We've all seen it in movies and on television: ghosts who are cursed by their inability to interact with the world around them, spirits forced to observe their loved ones but never touch them again, phantoms that wander through a world without barriers.
The exception, of course, is their feet. These ghostly remnants are always able to climb stairs, stand on floors, and walk down streets without any difficulty whatsoever.
But what if ghost feet lacked this peculiar covenant with physics? What if these wraiths were completely unable to interact with the corporeal world? If gravity retained even a fragment of its influence over these disembodied souls, they would find that its inexorable pull would slowly drag them down, down, down, to finally abandon them in the flaming chaos of molten rock and crushing pressure that lies at the core of the earth.
And they wouldn't be alone - if even a fraction of the total inhabitants of Earth had failed to completely depart from the physical realm after death, there would be millions of ghosts held eternal captive at the centre of the planet, trapped in lightless burning confinement, aware but unable to escape, screaming, desperate, suffering...
Goodness - I seem to have just invented Hell.
- Sid
So proud
ReplyDeleteWell, it's not like I planned to invent Hell on a Sunday morning, I just sort of ended up there.
ReplyDeleteSid
Good point about the feet. I always wondered why no one considered it.
ReplyDeleteHa, first thought upon seeing the picture (before scrolling down and reading) was - "Wow, a BIG fire show!"
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, not the most cheerful frame of mind in which to begin a Sunday. How could fire be turned into a positive cue? Inspiration perhaps?
I thought about the feet thing as well many years ago - great minds think alike! Terry Pratchett does attempt to address it by saying that ghosts are attached to stones (stomping grounds) or objects that were important to them when they were alive and I suppose they have some control of their bearing within these confines (and are just being polite). Or just wanting to be creditable - having their head sticking out of the floor is just gauche in undead circles!
ReplyDeleteWith regard to a wellness take on fire, there is the phoenix metaphor and also the pine cones that are sealed shut until the resin is melted by forest fires.
Chris
PS Feeling verbose today
Wow, I didn't know that about pinecones! So freaky - and interesting!!! Which goes to show that forest fires aren't merely destructive, in fact they can be very helpful. Speaking of Phoenix, Dr. Jean Grey is as hot as her name, in the books and the movies (kudos to Famke Janssen).
ReplyDeleteHell is a personal concept, different for every individual. What may be one person's hell could be another's paradise. For example, who other than myself would experience excruciating agony to be trapped in a world where there was only soft drinks, wine and spirits to drink....and pizza, hotdogs and endless dessert trays to eat?
"L'enfer, c'est les autres."
ReplyDelete- Jean-Paul Sartre