Aether

The Aether (also Ether) is a theorized place of dwelling for the spirits of the dead. It it variously called the realm beyond the world, the Fields of Dionar, the Arms of Salma, the Halls of Gwathor, and many other names by the cultures that hold such a concept. It is important to note that not every waiting place for the dead or intermediate cosmic afterlife stage in every culture is related or exactly the same concept. Rather the tradition of the Aether is rooted in Dionaric religions and the worship of the Most High, which many cultures have adopted. It is suggested that there may be very early related religions which branched off millenia ago and thus stem from the same root but would not be considered strictly Dionaric. Their Aether-like traditions would thus be considered to descended from the same ancestral concept.
The theme in common with all conceptions of the Aether is that it is a place beyond the circle of the world, beyond the sky, and the stars. It is a realm so far away that we cannot see. Some cultures believe that the dead can make excursions back from the Aether and that is why we see phenomena in the sky such as comets or northern lights. Most cultures think of it as a world completely beyond our own. Some see it as like the night sky in its environment, while others imagine a world of fields and trees and grass that the dead dwell in while they wait to be called back to earth—or until we are called onward to them.
Meta
If the Aether does indeed exist as the dwelling place for the dead as opposed to concept of in situ soul sleep, it would have to exist far out in the reaches of space. It would have to be a massive area of interstellar space large enough to hold all sapient beings in the universe. Nebulas are thought to be the most likely candidates for being "the Aether".
Category:Cosmology