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Alryssa's saga of the little kitten reminds me of my favorite vision of the afterlife, and how all the good are rewarded, and the bad are punished.
(as this is not yet the season for telling sacred stories, but I believe it's important to share, let me just say: "I am sitting on 12 skunk skins")
It comes from the Lenape nation, which used to live in the Hudson Vally area where I used to live (but now are centered in Oklahoma. <a href="http://www.delawaretribeofindians.nsn.us/migrationmap.htm>Here is a map of their western migration</a>.) Anyway, if you've ever been lucky enough to live somewhere where it gets truly dark at night, you'll know that it appears as a solid band of faint stars, going right across the sky... except for one spot where there is a narrow break, where no stars appear at all. Well, according to the Lenape, this is the path to the otherlife, and the place where the break is, is a narrow log bridge. (Another aside: In Lenape culture, every baby got a puppy to grow up with... their puppy was their spiritual gaurdian, to keep the bad spirits away... so dogs were very, very sacred). And this log bridge is guarded by the spirits of all the dogs who have died.. If the person who's just died has been good to animals, and treated them with respect, the dogs will let them pass. But if the person has ever once been cruel to animals, or kicked a dog, then the dogs will roll and shake the bridge, so the person cannot cross into heaven. Those that are able to cross find life just as it is here, but without sicknesss or pain... and of course, without having to put up with anybody who's mean to animals! And the punishment for the meanies is that they have to spend eternity with only <i>each other</i> for company, while they watch all the nice people have fun together -- from a distance. :-P
(as this is not yet the season for telling sacred stories, but I believe it's important to share, let me just say: "I am sitting on 12 skunk skins")
It comes from the Lenape nation, which used to live in the Hudson Vally area where I used to live (but now are centered in Oklahoma. <a href="http://www.delawaretribeofindians.nsn.us/migrationmap.htm>Here is a map of their western migration</a>.) Anyway, if you've ever been lucky enough to live somewhere where it gets truly dark at night, you'll know that it appears as a solid band of faint stars, going right across the sky... except for one spot where there is a narrow break, where no stars appear at all. Well, according to the Lenape, this is the path to the otherlife, and the place where the break is, is a narrow log bridge. (Another aside: In Lenape culture, every baby got a puppy to grow up with... their puppy was their spiritual gaurdian, to keep the bad spirits away... so dogs were very, very sacred). And this log bridge is guarded by the spirits of all the dogs who have died.. If the person who's just died has been good to animals, and treated them with respect, the dogs will let them pass. But if the person has ever once been cruel to animals, or kicked a dog, then the dogs will roll and shake the bridge, so the person cannot cross into heaven. Those that are able to cross find life just as it is here, but without sicknesss or pain... and of course, without having to put up with anybody who's mean to animals! And the punishment for the meanies is that they have to spend eternity with only <i>each other</i> for company, while they watch all the nice people have fun together -- from a distance. :-P
