Death and Reincarnation

 

 

 

Death is not a final end. It's simply a part of a wheel that includes rebirth. Death is simply transformation, not termination. In Wicca, we are not striving to get off the wheel or to get beyond the need for rebirth. Rebirth is the Goddess's great gift to us, and we embrace it.

Despite the emphasis on rebirth, death is still a great loss. Our essence, our Deep Self, is reborn, but our particular personality is wedded to a body, a gender, an ancestry, a life history. That personality will dissolve at death. Lessons we have learned will become part of our essential being. But much of what makes us unique in this life will be gone.
This is much like when your personality changes thoughout your living life. Your environment and life challenges can often change your personality.
For example, in this life your dignity is beaten down everyday by someone. Your personality is likely to be one of someone that feels they have no self worth or contribution.
Now lets say in your next life you are born into a family that loves you very much and appreciates you, only touching you in a loving manner. Your personality in that life is likely to be one of someone that feels loved, has self worth and tackles the world with their head held high.

 

 

Suicide

Suicide is not a neutral act: it causes harm to family, partners, and intimate friends. It is not a solution to problems such as depression or despair; it simply transfers them to another plane and intensifies the challenges the soul faces. For these reasons, suicide is strongly discouraged. When someone does commit suicide, however, we attempt to view the act with the same compassion we would accord any other mistake. The person is still considered part of our community, entitled to the same spiritual aid, guidance, and rites as anyone else who has died.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crossing Over

When you die, anything that you believe in does exist in the other world; the spirit crossing over goes wherever it expects. If you believe you will go to Avalon and walk with the Goddess beneath her flowering apple trees, then you will. You create your own "Heaven" in your mind.

If you would like more examples, and a really good movie to watch, *grin* I suggest you check out "What Dreams May Come" starring Robyn Williams ©1998. This movie is the closest thing I've been able to find to these beliefs.