What Kind of Hell Would You Go To?

Many people believe in a physical place called Hell, where people are sentenced to in the afterlife, if they have done bad things in this life. Recently, the Pope Bendict XVI confirmed that there is a physical place called Hell, though he did not give precise gps coordinates. Read on and judge for yourself if you believe in Hell or think it a metaphor. ”Hell is empty and all the devils are here”, said William Shakespeare (1564-1616). 

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons

People looking for a quick ”How to get to Hell?” guide, please read on, believe in hell, live like hell and you’ll probably soon be there. If you are the fun loving kind, enjoy placing other people like grumpy bosses, eternally dissatisfied whining customers, cheating and lying partners and violent, noisy neighbours in the different levels of inferno.

Spoiler disclaimer for the spiritually minded:

All hell is inside you. It is all a figment of your own imagination. Just become aware. Don’t be scared of eternity, time is only another dimension of reality.

The Italian Dante Alighieri’s (1265-1321) Inferno contains graphic firsthand descriptions of Hell as the Roman poet Virgil takes him on a guide tour. Though there are different levels like in computer games, Dante’s Hell has no ”Undo” or ”Exit” buttons. You are stuck, for all eternity.

Level descriptions of Dante’s Inferno:

Level 1 Limbo – This is the edge of Hell on a seven-storied mountain on the southern hemisphere, the antipode of Jerusalem. It is not exactly a first-class waiting lounge of a luxury airline, but you have some of the best company in history. This is the home of virtuous pagans, philosophers like Socrates, Aristotle and the Hebrew prophets etc. The atmosphere is nice here, no torments but it is somewhat joyless as one can’t see the divine presence here. Here you’ll understand Mark Twain (1835-1910), who said “Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.”

Photo source: Wikimedia commons

Level 2 – The place where the lustful spend eternity. There is no light but eternal storms. Lots of celebrities like Cleopatra and Helen of Troy here.

Photo source: Wikimedia commons

Level 3 – The place where gluttons live among eternal rain, cold and heavy atmosphere and are tortured by Cerberus, the three-headed mad dog.

Level 4 – Plutus, the demon of wealth torment the prodigious and the avaricious; people who never shared anything but live by hoarding greedily.

Photo source: Wikimedia commons

Level 5 – People who have lived cruel, hateful and vindictive lives spend eternity here tearing each other apart. This level is somewhat similar to certain areas on our planet, where there is perpetual fighting going on but here the people are all naked.

Photo source: Wikimedia commons

Level 6 – The City of Dis, surrounded by an iron wall is the place, where eternal complainers and the heretics who deny the existence of anything spiritual suffer among doleful sighs.

Level 7 – The violent, assassins, murderers, tyrants, warmongers and people who committed suicide suffer immense torment in a river of blood with horrid stench. Usurers, who exploit people by lending them money and fleecing them, are also here.

Level 8 – The Malebolge is a pit of despair where seducers, pimps, hypocrites, fraudsters scream constantly in pools of human excrement and are whipped by horned demons. You’d be surprised by the people you’d find here. Lots of celebrities, influential people and many Popes here.

Level 9 – Cocytus is where Satan himself flaps his wings constantly keeping the place frozen. The three faces of Satan eternally chew all traitors to family, friends, country and benefactors.

Photo source: Wikimedia commons

Take the online test here to discover your level -

In Christianity and in Islam people interpret that Jesus Christ and the Prophet Muhammad visited Hell to free the damned, so there is hope of a ”Game Over” text after all.

If you didn’t fancy Dante’s Hell, check what kinds of Hells other religions have to offer HERE.

p.s. Please excuse the lack of photos from certain levels. Photography was either not allowed or due to excessive moisture and slime around, the camera did not work. There was the added risk of the camera being swallowed by someone hungry enough and insurance wouldn’t have covered this loss.