WHERE were we? Oh yes.
THE Sixth level of hell is Heresy. Heresy is defined as belief or opinion contrary to established religious doctrine. Well if that is the case then you might meet a variety of people here ranging from... Well, I might be rained upon with comments from people of the Fifth level if I continue. Peace. By the way, people who find themselves here are locked in burning coffins.
The Seventh Level of hell is for the violent. And there are three sublevels.
Sublevel One is for those who commit violence against people and property. Murderers and thugs. Dante found Attila the Hun here. Hmm, I wonder if we can find the bullies of our childhood here. The folks here are forced to swim in boiling blood.
Sublevel Two are for those committing suicide. Because of levels five and six, I will not say anything. The punishment though is these poor people are turned into thorny trees that are continually ripped apart by the Harpies. (In Mythology, they are birds that have a female face. They are nasty creatures that tortured souls on their way to Hades.)
Sublevel Three are for the Blasphemers, those who curse constantly. And the Sodomites who... Well constantly. They find themselves in a blazing desert that rains fire.
The Eighth level, the second deepest level, is for people who commit Fraud. There are actually ten levels here. But do not worry, let us not get into all of them. Well, let us just name a few.
Hypocrites. They are forced to wear cloaks of lead. Perhaps the irony being hypocrites like to strut around.
Flatterers. In modern language, trolls? They are buried in human waste. Perhaps because they always spit out manure?
Thieves (Kawatan). Funny thing is, their punishment is they are always chased by reptiles. I guess snakes are attracted to one another.
Corrupt politicians. Yes, yes, they belong to the second deepest part of hell. And their punishment is they will be immersed in boiling pitch. And in case you do not know what pitch is, here is the definition- a black or dark viscous substance obtained as a residue in the distillation of organic materials and especially tars. As black as their souls, I guess. Here you will find...
And finally, there is the Ninth Level of hell, the deepest part. The place reserved for the vilest of all, the Traitors. This is a frozen wasteland where Satan lives. There are several levels also.
Traitors to family and kin. They are hung headfirst in blocks of ice.
Traitors to their country. They are forced to eat one another. The irony screams in this.
Traitors to guests. Hmmm. The punishment is harsher because of the seemingly open trust people who come as guests. Thus the punishment is they are lodged headfirst in blocks of ice with frost freezing their eyes so they cannot cry.
Traitors to their masters. According to Dante, here you will find Judas, the betrayer of Christ.
But here is the thing. A story is told that at the end of time when finally the gates of heaven would close, Saint Peter called out to Jesus who was outside the gates of heaven. Saint Peter said, “Master, the gates are about to close. Are you waiting for someone?” Jesus replied, “Yes. I am waiting for Judas.”