These are good ideas, I like these. I'm making my own mythology, so my story doesn't follow Christian theology. For me, it didn't feel right to have the body follow the spirit to the next world, but I can consider that more.｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Thanks for your reply!★

 

[fantasy_trance]

I could not check any of the choices in that 'spirits,' in the normally understood sense, do not exist in my world. However, it is possible to physically move from one world to another, which is the method I would use if faced with such a need. Not necessarily the entire body, but a part of it, so to speak.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ I like your idea a lot. If I used a method like this, I'd create a border between this world and the next that my characters would go through. For my story though, healing the fear of death is an important theme, so I have to keep the spiritual aspect. Still, moving through worlds physically is really good; I'd just do that if my story were different. ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Thank you for your reply! ★

 

[Rosemary Tea]

What does your list of spirit beings have to do with transitioning between worlds?

Do you want your character to return from the land of the dead? Or not? If not, then surely she is, essentially, dead? What difference does it make whether she does or doesn't "really" die?

To my mind, the only good reason to have someone go into the realm of the dead without dying, in a story, is to have them come back. If they were really dead, they couldn't come back. If they aren't, they can. If they're not coming back, then they're dead. No matter what did or didn't happen to their body.

Examples of going to the land of the dead and coming back abound in literature. Orpheus. Lyra in The Golden Compass series. Harry Potter when he confronts Voldemort. And film: Miguel in Coco.

But then, the Bible has a couple of stories of people who went to heaven without dying. Enoch, in Genesis: he "walked with God and then was not." The wording is vague, but the accepted interpretation seems to be that he simply went to God, without dying. And in 2 Kings, Elijah gets taken up in a "chariot of fire." He isn't dead, presumably, but he apparently went straight to heaven.

Neither of them returns, so we don't learn what happened to them after they vanished. For the reader to learn what happened to a character who goes to the realm of the dead in a story, the character usually has to return. If they didn't, they'd have gone where we can't follow, so there can be no further story.

 

[Queshire]

Hrmmm... I think having her body die while she travels to the afterlife is the most original option out of those presented so it's got my vote.

As for my setting physically traveling to an afterlife is mostly a matter of magical power and skill.

A Necromancer can burn a soul for mana and an Elementalist can weave mana into physical stone, ice or wood to attack an enemy. Reverse the process and you can turn physical matter into soul stuff. Now, physical matter like to stay physical matter. It's why conjured ice or stone dissolves so quickly. Overcoming that takes a fair chunk of power and you need the skill to ensure that all your bits stay in the right spot while also fusing the soul stuff that was your body with the pre-existing soul stuff of your soul.

Of course, after all that you still need to make sure you travel to the right afterlife and that you're capable of surviving the conditions you find there.