The souls journey after death

I slept most of the day yesterday. It was a weird feeling the night before though, because I couldn't sleep and until 7.30am I was sitting on my b**t doing nothing... Until I found out my grandma had passed away... I guess that's why I couldn't sleep. So then I got up, put on some clothes and decided to visit all four Christian Orthodox churches there are in the city (well, the neighborhoods close to me) to light a candle and pray for her soul.

[...]But our soul continues to live. Not for an instant does it cease to exist. Our external, biological and earthly life ends with death, but the soul continues to live on. The soul is our very existence, the center of all our energies and our thoughts. The soul moves and gives life to the body. After its separation from the body it continues to live, to exist, to have awareness.[...]
~ Life After Death by St. John Maximovitch

So I did visit the churches to light a candle, but I only found 2 of them open, the third one was closed and the 4th one I couldn't find.

According to the Greek Orthodox tradition, after the death of someone, their soul wanders around for 3 days and seeks its way to heaven, assisted by its guardian angel and other angels as well.

[...]But when it leaves the body, the soul finds itself among other spirits, good and bad. Usually it inclines toward those which are more akin to it in spirit, and if while in the body it was under the influence of certain ones, it will remain in dependence upon them when it leaves the body, however unpleasant they may turn out to be upon encountering them.
For the course of two days the soul enjoys relative freedom and can visit places on earth which were dear to it, but on the third day it moves into other spheres. At this time (the third day), it passes through legions of evil spirits which obstruct its path and accuse it of various sins, to which they themselves had tempted it.[...]
~Life After Death by St. John Maximovitch

Alright, the above might sound weird or 'silly' to those not familiar with the tradition, but I still feel the need to share the tradition I believe into, with 'the rest of  the world'.

So on the third day, the soul goes through encounters with the 20 "toll-houses", groups of demons that accuse the soul of sins they tempted it commit. The guardian angel then speaks for the soul and rebattles the demons by talking about the good deeds, merciful acts and repent (etc) the soul had showed. If the soul has not 'enough' good deeds or repent for its sins, then the demons drag the soul to hell... It sounds 'dramatic', I can smell you're already thinking this by now...!

[...]When the soul dies, on the third day it is carried by angels towards Heaven. On that way, they must go past 20 aerial toll-houses, which are huge groups of demons arranged according to specific kinds of sins. When a soul accompanied by angels gets to a toll-house, demons that tempted that soul during her life approach and accuse it for sins. The sins that are written on "papers" of demons have to be "payed for" by the person's good deeds in life, such as prayer, fasting, asceticism, doing works of mercy, etc.

According to Hagiographies, and the accounts of saints that have passed the aerial toll-houses, and talked about it in their appearances to various holy man, the demon often accuse the soul of sins that they tempted her with, but it didn't comply with, of sins that she repented for, and in that cases one of the angels, the one which was the person's guardian angel, speaks for the person, saying that those are lies, and that payment is not necessary, taking the soul to the next toll-house.

If a persons has sins that it didn't repent for, and does not have enough good deeds to pay them off, the demons of that toll-house grab him, and take him to hell.[...]

And this one as well:

[..]According to various revelations there are twenty such obstacles, the so-called "toll-houses," at each of which one or another form of sin is tested; after passing through one the soul comes upon the next one, and only after successfully passing through all of them can the soul continue its path without being immediately cast into Gehenna*. How terrible these demons and their toll-houses are may be seen in the fact that Mother of God Herself, when informed by the Archangel Gabriel of Her approaching death, answering her prayer, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself appeared from heaven to receive the soul of His Most Pure Mother and conduct it to heaven. Terrible indeed is the third day for the soul of the departed, and for this reason it especially needs prayers then for itself.[...]
~Life After Death by St. John Maximovitch
(* Gehenna is cited in the New Testament and in early Christian writing to represent the final place where the wicked will be punished or destroyed after resurrection.)

It is also very interesting to read what the Orthodox tradition has to say about the "toll-houses"... But if you think about it, all these 20 toll-houses are things we were taught in life to not do... Here it is:

