Death is fascinating for me because of its finality. One cannot sit down with someone on the other side and ask, “What's it like?” or “How's it hanging?” The mystery of, THE OTHERSIDE, has been equally compelling for me personally. Not only have I experienced close relatives who died, but I have survived both a heart attack and stroke. Both activities made it quite clear that personal mortality has limits. As we advance in years and with the accompanying harsh reality of the pull of gravity on the physical cage, one can logically conceive that for most people the day when tight fitting shoes, rock hard abs, or shapely breast will be totally irrelevant and a blissful nothingness will be a welcome alternative.

There is one major caveat. I refuse to believe like the atheist that my essence is a conglomeration of electrical impulses that dissipates when I close my eyes for that final time. I say to the atheist, allow me to teach you how to meditate and practice that activity daily for a year then tell me if you still believe that the all and everything of you and yours stems from finite impulses inside your skull. I think the atheists, like the rest of us, is seeking proof and looking in all the wrong places.

Also, in the corollary, I do not believe there is a hippie looking white guy sitting on a throne in infinity matching parallel lines. Christianity, like most organized religions, is so shrouded in mythology and misinterpretation until its spiritual essence has been condensed into something called faith, or just believe, "cause it feels good. It is the right belief system for a material obsessive culture that idealizes war and corporate excess. God has been incorporated and sells shares on his own exchange.

I really don"t care who agrees or disagrees with my personal truths. I find I am in full agreement with Irving Kristol when he said:

There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people. There are truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn't work.

I should add that the imposition of individualized or collective truths on the masses results in war or corruption of the human spirit.

Moving to another form of truth, in all the readings I have done on THE OTHER SIDE nothing compares with the clear and concise presentation of Dr. Newton's Destiny Of Souls.

Doctor Newton's doctorate is in counseling. His specialty is hypnotherapy. The Doctor uses a layered hypnotic technique of slowly bringing a person deeper into hypnosis until they reach the womb. This technique is an established practice accepted by therapist, but Doctor Newton breaks with tradition by going deeper until one taps into memories beyond the womb. He seeks to answer the why's of individual activities by understanding its structure.

Cause and Effect

You ever wonder why you were here? I think everyone has at one time or another given thought to the reason for their existence. It is usually couched in the most immediate of situations like to take care of a sick grandmother, raise a family and bear children, or in more lofty cases to be of service to a higher force. Reading through Dr. Newton's book it becomes clear that this world is what I call the effective world. I am referring to the Newtonian concept of Cause and Effect. The apple dropped straight down pulled by gravity or greater mass. The causal world is the primary impetus that brought all that we see and sense in our surrounding world. Putting it another way, our existence is the result of something that happened beyond our time and senses. Ramakrishna said it best, “Incarnation is the sport of the Absolute.”

I like the emphasis on SPORT. It connotes pleasure and enjoyment as well as trial and effort. We are experiencing Michael Bhaktaviirya Towsey's “Eternal Dance of Macrocosm,” and William Shakespeare's All the World's A Stage, and all the men and women merely players.

If this life is a stage, then who is the director? Who writes the script? How is it cast?

Stages Of Matter

A discussion of causal world is not adequate without an understanding of the stages of matter. At the same time no expansive human thinking is complete without an understanding of rudimentary physics. I am not a physicist, in fact, other than counting money, I have always had difficulty with math. But I point to the Greeks and Forest Philosophers of India who have influenced human thinking through out time. I observe that they were not physicist and had no Cray computers sitting in a cave somewhere when the theory of Atoms and molecules was advanced or when Hatha and Bhakta Yoga was developed. Matter, in times of old, was broken into four elements, Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. Each element has its psychic and physical correspondent, but that is not the issue of the moment. Today it is commonly recognized that matter has five states: solid, liquid, gas, radiant, and ethereal. Quarks, Einstein-Bosons are phases of gaseous and liquid states of matter and are not being considered for this presentation. It is the state of matter called ethereal or Aether that concerns the causal world.

The causal world has been referred to by various names. Some call the whole of matter beyond the sensed Heaven, others call it the astral plane, or Akasha. In Destiny of Souls that world beyond our mortal senses is called the Spirit World.

Briefly, Einstein said, “To deny ether, (My spelling Aether), is ultimately to assume that empty space has no physical qualities whatever. The fundamental facts of mechanics do not harmonize with this view.”

