I know it's depressing, but I have been thinking about it a lot just recently.
OK let's be honest, most Non-Kin think about it on and off from the day they find out that eventually there will come a day without them in it.

From the day this thought is introduced to them they begin to ask these questions or at least ones very similar.
What happens after I die.?
Where do I go?
Do I actually go anywhere?
Or do I just...stop?

Otherkin have re-incarnation, what do Non-Kin have? Heaven? What if you don't believe in God? Do you still go to heaven?

Well my theory is a bit less happily ever after, but more realistic I think, and anyway, for what it's worth, it's what I think and here it is.

Every living thing has a soul/spirit/essence, some re-incarnate (Otherkin) but most don't. So what happens to the ones that dont?
All things are made of energy, and in a human the energy gathered together as the soul is what propels a non-kin through it's life. When the body dies the energy has to go somewhere.
Well I believe that there is, somewhere above the earth, a huge pool of human energy, just floating. My energy will return to that pool when I die, to be recycled and used again in it's individual atoms to make up part of the energy that propels several other new lives through their lives. And when they die the energy will be re-used again. This will happen over and over, forever.
It's not re-incarnation because I don't move on as a whole being but only as seperate atoms.
Though I do think this theory may also explain why some Non-Kin get vague memories or flash backs of a previous life. If the new life is made up of enough energy from the same past life, perhaps that energy might carry with it an echo of a memory from that past life, which is sparked by an occurance that is similar to one from that past life. If that makes sense. I think it does.

Well there it is, my theory.

Not exactly E=MC2 but I like it.

My vision of it is such: I see the afterlife as the forest between the worlds from The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. A beautiful place with many pools...when it is determined what will happen to your energy, you hop into one and are on your merry way. So there's a pool for different incarnations, a pool for "heaven", etc. Until it is decided where you'll be going next, you just kinda chill, but you're not alone.

Well I don't mean to offend you Kes, but I don't believe that Non-Kin re-incarnate at all.
I have seen what happens at the moment of death. Too often.
I have seen the energy rise from the body of a Non-Kin and fall upwards like tiny sparkly stars, separating and floating, drifting further apart as they rise.
The death of the body of a Kin is completely different. The spirit looks essentially the same, tiny sparkly stars, they are so beautiful, but the sense of purpose in a Non-Kin spirit is unmistakable. It does not drift softly and aimlessly, it moves with definite direction and design. It has an intention and a plan. What that plan might be is known only to the spirit, but that it has one is obvious to anyone who is able to follow it's movements.

I don't believe that Non-Kin have a choice of where the energy that's left when the body dies goes either.
Sentient thought is unlikely from a soul once it leaves this plane and moves on into what I believe is called 'The Universal Consciousness'. This is where the individual consciousness goes when it's body dies, this is home. It is almost as if once it's job is done here it is called back to the Universal Consciousness as inexorably as rain is pulled downwards by gravity.
Irresistible and overpowering it guides you home, this is the light that many speak of rushing towards along the tunnel in a near death experience. They are pulled towards a bright light and an overwhelming sense of love and belonging. If they are questioned afterwards they speak of being pulled, sometimes too quickly, towards the light by 'beings' who feel familiar and call them with love to come back home.

So to me your theory seems to fit not only with what I think, but with the stories told by those who say they have visited this place briefly and come back. I find it fascinating that no matter how old they are, which generation they come from or which country they live in they all tell the same story, and have the same reference points, the tunnel, the light, the beings that call to them, the feeling of familiarity, and love, of belonging and home.

Hmm, most Western religions argue against re-incarnation, and yet Eastern religions seem to embrace the possibility, at least to some degree and for certain reasons.
I've heard the same things you have Shade, about the tunnel of white light and the rushing feeling, but I've never met anyone who has experienced it, so all the info I have is from what I've read or heard.
I love the idea of dead people 'chillin' by the pool Byakko, but if the stories told by the people who have been there and have come back are anything near the truth, then it doesn't look likely.
I know that near death experiences can't be proved and aren't evidence, but there are so many of them, and like Shade says they all tell pretty much the same story, it's pretty convincing stuff. At least it is for me.

