If you have ever been concerned about your prospects in the 'afterlife', particularly with regard to the possibility of going to Hell, then please be assured that all the stories and myths and warnings have twisted the facts. This isn't to say there won't be Hell to pay if you have hurt someone or hurt yourself, but Hell is not an eternal punishment; rather, Hell is just a part of our path upon our spiritual journey and Hell can be a wonderful place to visit once you understand what is really going on there.

Do you believe in Hell?

One wonder of creation is that whatever our beliefs may be, our beliefs have power and can influence what we will experience in life or in death. So if you believe in Hell you may be heading there, particularly if you harbor pain or sorrow in your heart.

I can tell you this because I have returned from Hell myself. It turned out to be very different from what I at first believed.

At first it was a lot like the descriptions from Dante's Inferno and various bibles and other sources such as TV, movies or novels. But these similarities existed because my mind had incorporated them into my old concepts of the afterlife.

The first details of Hell which I experienced turned out to be illusions of my mind and these slowly fell away from me over time as I revisited Hell more frequently and became more familiar with what was going on there. There were guides through Hell who appeared as I needed them, but these guides turned out not to be the fiends they at first appeared to be.

The guides through Hell were more angelical than demonic in nature but it took me time to realize that their intent was helpful rather than malign.

The guides returned me to my path over and over again by both direct and indirect means until I reached the center of Hell. There I discovered that the center of Hell is not in the center of the Earth as stories and myths have told; instead, I found the center of Hell in the center of my heart. You will find Hell in your own heart too if you are burdened by pain and regret.

These might seem like alarming words, but bear with me, for one of the mysteries revealed to me is that Hell is not at all a bad place. The literal meaning of Hell is, after all, Light.

The alleged ruler of Hell, Lucifer, is also known as the Angel of Light. He is alternately known as the Prince of Darkness because he has the power of Light over Darkness and can thereby master the darkness in our hearts and banish it. Likewise the Angel of light is known as the Master of Lies because that Angel knows the truth in our hearts and reveals it to us, thereby empowering us to overcome our self-deceits and the lies of others which we have mistakenly chosen to believe.

Anyway, I arrived at the center of Hell after many delays and wanderings and found myself confronted by the Devil Himself. Well he looked pretty ugly and terrifying and wicked and I was of course feeling some trepidation as I approached the Being before me. But I sensed compassion and warmth of character radiating from this frightful creature and I continued to approach. As I approached I could feel my heart opening up and changing, becoming lighter.

The countenance of the One before me changed as I approached becoming less demonic in appearance and more angelical with every step I took until I was running to embrace this one who stood in the very center of my heart.

It was my own self whom I embraced. The one who had appeared before me was but the final guide along the way.

In that wonderful embrace many illusions fell away from my mind and I felt the eternal presence of Spirit and I was transported to Heaven. I was no longer my Earthly incarnate identity, but instead had awakened to my eternal self, that which I truly am. It was a most joyous occasion; an occasion for which I was literally dying to experience.

I made this journey through Hell many times through many mortal experiences of death and my eternal other-life. (The after-life is an entirely inadequate term, there is only life after life; death is but another illusion.)

As my experiences with dying and my other-life were repeated, my memories of these experiences became strong enough to blossom in my conscious mind which is how I can now relate these experiences to you.

As I became more familiar with death and my other-life I learned we have three choices when we die. We may be resurrected or returned to the life we have just departed to carry on as if we had not just died, or we may be reincarnated to a different life in a strange or familiar world, or we may abide awhile in the other-life sharing with our family of friends there, renewing our spirits before choosing to return to an incarnate form for further lessons and adventures.

But I also learned that before we may avail ourselves of any of these options we have one duty to ourselves. We must become clear. We must acknowledge all the hurtful things in our heart, those things which we did or said which brought pain or suffering to others or to ourselves. We have only ourselves to answer to in the ultimate moment of death; we need only be truthful with ourselves to pass through this moment and move on.

Unfortunately I have often had some difficulty in facing myself and acknowledging truth within myself. It was the resistance to know myself in my own heart which made the journey to the light so tortuous and painful.

It is understood by Spirit that some spirits will run from the light rather than face it, which is why our guides through Hell may trick us into running to the light when we might otherwise resist. The guides through Hell are psychological projections of parts of ourselves who know the truth in our hearts and who know what we are running away from. So our guides sometimes use misdirection and deceit to get us to confront the pain and sorrow in our hearts so that we may release ourselves from bondage to them.

Eventually we may find our ways through Hell, even if it takes an eternity. Eternity is, after all, only a single moment in the other-life. So as long as it takes is as long as we need it to be, neither more nor less, and once that dreaded moment has passed we become free to be the pure beings of light we were always meant to be.

Hell la lu Jah! '(translates as 'Light From You God').

Now go to Hell! '(but wait for me).