The reason why I have covered this subject in some detail is that it seems to be very important to us at this time of the Cycle of the Ages - the 'End Time' as it is sometimes called. What seems to show from what I have already covered is the similarity between the Christian, Islamic and Viking concept of a death in battle that is rewarded in some way; we can add to this the Greek Myth of Elysium and the Celtic Myth of Avalon. The idea of a reward is an incentive to fight and be prepared to die in battle. Clearly the Christians understood the impact of such an idea, hence why their tactics changed to suit their purpose. Even before this time their attacks on the Heathen Religion would have been seen as a 'Holy War' against the Heathens - thus elevating the struggle to a higher level.
Elysium - There are various different accounts of Elysium, and this seems to be an evolving concept that changed over the times, and not a set idea. In fact there were two distinct concepts of the Otherworld -
Islands of the Blessed/White Island - This was the Land in the West ruled over by Kronos, where the Heroes went after death.
Elysium - This was an underworld realm separated from Hades, and was for the Initiates of the Mysteries who had lived virtuous lives.
As stated here, this was not one set idea but changed through time. The Celtic Myth of Avalon centres around the death of King Arthur; here he waits until his nation needs him and will resurrect again. Here in England we have three such figures - King Arthur, King Alfred and Ivar the Boneless. What seems to be the case here is that the Germanic-Celtic culture reflects the nature of their ideas of death and the afterlife. In this case the Mead-hall, mead-drinking, and a glorious death in battle is reflected in their idea of Valhalla (Avalon we do not know). The same goes for the Greek culture, a rather more sophisticated one and thus having a rather more sophisticated concept of life after death.
We have the Aryan concept of the two different ways in the afterlife -
The Way of the Ancestors - This way the individual takes the Lunar Way and is reborn into his tribe and kin, into his Tribal Totem. He is reborn again and again here in Middle-Earth.
The Way of the Gods - This way the individual takes the Solar Way in going out and coming back; he is resurrected at will when he is needed to fulfil a Divine Purpose. This applies to the Buddhist idea of the Boddhisattva, and the Hindu idea of the Avatar.
Well, we have so many different concept of the afterlife that things start to get rather complicated. So, I am going to turn to a far different method of trying to find some sort of answer to this by fast-forwarding to our own modern times. I have a close relative who has studied the afterlife in terms of 'Near Death Experience' where individuals have been deemed 'clinically dead' and have burst back into life again suddenly. Before this is seen as 'irrelevant' this way of studying it is through the actual experience of these individuals, and not a written-down text of a thousand years ago. This is not a belief it is an experience of having 'died'. What better way than to find what we want here? Below is a list of the main things experienced in a NDE -
1. Meeting family members - Ancestors (around 90-odd percent).
2. A brilliant light - most common.
3. A tunnel - very common.
4. Unearthly Music.
5. Vivid colours, some not see here.
6. Coming face to face with Jesus Christ or Mohammed or another religious figure.
7. Meeting guides or higher beings.
8. Experiencing the Void.
These same elements appear in those who 'die' in a war or battle, those who 'die' a violent death, those who 'die' in an accident, or those who 'die' of illness. There is no difference whatever it seems in the way that one dies. Of course, we cannot here be concerned with the actual place that individuals go after death, since they come back before the true death. But there is also one thing I have left out above, and this is something that seems to be the most common in those who have recorded the experience - what they see depends upon the state of mind when they die.
It would seem that one of the most important things here is that the person's state of mind determines what he experiences when moving to the 'next level' in these NDEs. But this cannot be dismissed because they are not actually dead, because this explains why the ancients prepared people for their deaths, in order to ensure they had a good passage to the Other-World, wherever it was. Thus the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead' and the 'Egyptian Book of the Dead' etc. The Priest or Holy Man would take the individual through the process of death before he actually experienced it.
This begs the question as to the concept of Valhalla, since if this were clearly believed by the hero going into battle, then he would experience this on death. This is made possible by being a religious concept since a religion is something far more powerful and fanatical belief would be kindled in such an idea. The fact that many people see Christ etc. shows how powerful such a religious belief is, since this is in fact an overlay placed over the true Archetypal Myth. And here the figure of 'Christ' could just as well be any religious figure, even the Sun-God Baeldaeg who would be portrayed in such a manner here in Europe. The individual versed in Christianity would see Christ, a Heathen would see Baeldaeg perhaps. The fact that the majority of people see their family, relatives (Ancestors) tells us something because it fits to the Way of the Ancestors.
The Greek idea of two different places makes it clear they believed that the Divine Heroes went to the Islands of the Blessed, though I don't know if they had to die in battle to do so. Nor does this appear to be a 'Training Ground' for them as warriors - more like a 'Paradise'. The Elysium Fields, for the Initiates of the Mysteries, was also a kind of 'Paradise'. The idea of the Fallen Warriors going to Valhalla, there to train day after day, and be resurrected again to feast with the gods, and then to ride out of Valhalla at Ragnarok , led by Ragnar Lodbrok, is a Viking one.
The key to this seems to be in the belief-system of the warriors which is so ingrained as to become a reality after death. It is an incentive to go into battle and be prepared to die. Just as easily, it would be an incentive to take up the struggle and cause of the Gods - through the waging of a 'Holy War' - even without a death in actual combat and battle. The otherworld - 'Above' - is said to be a realm where there is no impossibility, no cause and effect, and is thus more 'malleable', and hence change there is made through the power of thought. If the experience of death can be changed by the state of mind then it is this that matters and not how it is recorded long ago. Clearly, any Folk-Religion should today incorporate such a concept even if just to give an incentive to others to take up such a glorious struggle.
As others have pointed out, we are in a different time than that of the Vikings, Anglo-Saxons or Celts of the so-called 'Dark Age'. We are not today engulfed by endless tribal warfare, kin fighting kin, but we do seem to have a never-ending string of conflicts. However, in ancient times the brunt of any conflict was taken by the Warriors; this is true of the soldiers of today, but in today's world the civilians are as much 'on the front line' and two devastating world wars have shown how this has increased tremendously over the past century. And wars are today fought for the increase of the power of a small group dedicated to an agenda of world domination. This is a vast difference. And above all, this is so unlike the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, the Empire of the Christian Franks, in that this is not being pushed by conquest but by stealth and secrecy. These powers have infiltrated and taken over the reins of power - not take us by force!
What we need today is a new Folk-Religion for the Nations, one based upon the Ur-Religion in essence, but in form adapted to suit our own times. Trying to revive something from the past is impractical, since these times are totally different, and we need something which has the essence of the Ancient Religion but which is suited to today's world. The great religious figures of the past - Krist, Buddha and Zarathustra - were religious reformers who took what was there are tried to adapt to the times, cutting out what had been distorted over time.
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