Heaven

"**Heaven**" is a place in many religions and mythologies where their deities/God lives. Some also teach that it is also a place where the souls of good people and/or believers go to after they die.

## In the Rabydosverse

In the Rabydosverse, various cultures use "Heaven" in the same way as they address "the Gods", as a collective name to address the deities, such as "May Heaven help our country" or "All under Heaven".

There are many "Heavens", dimensions and realms where various gods and powerful beings live.

## Variations of Heaven

These are the locations where believers believe their God/gods live:

#### Human

* Asgard, Vanaheim (Nordic)
	+ The souls of warriors go either to the hall of Valhalla (to be trained to fight demons) or the fields of Folkvangr, depending on the selection of the Gods.
* Svarog?/Nebes? (Slavic)
* Haitned/City of Light (Gimbarsian/Egyptian, Atenist)
* House of Song/Garo Demana, Excellent Adobe/Vahishta Ahu (Mazdajasni/Zoroastrian)
* Paradeisos (Christian)
* Jannah (Islamic)
* Takamagahara/Takamagapara (Japanese/Pinogunian)
* Nebes (Gauvajut/Hittite)
* Svarga, Vaikuntha (Hindu/Sandharmin)
	+ The name of the Slavic sun god, Svarog, resembles the Sanskrit word Svarga.
* Trāyastriṃśa/Tāvatiṃsa (Buddhist)
	+ Although the name means "thirty-three [gods]", that is not the literal number of gods inside. It refers to their endless number.

#### Fictional

* Imbar (Vozonid)
	+ The souls of heroes go there to become new Celestials who fight as the Gods' soldiers against demonic armies and monsters.
* Paradeiso? (Zergonian)
	+ According to Zergonian folklore, September 30 will be the date of the Last Judgment, the heat death, or the end of the universe. Afterwards, it will always be September in Heaven, based on an ancient joke that became popular. As a result, Zergonian depictions of Heaven have forests of falling orange leaves, and pumpkins have become revered by some Zergonian sects.
	+ In spite of this pleasant depiction, monsters shaped like infinity symbols were used to frighten people into being afraid of death.
	+ Zergonians also believe in a bear who sleeps every September and awakens only on October or Halloween. In some cases, the bear sleeps until the end of the world, when he partakes in the destruction of the universe.

* Paksara (Igarin)
* Four Paradises (Heronoi)
	+ Four heavens where all good Heronoi souls go to after they die, depending on the deeds and intentions in their lives.
		- Realm of Love/Taradwarai Bejara, Realm of the Endless Dance/Taradwarai Widarotwara, Realm of the Great Wheel/Taradwarai Bairarauta - Heronoi and their partners who dedicate themselves to each other, or both lovers who die.
		- Realm of Courage/Taradwarai Widoxara, Realm of Holy Fire/Taradwarai Purajana - Heronoi who die in battle or as warriors.
		- Realm of Achievement/Taradwarai Zaraidosai, Realm of Gold/Taradwarai Kuresona, Kuresona - Heronoi who fulfill their dreams or accomplish a lot of things. This is also the domain of all artists or those who die with much happiness.
		- Realm of Trees/Taradwarai Daruwixai - Heronoi who are more dedicated to the well-being of their families. Heronoi who die as compassionate people also go there.

### Equivalents of Heaven

Some religions and mythologies teach that the virtuous do not go *directly* to Heaven after they die, but to a pleasant realm to meet their ancestors or achieve a higher state.

* Helheim (Nordic)
	+ This is where the bright god Baldr supposedly dwells and is enthroned with the other ancestors in a constant feast. In spite of its name, it is rather pleasant, although it is cold and bleak.
	+ Because it is the realm where people who pass away go to, the Vetarbroitar Norse consider it an equivalent of Heaven.
* Ran's Hall (Nordic)
	+ This is where people who die at sea go to.
* Halls of respective deities (Nordic)
* Elysion (Hellenic)
* Pure Lands, Buddha-kshetra (Mahayana Buddhist)
* Aaru (Egyptian, ancient Gimbarsian)
* Vyrai (Slavonian)
* Dausos (Rakolan/Baltic)

#### Fictional

* Realm of the Ancestors (Vozonid)
* Fanskoro (Igarin)
	+ An enormous burning wheel.
* Zôr-Zarue (Kuelgon)
	+ A realm of galaxies and stars.
	+ Every good being is sucked into there after their deaths.
* Rilala (Novantirna)
	+ A realm of star-wheels.
* Five Heavens (Novantirna)
	+ The realms of the Gods, where virtuous and righteous people who die go to depending on how they lived and died.
	+ In Novantirna belief, wise people go to Valhalla after they die, but instead of fighting endlessly into annihilation in Ragnarok, they will be preserved in Odin's endless library until the recreation of the universe.
	+ Cats who die end up in Vanaheim, depicted as a vast, forested realm. It is because cats are loved by the goddess Freyja, one of the rulers of Vanaheim.

## Trivia

* A Heronoi word, "suaryka", means "something or a place so precious, beautiful, or heavenly". It was derived from the Sanskrit word "svarga".
* One recurring joke in Jerdiskar societies is that while an Ardeschen is filled with fear in a room of black cats, people from certain countries would become very happy. To them, being surrounded by black cats is not misfortune or fear, but greater blessings from the gods. Some people also cry with joy: "Am I in Heaven?"
* The mostly-atheist Nandegakkovians do not believe in an afterlife, but they consider being remembered and recorded by their loved ones as a better fate than Heaven. Records of their deeds allow them to continue to exist even after their own being is gone.
	+ In their love of poetry and legends, Nandegakkovians call this "becoming one with Knowledge", and some funerals are celebrated with joy as if to usher the ascension of the deceased into the minds of those they love.
	+ However, in Galactic folklore, virtuous Nandegakkovians who die always end up as einherjar. This is because Odin is very happy with their obsession with preserving knowledge, and their willingness to fight anyone who dares destroy records of precious information.