hat happens when you die? Often have I pondered this sobering question. Normally in the early hours, when sleep eludes me and the slivered light of a full moon streams into my room with all the warmth of a winter's day, settling upon me, it's glaze of argent highlighting my body in cold-relief as I lay supine in repose upon my bed. Deep in thought about my temporary existence upon this mortal coil.

If one were to consider all of the facts in a scientific manner, then the answer would be but a simple one. First, one must know what the human body is. Made of the elements and, as certain of the intelligencia would have us believe, other devices mostly of an obscure and un-measurable nature, it is simply the vehicle in which we travel in our brief state of awareness. Water, Aqua Vita if you will, is also a major component of our form, the whole being bound by some force akin to gravity, though the true character of this force is but of a speculative nature. None have measured it nor quantified it, so a theory it shall remain until proven.

Take away this binding force, this essence of the corporeal being, and then you have but a mélange of elements, both fundamental and chemical. The nature and behaviour of water is well known. So, with the water changed in state and gone from the mix, the elements decay and return unhindered to their natural form.

This is death in scientific parlance.

But I, knowing more of science than the layman, can tell you, the force that binds this pottage in human shape, is of an elemental nature itself. It will not decay as do the chemical components, nor will it evaporate like the breath of the dying man, as does the water of the body upon death. No, it remains, but in another form than that in which it was employed before.

One might call it the soul in essence.

This soul if you will, is but an outline of the human body, a photographic plate in negative. It's nature is that of the form it defined in life, now in death it has but a memory of itself and retains the shape it once took. This is my explanation for the existence of phantoms and hauntings. The spectral form seen wandering in many a home is but the energy of the former person, locked in perpetuity in this world, unable to disperse. A simplistic treatise? Yes, but one that I defy you to disprove.

But what of god? If, as we are taught the soul is of a spiritual nature, then surely it ascends to heaven or is banished to purgatory upon the cessation of life here on earth? But then, is it not written that on the day of judgement, the dead shall rise and be judged by the Lord for their actions? Shall it be that the dead shall inhabit the earth in this spectral form until such time as they are judged worthy of heaven or are condemned to hell? Will the world be inhabited by the dead until god decides to bring his creation to book for their deeds?

This, I am unable to accept as being the case. It is said that only those of a truly sensitive disposition are able to see those held within this limbo in the world between worlds. I find this hard to take. Would not the vast and unnumbered ranks of the dead cause great distress to those who alone could see them? Or is it that they are able to close down their senses to the visions of the tormented unable to cross over to the reward they so fervently believed they would inherit upon death? This is where I rest my case on the matter of the soul. It is a panacea for the angst of the masses. A soothing balm upon the fevered brow of human nature, given by the church to help ease the burden that is life. Where we to know that after death, we would be condemned to a near eternity of unconscious wandering in a realm where our being has no purpose other than to await judgement, then I feel we would not have the will to carry on living or procreating.

So, the energy that survives the death of the body is an ever-changing force. I firmly believe that the energy may, in time, change and disperse and become a part of the whole again, but in another living entity. This does not mean to say that I believe the energy will once again bind and become one with another human in totality. No, I believe this energy becomes a part of every living thing. Animal, vegetable, mineral. It is a building block that is vital to the creation of a life. When the energy becomes free of the body it changes form, and it is reabsorbed into the fabric of another life in the making.

There are many religions in the world, and I would be a fool to say they were all wrong. It is a very stupid man who denies the existence of something he cannot see, but in which many believe, simply because his blindness to it precludes his acceptance of its existence. I do not say that there is not a god, but simply that there are too many variations on the theme for me to make an informed decision or choice on the matter.

I have read many texts on religion, not from any desire to make a choice of doctrine that would best fit my beliefs, but from the point of view of making informed and intelligent decisions about their value and worth. There are those who believe, as do I, in the reincarnated state. My belief is more in line with that of the scientist than the theologian, but the similarities are there to see. The only difference is the presentation of the facts.

There is also the theory that upon the death of the physical form, there is nothing, no conscious knowledge of existence, no memory of the past, no link with the present or future in whatever form. This is without doubt the worst kind of philosophy. Not because it lacks any scientific or intellectual merit or kudos, but because it supposes that this life is all there is. From birth to death is all we have. Once dead, there is nothing at all but black oblivion. We must therefore make the most of our time alive, for we are a long time dead. This would also be a variation on the theme of the dead inhabiting the earth in anticipation of divine judgement would it not? Would we carry on if we knew that once our brief span of life was exhausted, we would simply cease to be? I for one could not accept such an existence, for that is all it would be. Not a life, but an empty shell waiting for the coming of the void.

And so, you now have my thoughts on what death is. I may well be wrong in my assumptions. You may well have your own theories or beliefs, but these are mine and mine alone, divined and distilled from a multitude of beliefs and faiths, but mixed liberally with scientific fact. This is my vision of death.