He went on to say, “The ether of the general theory of relativity is a medium which is itself devoid of all mechanical and kinematical qualities, but help to determine mechanical (and electromagnetic) events.”

Einstein was still working on his unified field theory when he passed from this mortal coil. If we could communicate with him today, he would probably revel in the realization that the world he graduated into is composed in the main of that material he called ether. We don't have a physical understanding of aether, but what has come back to us from the other side is that the state of matter spirits reside in is pliable influenced by thoughts and emotions. The imagination, when applied with concentration will produce visible tangible results. We have learned to use visualization on the physical plane. Imagine using that method in the spirit world to create buildings, grasslands and to hang the Sun in the sky for as long as it is desired.

Dr. Newton did not ascribe to the rigid states or astral planes described in Eastern texts. He concluded from his research:

“A rigid formula of specific planes of existence from Earth to a Godhead are unnecessary inhibitors. All my research with subjects in a higher state of consciousness indicates to me that upon death we go directly from one astral plane around Earth through the gateway into the spirit world.”

Soul Groups

We still come back to the question of the play of life. Destiny of Souls is built around case studies. I quote from one of the younger souls relating his birthing experience to Dr. N.

“My soul was created out of a great irregular cloudy mass. I was expelled as a tiny particle of energy from this intense, pulsating bluish, yellow, and white light. The pulsations send out hailstorms of soul matter. Some fall back and are reabsorbed but I continued outward and was being carried along in a stream with others like me. The next thing I knew, I was in a bright enclosed area with very loving beings taking care of me. I remember being in a nursery of some sort where we were like eggs in a beehive. When I acquired more awareness, I learned I was in the nursery world of Uras. I don't know how I got there. I was like an egg in embryonic fluid waiting to be fertilized and I sensed there were many other cells of young lights who were coming awake with me. There was a group of mothers, beautiful and loving. . .My awareness began with curiosity. Soon I was taken from Uras and joined other children in a different setting.”

A grouping or paring of similar birthed souls begins when a living entity is formed. This paring is called soul clusters or groups. Like attracts like in the spirit world. In the material world it is said that opposites attract. It is not that way beyond the mortal world. Those of us of a similar mindset are attracted to each other and form clusters or soul groups. This is where the term Soul Mates comes from. Through out Destiny of Souls it is apparent that coupling or gathering of souls with similar proclivities is important. These groups help in the development and advancement of a soul.

Lives are shaped and determined by the souls quest for perfection. I always believed that states of consciousness like Samada, Nirvana, or Cosmic Consciousness was the primary goal of the individual seeking perfection on the Earth plane. In Destiny of Souls there are many case studies of souls who advanced to higher levels of being without a sudden blending of their consciousness with the cosmos. By living the lessons of various incarnations a soul can advance to the point where they are no longer desirous of incarnating in the flesh to achieve the goal of individualized God expression. Lives are selected based on the shortcomings of a soul. A considerable amount of effort goes into the selection process. Shortly after passing over and returning to ones cluster group, a soul is brought before a Council of Elders. At this meeting a soul's previous life is evaluated for its weaknesses and strengths. This is not a judgment situation but an evaluation that is used at a later date when and if a soul decides it is necessary to once again incarnate on the physical plane.

Dr. N. says, “Subjects who are regressed to the spirit world do not readily volunteer details about the scope of a specific inquiry from the Elders. They must feel comfortable that the hypnosis facilitator knows their way around a council chamber. On an unconscious level, this confidence in the spiritual regressions seems to give them mental permission to speak about their sacred memories. This is the reason why my research into human memory of the spirit world took so many years. It was like fitting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together. Small pieces of information the spirit world led to larger implications which would never have occurred to me to ask about a whole context.”

Open The Door

We get glimpses of the spirit world after evaluating many sources over time. Just to divert for a moment. I like to rummage through antique bookstores and estate sales where there are old and discarded books available at ridiculously cheap prices. Some of the first additions I bought years ago that I paid pennies on the dollar for now have considerable value. I bought a small book called Open The Door at an antique bookstore in San Jose that has long passed into history. Open The Door was edited by Edith Ellis, of New York, and supposedly automatically written by a spirit named Wilfred Brandon. I could not go on with the review of Dr. Newton's work without referring to the Brandon book.

