Afterpants: Afterlives (The Journey to afterlife)

Today's storytelling trope is "The journey to the afterlife"

This is the idea that there is space between the living world and whatever 'eternal rest' the underworld has planned for you and that you must journey through it.

The idea is prevalent in many cultures, notably Buddhism (walking the Bardo) and Ancient Egypt wherein there were actually a series of journeys one had to make before reaching the Aaru (the holy fields)

A person had to walk a series of stairs leading downward, then get on a boat and cross a large body of water, then wander through the judgement halls proclaiming one's innocence,

then walk to another hall wherein one had to have one's heart weighed. If after all that, you can travel through the pylons and the gates AND get everyone's name right, passing the final gate, you are permitted to go to your REAL forever home...

I sometimes skip items on the list @ tvtropes because they seem too frivolous or are simply comedy tropes not meant to reflect any afterlife reality but this journey is so palpable , so seemingly necessary to so many people is probably, definitely 100% true!