Heaven (天国 Tengoku?) and Hell (地獄 Jigoku?) are phases of reality, which are higher and lower realms respectively, explained as being of "different wavelengths", with Heaven of a higher frequency, and Hell of a lower frequency.[1]
Principles[]
In traditional Abrahamic religious tradition, Heaven is the realm of God and his angels, though its existence is often interchanged with Paradise, or the final resting place of people that are under God's grace. Hell on the other hand, is traditionally the realm where the Devil and his angels are sent to be punished. Moreover, in many traditions, it is also the place where wicked souls are punished for all eternity, and is often interchanged with Sheol, a place that is separate from God, and a separation from God equals suffering.
While Hell is described in the Book of Revelation, people are as influenced about what it looks like by hymns and Paradise Lost as they are by the Bible and academic books.[2] For example, the 16th century Dutch physician Johann Weyer described Hell in his work Pseudomonarchia Daemonum ("Hierarchy of Demons") as similar to a political entity, complete with an opposition party and a master accountant in charge of the kingdom's finances.[2] However, despite the common view that the Western Hell is a realm of demons where souls can end up after making a deal with the devil,[2] in truth it is managed by angels like Uriel, Kushiel, Anafiel, and Mastema, since it is part of God's plan. Anything else is no more than ideas created by folklore and fiction.[2]
Because of these differing views of Hell, Anna Kingsford speculates that God didn't actually give Hell much thought.[2]
Chronology[]
Toaru Majutsu no Index[]
Angel Fall Arc[]
- Main article: Angel Fall Arc
It is first mentioned in Toaru Majutsu no Index, that due to the differing nature of the realms, humans of the world can neither detect Heaven nor Hell, even though both of them exist in the exact location, as is its denizens cannot detect each other and their realms. According to Tsuchimikado Motoharu, only when the denizens of those realms go into the realm between Heaven and Hell, which is the physical world of the living, that the denizens can detect each other. Motoharu continues by saying that their very presence in the human world will result in negative effects to the human world, describing it similarly to an object being lit by an infrared light and becoming hot because of it, or when glass vibrates when there is a high frequency sound.[1] This is of course an inherent property of angels.[3]
Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index[]
Magic God Othinus Arc[]
- Main article: Magic God Othinus Arc
As Othinus tries to break Touma's will, he realizes that she is not in fact destroying the world again and again, but keeps changing the world’s point of view. She then explains that the world was not pure and untouched to begin with and that Christian, Buddhist, Celtic, Indian, Shinto, Incan, Aztec, Greek, Roman and Norse cultures and their religions have added layer after layer of various phases over the world like thin veils or filters. So besides Heaven and Hell, there also exists the underworld, the Pure Land, Yomi, the abyss, Mount Olympus, the fairy island, Nirai Kanai, Asgard, and many others. The physical world of the living is one viewed as though through various colors of cellophane. By creating new filters and placing them over the world, the world appears to have changed - a task she claims to be lot easier than destroying everything and building it back up every time. She then mentions that a man who names himself “Silver Star” seems to have been attempting to directly tamper with the 'Pure World' beyond all the filters.[4]
Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index[]
Hell Tour Arc[]
- Main article: Hell Tour Arc
Most of the events surrounding Kamijou Touma and Anna Kingsford's Hell Tour on January 7th took place within an artificial phase created by Johann Valentin Andreae, a false hell which was intended to act as a resurrection device to return a single soul to the living world after death.[5][6][7][8][9][10] As well as ideas concerning the Christian hell, various hells or other realms of the dead were referenced during these events as phases atop the physical world.[2] After Touma started to climb the staircase back to life after defeating Andreae, the false hell started to break and the maw of the real hell opened at the bottom, swallowing up Andreae and Kingsford.[11]
See Also[]
External Links[]
- Heaven (Wikipedia article)
- Hell (Wikipedia article)
- Paradise (Wikipedia article)
- Sheol (Wikipedia article)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 04 Chapter 1 Part 1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 11 Chapter 1 Part 2
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 04 Chapter 2 Part 2
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 09 Chapter 6b Between the Connected Points
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 11 Prologue
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 11 Chapter 1
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 11 Chapter 2
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 11 Chapter 3
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 11 Chapter 3 Part 4
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 11 Chapter 4
- ↑ Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 11 Epilogue
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| Religious and Mythological | Heaven and Hell • Underworld • Pure Land • Yomi • Abyss • Mount Olympus • Fairy Island • Nirai Kanai • Asgard • First Sun • Takama-ga-hara • Amaravati |
| Phase-manipulated Worlds | Alpha World • Beta World • Omega World • Black World |
| Others | Imaginary Number District • Artificial Heaven • Current World • Hidden World |