• On the first aerial toll-house, the soul is questioned about the sins of the tongue, such as- empty words, dirty talk, insulting people, ridicule, singing worldly songs, too much or loud laughter(*), and similar sins
• The second is the toll-house of lies- besides plain lying also- braking oaths, braking vows given to God, taking God's name in vain, hiding sins during confession, and similar
• The third is the toll-house of slander- judging, humiliating, embarrassing, mocking and laughing at people, and similar
• The fourth is the toll-house of gluttony- overeating, drunkenness, eating between meals, eating without prayer, not holding fasts, choosing tasty over plain food(*), eating when not hungry(*), and similar
• The fifth is the toll-house of laziness- where the soul is questioned about every day and hour spent in laziness, neglect of serving God, of prayer, and missing Church services, and also not earning money by honest and hard word, not working as much as you are paid, and all similar sins
• The sixth toll-house is the toll-house of theft- stealing, robbery, whether small, big, light, violent, public, hidden
• The seventh is the toll-house of covetousness- love of riches and goods, not giving to charity, and similar
• The eight is the toll-house of usury, and also loan-sharking, overpricing, and similar
• The ninth is the toll-house of injustice- being unjust, especially in judicial affairs, accepting or giving bribes, dishonest trading and business, using false measures, and similar
• The tenth is the toll-house of envy
• The eleventh is the toll-house of pride- vanity, self-will, boasting, not honoring parents and civil authorities, insubordination, disobedience, and similar
• The twelve is the toll-house of anger and rage
• The thirteenth is the toll-house of remembering evil- hatred, holding a grudge, and revenge
• The fourteenth is the toll-house of murder- not just plain murder, but also wounding, maiming, hitting, pushing- generally injuring people
• The fifteenth is the toll-house of magic- divination, conjuring demons, making poison, all superstitions, and similar
• The sixteenth is the toll-house of lust- fornication, unclean thoughts, lustful looks, unchaste touches
• The seventeenth is the toll-house of adultery
• The eighteenth is the toll-house of sodomy- bestiality, homosexuality, incest, masturbation(*), and all other unnatural sins
• The nineteenth is the toll-house of heresy- rejecting any part of Orthodox faith, wrongly interpreting it, apostasy, blasphemy, and all similar sins
• The last, twentieth toll-house is the toll-house of unmercifulness, failing to show mercy and charity to people, and being cruel in any way
  
  (*)"loud laughter"=I am not sure why it would be considered a sin to laugh loud though. hopefully there's someone out there who can answer this question
  (*)choosing tasty over plain food=same, it troubles me why it would be a sin
  (*)eating when not hungry=I think it's considered a sin because, eating when not hungry defeats the whole purpose of feeding ourselves. Fueling our body with enough energy and vitamins it needs to survive and function properly instead of feeding ourselves to death just for the pleasure of it. It's a sin because eating when not hungry makes us be 'slaves of our flesh' when we should abstain from all kinds of passions.
  (*)masturbation=I've heard it thousands times that is is a sin, but I still can't understand completely why. When a 10 year old boy masturbates for the first time, because his hormones urged him to do so, he commits a sin...? But isn't it natural? I understand why the case of one obsessing with masturbation (which again makes him/her a "slave of our flesh", servant of our humanly passions) is considered a sin, but if we take the example of the 10 year old I brought up, then I still don't fully get it...  Help, someone...?

After death...what?
After reading all these, one might wonder... Alright, I just read everything, but my grandma/mother/brother/friend/beloved one has departed and I don't think there's much I can do... I was only reminded to live 'accordingly' so that to avoid being 'tortured by the demons when I pass away"... What is left for us to do back here for the ones who passed away anyways? The one and very important thing us back here can do is: to pray for them. So simple, yet so important. Especially the first few days after our beloved one's death. But the rest 37 days are crucial as well, according to the orthodox tradition, since the soul wanders around for 40 days...

[...]Then, having successfully passed through the toll-houses and bowed down before God, the soul for the course of 37 more days visits the heavenly habitations and the abysses of hell, not knowing yet where it will remain, and only on the fortieth day is its place appointed until the resurrection of the dead. Some souls find themselves (after the forty days) in a condition of foretasting eternal joy and blessedness, and others in fear of the eternal torments which will come in full after the Last Judgment. Until then changes are possible in the condition of souls, especially through offering for them the Bloodless Sacrifice (commemoration at the Liturgy), and likewise by other prayers.[...]

Another thing along with prayer, is good deeds done in their memory, such as contributions or alms to the church. Our prayers and good deeds in their memory are very beneficial for the soul of our beloved person. The soul of the deceased is proceeding on its path to the eternal habitations. The soul senses our prayers and commemoration offered for it and is grateful to those who make them and is spiritually close to them. Ask God to show and grand mercy to the soul of our beloved ones. Focus on the good deeds/behaviors/words/attributes/habits the person had while still alive.

Our soul continues to live on. Its the center of all our energies and thoughts, its the center of our very existence. After the separation from the body, our soul continues to live, to exist, to have awareness.

Let us take care for those who have departed into the other world before us, in order to do for them all that we can, remembering that "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
~Life After Death by St.John Maximovitch.

*If you wish to read the whole article on Life after Death click here.

Thank you for reading and God Bless.