? After Death

There are times when I'm still a little scared, but mostly my thoughts are the same as yours :). Heck, just look at most of my published work: death death death death death psychopomp death death death ;)

Death doesn't bother me. I look forward to the next great step, it's an adventure. It is the manner of dying that concerns me, lol. I want to go as painlessly as possible.

I agree with you.

On a side note, why are so many religious people afraid of death? If you truely believe in heaven and/or re-birth (which I do), shouldn't it be seen as just another transition?

Then again, I suppose people are afraid of moving house too.

Ah yes, we share similar views here, you and I.

I don't fear death. It's the path getting there which has the ability to strike terror in my heart.

I didn't believe in reincarnation. One day, my then five year old son asked me, quite out of the blue, "Mom, do you believe in reincarnation?" I didn't truly answer the question but I did explain some differing cultures around the world, some who did and some who did not. He patiently waited and then during a pause said, "Well I do, because I remember." He proceeded to describe to me his last memories of being a 43 year old man living in a small city in Illinois, working in a production plant or perhaps steel mill. It was difficult to tell as he was describing visual memories. He was able to tell me his full name, his Social Security Number, and his physical street address among many other startling details.
Sadly, this was long before the internet era but I was able to look up maps at the city library and determined that the town he named was real. It was a small suburb on the outskirts of Chicago, and the street was a real as well. More sad yet, it simply didn't occur to me that I'd ever have access to more and I didn't write down any of the details he described. When I did ask again a couple years later, the veil had closed and he has no memory whatsoever of even the conversation, let alone the astounding memories he shared with me that day.
He had lived in Oregon since age three months and we knew NO one within that wide region of the United States so there is no possibility it was just made up based on other exposure. And the details were entirely too sharp, too precise to be made up.
Years later when I related this story, someone shared a web page with me, FULL of collected stories from other parents with incredible tales with similar detail.

I may not LIKE the idea of coming back like some rat going round a wheel in a cage, but I certainly believe it now!

*nods* Exactly.

Great post. There are quite a few posts about death on my friends list atm. Strange the change of subject from Obama to death in a couple of days. But then again didn't the man himself say change was what we needed? ;-)

I struggle to accept atheism - emotionally I can't take it on board. Being a spiritual person of no organised religion, I'm firmly wedged somewhere in the "afraid of dying but can't be arsed to go to church" mentality.

The overwhelming evidence seems to suggest that this is it, there is no afterlife. But in the absence of definitive refutation and the somewhat arrogant attitude of many atheists (who behave like self-appointed gods who intend to replace the deities they're so intent on toppling) I wonder if there is some fear behind the arrogance, fear of something misunderstood or unknowable.

The journalist Mary Kenny made a point that resounded with me - she pointed out that all the prominent atheist debunkers are overwhelmingly male, while women, since they carry life, are more open to the spiritual (these people would say "more gullible" but anyway). She then went on to invoke the Freudian principle of the man wanting to overthrow his father. It's interesting to think that violently scathing atheism may well have roots as primitive and irrational as any scriptured faith, if not more so.

That said, death and I are not friends. I want death to f*** off and leave me alone for as long as possible.

I've come close to dying before a few times. I might panic at first, but as soon as it seems inevitable, I give myself over to death. So I know I'm not afraid of death, though I'd still prefer to avoid it for now.

A friend ( I see we have several in common) directed me to this post. I like it very much. I'm friending you, if that's OK.

There was a time when death was my trap door; the way out if I had to take it. Knowing it was there was ... comforting.
Seductive

I overcame my suicidal tendencies, and, thank goodness, they have never come back. The depression lingers, but I'm learning to manage it.

So, I've gone from finding comfort in death to being terrified of it. I'm not sure exactly why, but I suspect it has a lot to do with how much of my life I have NOT lived because of the depression. I don't want to die too soon.

I'm learning once again to accept death as normal and a part of the universal cycle from my teachers -- my animals. They have an amazingly steadying grasp on life and death.

Part of me is unafraid and accepting of death, and part of me wants to hold on to being afraid for some reason, yet I can't put my finger on it. As a Pagan and Witch I know that this isn't my only life I have to live, nor have lived, but there's still that nagging feeling of not wanting my physical body to die. Maybe it's how I will die is why I'm afraid. Maybe it's wanting to die painlessly or in my sleep that gets me.

Thanks for the kind words, and interesting thoughts. There are days when my views align with yours, and there are other days.

I'm not afraid of death either, because how can I be afraid of nothing? I don't believe in any kind of afterlife. You die, it's over, nothing more. What's scary about that? I can fear something happening to me, or to a loved one, but how can I fear nothing? I certainly want to live a nice long happy life, but when it's over, it's over. Nothing more, nothing to look forward to with either fear or anticipation.

I fear other people's deaths. I'm in no hurry for my own, but assume it'll be another fascinating adventure.
The mere thought of being on this side without my beloved, on the other hand, is enough to make me start crying.