To quote Wilfred Brandon:

“I was killed in 1132 in France, again in 1373 in England, and once more I fell by the sword in 1647. I was too weary to incarnate again until 1762, when, like many other adventurous spirits, I wished to try life in America, a life of free democracy. The New World was for me only a soldier's grave. No use of my heart or mind was made on Earth for six centuries. Whatever I have made of myself as a thinker was accomplished here in the spirit world. I hope to incarnate once more, but only when an Age of Reason arrives. How far distant that time seems now!”

The above was transcribed in 1919. If Mr. Brandon is waiting for an Age of Reason to arrive, he will probably be in the spirit or aetheric world for another thousand years or more. But I get the impression from Dr. Newton's work that spirits desire to incarnate on the Earthen plane because of the chaos and challenges of this life. Many of the people Dr. Newton interviewed said Earth life is so difficult that when a soul is able to triumph over its vicissitudes the soul is strengthened and is a better person. I am reminded of the Sanatra song New York, New York where the line says if one can make it there one can make it anywhere. Entities from other dimensions and worlds come to Earth for its challenge. We are not alone and this fact becomes clear when the soul passes over and becomes involved in life in the spirit world. I saw similarities between Open The Door and Destiny of Souls. Dr. Newton's work involves case studies. Wilfred Brandon describes a similar world in more of a narrative form.

When a person passes over they are usually greeted by a guide or more advanced soul who helps them adjust to their new life. Memories, sensations, and physical appearances of their physical life remain for a while but eventually fade and they take on the appearance of their pure energy radiating an aura that reflects their level of development. The newly arrived spirit enters a wonderful world of music, light, and sounds that tantalizes the senses. There are no wars, no hatred, racial superiority, or endless quest for material sustenance. The soul finds itself in a place where there is a cluster group of familiar people who nurture and guide them back to their pre-incarnation state of mind. They meet daughters, sons, friends, and loved ones who, in some cases have already passed over. They also meet people in their previous life who are still in the flesh. This occurs because not all the energy of a soul is released during an incarnation.

Part of the soul energy remains in the spirit world. I refer to this as the Higher Self. In Christianity it is called the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The Father being that portion of ones self that remains anchored in the real or causal world, the Son is that portion that manifests in the physical world, and the Holy Ghost is that aspect of self that connects to Universal Consciousness. Some say Body, Mind, and Spirit. The terms are irrelevant as far as I am concerned. But they point to a trinity of self. We are not alone with ourselves. Fraud divided man into Conscious and Subconscious. He neglected the physical. If the physical body had been added to his dissertation (This would include DNA and genetic dispositions), he would have been expressing some form of trinity of self. Carl Gustav Jung certainly realized a duality of self with his theories on Spiritual Awakening, but he never framed his theories in the sense of a trinity of self.

The Casting System

Schools, lessons, classroom activity dominate life in the spirit world. All of life is a stage and we are players is the result of lives that are selected for necessary lessons that lead to growth. These lessons do not always have a healthy and advancing quality. Dr. N said, “There are instances when I hear about a soul whose color is described as being in retrograde. Most of us in our existence have slipped backward after some lives, but when our color regresses to any great extent it is due to a condition that is both serious and prolonged. Here is a statement from one of Dr. N's clients which carries a poignant message for all of us:

“It's a shame about Klaris. His green used to be so brilliant. He was a great healer who became corrupted by power. For Klaris things were almost too easyhe was so talented. His downhill slide happened over a number of lives involving many abuses. He loved the veneration and adulation so much, his vanity became a disguise from himself. Klaris began losing his gifts and we noticed his color fading and growing more muted. Finally, Klaris became so ineffective he was sent down for retraining. We all expect he will eventually come back.”

The casting system of life on this mortal plane is the selection of souls who may help fulfill a needed lesson. A dominating aggressive and abusive husband may select an incarnation where he has an abusive boss or is in a life where he is unmarried and his abusive tendencies are played out as an aggressive painter, general, or warrior on the battlefield. The karmic concept of a good or harmonious life immediately following an inharmonious one is a myth. We sometimes experience multiple lives before a lesson is learned. How many people do we know who have redundant errors in their pursuit of a job, wife husband, or partner. How many times have you cautioned someone about repeatedly making bad decisions about a particular situation. We all know the person who has had multiple make ups and break ups. As below so above. Bad choices can continue for many lives.

