The study of how ancient peoples understood and responded to death can add to our own understanding and self-development, and this is what led to the writing of this book.
The study of how ancient peoples understood and responded to death can add to our own understanding and self-development, and this is what led to the writing of this book.
Fairy tales, folk tales, legends & mythology, Near-death experience, Shamanism
A Bridge to the Other Side is a collection of articles and traditional folk tales that deal with our feelings about and attitudes towards Death, both our own death and that of those nearest and dearest to us.
A bridge between earth and heaven, this world and the next, features in the mythology of many different peoples. For example, in Norse legends, Bifröst or Bilröst is a burning rainbow bridge between Midgard, the world, and Asgard, the realm of the gods. The bridge is known as Bilröst in the Poetic Edda; compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and as Bifröst in the Prose Edda; written in the 13th century by Snorri Stureuson. Both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda alternately refer to the bridge as Asbrú (Old Norse Æsirs means bridge). The Persians believed in a bridge between earth and paradise too. In his prayers the penitent in his confession would say: I am wholly without doubt in the existence of the Mazdayaçnian faith; in the coming of the resurrection of the latter body; in the stepping over the bridge Chinvat; as well as in the continuance of paradise.
Click on the circles below to see more reviews
......What I liked the most is that I didn't know about these stories before reading A Bridge to the Other Side. It would have been so easy to take the most well-known legends that these unknown beauties were surprising gifts. It kept me interested at all times, immersing me in worlds of monsters, heroes, adventures, and the endless quest for immortality....All in all, Michael P. Berman has done an interesting book that will keep you thinking about death for a while. Whether you're a death enthusiast, a folklore lover, or just someone who wants a different book, A Bridge to the Other Side is the right choice. It made me smile, fear, laugh, and smile again, because no matter what it was a really positive reading that makes you feel the afterlife as the peaceful place we all want it to be. ~ Kyler B. Warhol
Michael Berman has, in the past, entertained us with a number of interesting books which have given us much to think about. The latest book he has written is entitled A Bridge to the Other Side which deals with the attitude of people towards Death which is greatly feared though understood as an inevitable end to Life. This book, which is a collection of material of different type and origin - ancient folk-tales, myths, poems, even jokes about Death concentrate on the different ways Death is represented in different cultures. Indeed, Death is a bridge to the Other World- ‘finer than a hair and sharper than the edge of a sword’. The material selected for the book familiarises us with the concept of Death and having read the book we become calmer and more philosophic about it. We realise that no matter how sad it may seem but: “The dead have no right on earth!” as "The right is with the living!". On the other hand, before we go to ‘sleep from which there is no more awakening’, we should bear in mind that whatever path may lead to the other world, and no matter how thin the thread and meandering the path, the most important thing is what we do on this path of Life leading to Death, how many people we manage to make happy, help and ‘touch in a beneficial way”. One important thing about this book is that after reading it one will want to think about their lives and the numbers of good deeds performed as well as look at Death with less fear!
~ Professor Manana Rusieshvili, Tbilisi State University, GeorgiaThis is a fascinating collection , and one that had a profound effect on me. M. Berman has taken folktales and articles from a wide variety of cultural traditions, and these greatly enhance the power of his book.
~ David Byham, President of MENSA, Geneva
