The Veil

**The Veil** is a magical barrier separating the physical world from the Other Side and other spiritual dimensions. The Veil, as well as the Other Side, is said to have been created by the witch Qetsiyah after turning Silas into a true immortal.

However, it was revealed by Arcadius that the Veil is still in tact, separating spirits from living beings. Whether it is the same Veil that corresponded to the Other Side, remains to be seen.

The Veil is first mentioned as such in *Stand By Me*.

## Methodology

### Ghost

* Everyone that resides on the Other Side are Ghosts, however, different species are able to do different things.
	+ Only Witches are able to communicate with each other while on the Other Side.
	+ Every other species won't be able to see or communicate with anyone on the Other Side, unless a Witch casts a spell to allow them to communicate with each other, but the spell is only temporary

### Witch

* Witches can lower the Veil using Expression magic, though this spell also requires the power provided by an Expression Triangle and another magical source, like a celestial event or magical object.

* Witches on the Other Side can still find ways to use their magic to influence the earth and its inhabitants in spite of the Veil though using a catalyst.
* Witches on The Other Side are able to cross the Veil with no dire side effects, such as Sheila Bennett and Emily Bennett.
* A dead witch can appear to a living descendant in a dream, or as a hallucination or blur, as well as possess them.
* A powerful dead witch can allow supernatural beings on the Other Side to gain a foothold on the world of the living, giving them the power to interact with the physical plane of the living. In turn, a living witch can perform a spell that will reveal them to everyone on this plane, not just mediums.
* A powerful dead witch can resurrect themselves when the veil is down.
* If her body is preserved, a witch can return to it from the Other Side. This requires channeling a great amount of magical power.

### Medium

* A Medium can also see through the veil and talk to the dead, but cannot make physical contact.

### The Anchor

* The Anchor can be either living or dead, the effects will not change.
* The Anchor is a person that keeps the Other Side in existence.
* The Anchor can see both the living and everyone that resides on the Other Side.
	+ However, due to the fact that their The Anchor, every dead supernatural being that dies, has to pass through The Anchor, causing The Anchor to feel what that person felt when they died.

## Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series

* In *Ghost World*, Bonnie casts a manifestation spell in order to determine what was wrong with the other side, allowing ghosts to interact with the world of the living. It was said to reveal ghosts, also known as Veil Matter.
* In *The Walking Dead*, Bonnie lowered the Veil with hopes of contacting Qetsiyah about how to subdue Silas. However, she only lowered it within the Expression Triangle; outside of the triangle the Veil remained functional.
* In *Graduation*, Bonnie, now dead, raised the Veil back up channeling the Full Moon. Once the Veil was back up, all of the Ghosts lost their corporal state. Sadness struck as everyone is gone now.
* During the last couple of episodes of Season Five, everyone on The Other Side was able to see and communicate with each other, even Vampires and Werewolves. Eventually, everyone was able to physically effect the real world, but still not be seen by anyone.
* In *Home*, The Other Side was destroyed, and everyone that resided on it, was either sucked into oblivion, or found peace of some form.
* In *An Eternity of Misery*, Georgina Dowling dies at the hands of Seline, however her spirit lingered and, like Bonnie, could not interact with the living world; she was then sucked into Hell like Katherine.
* In *The Next Time I Hurt Somebody, It Could Be You*, Stefan dies and becomes a spirit, lingering (though he was able to make physical contact with the weapon that killed him). He would then meet Arcadius, who revealed that they are "just behind the veil," but not in Hell.

## Trivia

* Lowering or dropping the Veil allows the inhabitants of the living world and the Other Side to interact. Destroying the Other Side completely, however, caused all ghosts to move on to the afterlife, either finding peace or being sucked into oblivion.

* Without the Other Side, deceased humans and supernatural species can linger after death, though for how long is not determined.
	+ Both Katherine and Georgie, traveler witch spirit and human, respectively, were sucked into Hell a very short time after death, whereas Jeremy (with his first, human death) and Stefan (vampire), lingered long enough to be resurrected and sent back to their bodies, respectively.