"Behold I am a soul... I am a star of Gold" PT 886-889
"Be a soul as a living Star..." PT 904
Pyramid Texts translated by R.O. Faulkner.

During one of these long winter nights, whilst chatting for hours, discussing about God and the world, some very famous questions again rose up; what happens to us when we die? What is our goal, our destiny? What is the meaning of life? I think that these are actually questions everyone has asked oneself at least once in ones life, and I wish I had all the answers ready, but I guess I can only give you my way to look at things, basing upon my knowledge and memories. What will now follow is a reflection of how I see it, and this will not necessarily match with your way of thinking, or with actual publications, but might clarify some of it, at least I hope!

The Christians are told that after they pass by, they might either reach heaven or in case they were of evil nature; Hell, but the witches' beliefs somehow differ from this. Our belief system doesn't incorporate 'heaven and hell', as presented by the Catholic Church. To us it is well known that we actually are spiritual beings on a constant quest for enlightment and that we are in fact souls having a body, providing us with the possibility to live on the physical plane to learn and evolve.

Our true goal is to reach spirituality, and once attained, to return home, enlightened with wisdom and knowledge. So why should we be punished in 'Hell' for all mistakes we did on the physical plane during the long process of learning? Life by itself can already be hard enough. Why should punishment also be part of the daily program once we left this existence? To me this makes no sense. It is only through making good and bad experiences that a soul can really learn and evolve. I am not saying that a murderer and evildoer will not be punished for their actions. There is still the law of Karma, and so everyone will get what is deserved according to one's actions, but where is home if not 'heaven or hell'?

Most Wiccans consider the Summerlands, also called the land of Tyr Na'n Og by the Celts, as their home after they leave this plane of existence, but is this really our 'home'?No, our real home is the One Soul, inhabiting the universe, the place where it all began a long time ago. To understand this, we need to go back in time.

In the beginning, a high spiritual entity, commonly called Great Spirit or God created Adam Cadmon, meaning human being, providing him with the divine spark, and out of Adam Cadmon, He created life; Eve. He has made them mirroring His own image, providing them, and us as well of course, with His own power of magick, which is the ability of creating by thoughts, but all this of course on a lesser degree, considering that we are in fact smaller by far. To create life, He gave a part of himself and did spiritual matter become physical entities, which learned and evolved as individual beings, yet part of the One. We became the microcosm, our world inclusive, mirroring the macrocosm; the universe, including the Great Spirit. This is the source of all things created, also the foundation of alchemy and astrology. The Macrocosm is the one place we all come from, and can be seen as the One Soul we seek to return to.

Our physical state is not our natural state considering that we are, same as God, spiritual beings. Our bodies can be seen as vessels for our soul, which were necessary for our evolution in one of the seven known planes of existence, being the physical world.

There is indeed no better state then the physical one to learn and evolve, but it is never an easy one because we are not used being imprisoned in a body. We are in fact endless, have neither limitation, nor restrictions, except the ones we impose on ourselves. Using astral travelling for example, we can visit many other places as what we truly are, but astral travelling is a technique not known and acquired by everyone, and so the physical state can be felt as a prison sometimes, which might be why many people commit suicide; they want to return back to their natural state; the state of the spiritual being, part of the One.

Now, I sense the question already; why do I say God when it is actually known that we witches honour both a God and a Goddess? It has become clear to me a while back, that all the Deities of this world are actually one, incorporating both the female and male principles in true balance. This is very well reflected upon the Tree of Life, made of three pillars; the pillars of Justice or Severity, of Mercy and of Mildness, also called Middle Pillar, which is a reflection of God, the universe, our world and ourselves. In the traditional Wiccan beliefs, the Goddess was the first created, and out of Herself did she create Her male counterpart and all life, which again speaks of unity of both male and female. The balance is of very importance, which is why when speaking of God I speak about both. We should not think by separations, but should be aware that female and male principalities are important for every life in the universe, and they actually are one in perfect balance.

