☁️ Wait, maybe I do know where Heaven and Hell are 🔥

So, at this juncture in the road, is Heaven to the left or the right? It’s not on the map, so I feel a little lost…

No person of sound mind believes in the existence of a physical Heaven or Hell as described in the Bible, Dante’s Inferno, or any other book spouting those fictions. They aren’t destinations you can hop into the car and visit. You don’t swing by the local gas station or corner shop and ask for directions as if you’re going to Taco Bell. You can’t buy a bus ticket or get airfare for a weekend getaway. It would be funny to cruise down the highway and see a sign saying Heaven,18 miles, left lane.

Despite the fictional texts, Heaven isn’t a real destination. It isn’t a city among the clouds. You don’t float around, wearing pristine white, looking down on people while cherubs play on harps. You want a carriage made from a pumpkin, drawn by horses made from mice?

Nor is Hell a hot spot for a jazz club, deep beneath the Earth, in a fiery volcano or pit where souls are tormented for their deeds or misdeeds while alive. That’s the stuff of cartoons.

There is no bearded goof sitting on a golden throne.

There is no cloven-hoofed, pitchfork wielding lackey.

Those myths aside, Heaven and Hell both exist as an extension of your emotional wellbeing. You can visit them multiple times per day through your actions and mindset. Heaven and Hell are right here, we craft and shape them every day.

If we strip away the religious baggage, heaven means bliss or pleasure. Other meanings include nirvana, and paradise. Pleasure, bliss, and paradise are terms we Satanists can get behind. That is at the core of how we live our lives.

Therefore, this mythical “Heaven” is nothing more than a place of bliss and delight created by me, for me. It’s easy to define heaven and hell as:

• A great job is Heaven
• A great relationship is Heaven
• Dealing with a shitty coworker is Hell
• Stuck in traffic for hours is Hell
• Being surrounded by narrow minded assholes is Hell

Clearly not ethereal places. Those descriptions make heaven and hell real places, they’re wherever I am, they’re whatever I create. Every day I move between these two places. Am I enjoying my life and therefore moving to a state of bliss, or am I slipping into hell because of bad decisions or the negative influences of others?

What is Heaven for me, won’t be the same as Heaven for you. I can define Heaven as sitting on my couch watching a great movie. It can be a vacation in a tropical location sipping on fruity little drinks with umbrellas in them. It can be riding a bike across the country. It can be sitting in a bamboo grove on a sunny day listening to nothing but the leaves rustle in the wind.

How, I have to ask myself, “While I’m creating my version of Heaven, what kind of Hell am I creating for other people?”

Am I a shitty coworker making life miserable for people around me?

Am I being a jerk by cutting people off in traffic?

Do I create an enjoyable space for other to be in by my actions?

Do I encourage or discourage people by the things I say?

I’ve had those managers that get off on telling everyone what to do while contributing nothing. I’ve worked at companies where people are a commodity and it shows.

Truth of the matter is, I’m dealing with my own Hell right now. The jerk renting the house next door brought in 6 large dogs that bark incessantly from morning until night. He piles trash bags along the side of his house so he can burn them rather than throwing them away. The list goes on and on.

No, I’m not an HOA nut running around citing people because they didn’t bring their trash bins in on time, or their grass is one inch too tall. Not only do I not live in a neighborhood with an HOA, I don’t believe they should exist.

Point is, he’s either too stupid, too drunk, or too high to understand how much of a pain in the ass he’s become. His actions, and lack of respect for others make a Hell for all of us. Now we have to tolerate his crap until we can do something about it.

That’s all it takes, one jerk who doesn’t give a shit about anyone else, and you’re living in Hell. It’s not some molten fiery pit, it’s dealing with the asshole next door who lacks common sense and decency.

Why do I have to spend all day wearing noise cancelling headphones to drown out the noise?

Why should my weekend get off to a bad start because his dogs are barking at 5am?

Why should time spent on my deck get ruined because this idiot decides to burn a carpet and plastic bottles in a make shift fire pit he scraped out in his backyard?

He’s overstepped his bounds. He’s not trying to achieve any form of pleasure or enjoyment. Being a jerk isn’t a hobby.

As the opposite example, there is a family three doors down, on the other side of the street, and they have extended family events once a month, and for all the big holidays – Labor Day, Memorial Day, Easter, etc.

They have a lot of people over, tables and chairs in the yard, with lots of kids screaming from their sugar rush and loud music. But, it doesn’t bother me.

Their music isn’t at window or bowel shaking level, and it’s on a weekend, Friday or Saturday. They have a good time, and go well into the night. But, as it gets later, things settle down. They’re still playing music at midnight or later, and I can still hear it, but it’s not obnoxious. It’s not at the same level it was at 6pm. I put on my headphones when I’m done for the night, and it’s not a problem. I go to sleep just fine, so I have no reason to complain. They’re working on their state of bliss and there is no issue.

They’re having a good time, but still take steps to not be assholes to everyone around them. That is their bliss, that is their pleasure and I respect it.

I don’t care what other people do, it’s none of my business, but don’t let your life encroach into mine without asking. I don’t have any interest in playing in your world.

I’ll agree, Hell is something to avoid, but it’s not some eternal damnation or penance. Or some idiotic construction ruled over by a crackpot with horns. It’s some jerk, being a jerk, and we get roped in.

There is no mythical, biblical Heaven. It’s not something you ascend to. It’s not some great reward for living your life in misery. Suffering doesn’t pave a road to Heaven.

Heaven is a place you create for yourself. It’s something we need to define and work toward each day. We need to create bliss and pleasure in our lives every day. That is the purpose for living, not to be subservient, suffer, and hope we get something in the end.

Hell isn’t some eternal punishment we have to suffer through because we did something bad or shameful. It’s not something we have to put up with. Sometimes we create our own Hell. Sometimes we are thrust into Hell because of what others are doing.

Hell isn’t a place, it’s a state of being. If we’re facing Hell, we need to make changes in our lives. We need to take action and walk right out the front door.

If Hell is encroaching because of others, it’s time to root those people out.

Heaven is easy to create.

Hell is easy to escape.

You don’t get to Heaven after life, you create Heaven during life.