Elysium And Tartarus

One day during his first visit to the Smurf Village, Empath asked Papa Smurf a question. "Papa Smurf, this smurf is curious to know about what is called 'the smurfy hereafter'," he said.

"Oh, it's just the place that good little Smurfs go when they die, Empath," Papa Smurf said. "It is a place called Elysium, which is a beautiful paradise where Smurfs of all ages who have lived the righteous life of a Smurf are waiting for others to join them."

"A beautiful paradise for the spirits of Smurfs that have passed away?" Empath asked, sounding confused.

"Just think of it as being like the Smurf Village made entirely of gold, where everything in it is more beautiful than how it is here on earth, where nobody has to feel pain or sorrow," Papa Smurf said.

"That sounds like a fantasy, Papa Smurf," Empath said. "In Psychelia, we believe that the spirit of the Psyche departs and has the potential to join the Great Ancestors to watch over the Psyches that are still living."

"But you're not a Psyche, Empath," Papa Smurf said. "As a Smurf, there are only two places that you'll end up being in...Elysium or Tartarus, and Tartarus is the worst of the two places, which is where souls tainted and corrupted by evil will go to."

"This one does not understand the need to believe in either of those places if those places are not real, Papa Smurf," Empath said.

"Just because you can't smurf those places with your eyes or ears doesn't mean that those places are not real, Empath," Papa Smurf said. "They are as much a part of our culture as is speaking in Smurf and our wearing Smurf hats. They are a reminder that we as Smurfs have a moral obligation to smurf lives that are worthy of being called a Smurf, and that we must not smurf our lives so foolishly and believe that we will not receive judgment for it."

"And who is the one that judges who gets to go into Elysium and who gets to go into Tartarus?" Empath asked.

"Why, the great ancestors of the Smurfs who have smurfed on before us, Empath," Papa Smurf said. "They are the ones who guide us and protect us just like Mother Nature and Father Time do in the land of the living, and they make sure that we smurf the kind of lives that they want us to be smurfing."

"Tapper believes that there is a single God who will do the judging of who gets to enter what he calls heaven and who gets to enter hell, Papa Smurf," Empath said.

"Tapper is free to believe whatever he wants to believe, Empath, but it doesn't change how we are supposed to live as Smurfs," Papa Smurf said.

"It must give comfort as well as some trepidation to know that there is just reward for those among the living who either take regard to the lives that they are living or disregard it altogether, even if others may consider those rewards to be a fantasy," Empath said.

"We can only hope that those who mock us for our way of living will smurf it in their hearts to know that there's much more happiness in the righteous Smurf way of living than there is in the unsmurfy way of living that is all about smurfing one's own self, Empath," Papa Smurf said.