| ZYGOTE IN MY COFFEE.COM |
| ***BIO*** Bradley Mason Hamlin was born and raised in Los Angeles, educated at the University of California at Davis, and currently lives in Sacramento with his beautiful wife and crazy children. His short stories, articles, and poems have appeared in several small press books, magazines, and literary journals in print and on line. Hamlin created Mystery Island Publications and writes the Secret Society series: Intoxicated Detective. For more information about Hamlin and other wild things-visit: www.mysteryisland.net |
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| HELL: |
| the article! |
| Despite all the alarming atrocities human beings have perpetrated on their own species: the never-ending murders, wars, rape, sexual perversion, child abuse, torture, cheating, lying, stealing, despite all the human acts of extreme evil, we had to go and create a mythical reality that promises far greater pain and torment:
Hell. Why Hell? Well, perhaps, human beings have not yet reasonably and conscientiously dealt with our own great propensity to harm. So, we created a fall guy, literally a fallen angel, and a really deep pit to keep him tucked away. He goes by many names, but we’ll keep it simple for the context of this article and call him by his most popular tag: The Devil. Of course there are many different takes on Hell and the Devil concept, and we’ll list some of those below, but for the purpose of dispelling this myth it won’t be necessary to examine the minute differences of cultural Hells. However, it is the concept of an unearthly purgatory itself that remains the problem, not how many there are or how they differ in their ability to frighten, control, and manipulate. The fact that there are so many different types of Hells throughout the religious myths of our world does not validate the reality of Hell; rather, it does speak to a specific flaw in the human condition. We can’t take responsibility for our own acts of evil. Let’s take a moment to examine the origin of Hell. I wonder if the name Hell itself is a clue designed by the would-be controllers long ago to let us know we will not be privy to the truth, and that actually, we have much to fear. We can trace the word all the way back to the Proto-Germanic word “halja” which means: “one who covers up and hides something.” Interesting. Covering up what? Hiding what? Is Hell really a metaphor for the bad, reprehensible, truly evil acts committed by humans that we want to hide, conceal, cover up, and ultimately not take responsibility for by blaming a mythical gatekeeper (the Devil) for our own sins? Conceivably it is our own intelligence that created the problem. Void of intellect, the power of thought and self-examination, we would not feel guilt. An animal in the wild does not feel guilt when it sinks its teeth into its prey. The creature is merely doing what comes naturally. But are we any different? What comes naturally to human animals? Humans lie, cheat, steal, and create physical and mental harm to our own kind on a vast and varied level of skill and complexity. Yet, we’re just smart enough to “feel” something bad about our own acts of cruelty. Although, we’re also smart enough to create a world of technological, scientific, and artistic wonders—so it couldn’t really be our fault, right? The Devil makes us do it. And what’s worse is that if you don’t follow the correct protocol for forgiveness—you will suffer an eternity of the highest form of terror—with no recourse for future peace and freedom. This is what a higher power created, the best IT could do? I don’t think so. Hell is the raging fire of guilt radiating from sentient beings that consciously do wrong when they are perfectly capable of doing right. We all feel it. We all make mistakes, and we all feel bad for making those mistakes—with the exception of those that are mentally ill. Is it any wonder though, really, that there are so many mentally ill in a world full of people who believe there is a raging inferno at the Earth’s core—just waiting to burn them for all those little indiscretions—or not believing in the right man-made religion? Maybe, just maybe, the answer lies in the spirit of kindness and not the spirit of fear. Maybe if we all, as corny as it may seem to all us regular evil-doers, just act a little more polite each day, a little nicer to everyone, even those we really just don’t like, maybe then that conflagration down below will begin to run out of fire burning resources. Can you imagine a world where “Hell” is a concept long forgotten, or at least a concept that is only taught in its proper context: a myth designed to control the populace by creating an unreasonable, child-like terror on both the conscious and subconscious levels of reality? Come on, think about it, in a world with Celine Dion and Dr. Phil—do we really need to imagine greater evil? Hey kids—don’t stop now, enjoy this lil’ list of cultural “Hells”—[interestingly enough—some of these places are not actually considered bad. For instance, the Chinese “Di Yu” is traditionally thought of as a maze of underground levels and chambers where souls are taken to atone for their earthly sins, but Christian missionaries straightened them out on that nonsense!] LIST O’ HELL! Adlivun: Inuit Aralu: Sumerian Bagobo: Asian Di Yu: Chinese Gehenna: Hebrew/Judism/Kabbalistic Hades: Greek/Roman Haida: African Halja: Proto-Germanic Hel: Norse Hell: Christian House of the lie (my favorite): Zoroastrianism Jahannam: Arabic/Islamic/Muslim Lucy Hell: Mystery Island Mictlan: Aztec Naraka: Buddhism and Hinduism Tartarus: Greek (see it on Xena: Warrior Princess!) Uffern: Celtic Xibalbá: Mayan Well, that’s all the hell I can take for now, but I’m sure there are many more types, many more infernos to visit. If we missed any—please let us know, and while you’re at it: What’s your favorite Hell? Love ya, Bradley Mason Hamlin Damnation: 02.02.08 |
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| by Bradley Mason Hamlin |