Filed under: Worldbuilding & Lore

Preamble (circles of manifestation)

The afterlife in my setting is reminiscent of the Druidic Three Circles of Manifestation. I'll be referencing it to better explain the hierarchies and layouts of different realms of existence. Here's a basic overview:

Modern druids tend to believe that the soul goes through a cycle of reincarnation. The soul passes between different states of being as it undergoes a journey towards perfection. The states/realms are as follows:

Annwn: The cauldron of soul soup. Where creation is born and where a soul from Abred returns to process what it has learned.

Abred: The physical world where a soul is incarnated. The soul goes from a single-celled organism up to human life in order to absorb new lessons on its existence in the "real world". The journey is not always linear, and sometimes a human may be later reincarnated as a plant or lower animal if it still has more to learn and process.

Gwynfydd: The heavenly realm that perfected souls go to after fulfilling their journey in the physical realm. The journey still does not end there and they begin going through the cycles of the overworld.

Ceugant: The infinite, never-ending realm where the divine powers of the cosmos dwell.

I'll mention this again throughout, but in my setting you can consider Abred to be the Earthly realm, Gwynfydd to be Heaven, and Ceugant to be the dwelling place of First Sphere angels and God.

Purgatory (the Waterfall)

Purgatory is the realm that a human soul returns to after death. It is a never-ending forestscape filled with plants, but no wildlife whatsoever. When a person enters the forest, they are not able to come into contact with any other humans and wander alone.

The only way for a soul to escape Purgatory is to go down the waterfall, which they discover when seeking an exit. By doing so, they begin their next cycle of reincarnation in the human world. What they do before going down the waterfall illustrates the lessons they may or may not have learned from their previous life. This can range from environmental interactions, time spent in Purgatory, and their emotional state(s). This all determines what their next incarnation will be and what trials they will face in the next life.

Guardians of the waterfall

Three young women became the guardians of purgatory after their refusal to go down the waterfall. They both all died at the same time from suicide, but only settled into their "roles" gradually, meeting each other after integrating. Their purpose is to guide lost souls to the waterfall and remind them to continue their cycle of reincarnation.

While the three are technically nameless.... I named them for ease of differentiation.

Fauna has been there the longest and is almost like a guardian to the other girls. She is nurturing and kind, but mute. She has long, curly brown hair that goes all the way down her back and wears a thin headband. Her previous incarnation died from drowning.

Juno arrived second and is the only one of the three who speaks. She is quick-tempered and appears to still have a lot to work through from her past incarnation. She has wavy black hair styled in shoulder-length cornrow locs. Her previous incarnation died in an automobile accident.

Noel is the youngest of the three and is only semi-mute, but rarely speaks unless necessary (usually to visitors). She is shy and deeply troubled, prone to crying fits after spending too much time alone. She has shoulder-length, straight, light brown hair and a thin headband. Her previous incarnation died from the impact after falling from a skyscraper.

Heaven

Heaven is not the traditional afterlife, but the place where angels and all other divine/holy beings normally reside. It is a timeless realm where all angels that have ever been and ever will be exist at the same time.

The angelic hierarchy is based on Pseudo-Dionysus's classifications. Heaven is separated into three different "spheres," each housing three angelic "choirs". The third and lowest sphere is comprised of Angels, Archangels, and Principalities. The second sphere is comprised of Powers, Virtues, and Dominions. The first and highest sphere is comprised of Ophanim, Cherubim, and Seraphim. (I wrote a somewhat more detailed explanation of Pseudo-Dionysus' hierarchy here.) Despite the separation between spheres, higher tiers of angels can freely go to lower spheres. Lower tiers will usually need to have some form of authorization to enter higher spheres.

God also resides in Heaven but is an immaterial and all-encompassing being. Lower angels don't typically have direct correspondence with God the way a first sphere angel would. However, they can have a message passed up to God through higher-ranking angels. Otherwise, since all angels are made of God's light, they can be spiritually guided by God's will.

(Due to certain circumstances at the time the main stories take place, God is absent from Heaven and the angels are instead guided by the highest of all angels, Metatron.)

How angels work

In this setting, angels are the "perfected" versions of human souls that have completed the cycle of reincarnation.. In the Druidic framework, we can say angels are souls that have reached the circle of Gwynfydd in Heaven.

Not all souls are destined to become angels. Chosen souls have their final angelic vessels, prepared and suspended in an endless ocean. Upon completion of their soul's journey, black-eyed angels called Watchers help wake the vessels up. They resurface at the gates of Heaven and are greeted by their divine counterpart. They play the role of a soulmate and guide for their new existence in Heaven. Every angel is endowed with a divine counterpart at creation.

While every angel is created with a specific role in mind, they can move to different choirs. They can ascend or descend to certain choirs based on the fulfillment of their duties and/or greater purification of their soul. (Remember, even souls in Gwynfydd are still striving to reach Ceugant.) For example, an Angel can ascend to become a Seraphim through their actions. A Virtue can choose to become a Dominion if they believe they are better suited to a lower role.

Angels do not remember any part of their human lives, but have an innate curiosity and longing to understand where they came from before. They are typically urged to avoid setting foot on Earth for any reason, as it can reawaken ALL memories from their past lives at once. Because of the toll it can take on their minds, they are essentially barred from re-entering Heaven until the Day of Judgement when they are enveloped in God's infinite grace. That being said, they ARE still allowed to visit Earth but must exercise caution (i.e. guardian angels).

Exceptions

• Seraphim are the only rank of angels allowed to set foot on Earth without receiving spiritual damage, and are thus allowed to return back to Heaven after touching the ground.
• The angel Metatron is the only angel who supercedes the regular hierarchy. He is the only primordial angel (i.e. he did not have to go through the regular soul's journey whatsoever).
• The only angels to experience only one human incarnation before ascending to divinity are the Archangels of the sefirah. (NOTE: I'll explain the sefirah at a later date.)
• Rivka is the only angel to have set foot on Earth and suffered no consequence from it.

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