The chaos we perceive in this world is the churning of souls coming onto the scene with varied degrees of growth and advancement and thus attempting to harmonize their mortal existence. I am an amalgamation of cultures and nations. I look at people in my daily life and wonder why, but when I consider the play of incarnation and sport of the Absolute I understand. To us what is chaos is the dynamics of life's lessons and the activity in this classroom we call life. That soul who incarnated into this life and feels he is superior based on pigmentation or culture may incarnate into a life and body that he or she despised in a former life, because they are determined to understand what it is like to be hated and despised and to overcome or harmonize those differences. That African American, East Indian, Asian, or Caucasian who hates his own kind may be a soul trying to adjust to life in a formally despised culture.

The soul that has been a male for thousands of years may decide to incarnate as a woman. A civic union or marriage between same sex partners may be a male and female who have decided they need another gender experience and take a partner from their soul cluster or a nearby group.

I call gender changes a transition life. The transition life is that life between experimentation of gender. We see these people as homosexuals, somewhat feminine, or overly aggressive females we sometimes characterize as lesbians when they are male or female souls in transition.

Free Will

The controversy of Free Will is Saturn's rings swirling out there on the outer fringes of reality. From the real world or causal world perspective, Free Will is as much a reality as creating an orange in the aetheric world and enjoying the memory of its flavor or having sex with a favorite partner that has joined you. Yes. Great sex is more mental than physical. Strong memories can, almost, produce the same effect.

Some argue that Free Will is a myth when one considers the rigidity of life. We are born poor, or disabled, or of a dominant class, or servants of a brutal master. How can there be Free Will considering the lives we do not want to live. Dr. Newton said:

“People have the idea that free will and destiny are opposing forces. They do not realize that destiny represents the sum of our deeds over thousands of years in a multitude of incarnations. In all these lives we had freedom of choice. Our current life represents all past experiences both pleasant and unpleasant, and so we are the product of all our former choices. Add to this the fact that we may have deliberately placed ourselves in situations that test how we will react to events in our current life, which are not perceived by the conscious mind. This too involves personal choice. We occupy a particular body for many reasons.”

I have always thought that we live a deterministic future with variations. The future is there before us, but gives itself up to a determined variety of paths. For example I once owned an art store in an affluent South Bay Area city. While meditating one morning, I saw myself going before the City Council of that town and arguing for something. In my mind that experience was a premonition. A determined future. The idea lingered in the back of my mind for weeks and then faded into deep memory. Several months later an issue arose in the shopping center near my store. In a discussion with one of my more official type clients he suggested that I bring the issue before the City Council. I told him I may if I had time. It turned out I never found the time to go before the City Council. It was a thought, an idea, but never came into reality. In reviewing my meditation notes, I reread the entry of that morning when I saw myself going before the City Council. It never happened. It was a strong thought I had months ahead of the moment I was meditating and was picked up by my mind. It was perceived as reality or a premonition. That was a variation of a deterministic future.

Our incarnations are determined by choices made manifest by soul decisions. Doctor Newton details how souls discuss the Ring of Destiny. This is a screening room in the spirit world where souls go to select lives. They are given a choice of lives that fulfill the lesions and experiences needed at the moment. There are many case studies that show that a soul may not select a totally compatible life or is in complete harmony with that life. What the soul sees is a variation of a deterministic future. That future option, path, or choice may change once the soul begins living that life. The conceived future adds to the grind of this world, its harshness strengthens and engenders wisdom.

But there are those who see it all. Those souls who orgestrate destiny and determine life selection.

The Specialist Souls

The most intriguing aspect of Destiny Of Souls was the revelation that there is specialization. There are doctors, lawyers, and Indian Chiefs in this life, but the concept of specialization in the spirit world was a remarkable revelation.

There are guides, teachers, and older souls of higher development called Councils, but the specialization goes deeper. I will detail a few specialist although specialist includes preservers of languages, songs, games, and detail cultural and social patterns.

Some souls work with children and young souls who have newly arrived in the spirit world. These nursery teachers have considerable patience and assist the young soul in remembering their past incarnation if they have come into the causal world before they have had time to develop.

In Wilfred Brandon's work, he talks about young children growing by placing them in groups of older children. For example, the two year old is thrown in with the eight year old until he reaches the eight year olds level of maturity. This process continues until adulthood. It is not uncommon for a mother who lost a child in birth or shortly thereafter to be met by a fully grown child after passing over.

