Heaven and Hell - Promised Land and...?

[Aralith]

So, I think all of us can agree on the fact that the Promised Land was, at least for the Cetra, an end to their journey. A place where they could finally stop travelling and have all the things that they enjoyed in their lifetime. Well, this would pretty much make it akin to what we know as heaven. So, my question is, would there be a hell like place in FFVII? If so, how would one get there? Perhaps there is already evidence stating such a thing. If anyone has something of the sort, please bring it forwards.

Now... discuss.

[Flying Mullet]

Midgar was pretty hellish for most of its inhabitants.

[sephirothishere]

life is hell......
like you said,the ancients are in an awful place of death and despair until they die and are in the land of supreme happiness.....their journey was through life,their destination....death....
sad.......

[Xurts]

When people die in FF7, their consciousnesses return to the Lifestream, and their Spirit Energy is recycled to create new life.

[Toodleena]

Maybe when all the mako is taken from the world it becomes Hell...

[cap]

The lifestream is the promised land/heaven. And its also their equivalant of hell. Depends on how you've lived your life. When Tifa fell into it in Mideel she was surrounded by the memories of all the people she'd killed as a member of AVALANCHE. Something which she deeply regreted I guess. For the Cetra who were peaceful and in tune with the planet it is a place of rest and happiness.
Well at least that's what I took from the game anyway.

[sephirothishere]

The lifestream is the promised land/heaven. And its also their equivalant of hell. Depends on how you've lived your life. When Tifa fell into it in Mideel she was surrounded by the memories of all the people she'd killed as a member of AVALANCHE. Something which she deeply regreted I guess. For the Cetra who were peaceful and in tune with the planet it is a place of rest and happiness.
Well at least that's what I took from the game anyway.

well said.....

[Dragon Mage]

A lifeless barren rock. That would be Cetra hell. (No planet to talk to...) And if the lifestream was the heaven, then why didn't the Cetra just stay on the first inhabitable planet? Because every 'living' or life-supporting planet would have a lifestream right? But we know that the Cetra kept moving from planet to planet, which means that those planets have a lifestream in order to support/give life. So why didn't they just settle the first inhabitable planet they came across instead of going to many such planets? I don't believe that the lifestream is the heaven/hell. There's got to be some other explanation.

[Aralith]

The Lifestream isn't. The Lifestream is where someone goes when they die. They return to the Planet. The Promised Land is something else. In the game, the Cetra are described to travel from planet to planet until they find the Promised Land. Basically, it is very similar to Buddhism. They travel until they become enlightened and reach Nirvana. So, at that point, is there any such thing as an anti-Promised Land? Perhaps what happened to President Shinra in "Maiden Who Travels the Planet" is what hell is.

[Xurts]

The Cetra's Promised Land was the Lifestream. The Promised Land is not any one particular place. It varies for each person.

The Cetra were not capable of space travel. They stayed on Gaia and never left it. I am absolutely positive that there is no in-game dialogue stating, or even hinting, to the concept that the Cetra were capable of colonizing other planets.

There are no heaven or hell realms in FF7. There is only the Lifestream. It's made even clearer in The Maiden Who Travels the Planet, since both "bad" and "good" consciousnesses are present there.

[Dragon Mage]

I thought Sephiroth said that the Cetra kept traveling from planet to planet, never settling on one. Then some wanted to stop traveling and settle down. This happend in the flashback at Kalm, in the basement of the mansion. I don't know, I'm confused now.

[Xurts]

I thought Sephiroth said that the Cetra kept traveling from planet to planet, never settling on one. Then some wanted to stop traveling and settle down. This happend in the flashback at Kalm, in the basement of the mansion. I don't know, I'm confused now.

Sephiroth discovered that the Cetra were a nomadic people, so they never stayed at one certain place for too long. You're thinking that they traveled from planet to planet, but they really just traveled around the world.

Eventually, the Cetra quit being nomads and they made permanent settlements. Sephiroth mentions this inside the Nibelheim Mansion.

[finalfantasyguy4ever]

i think there is a good and badf lifestream like when seph summunded the dark lifestream in ac. aries is able to control the good lifestream and seph with jenova is able to control ythe dark. all those of darkness go to the bad lifestream and those of good go to the good likestream with aries

[boys from the dwarf]

yay! 10 points to me for noticing the references to black sabbaths amazing song "heaven and hell." in the title of the thread!

anyway. the "bad lifestream" isnt full of criminals and evil people. it is full of the people who died of geostigma. this corruption has nothing to do with people living their lives like criminals. id always imagined that when people die they return to the lifestream but when cetra die they dont truly die. they have more of an impact on the planet when they die and can manipulate the lifestream in some ways.

[Dragon Mage]

Sephiroth discovered that the Cetra were a nomadic people, so they never stayed at one certain place for too long. You're thinking that they traveled from planet to planet, but they really just traveled around the world.
Eventually, the Cetra quit being nomads and they made permanent settlements. Sephiroth mentions this inside the Nibelheim Mansion.

Okay, I get it. Sorry for the confusion. Thank you Xurts, that really cleared things up for me.

Maybe the lifestream is neutral itself but reflects the thoughts/feelings of others a person encountered or affected when they were alive. So if a person lives a life of crime, when they're in the lifestream, they feel all the things they've done to people, none of which are good. Likewise, a good person would only feel/know of all the good things they've done for people , which are good. It's an idea.