This part is recalling the tales of Hades. Yet that it is an older tale as well.
What i find most curious about all reports about the afterlife is that they are culturally informed and colored by the underlying beliefs of the society originating the spirits. That is extremely important simply because if you do not believe in such an after life you will pass to an afterlife containing those who think as yourself. Other reports suggests that this can even be unpleasant particularly if it involves rejection of compassion or the mere existence of the spirit life.
Yet the spirit will be aware of been aware however grey and lost he feels. Thus we get real lost spirits or ghosts who take far longer to move forward.
Before the advent of Jesus and we had no indication of the existence of the idea of grace in either religion or in our tales of the afterlife. With Grace the after life becomes a place of preparation for more improvement through helping others. Has his teaching been sufficient to actually change out the other side itself?..
CHAPTER FIVE
THE SACRED REGISTERS - PART 5
These are the instructions for those who journey
the outer track of the twinway, for those who have been laid in the chambered
tombs, who followed the ways of Kemwelith. The words are those from the distant
past, first spoken in a far land beyond the rolling billows:
The Risen One has become the Newcomer, and
having passed through the clearing house his departure is not delayed. No toll
is required on the ferry, for the Newcomer has with him the words of entrance
which have become known to him according to his deeds. He has not deviated from
the path and all is well.
The ferryman comes to the Place of Waiting, he
of the winding river which is the tortuous chaimel of purification. The
Newcomer stands at the mooring place and proclaims, "O ferryman, away to
the Region of the Blessed Ones. I am purified, purged of polluting evils; make
haste, do not delay. I am a wanderer anxious to reach my destination". The
ferryman says, "From whence come you?" The Newcomer says, "I am
from Restaw and am weary. Take me to my compatible place of abode, let us not
delay, I wish to join those united with their soulselves. Let us not dally. Do
not tarry, for I am anxious to depart from this sombre shore. Have no fear,
cautious one, for no evil dogs my footsteps. Come, let us away, bear me over
the waters to the appointed place.
Carry me swiftly to where spirits are
regenerated and made young again. Carry me to the foot of the Great Stairway
that ascends to the Place of the Immortals, to the Courtyard of The Great
God".
The ferryman hesitates, he says, "Show me
your token, that I may know you have truly passed the tests, that I may know
your true destination. For it is the way with men that they think one thing but
Truth lies elsewhere".
The Newcomer says, "My token is the brightness,
which, if you be no imposter, you may see shining above my head, and my
introduction is the writing concerning me, written in the Book of Sacred
Mysteries. Come, bear me over the waters, so that I may tread the Field of
Peace. See, have I not four attendants, two on either side?
Let them speak for me, for they are witnesses
walking in the light of Truth".
The ferryman says, "Who stands to the
pole?" and the Risen One answers, "I will stand to the pole with my
attendants, two on either side. You stand by to bear at the steering oar, so
that our course remains straight". The ferryman says, "It is well,
for the current is sullen and changeful".
The Newcomer says, "O ferryman of the
boatless ones, I am truly a man justified before all on both sides of the
horizon, before Heaven and Earth. I have passed the tests of the examiners and
am free to proceed. I am one who can claim passage by virtue of my deeds. Have
not men spoken well of me after I departed from their midst, is this not
enough? It is the way with Earth, that if men speak of the goodness of an
absent one, then he is good indeed. Truly I am a Bright One".
The ferryman says, "Draw aside your mantle,
that I may see your likeness, for this is a good boat which may not be
polluted. The path henceforth is hard for those who cannot be faced without
revulsion. O Great One, draw your mantle over again, for you are indeed among
the brightest of those who pass this way, great will be the rejoicing when you
appear among your own kind, the pure of heart".
"Delay no longer, ferryman. Quickly over
the waters to the other side. If you delay further I will name the names of
gods to men, that their unreality be exposed. I am not one to be trifled with,
I am one who can dispel the clouds of illusion. I am a man of no mean
qualities, therefore tarry no more, let us depart".
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