Robyn Lebron Briefly, heaven is a resting place, and hell is a place of rest from where souls may choose to be reborn In the Northern traditions, hell is not a place of damnation and torture The Wiccan religion has what is called the —a place where souls find rest before being reborn into the physical world.19 Judgment and Salvation All people, except spirits who remain behind lost and wandering, go to the ǡ even the wicked The Summerland will be different for everyone; it is their own version of Shangri-la There they can be reunited with their loved ones, look over those they left behind on earth, and take time to recuperate from life Our time in the Summerland is spent processing what we learned recovering from the hardships, walking with the Lord and lady and being one with them, and then planning our next life By and large, there is no concept of a Christian hell where souls are tortured throughout eternity Wisdom will guide a life and the soul through any trials to the afterlife Most pagans agree that when you are ready, you are reincarnated You may choose what form you take and even a little about your situation You decide this based upon what lessons you wish to learn in your next life The criteria for how a soul returns or is reborn are also a matter of preference Some believe the gods or goddesses decide these events Some believe that the person and deities make the decision jointly Others believe the soul makes the decision on their own One can return with friends and loved ones or even be born into the same family they left behind.20 Special Doctrine Pagan Paths: Paganism has absorbed influences from around the world, and some pagans choose to specialize in one of these traditions or paths as they are often known Some groups take influences from a particular part of the world The heathen path follows ancient Scandinavian, Germanic, and Anglo-Saxon belief systems Wiccans use magical techniques in worship, druids emphasize arts and philosophy, and