In case you prefer to watch/listen.
Afterlife researchers are impressed by how closely the afterworld resembles our physical planet, so much so that many who die think they are still alive. In many other ways the two worlds are similar, which will become obvious as you read on.
In this article I’ll speculate a little more than usual. One thing is certain. Many surprises await us when we get there.
As I see it, the astral world, the world we all enter at death, is an active, not a merely passive environment. Like every world—physical, astral, or more evolved—appointed or chosen leaders oversee, govern, keep order, and protect it from homegrown or alien mischief.
Many layers constitute this world, from the darkest dungeons of the Shadowlands fit for chronic evildoers to the highest sphere of the astral where joy reigns and souls preparing for evolution to higher worlds have their homes.
The core experience in the astral, where physical violence, hunger, injury, and death are impossible, is restfulness, recovery, self-examination, rehabilitation, and delight. This is not true of the Shadowlands, where souls remain stubbornly resistant to the healing light of the astral.
But it is not all bliss in the astral. Experiences range from elation to deep disappointment. Despite endless options for entertainment, new friendships, and liberating introspection, sadness or boredom can set in. Depression sometimes occurs, and counselors are present to help. When unresolved, reincarnation is sometimes a resort.
The astral world is not self-regulating. Justice doesn’t automatically happen. Disputes are not uncommon. Authorities at many levels are responsible for resolving them. Jurisprudence and politics are part of the astral scene.
Astral spirits take an ongoing interest in our world—they remember it well—and desire to help us. Their invisible, unnoticed, usually unappreciated influence is critical to our planet’s survival and order. These creative helper spirits introduce many changes in our world, from artistic to technological to social and political, both at the individual and planetary level. We are wise to ask their help in our affairs.
Astral worlds have a completely different history from the physical. They don’t evolve in the Darwinian manner that physical systems do. In a sense they are special creations. And they are not controlled by the same physical laws governing the physical universe, such as the limiting speed of light.
Astral worlds can be changed by the power of minds acting either alone or in concert. Our astral world is constantly being altered. Guardians of its health overlook and guide the alterations.
The astral world is not meant as a permanent home. Most souls will eventually choose another birth on a physical planet or graduate to a higher, more spiritualized environment. A minority persist in their evil and reside indefinitely in the shadowy depths of the astral.
The Catholic teaching of purgatory—understood not as a place of torture for sins but as a place of cleansing and preparation for more heavenly worlds—is consistent with the research. The Protestant teaching of going straight to heaven or to an eternal hell at the point of death is a misleading fantasy contradicted by the research. It makes sense to pray for the dead, send them our love, and embrace them as they progress toward better worlds.
The trillion galaxies that make up the universe—now I am really speculating—are filled with planets with intelligent life. Many are more advanced both technologically and spiritually than earth. Earth and its astral world are visited by curious and sometimes concerned beings from these planets.
Imagine what it would be like to live in a world without heart attacks, home security systems, bad weather, fentanyl, cluster bombs, falling from a ladder, traffic jams, and being stuck working with people you can’t stand. It would be a world you would always feel safe in and free to move around without delay. The main challenges would be finding what you really want to do with all the time you have, choosing your home and friends, and making peace with your enemies if you have any. And for these there would be plenty of help from counselors at no charge.
My most recent book, Guardians of the Afterworld, puts all this on display. An upcoming novel, The Hell Dwellers, will showcase life in the Shadowlands. Meanwhile, let us be a force for good in thisworld.
Stafford Betty, Professor of Religious Studies, CSUB, (ret) is the author of When Did You Ever Become Less by Dying?, Heaven and Hell Unveiled and his novel, Guardians of the Afterworld. His latest book, The Hell Dwellers: A Novel about the Dark Side of the Afterlife is coming in 2026. Stafford can be found at staffordbetty.com.
Although I parted ways with the Catholic Church nearly 60 years ago, I still have many Catholic friends and I gather that the Church avoids any discussion of the afterlife. I was taught that Purgatory was just as bad as Hell, except that it wasn’t eternal. I’ve asked younger Catholic friends what Purgatory is and they just shrug. As near as I can determine, the Church doesn’t discuss the afterlife at all.
A few years ago I talked to a recent Catholic convert who told me, when I questioned him, that he had never heard of purgatory in his training and that I might be mistaken. Bear in mind this Church doesn’t even allow women to become deacons or divorced people to receive holy communion or married men to become priests. Further, it has nothing to say about reincarnation despite 36% of Catholics saying they believe in it according to a recent PEW poll. This is a decaying institution in many respects, though its monks and nuns and its glorious artistic and musical achievements down though the ages give me hope that it can at some point surmount the stifling conservatism of the college of cardinals at the Vatican who run the Church.
One of the curiosities of incarnate life, is that we have no certain knowledge of its existence beyond this pale blue dot in the immensity of space. Given the vastness of the universe, and the lowball estimate of some 200 sextillion solar systems in our universe, it is reasonable to expect that our planet is not alone as a harbor for life on the physical plane.
Swedenborg made claims of life on our sister planets, and other mediums have reported alien beings inhabiting other worlds in our solar system. If they were referring to physical creatures like ourselves, then they were dead wrong. If instead they were speaking of the astral realm, then they failed in many instances to explicitly say so.
