The Draconian Afterlife promised to those who live lives in accordance with goodness and Order is a peaceful existance in the divine realm of
Seket-Hetep. The process for getting to enjoy that existance is complex and can take some time.
I. The Journey to the Hall of Truth
After a person dies, their spirit is released to begin its initial journey through Seket-Hetep. The spirit must journey across the plane, avoiding the paths that lead to
The Twelve Hours of Night, passing through each of the different sub-realms of the Offering Fields, including the
Marches of Fire, the area of purifying and refining fire. In the
Amentine Valley, the spirit finds the Hall of Truth, where their soul is weighed in judgment.
II. The Judgment of the Soul
The process of Judgment within the Hall of Truth is actually divided into three distinct judgments: the Judgment of Justice, the Judgment of Mercy, and the Final Judgment of Osiris.
The Judgment of Justice
The first stage is the Judgment of Justice, presided over by
Anubis, the god of Justice. During this phase, Anubis takes the person's heart (their Ib) and weighs it on the Scales of Justice against a Feather of Truth. If the Scales balance, Anubis renders a passing judgment. If the Scales tip toward the Ib, then Anubis returns a negative judgment. Either way, Anubis submits this objective judgment to Osiris.
The Judgment of Mercy
After receiving the Judgment of Justice from Anubis, Osiris then performs the second judgment, the Judgment of Mercy. This Judgment requires Osiris to look beyond the actions judged by Anubis into the motivations that lay behind them, and the sorrows and struggles that the soul had to endure. Through his own sense of divine compassion, Osiris renders his Judgment of Mercy.
Final Judgment
The final task that Osiris must perform is to take the Judgment of Justice and the Judgment of mercy and synthesize them into a Final Judgment that perfectly balances the two. Osiris must ensure that neither Justice becomes cruel and oppressive, nor that mercy becomes too permissive or cheap. The contrary of Justice and Mercy are the hardest to prove, so Osiris may be assisted in this endeavor by Twelve Judges, who are Isis, Thoth, Anubis, Nephthys, and Tefnut, along with seven other of the most exceedingly righteous souls that dwell in Seket-Hetep. However, despite the counsel that these Twelve Judges may render, only Osiris may declare the Final Judgment of the Soul. The decision ultimately rests with him.
Result of the Judgment
If a soul passes the Final Judgment of Osiris, they are granted the Seal of Osiris. This Seal is important for them in their full progression into the Afterlife. If the soul fails to meet the Final Judgment of Osiris, the penalty is that their spirit is devoured by the monster Ammit.
III. Assignment to an Afterlife Realm
Part of how Osiris balances Justice and Mercy in his Final Judgment is in the nature of the realms within Seket-Hetep themselves. A person's final destination within the Afterlife depends upon the level of their righteousness and observance of the Law of Order.
The Seven Sanctuaries are the lowest of the three dwelling places for souls that have earned the Seal of Osiris. The Sanctuaries are for the souls who may not have perfectly kept either the Moral Law or the Law of Order, but they at least have not committed any sins that would put them beyond the reach of Mercy.
The Pillars of the Firmament are the middle tier for souls who have earned the Seal of Osiris. The Pillars are for the souls who actively strove to live the Moral Law and the Law of Order and actively sought repentance during life for the times that they weren't able to perfectly observe those laws.
The Amentine Valley is technically the dwelling place of the Gods. The souls of mortals do not usually dwell here. However, a few exceptional souls, who largely kept the Moral Law and the Law of Order and needed very little intercession from the Judgment of Mercy to meet the Final Judgment, are permitted to dwell with the Gods in the Amentine Valley.
IV. Doctrine of Resurrection
Immediately upon earning the Seal of Osiris, the spirit of the person has one final task to complete before it may take its place in its assigned realm of Seket-Hetep. The spirit must return to the Material Plane one final time and collect its physical body. Under the doctrines of the Draconian Pantheon, the body forms the final part to a person's soul. A soul cannot be complete and find true happiness in the Afterlife until the body is reunited with the spirit. Therefore, the spirit returns to collect its body. After the body is raised to a perfected state, the person, now with a whole soul that will never be split again, is brought back to Seket-Hetep and may take up its residence within its assigned realm.
V. Effect of an Eternal Marriage
Because the doctrines of
Isis teach that marriage is eternal and
The Marriage Rite blesses a couple to be able to find each other in the divine realms of Seket-Hetep to enjoy a peaceful and happy eternity together, two people who have thus been joined in an eternal union must be permitted to dwell within the same realm of Seket-Hetep. This makes the work of Final Judgment even more delicate for Osiris, as each soul must be judged on their own merits. This is why Isis is one of the Twelve Judges that assists Osiris in Judgment. While the righteousness of one spouse may pull a less righteous spouse over the final threshold to qualify for the same realm, not so if doing so would cause Mercy to rob Justice. However, the unrighteousness of one spouse can almost never drag a more righteous spouse down to a lower level of the Afterlife, as doing so would cause Justice to rob Mercy. Again, it is very difficult to balance the two, but somehow Osiris manages to do just that every time, so that the couple is permitted to dwell together for eternity, as promised when they were married, and Justice and Mercy are both satisfied. In short, nobody really knows how Osiris balances Justice and Mercy; it just requires faith that he, as the God of Judgment, is able to perfectly do so.
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