When discussing the Masters of Design, Dr. Newton says,

“Astronomers are mystified by the fact there is some unknown form against gravity to expand empty space. (Authors Note: Einstein would say it is the medium of ether that is the prism that transports light. Space is not empty.) I have reported that a musical resonance of intelligent energy waves appears to play a role in cosmology. Many people in my cases explain that harmonics are associated with “rhythmic value of energy notes which have rations and proportions.” My subjects who are Structural Souls say these designs relate to the formation of “geometric shapes that float as elastic patterns,” which contribute to the building blocks of a living universe.”

I am reminded here of the Octaves of G.I. Guirjieff the mystic and philosopher:

“The seven-tone scale is the formula of cosmic law which was worked out by ancient schools and applied to music. At the same time, however, if we study the manifestations of the law of octaves in vibrations of other kinds we shall see that the laws are everywhere the same, and that same laws as sound vibrations. For instance, the light scale is known to physics, in chemistry the periodic system of elements is without doubt closely connected with the principle of octaves although this connection is still not fully clear to science.

A study of the structure of the seven-tone musical scale gives a very good foundation for understanding the cosmic law of octaves.”

The octaves from Do through Fa are the building blocks of a living universe.

Before ending this review I must say something about the Timemasters. Timemasters specialize in time. They study patterns and the influence of previous events on future occurrences. Dr. Newton talks of how rare his encounters with time specialist is. “When I recognize one, they are a resource to be treasured.”

A specialist in that field would assist the soul who desires to examine previous lives by returning to those moments when choices were made. Such an understanding would prepared a soul for similar moments in future incarnations. Timemasters also study major events in the history of man or other entities. But I got the impression from Dr. N. that the Timemasters are observers, at least on the level of those he encountered. I think on higher levels of being Timemasters may have the ability to manipulate time.

Destiny of Souls is an excellent work for someone who wants a broader understanding of life between lives. I praise Dr. Newton for simplifying complex issues. His writing was cohesive and clear. I am left rather numb when reading the works of modern thinkers who do not perceive of a connection between their work and a greater reality. I think it is rather limiting to assume that the totality of the universe is what we find in the books of man or see twinkling in the sky at night. There is an arrogant smugness in assuming that the universe is defined by a single philosophy or structured concept of the divine. I often wonder why people place their God into the narrow constraints of dogma. What Dr. Newton reveals is not occultist pabulum, but an attempt to explain that area of our lives that is shrouded in mystery: life after life.

We accept the notion that matter is not destroyed nor created in the universe. It only changes form. Your essence, which is composed of your thoughts and impressions, has as much validity as the capturing of your physical image on film. Someone once said that Jesus's uttering on the cross never dissipated into nothingness but remains eternally etched in the fabric of space and time. We lack the equipment to hear those words. Life continues in another dimension. Those beings living in that dimension are speaking to man through the work of Dr. Newton and others doing research in this field. A time will come when studies of spiritual life will be as acceptable as microbiology or physics.

Dante's depiction of hell complements the teachings of the Bible. One of the most oft-discussed themes in the story is the eternal justice of God. The sinner reaps what he sows during his lifetime. His punishment is intended to fit the gravity of his crime.

A vivid example of this principle is shown in the border of the 8th and 9th circles of Hell. A Count sits on his friend whose brains he rips using his teeth. It was the fault of his friend that he starved to death and was forced to eat his children to survive.

Life, as Dante sees it, is a continuous test or struggle between right and wrong. If you commit sin and falls short of heaven, you reap eternal punishment. Dante believes that to be able to go to heaven, one need to experience hell first. Dante may not mean this in a literal way. Figuratively this means that in order to be purified or to receive salvation, a person needs to undergo sufferings first. This is the moral of the story.

Dante's depiction of Hell is an allegory of life, the role of religion in our lives and the need to choose right over wrong. It does not stop at depicting the fall of man but rather it help shows the way to salvation and happiness. To be able to reach the summit, you need to start at the bottom. That is the essence of Dante's depiction of Hell.

At some point in our lives, we all face difficulties, problems, temptations. These drive us to the point of desperation and commit sins. At the lowest ebb of our lives, we are often forced to look back and ask ourselves where we have gone wrong.

By going through Dante's Inferno we realize the need to ponder on our every step and choose the best way before we hit rock bottom.

Dante's journey begins as he got lost in the wood. As he tries to find his way by following the light in the mountain three beasts block his way. Dante is forced to go back to the forest as Virgil appears in his way and brings him to hell so he can enter paradise. Dante agrees and goes through the gate of hell.

