From the dawn of mankind to the present, the belief that human life does not end at death but transitions into a new existernce has been persistent. The nature of what the after-life is varies from epoch to epoch, culture to culture, and religion to religion. Cultures, including those of our times, are built and regulated based on these after-life mystholgies. When one searches through the diversity of after-life mythologies from ancient times to the present, there are some consistent elements that appear. The idea that life is a 'journey' in which humans undergo a series of 'passages' is one of these elements. There is also an almost universal reference to the experience of a 'light' unlike anything experienced in this world. The discription of this radiance shows a consistency from the earliest mystics to modern day NDE survivors. I also find it referenced in artists such as, Rothko, Rembrandt, Friedrich, Rouault, Klee,Redon,etc. At one point in my journey I became aware that the objects in my paintings were not what the paintings were about, but it was the 'light' seen as a luminesence in the colors. This light is in some sense, the presence of a being that pushes through the two dimensional surface of the paintings seeking encounters-the paintings are channels. I don't attach religious significance to the light but rather that it is somehow relevant to an after-death existence that we do not yet have the physics for.