Some spirits have spoken of men and women from the sun, who ministered to early humans. Clearly, these sons and daughters of the flame were, if physical while inhabiting our star, of vastly different composition than their terrestrial counterparts. I plead a hopeful agnostic as to this sacred myth.
Despite the limited nature of the reconnaissance of our solar system, it is safe to say that Earth is host to the lone carbon based life forms in our solar neighborhood. Billions have, and will continue to be spent in search of evidence to the contrary. Who says scientists don’t have faith? Is astrobiology the astrological equivalent of biology?
As to the populace of the astral realms throughout our solar sphere, I withhold speculation for the time being and look forward to investigating the matter first hand at a later state.
David, I have come across at least three references to intelligent life and civilization on Mars in mediumistic accounts, most recently in the esteemed Dresser material. Can you make sense of this? Is it possible that this barren planet is a safe harbor for an astral world? Personally, at the moment I find this claim farfetched. Or is it possible the medium misinterpreted the spirit working through her? Puzzled.
Stafford,
Aside from Dresser, Swedenborg, Myers, Hugo, and others have also talked about spirit beings on Mars and other planets. Whatever they’re experiencing or seeing, it can’t be the physical planet Mars—the one we’ve photographed for years and know to be inhospitable to large physical life. I say this with no real knowledge of the subject.
This is speculative, but reference to other beings in our solar system if physical, must be a form of dark matter beyond our perception. That’s a stretch, but a more fathomable explanation is that the astral realms of the other planets are populated as that of Earth is. Incarnating on the material plane is unique to our world in this system and, as suggested in the link below, perhaps visitants from other worlds incarnate in human form to nudge us along every now and then. Also, just as the lower astral of Earth seems solid and physical to its inhabitants, presumably that is the case elsewhere.
I have yet another reference for you to consider. I’ve summarized the discourse linked below to provide another perspective.
According to the discourse What a Martian Would Think if He Visited the Earth by Mrs. Cora L. V. Richmond (dated February 17, 1907), a Martian would perceive Earth and its inhabitants in the following ways:
Sense of Superiority and Alienation: Martians, inhabiting a planet considered the next step in “unfoldment” beyond Earth, are described as being in every way superior. A visitant in human form would approach Earth as a “civilized nation… approach[es] some of those islands of the sea where civilization has not extended.” The Earth would seem an “alien place,” and its grown-up people would seem like “grown up children” with “infantile” knowledge. The visitant would often feel a profound “Home-sick[ness]” or nostalgia.
Mission of Advancement: A Martian would be a messenger or prophet, coming with a “distinct mission” to plant the “seed of a great truth.” This truth would be so far in advance that the age could not adopt it immediately, but it would form an ideal and remain a “permanent possession until the people grow up to it.” Historical figures like Joan d’Arc, William Lloyd Garrison, Edison, General Grant, and Abraham Lincoln are offered as examples of individuals possibly fulfilling such missions.
Observation of Earth’s Limitations: The visitor would observe:
Pliability of Matter: That substances on Earth are “not as pliable” as on Mars, which may explain the slow progress in adopting inventions and improvements (e.g., steam power, telegraph, airships).
Technology: Earth’s “wonderful” electric light is superseded on Mars by a beautiful arrangement of solar rays, suggesting a future where Earth stores solar light and heat.
Architecture & Health: Earth’s civilization regards immense, high structures as wonderful and often “shut[s] out the fresh air and sunshine,” a practice a later civilization will correct.
Moral and Spiritual Lag: While noting the Earth’s inferiority, the Martian’s influence helps expose “weaknesses” and shows “the better way.” The discourse concludes that a Martian visitant has “opened up the spiritual avenues of information” to the extent that more people are ready for the “simple life” and amenable to the Golden Rule, leading society to build up from within.
You never hear the word purgatory from the mouths of Catholic priests these days even though it’s an official part of their doctrine; they haven’t moved beyond the old view of its being a place of punishment for sins, and they distance themselves from so unpopular a view. Most of them view the afterlife as a heavenly experience for almost everyone since God is so loving and merciful. They have no interest in what we have turned up and no time to investigate it. I recently subscribed to National Catholic Reporter, which represents the liberal wing of the Church, and never saw anything about the afterlife. I submitted an article but never heard back. The children of Catholic parents are adding to the ranks of the unaffiliated “nones” by the millions.
A way of bringing heaven, hell, and purgatory into a tangible context is to frame them as inner states, rather than as external conditions. One of the great insights of Spiritualism is that the “objective” situation of the discarnate spirit corresponds to the subjective state of consciousness. Instant karma. In the astral realm thought directly influences “external” appearances. Here, though, a saint may find themselves in a horrific war zone, involuntarily subject to the ravages of battle. Presumably, the saint does not curse God because of his misfortune, but views the circumstance as an opportunity for the glory of God to be made manifest through them.
We all get a bit seared from time to time by a little hellfire, and wallow every now and then in a purgatory of our own making. These states are very real in the here and now, and their continuance in the hereafter is a wholly reasonable expectation.
Well put.
Inner states manifesting as external environments.
Stafford, I remember having conversations with a woman who was very involved with the Catholic Church in the UK and Germany. Her son was the CEO of one of the largest UK Christian charities. I said I thought the Catholics were onto something with the idea of purgatory, – a progressive state after death – and she said, “We don’t really believe in that any more.”