But what happens now when we die?
Actually the ancient Wiccan teachings tell us that we remain seven days bound to our body, which means that during seven days, we still travel the physical plane, but already as a spiritual being. In a way, this gives us time to say good-bye to our beloved ones, and maybe even time to bring them comfort. After these seven days, we are sent to the land of Luna, the moon, in which we will stay for a while before we continue our journey to the Summerlands, which exists in the so-called Elemental Plane, and which is the place of endless forests and lakes; the place in which we regenerate from our last incarnation. There we can think about all we have learned and all we did good or wrong. We can compare this with our previous incarnations since we have then retrieved our memory and we can also prepare ourselves for the next incarnation. (1) The common time frame between two incarnations actually varies from six months to seventy-five years, but once in the Summerlands, there is not time anymore, since time is exclusively bound to the physical plane, which can be described as linear. Once in the Elemental Plane, all that remains is pure existence, so we can't tell how much time really passed by between two incarnations.

I have once been asked if there is someone awaiting us when we begin our journey to the Summerlands? Yes, there is. We are accompanied by the Watchers, also known under the names of Formahault, Aldebaran, Regulus and Antares, which are ruling over all forms of magick.They carry the names of the four fix stars governing the constellations Leo, Taurus, Pisces Austria and Scorpio, which to me is what they actually are. The Watchers are spiritual beings of light from a higher order, which have evolved beyond the need of a physical body. They have reached the ultimate goal and have become stars. They now assist us in all our magical workings, govern the four elements, the four seasons, the four directions and they make sure that Karma will be delivered rightly. (2)

So, actually the ultimate goal of the soul would be to become a star? Yes, this is indeed our ultimate goal. When the cycle of re-incarnation is broken because we have reached spirituality, we return to the One Soul under the form of a star, residing in the Universe, and watching over humanity, same as guiding lights in the darkness. Even the ancient Egyptians already knew this.All live started in the Universe, which is the cradle of humanity, we are indeed star-seeded, and stars we become again once we are part of the One Soul, the one forming the Macrocosm; the Universe, including the Great Spirit.

This does not mean that we cannot incarnate again. Sometimes very old spiritual souls come back to earth because they have a mission to fulfil, but they don't need to incarnate always again to learn. This can be considered as occasional incarnations to teach the world the ancient mysteries. Star lore is one of the most ancient teachings from the mystery schools, and the longing to be as close as possible to the heavens made humanity build huge monuments, reaching high up into the skies. The Great Pyramid is only one example in which the star cult is very well represented. It is also for this exact reason that the three pyramids of Giza are rightly aligned according to the three belt stars of the constellation Orion. (3) The great pyramid is a temple, built upon one of the seven chacras of the world and is mirroring the night sky, to help us remembering where we came from, and also where we long to return to. The Sphinx can be seen, as a reflection of the constellation Leo, which is inhabited by the Watcher Regulus. Maybe he was the one Watcher accompanying the Pharaoh?

The Wiccan teachings also tell us that we nearly always incarnate again with those we knew and loved before, and that in a way, we are constantly on the quest for our beloved ones. This can happen either in a conscious or unconscious way, and can be mirrored in the quest for the Anima, or Animus, the inner soul mate. This quest has started on the very day on which God created both male and female one from another. In a way, he separated what was one, giving the female and male principles the possibility to evolve as individual beings, yet carrying the memory of the other one deep within them. \

The most difficult part would be recognising our beloved ones, and sadly this is sometimes very difficult, and can be lived as very painful when one of the two doesn't recognise the other; a broken heart can be the consequence, but always keep in mind, that we only just remember what we need in the present incarnation, and that you might recognise a beloved one, but this does not necessarily also be the case the other way around. I am aware that this is painful, but since nothing happens without reason, this only tells us the right moment hasn't arisen yet.

As a conclusion, let me say that nothing really dies, all is eternal and only subject to changes, us included. In death resides the seed of a new beginning, always again, and that the true gifts are of spiritual nature. These gifts are the ones helping us evolving, and they bring us closer home.

My brightest blessings,
Levanah (c) 2002

Bibliography:
Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Oxford University Press, New York.
(1) Raven Grimassi, Wiccan Mysteries, Llewellyn Publications 2000.
(2) Raven Grimassi, Wiccan Magick, Inner Teachings of the Craft, Llewellyn Publications 2000.
(3) Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert, The Orion Mystery, Unlocking the Secrets of the Pyramids, Three Rivers Press 1995.