Circle One

When we emerged from the dark passageway, our eyes became accustomed to the darkness as we made out four sections in a large arena. Walking over to the first section, we gasped in disgust. The spirits here had no ears, and looked as though they were deeply confused and agitated. Michael explained,

“These spirits have committed the crime of listening to people’s private conversations. They now have no ears, and constantly hear a murmuring but cannot understand.”

 Horrified, we numbly walked to the second section. Here, there was a huge vat of urine. We watched in disgust as spirits flailed among this putrescent bowl of liquid, frantically trying to escape the eternal hell. Our guide once again explained this desperate situation,

“The sin done these souls have committed is not very severe, but still punishable. They have not protected themselves from urine. I’m sure you understand the irony.”

 Continuing to the third section, we see no people. Perplexed, we raise our eyebrows questioningly to our guide. Seeing our reaction, he motions to the section and gives us a glance, seeming to say, “look closer”. Peering into the shady section, we make out figures, accompanied by the sound of wings, fluttering madly. They were statues! These spirits were frozen in time in grotesque figures, splattered by the constant barrage of pigeon poop.

“These sculptures have made statues and pictures in their mortal life. Henceforth, they are condemned to suffer being a statue and pooped on by birds. Alright, moving on,”

 our guide said. We did as Michael said and quickly turned to see section four. Horrified, all of us quickly covered our eyes from the gruesome sight we saw. The image was this: demon orphans (or what we assumed to be, there was no parental guidance) prancing about, chasing spirits and then biting and tearing them when caught. Our guide pronounced,

“These spirits have wrongfully consumed the property of an orphan some time in their existence. They are now torn about by orphans. This level, level one, is for those who commit misdemeanors in life. They are not serious, but wrong all the same. Are you ready for level two?”

 Processing this information, the three of us nod our heads slowly, wondering just what we got into.