Encyclopedia of Heaven

The Encyclopedia of Heaven is an extensive study of paradise, gathering diverse interpretations of the glorious afterlife from around the world and across the ages. Covering everything from ancient mythic images of splendid ethereal kingdoms to modern "near-death experience" apparitions of luminous tunnels, this volume offers hundreds of fascinating depictions of the great beyond. Sources include religious texts, works of art and literature, television and film productions, epic poems, opera and stage plays, reincarnation concepts, African legends, and Native American beliefs. The Encyclopedia of Heaven also looks at how the glories of paradise have been incorporated into contemporary pop culture, figuring into rap music, merchandising fads, comic books, and more.

Entries in the Encyclopedia of Heaven are arranged alphabetically for easy use. The book also features extensive cross-referencing to help establish comparisons and contrasts between various concepts and to draw parallels between seemingly unrelated ideas, and numerous illustrations portraying the theories contained herein.

So take a look at the thrilling, compelling sometimes startling depictions of the sweet hereafter that have emerged over the ages. Entries include the Taoist Empire of Jade; sugarcoated Cockayne; Djanna, Islam's garden of delights; Biblical Beulah Land; Buddhist Nirvana; the comedic heaven of Hi Honey, I'm Dead; African Asamando; the ominous eternity of Jacob's Ladder; Dante's divine Paradiso; Native American Happy Hunting Grounds; Led Zeppelin's mystic Stairway to Heaven, and many others.

The perfect companion guide to the Encyclopedia of Hell, the Encyclopedia of Heaven invites you to join the legions of souls who, over the millennia, have pondered what ultimate reward awaits the chosen in some unseen great beyond.