I’ve included my response to this and related questions in the following article:
https://heathensoullore.net/thoughts-about-heathen-afterlife/

Thank you for explaining! It is certainly a lot to try to understand and hopefully things will start to become even more clearer with time. My perception of what are Ghosts “do” and how we perceive the afterlife and God homes is definitely in line with your explanation about “Young Ghost” and I am perfectly content with that. Thank you so much again and be well!

Very Respectfully,

Jacques

I’ve consolidated my response to this and several related questions in the following article:

https://heathensoullore.net/thoughts-about-heathen-afterlife/

I’ve posted my response to this question as an article, which you can find following this link:

https://heathensoullore.net/the-norns-determinism-or-influence/

So…the afterlife as a state of mind or perception… My understanding of this begins with realizing that our life here in Midgard is also a matter of perception and a state of mind. We are taught ways of perceiving events and experiences–taught by our families, teachers, those around us, our culture, and by our own reactions to our experiences. Sometimes we learn other ways of perceiving as we grow, sometimes not.

As a simplification of the concept ‘a state of mind,’ we can look at a scientific perspective, a materialist perspective, spiritual perspectives, perspectives of various religions, perspectives of many different cultures around the world. People who’ve suffered from terrible experiences perceive the world as a dangerous place, while children who are protected and nurtured develop a trusting world-view, which may gradually change as they experience more of the world.

Even our native language embeds certain perspectives in each of us; if there are no words for certain concepts or perspectives it’s difficult for us to perceive them. That’s what I’m working on with the Heathen soul lore: in modern English we have no words for some of our souls, and we don’t have the concept of having multiple souls, either. What did ancient Heathens perceive about the souls that we don’t? They had words that we don’t have today, and for decades I’ve been trying to understand their words better. This work has changed my whole perspective, my world-view.

So, our Midgard life is a matter of perspective. At the same time, we have a great many ‘touchpoints’ where we can perceive the ‘reality’ of the physical world which is governed by physical laws and properties that don’t change depending on our perspective. So our life in Midgard is a combination of our contacts with the physical world plus the ways we interpret and experience those contacts. And, of course, the great influences of the ‘worlds’ of emotion, thought,creativity, and spiritual experiences.

When we–all our souls–leave the physical world and exist as entirely non-physical beings, our Ghost’s contact with the physical world lessens greatly. We don’t have the ‘touchpoints,’ the reality checks, that the physical world provides during physical life. So the state of mind and perceptions about everything that we developed during physical life now define even more of our personal reality than they did while we were in Midgard–they are all that our young Ghost has to go by. We don’t have any anchors to physical reality that we did in Midgard; we only have our perceptions and the state of mind we developed during life.

There are certainly ‘fixed points’ in the afterlife domains–a great many things that do not depend on our perceptions, just as the physical world in Midgard does not depend on our perceptions. The God/desses and other spirits, and the landscapes of the God-Halls and other Worlds are certainly ‘there,’ as the physical world is in Midgard. A young Ghost, a Ghost who has not spent a lot of time in spiritual form yet, will perceive these beings and spaces as it has learned to while in Midgard: as physical-seeming entities that apparently follow the laws of matter as we have learned them while living in Midgard.

Thus, the young Ghost may experience Valhalla, for example, as it is described in the old Norse lore. Or quite possibly as it is envisioned by some modern warriors, in a more modern setting. (People in other religions will perceive what they are taught to expect.) If the Ghost wants to visit a different God-Hall, it will ‘travel’ there, leave behind its interactions with those in Valhalla and ‘arrive’ in that other Hall. There, the Ghost will perceive quite different surroundings and experiences.

For an ‘older’ Ghost, one who has lived multiple lifetimes in Midgard and afterlives in the God-Halls and otherworlds…my understanding is that this Ghost doesn’t need to ‘travel’ in any physical sense to a different God-Hall. It just ‘shifts its perspective,’ alters its perception, and finds itself in that other God-Hall. With more practice, it can experience ‘layered’ spaces–God-Halls or otherworldly places, otherworlds, and indeed spiritual spaces of Midgard, too–all at once, simultaneously.

How to describe this? It’s like tasting some complex food recipe. You can taste the ‘layers’ of flavors: a bit of salt, sweetness, some tart lemon, a hint of vanilla, a buttery flavor, some crunchy nuts, the texture of the food, and its temperature. You experience these *all at once.* If you want, you can analyze your taste experience, breaking it down into individual flavors and textures, but more often you will simply enjoy the complex taste experience, the blending of the individual flavors. You can go either way, right? It’s all a matter of how you choose to perceive your taste experience.