I'm curious about what you mean when you say "a pool for different incarnations".
Would you be up for explaining it a bit?

The pools would basically be like in Narnia...where each one leads to a different world. So one pool would lead to, say, life as an elf. Another as a dragon, etc. Basically a pool for each type of incarnation...for each plane of existance, that type of thing.

It's my belief that the forest between worlds, for lack of a better name, is where souls with an undecided fate end up. Those whose fates are known already, would simply go wherever it is they are meant to go.

So the white light experiences could either be the path to the forest between worlds, or the place those souls were destined to go.


...and we all know that I see no difference between the souls of kin and non kin so I don't think I have to go into that

Oh Boy! Like Narnia?
You mean like 'The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe'? The children's book?


Hang on, you DON'T see any difference between the essence of Kin and a Non-Kin soul?
Is that a typo or is all this a forum joke or something, because I don't get it.
Someone explain it to me OK?

The forest between the worlds is in The Magician's Nephew...so yes, like those books. It's just the easiest image to use. I don't literally mean you go to a book when you die.

It isn't a typo. I personally think the only difference between the soul of an otherkin and that of a non-kin is that otherkin souls are in the wrong body. I think that energy beings differ from souls, but if you're just talking about souls, then no, I see no difference.

A wolf therian is a wolf soul in a human body...no different from any other wolf soul.

Elf-kin are elf souls in human bodies.

The list goes on.

Similarly, human souls, in my belief system, can be reincarnated and could end up in the wrong body ,essentially making them human-kin. So to use the above examples, a human soul could end up in an animal body, elf body, etc.

I see no intrinsic difference between kin souls and non kin souls other than the body they're intended for.

That being said, I don't appreciate you thinking I'm playing some kind of joke like my beliefs are somehow wrong. I have different beliefs from yours and that of other people here. Doesn't make either of us right or wrong, just different.

Hey first of all I think you could have made your post a bit more clear. And we don't all know what you think about things because we haven't all been here that long!
I don't think you should be able to make cryptic statements and then get mad when someone who doesn't understand what you're talking about misreads the situation.
I have no interest in getting into a debate about your beliefs, since they are so far from my own and what I believe being Kin to be that I don't even have a way to relate to them.
If you don't want to be thought of like a joke don't leave your posts hanging like they're waiting for someone to add a punchline to a joke I haven't been here long enough to be a part of.
I felt dismissed and left out by your message at the end of your post and said I didn't get it because I didn't.
Now I do.
Thanks.

Obsidian.

That isn't me mad...that's me feeling disrespected that someone would think I was kidding at all. There's a thread around here (I think it's the shadow one?) where Kes and I talked out the whole soul thing with my beliefs vs. his (and seemingly the predominant one here). The last time my beliefs in souls came up it was quite a time because my beliefs *are* different. But thinking I was joking? That I sound like a joke because of my beliefs. That's just disrespectful and quite honestly hurtful. I could say the same about your beliefs since they're so different. But I don't think that your belief on souls is a joke, it's just your belief.

Honestly, I personally think that saying human souls are so different from 'kin souls, that they can't reincarnate etc. is a little elitist. I know people who remember multiple past lives as a human only. They aren't kin...they're humans with multiple past lives. Thus, I don't believe what you guys do.

It's just one of those topics where we all just need to agree to disagree. To talk about our beliefs, ask about them, etc...but not to judge that either view is right or wrong.

I'm sorry you felt out of the loop, Obsidian, but I didn't want to start this whole debate over again after it has already been discussed. I thought perhaps you had already come across that thread.

OK jumping in here and halting this.

Obsidian you should not assume that someone is joking about something as important as their beliefs. This is a place for everyone to come and be honest about what they think and feel and believe and NOT be ridiculed for them.
Please don't do this again.
If you have doubts about what a person means then ask them politely to explain further. Respect is very important here, as is a persons right to post what they think without being told that they are wrong.
Thankyou.

