...And Died Happily Ever After

Although there have been many mentions of resurrection in human culture and religion, the scientist is quick to dismiss the possibility that the dead can return to life. As medicine develops, it becomes more evident that the cessation of vital functions in a human body leads to an irreversible state of decay. Nevertheless, some patients have been revived after a short period of clinical death, and relate near-death experiences. Many religions advocate eternal life in some portion of their edict, along with the rare occurrence of a deity returning someone to Earth to accomplish some Godly purpose.

It's worth mentioning that various magicians have found it beneficial to demonstrate the power to invoke immortality. There are voodoo rituals that involve the use of elaborate drugs to invoke a death-like trance, and witnesses claim it's very convincing.

There have been documented cases of people being taken to be dead when they are, in fact still alive. It's easy to see how primitive cultures may have made this mistake, only to find a relative that was thought to be deceased walking about, scaring people half to death. Epidemics have led to mass burials, in which, inevitably, a person in comatose might have been buried along with the rest of the bodies, only to wake, finding themselves in a pit surrounded by corpses, underneath six feet of dirt.

Some people sleep like the dead.

He Followed me Home...

Of all the claims of strange phenomena perhaps the most actively researched are the reports of elusive monsters. Aside from the general fascination people have for folklore, the prospect of encountering a cryptid or some other mysterious creature in the remote areas of the world generates particular interest. For the most part, the existence of these unknown beasts has been discredited as hoax or otherwise biologically explainable, like the cases of re-discovering animals that were thought to be extinct. Experts are sometimes sent to the region where the story originates to report their findings but this has rarely resulted in the discovery of previously-unclassified species. There are at least twenty legends of lake monsters worldwide, and many of them describe similar characteristics: usually long-necked, aquatic creatures, sometimes scaly or serpent-like. The local people will soon report their monsters to whatever travelers or tourists are within earshot, and the story is thereafter associated with the area.

Tales like this are also prevalent in ancient mythology, as heroes and adventurers would be waylaid by a vicious storm on their voyages, only to find themselves in the sights of a hungry or generally ill-tempered leviathan of unknown origin. With great difficulty and cleverness they would slay this beast and eventually return home and attempt to explain where they had been for several decades. The experience would not only serve as an excuse for extreme tardiness and bad sense of direction, but it also reveals the necessity of discovery as humans develop zoology. Since an organism is not said to exist until one of them is documented by authorities, the location of such animals is awaited before they can be widely accepted as fact and no longer fiction. Until then, the account is deemed questionable, as was the case with some species of whales.

A whale is a fish, right?

Temporarily Immortalized

It's not hard to conclude that the makers of mummies were preoccupied with the morbid aspects of existence. Usually mummification was an honor reserved for the most important people in society like political leaders or members of the religious process. It was believed that the subject was important to the survival of the community, and they would endure spiritually, the dead together with the living. In fact, it was so vital that many times the subjects were sacrificed in order to generate this form. There was also a significant effort made to chemically preserve the body through a well-developed embalming process, as if the priests possessed the means to scientifically achieve immortality. When the person's physical life was over, they would embark on a well-defined journey that was set out for their eternal spirit beyond death.

Nevertheless, there is no evidence that these kings occupied their bodies in the afterlife. Great pains were taken to prepare the king and his tomb before his death, so it's clear that the makers whole-heartedly held the view that they would be providing the proper pathway through eternity, but such beliefs are easily refuted by the modern archeologist, and the mummies get their travel passes revoked before being removed and dissected.

One curious aspect of mummification is that it is common to separate cultures in human history. Determining the need people have to believe that the dead are continuing to live on, watching over us in a new form, is considered an ongoing puzzle. There is a large portion of medical study dedicated to psychology, but no one is prepared to deal with the problem of the soul's location. Often it is just taken as a given that people expect death can't be the end, and these beliefs remain unquestioned. So if the soul of the dead subject doesn't remain in the body, where does it go?

Always tell your mummy before you go off somewhere.