I think this is how the God/desses perceive things: they’re engaged with many things at once–people, events, interactions with each other, different Worlds, etc. They can focus on each individual thing, and / or at the same time focus on the multidimensional interweaving of all of them together. That’s how they have a deeper perception of Wyrd than we do. But our Ghosts are similar to the Holy Ones, as I perceive: ‘smaller,’ on a lesser scale, but with some of the same abilities. Including, for the more experienced Ghosts, this ability for multidimensional perception and experience.

Let me offer some personal experience. I work a lot, these days, with the ‘resonance of the heart’ that I write about in my article “Heathen Contemplation.” I reach out to the Deities through the energy of my heart, and I find that this approach is not confined to a materialistic conception of limited space. If they choose to respond so to me, or I to them, there is no limit to the number of Holy Ones that I can resonate with through the perception of my heart, simultaneously.

‘Space’ has nothing to do with this experience, and therefore the limitations of physical objects in space doesn’t, either. I don’t worry about ‘how many God/desses can fit in my heart’! Nor about how many Deities my heart can ‘visit’ at once. Such concerns are meaningless in this exercise. There is only resonance with them–vibrational attunement–that can be experienced as single or as many-layered, just as with the example of flavors that I mentioned.

I find that my heart serves as a bridge between the physical and the spiritual, as does my brain and its thoughts, and indeed my whole body, as I’ve written about in my article “Fields of Awareness.” My Ghost and my other souls regard these physical-spiritual contacts as training grounds for my souls in their afterlives. But the resonance of the heart, I’m finding, has some unique traits, and one of them is the freedom from spatial concepts that it offers.

My mind, my thoughts, find such freedom more difficult: it’s difficult for the mind to *conceptualize* being in multiple spaces at once. But the heart can *experience* it without worrying about the idea of it, without asking ‘how is it possible to be in multiple spaces at once? Or interact with multiple beings at once?’ The resonance of the heart is like an orchestra, where many instruments and different notes of music all combine into a holistic experience. And I feel that this practice is of great use in preparing all my souls for more immersive afterlife–and during-life–experiences.

Maybe this clarifies things for you, maybe not! As I said, it’s easier to experience this lack of spatial limitations than it is to conceptualize and describe it. We actually need to change our concepts of space and time if we want to approach these matters through our mind / thoughts, and I think that spiritual experience is the best way to bring about that conceptual change.

Best wishes!
Winifred

Jaques, I’m afraid I’m out of touch with the friends who did the afterlife care that I mentioned. A couple have passed on themselves, and others I’ve not been in touch with for a long time. All of them were practitioners of Heathen seidh or spaeworking. There are websites and books that teach these skills, which can be extended in various directions, but there are also many precautions that must be taken as this path is not without its risks. Especially when dealing with departed souls.

Also I was wondering if you could elaborate a little more on what you mean by ” the afterlife being a state of mind” and also experiencing being in multiple God homes at once? Thank you!

Very Respectfully,

Jacques

I’m Jacques, you’ve probably seen some of my questions here on Winifreds site. I was reading the conversation between you two the other night and I wanted to share a little bit of my personal perspective which has some scholarly input on the “acceptance into Valholl” subject ( I am not a scholar, I mean from readings as well as my personal opinion) because I too have pondered the same thing! Here it goes.

This first part at least I think some Heathens would agree with: I think a huge part of getting accepted to Valholl or any of Odin’s halls is going to based on building a relationship with him. There are bits and bobs in the old tales that mention people getting into Valholl without specifically being killed in combat as well-but they were devoted to Odin.

Another thing that I have wondered on the same subject is: What about the warriors who were dedicated to Odin and spent their lives fighting but never fell in combat? If they were close to him and of course as long as he is willing, maybe they would be granted entry even if they died of old age. I believe its a possibility and would love to read your thoughts about it (Winifred and Ben).

Again this is just my opinion/beliefs! I just wanted to contribute in some way as like I said before it crosses my mind from time to time too. Thank you to you both Winifred and Ben!

Very Respectfully,

Jacques

Thank you for your incredible wisdom and insight! Your words have brought so much warmth to me once again and I appreciate it so much. Being a devout Heathen I sometimes get waves of worry that I wont be able to see certain loved ones who are Christian once our Ghosts depart for the afterlives and I believe what you said as well about being able to interact with them regardless of their afterlife destinations.

Before I address Ben in my next comment submission here, I was also curious if you could help me get in contact with one of your Shamanistic friends you had mentioned before in your conversation with Ben?
If not I understand. Thank you so much Winifred!

Very Respectfully,

Jacques

Jaques–I’m glad if you and Ben want to discuss subjects together on this site; please go ahead if you both want to! I know you’re both well aware of the requirements for civil discourse, as you’ve both already demonstrated in your posts here.

I’ve consolidated my response to your question about interacting with those of other faiths in the afterlife into this longer article on my website:
https://heathensoullore.net/thoughts-about-heathen-afterlife/