There is no physical immortality. We are all going to die. Death is the final Mystery. It truly is the undiscovered country, as Shakespeare called it. No one knows for sure exactly what happens to us when we die. I believe that we all create our own afterlife, on the Astral Plane. Reality is all perception anyway, so there is no point arguing over what happens after death, for we are all right. An Atheist who dies will see nothingness; a Christian who believes they will go to heaven will see clouds and angels. A Christian who believes they are going to hell, will create their own, and will be trapped there until they realize the only hell is in their own mind. A Wiccan will see the Summerlands, and someone who doesn't know what they believe will see the closest thing that "is", the Astral.
Love survives death. We are reunited with those who have gone before. Reports of floating above your body, of being able to see and hear all that is happening below, are common to near-death experiences. Such stories come to us from all over the world, too numerous to be discounted. If I were in the room with a loved one at the moment of their death, I would look up to say farewell. I would trust my astral sight to locate their spirit, and trust in our connection to communicate my final message.
There are many myths of "Guides of the Soul," gods and beings such as Hermes and Anubis, who assist in making the crossing to the Other Side. Some are helpful, some malevolent. Are the myths based on reality? Perhaps. Read this account by a woman named Francesca Dubie.

"Several years ago I was hospitalized with optic neuritis. There was a very elderly Oriental woman in the bed next to me, on total life support. My friends kept asking me if I found this upsetting, but I didn't. The soft hiss and whirr of her machines was just white noise, and I could feel her serenity. She had visitors every day, family members who came and sat quietly at her bedside. She was clearly not expected to recover, their vigil a death watch. I woke very early one morning, before the hospital staff began bustling around. I glanced toward the window, where gray dawn light was filtering through the blinds, and was surprised to see she had a visitor at that hour. Someone was sitting quietly at the foot of her bed. I came more fully awake and realized there was no chair there, just a seated shape. The best that I can describe this being (paraphrasing Eliot) is that it was made of dark light, folded. I sensed it as male. It was shadowy, shaped like a big cloak with the hood pulled around the face. It was not evil and meant her no harm. It was simply waiting for her. The light grew stronger, until I could no longer make him out. So, what did I see? Were I Christian I would swear I'd seen the Angel of Death with his wings folded around him. With a different belief system I would call him Fetch, the Grim Reaper, or a Spirit Guide. But I am a witch, so I tell you honestly that I am not certain what I saw. Optic neuritis gives you starlight vision, decreasing your normal eyesight but enabling you to see things like auras. I believe I saw an entity. But I was legally blind, with steroids dripping into my arm. I am not certain what I saw, or if we do have company on our final journey."

RITUALS
A Catholic death ritual involves a wake, where the body is dressed up, made up, and usually displayed in its coffin. This takes place in a funeral home. They used to wake people for three days, but one evening is now the norm. Friends, relatives and neighbors come to pay their respects to the family. The wake is generally followed by a church funeral, limos all around, and a slow drive, with the headlights on, to a cemetery for burial. A graveside service may be substituted for the formal church ceremony. Family members then gather for a meal in a restaurant. This ritual gives some people comfort, which I respect but cannot share. I may be a Pagan, but the display of corpses seems barbaric and disrespectful to me. I do not understand the need to have someone's body present in order to honor them or say farewell. We are just meat once our spirits depart. Burial also seems wrong to me, as a witch. Cremation seems appropriate, more in accord with our environmental sensibilities.
I feel it is best, as Pagans, to design our own rituals, and perhaps leave specific instructions in our wills. Many Pagans have been buried in Christian graveyards, with Christian services, because caring parents or other relatives have believed that this is best, or that it is what the person truly wanted, even though the Pagan's friends know that that person would rather have a Pagan ceremony. Here are some prayers of Pagan death ceremonies.
"We, the hidden children of the Goddess, know that there is naught to fear in thy embrace, which none escape; that when we step into thy darkness, as all must, it is but to step again into the light. Therefore, in love, and without fear, we commend to thee our sister. Take her, guard her, guide her; admit her to the peace of the Summerlands, which stand between life and life. And know, as thou knoweth all things, that our love goes with her." ("The Witches Bible")

This is from an Egyptian prayer, Isis mourning Osiris.
"Yet doth my heart yearn after thee and mine eyes desire thee.
Come to her who loves thee, who loves thee!
Come to thy sister, come to thy wife, to thy wife...
Come to the wife of thy house.
I am thy sister by the same mother thou shalt not be far from me.
Gods and men have turned their faces toward thee and weep for thee together...
I call after thee and weep... yet am I thy sister, whom thou didst love on earth...
My brother. . . my brother. . ."

Creating a funeral rite for a friend or family member is a loving thing to do. Scattering someone's ashes in a place that was sacred to them is a beautiful way to honor their spirit. So is planting a tree in their memory, or making charitable contributions in their name. The ceremony or ritual should be appropriate to the person it honors.

ANGER, GRIEF AND MOURNING
Everyone grieves differently. One weeps, one rages, yet another goes numb. One culture requires sackcloth and ashes, extravagant mourning, while another expects a brave face and stoic dignity. All responses to death are legitimate.
A man in an Egyptian village lost both his sons in a car accident. Distraught, he took his rifle outside and fired it repeatedly at the sky. When asked what he was doing he replied that he was shooting at God. There is nothing wrong with being angry when someone dies. A grandmother was so furious with her husband when he died, at 59, that she ripped up all his photographs. This made her feel better. It is normal to feel anger at an untimely or unjust death, and this anger must be acknowledged and dealt with in order that healing may follow grief.
Howling grief is perhaps the only appropriate response to a child's death. You can literally write the anger out of your body, even if this means scrawling "Fuck God," or "It isn't fair" fifty times. Then take that paper out into the yard and bury it, releasing your anger. To some people it would make them feel better.
Closure is needed after a death to complete the grieving and begin the healing. Closure usually takes the form of a funeral, but not always. In the case of a murder victim closure may not come until the killer is caught and convicted. With an accident victim it may not come until the body is recovered, or the cause of the accident determined and corrected. Deaths without closure are the hardest to come to terms with.
One year is the traditional period for mourning, with good reason. Anything less than a year seems disrespectful, a longer period excessive. Chronic mourning is selfish. We have to get up and get on with life, no matter how great our losses.

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