The four ways Steven Cave said that we categorize death and the afterlife are:
1) Elixir: Dealing with some sort of magic potion or Holy Grail that grants the consumer immortality, thus making death unobtainable. This seems to be fading away except in movies. However in society, makeup developers come up with anti-aging creams and the like.
2) Resurrection: This one is the belief that you will be raised from the dead like Jesus Christ. Most believers in either Judaism, Islam and Christianity believe in the Resurrection of our bodies after death. Ironically these 3 religions are the 3 most warring groups in history. I think this belief is foundational around a deeper faith in their God and Salvation.
3) Soul: Here we have people who, after death, turn into a soul that remains forever… **and dealing with Halloween, they may haunt others**? Others under this umbrella believe that they have a soul and then just leave the flesh when they die to forever reside as their soul. Funny thing is, most Christians believe in the Resurrection and their Soul.
4) Legacy: Most want to leave a legacy, and today it is, more than ever, attainable through social media. Through their posts, videos, status updates, humor, followers and all that jazz. No longer do we call on heroes or have scribes following us around. We just feel we need to let the world know our every move. Instead of actually investing in a person and getting to know the real them.
I find it interesting how the Egyptians view death. Mummification is about life after death and what they will be. I like the idea about making a king have a gold face. Not because he was rich, but because they wanted him to be a deity once in the other realm. I find it funny how the stories of Hathor (Isis), Seth, Horus, Ra, etc.. are very similar in the fact that they are all violent and sexual, just like the Greek Mythologies we’ve already learned about.
I remember, like S. Cave, how I viewed death as a kid like the Existential Elevator. Not knowing exactly what I believed and not taking my parents faith truly for my own (until I grew older). I remember wondering what the rules were (growing up in Legalistic Christianity) about Heaven & Hell. Did we really become angels, playing harps on the clouds after we die? I wasn’t sure what I believed due to the fact that TV and all the cartoons were so appealing to me as a kid.
I remember the Movie “All Dogs Go To Heaven”, do you? (are you old enough… lol) This movie really made me think, was heaven based on Karma or did it come down to a decision of Salvation like I was taught growing up? I really fought with this idea from then and still to this day especially when it comes down to the controversial topic of Suicide (another debate for another time). However… Do all dogs go to heaven? My theological answer is a resounding, YES!!!
All Cats Go Straight To Hell! lol
Hum 115: World Mythology 
I love your examples and believe you met the requirements for the assignment. I do remember “All Dogs Go to Heaven”, it still makes me cry to this day and I wonder about that too. You are wrong though, cats don’t go to hell, they lead it but other than that. I also liked how you explained each story we tell ourselves to cope with death. Great job!
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If dogs don’t go to heaven, then it’s not heaven.
But I wonder if all these debates and rituals, both current and ancient, are attempt at codifying the unimaginable. If we focus on intricate rules and scenarios about life after death, are we creating tangible systems that we can understand in place of the void.
I’ve read that one common phenomenon among people who are close to death involves thinking that they are getting ready to go on a trip and need to get everything ready. So in a hospice situation, say, even if the patient is not fully conscious, they’ll often murmur something about needing to pack or do something in preparation for a long trip. That makes me think of the geography of death. Greek mythology has Charon the boatman, Egyptian myth places Osiris on a barge, Norse myth has a road to Hel, Dante’s depiction of Christian afterlife involved descending into pits and climbing mountains. They have a common theme of movement: the afterlife is somewhere we need to travel to, which seems a bit odd given that travel is grounded in the physical. Shouldn’t our soul just be able to apparate to the next phase of existence? But there seems to be something hard-wired in us to describe the transition from life to death in earthly terms.
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