I never spoke with God...
Illustration
I never spoke with God
Nor visited in Heaven –
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the Checks were given —
(Dickinson)
Throughout the ages, people have attempted to convey with words the splendor and the awesomeness of the realm of God. In Hinduism, this paradise is depicted above the clouds. In Buddhism, there exists a vague non-astronomical series in the sky comprising heaven. Judaism conceives of heaven with its angelic entourage and this is taken over by Christianity.
From the Greek we derive the notion of seven heavens --the last being the place of ultimate joy. Also from Greek mythology comes the idea of Elysium as the home of the blessed and its Elysian fields over the Atlantic where honey-sweet fruit grew fresh three times a year.
All visions of God's habitat are not so idyllic. Richard Wagner, in a number of his operas, depicted the Viking's Valhalla --a grand hall of slain warriors. The central palace of Asgard located in this Norse heaven had 450 gates so that 800 slain warriors could enter simultaneously. Also in Valhalla were the Valkyries, the handmaidens of god Odin, who guided the slain to an eternal feast and eternal battleground. All day, these warriors would be embroiled in a fierce Valhallic battle and those who fell would be restored in time for dinner.
Nor visited in Heaven –
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the Checks were given —
(Dickinson)
Throughout the ages, people have attempted to convey with words the splendor and the awesomeness of the realm of God. In Hinduism, this paradise is depicted above the clouds. In Buddhism, there exists a vague non-astronomical series in the sky comprising heaven. Judaism conceives of heaven with its angelic entourage and this is taken over by Christianity.
From the Greek we derive the notion of seven heavens --the last being the place of ultimate joy. Also from Greek mythology comes the idea of Elysium as the home of the blessed and its Elysian fields over the Atlantic where honey-sweet fruit grew fresh three times a year.
All visions of God's habitat are not so idyllic. Richard Wagner, in a number of his operas, depicted the Viking's Valhalla --a grand hall of slain warriors. The central palace of Asgard located in this Norse heaven had 450 gates so that 800 slain warriors could enter simultaneously. Also in Valhalla were the Valkyries, the handmaidens of god Odin, who guided the slain to an eternal feast and eternal battleground. All day, these warriors would be embroiled in a fierce Valhallic battle and those who fell would be restored in time for dinner.
