The ancient Egyptians honoured death and if they could afford to, they created the most amazing and beautiful tombs to house their bodies after they died. On the walls of the tomb, they depicted everything they wished to manifest in the afterlife, so that they could continue living their best life. Thus, we see hunting scenes, great feasts, family members gathered together in fondness, all the riches of life, the activities, objects and experiences they loved best. Sometimes, they depict themselves with the deities, as if they are saying, “Here’s one of me in the afterlife with my bestie, the great Goddess Isis!”
This was a form of transmutation to them, by magically depicting the world they wished to live in and filling it full of all they desired, they intended to draw the energy of that reality to them when they left their earthly existence.
The truth is, the spirit doesn’t need earthly things in the next realm, but it can manifest them if it so chooses. My grandfather never smoked during the years I knew him, so I was puzzled why he always brings the smell of tobacco when he visits me in spirit. One day, I asked my mother, she told me he had been a heavy smoker until he was diagnosed with cancer when I was a baby. He survived for nearly twenty years after that, as a non-smoker, during the years I remember him. Nevertheless, he seems to have chosen to revive that particular pleasure again, once arriving on the other side where smoking can do no harm.
The tomb I imagine for myself would depict the lush green richness of nature; woodlands, seashore, rivers and valleys. I will paint an underwater seascape of coral reefs and kelp forests with shoals of rainbow fish and a diving cormorant. A landscape filled with birds and wildlife belonging to the British isles; fox, stag, hawk, raven and bee. The ceiling shall depict a night sky with a mass of stars coalescing into the Milky Way.
All those I love shall be painted with me, whether physical or spiritual beings. I shall paint a temple of serenity for us to sit together in stillness and peace whilst we emanate loving vibrations for all that need them.
On the lower walls, the underworld shall be represented along with drumming, dancing, music, singing and chanting around a fire. I will honour and depict the Elemental Kingdom and the Crystalline Consciousness, call in divine magic and make sure my shamanic drum and painting kit are present for me to access from the other side. And there shall be as many cats as I have known in life, in their colours and patterns, each one illustrated with their earthly name.
If you could create, or have created, paintings and carvings to conjure up the world your spirit will live in after you die, what would you represent on the walls of your tomb?
[Image: Ancient Egyptian tomb wall painting from thegreatcoursesdaily.com]
amenet drago 