Byakko.
I appreciate that we don't think the same way, but in order to have freedom of speech we have to have some common sense too.
I don't think it's a good idea to just assume that everyone will know how you feel or what you believe, obviously Obsidian missed the post where you discussed this in detail with Kes. (Who by the way is not only very female, she is also the new lady in Zygo's life, so not male at all! )
I can understand that you might not want to go into it all again or type it all out, but could I ask that anyone who finds themselves in a situation like this leaves a link to the thread or post with the relevant information in it? That would help newcomers a lot I think.
Thankyou.
As for Elitist, well perhaps that was a little less than kind of you? I have always believed myself to be different, seperate and distinct from all Non-Kin. Not superior in any way, and I could be quite offended by that suggestion, but I'm not, because I am assuming that you don't mean to be offensive.

Humans who remember multiple past lives could just be unawakened Kin. You may not believe it to be so, and I don't say that it is true, but it is a possibility non the less.
I do not say that I am right and you are wrong, all I say is that it is possible.

So many things are possible that arguing over who is right and wrong is just a waste of time. If we want to move forward then we must do that together.

Ooops, so sorry Kes! I'm so bad with figuring out people's genders on forums. This is why I like forums with the little gender symbol under people's names...nothing to keep track of lol.

No, I don't mean to be offensive. It just sounds to me in a way that giving kin souls so much more in the way of worth...saying we can reincarnate and human souls can't and that sort of thing is putting our souls above their souls. I'm sure this isn't what you intend by your beliefs at all.

It is indeed possible, and if those individuals never awaken we will have ourselves a continuing conundrum. I agree that we will never ever be able to "prove" our beliefs on the subject so agreeing to disagree, along with remaining respectful about exploring each other's beliefs, is definitely a must

You know for some I am sure that putting themselves above Non-Kin by saying these things is exactly what they intend, and for others, they just simply believe that that is the way it is, without getting any satisfaction or joy out of it.
It is yet another case of how you view your beliefs. Perspective is very important.
Some things are used by some to place themselves above and superior, these same things viewed by others are considered to be simply the way things are.

Most of the time, I'm the one that argues with people who have this idea that Humans are uber special and the chosen people of God on a spiritual journey that is the center to all existence (this is usually in counter to people who believe that all Otherkin are here to become world leaders and guide mankind to enlightenment).

In this case I'm going to argue the opposite direction. I do not believe, nor do I see any evidence whatsoever to support that Humans are any different or inferior to beings other than Humans. Looking at this from another angle, you might say that Humans do not reincarnate whereas the more fantastic creatures (Elves, Dragons, Griffins... the list goes on) do. What about mundane animals, Lions, Tigers and Bears (Oh my!)? If you are to state that they do not reincarnate as well, then you can take your argument over to the Therians and have a grand old time.

I see reincarnation as a relatively common thing, and Otherkin as a vastly uncommon thing. Otherkin by many accounts is a mis-placed soul. Otherkin denotes an individual who claims kinship with another. Now if an Elf soul is in an Elf body, does it dissipate into nothingness when the body dies? Why would a Human soul in a Human body do the same?

Erm I think if you read my post you'll find I didn't say it dissipated into nothingness. If you would care to read my post then you can plainly see what I did say.
And I do not consider myself AS A HUMAN to be an expert on Therians, who by the way appear to have many members who believe that otherkin are quite barmy!
Or re-incarnation.
I posted What I think
And asked others to post what they thought. Which is exactly what everyone was doing until you decided to put us all straight by posting the facts as you see them.
You do not see any evidence, of course you don't, and you won't because evidence isn't possible, for either you or me.
Nor would I be so rude as to presume to go onto a Therian site and tell them that they should change their beliefs because I don't agree with them. I think it's a shame that everyone doesn't have that much respect for other's beliefs.

Well of course you don't, because according to you everyone is a human, even Otherkin. There are no beings other than humans, so how could anyone be different?

You believe that you and everyone else is human. I know that I am a human. But of course I couldn't prove it.

You believe you are right in your belief, I believe you are mistaken.
When I die I will discover which of us is right.
That is enough for me.

funny, the: "When I die I will discover which of us is right.
That is enough for me." is usually my reply to many of those.

Do you ever wonder why many Therians, many Vampire Houses, many pagan covens all think Otherkin are pretty out there?

could it be because the ones they encounter are so ready and willing to jump at the fantastic before spotting the nose on their own face?