The damned souls in Dante's The Inferno are grouped according to the degree of malice with which they committed sin. The symbolisms help Dante's "The Inferno" presents his ideas on the startling reality in a creative way:

Charon the Ferryman of the Dead from Canto 3 (lines 81-4, bottom of page 977). "'Woe to you depraved souls! Bury/here and forever all hope of Paradise:/I come to lead you to the other shore,/into eternal dark, into fire and ice.'" This symbolism refers to the nature of sin itself and not to any specific sins. Sin separates us from other people. Fire and ice are the effects of sin which could cause anger or being ostracized.

About line 127: “most of the souls of the damned in twilight”. "Souls of the damned in twilight" means that though they exist their souls are really empty. Being punished and doing the same thing over and over again

The lines about the Gluttons - page 988, about lines 35-8: "We made our way across the sodden mess / of souls the rain beat down, and when our steps / fell on a body, they sank through emptiness. / All those illusions of being seemed to lie / drowned in the slush." These lines pertain to the facts that people who are the “fattest” are the least substantial which means appearances can be deceiving. Substance is found within the person not on the appearance.

Canto 11, page 998: Virgil explains how one sin can be called by many different names according to what caused the sinner to sin. This is in consonance with his view of the main problem with sin. All sins corrupt the will and mind of the sinner and leads to other sins. When Dante says, "Malice is the sin most hated by God" (about line 23), he is referring not just to the souls found in this place, but to any sin at or below this level. In short, malice is the cause for violence and fraud.

Tyrants and Murderers of Canto 12 as Dante depicts them are a washed in a river of boiling blood guarded by the mythical creatures Centaurs. The souls in this place commit murder due to malice, not because of a desire for personal gain. Or, in another way, it can be said that all desire for personal gain is malice toward others.

The Harpies lines 13-15 of Canto 13 are the perfect creatures to guard and torture the suicides in the Wood of Suicides. This is because the Harpies represent the attitude that causes people to commit suicide. The physical traits of the Harpies symbolize his attitude. "Wide wings" symbolize an overpowering sense of sadness. "Clawed feet" suggest danger or a fearful grip. "Huge bellies" suggest laziness or the lack of will to do things.

The creatures of Cantos 13 & 14 -Suicides, Blasphemers, Sodomites, and Usurers-are not people condemned at all in modern society, but Dante finds them loathsome as attested by the place he assigns them.

The most famous people in Cocytus are Count Ugolino and Archbishop Ruggieri, whose gruesome story makes up Canto 33.

Historical accounts inform us that Ugolino was captured and put to death by Ruggieri. The manner with which he perished was so cruel that Dante deemed it best to tell the world the tragic story.

Ugolino was imprisoned for several months with his four young sons. One day, the doors of the tower were nailed shut. And all four of his sons died due to extreme hunger. In hell, Ugolino is eating and gnawing at Ruggeri's flesh. This punishment is in consonance with “little Anselmo's” request to his father: “Thou didst clothe us with this wretched flesh, and it would be less painful if you eat of us.” Ugolino cannot abide by his son's request and eat their flesh. As he sees each child die one by one he was quoted to have said, “Starvation did what grieving could not do.” Ugolino died. In Hell, he was punished by savagely feasting on Ruggieri's flesh for eternity.

Ugolino when he was alive betrayed his own party to Ruggieri. Hence, the punishment meted to him in hell. In hell, Ugolino was presented as the victim of Ruggieri. He is both the target of divine justice and the instrument of it, when he punishes Ruggieri.

In Canto 34, the souls of those who betrayed their masters at the bottom of hell - Judas, Brutus, Cassius are seen. They are they frozen in twisted postures to represent the sins they committed which is the ultimate sin of malice.

The image of Satan is quite a surprise. He is depicted to have three faces, which symbolizes the distortion of the Holy Trinity. Dante says that Satan looks ugly despite the fact the he was once an angel, beautiful to look at. Satan seems less powerful than the usual ideas woven about him. He is depicted as dumb and roaring, trapped in the ice, punished just like the other sinners.

Dante's Inferno is a fascinating tale of sin and redemption. It depicts the need to attain deeper spirituality in an abstract way. Hell represents not just a place for sinners but also a state of a sinner's soul. To be in hell is to be in utter agony and to be in a state far from God. This story shows us the way to heaven or eternal happiness by keeping the faith and doing what is right. It offers us a chance to re-examine our lives and change for the better.