Afterpants: Nether Regions pt 23 (Pialral)

An somewhat interesting one....Piaral...from the Northern part of India.

The Mizo tribes believe(d) in 2 afterlives. One for exceptional people and the other for everyone else.

What's the exception? Well...you can either be a sort of cultural hero in the form of being a very successful hunter (in life) OR you can throw a party for everyone.

I like this idea because it so vastly contradicts most ideas of the afterlife.

Much in the same way that Ancient Egyptians contradicted Ancient Hindus

with the idea that "karma determines everything" vs/ "if you have the right spells and magical names you can skip all the scary/awful stuff", Pialral isn't interested in how "good" you are...it simply wants you to throw a barbecue for the neighbors...

Granted, it's a pretty expensive barbecue, and it has to last 4 (or 7) days...but just a barbecue nonetheless.

The Mitthi Khua ((go to page 36)) (land of the dead) is similar to the Kar of Ancient Sumeria/Babylon wherein it basically doesn't matter what kind of person you were in you life...it's just...everyone goes there and your afterlife is basically like your regular life..

To get there, a dead person must walk East to a lake, then cross the lake and get to the hill on the other side. On the hill is a special spring from which they are meant to drink; which, like the river Lethe allows one to forget their previous life.

After that, there will be a flower that one picks and puts behind their ear, marking them as "the dead"

The dead person (if the ritual is carried out correctly by the living) will have

pork to eat and a dog to guide them.

Apparently there is only 1 supernatural creature here. He was the first human to die (like the tale of King Yama) and he has a mighty slingshot with which he shoots the new arrivals.

It seems this is to keep them in place (like they might just drift off into eternity or something)

Anyway...Afterpants awards Pialral 4 out of 5 Hellbriefs....it's a pretty cool place!