Heaven and Hell A Compulsively Readable Compendium of Myth, Legend, Wisdom, and Wit for Saints and Sinners

by Faustino, Mara

• ISBN13: 9780871136961
• ISBN10: 0871136961
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-10-11
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Summary

Heaven and Hell is a deliciously pithy assortment of highbrow gospel and lowbrow trivia dedicated to our eternal struggle between virtue and wickedness, all compiled in one volume.

Author Biography

Mara Faustino is a writer and performer based in New York City. Her work has appeared frequently in The Believer and has also appeared in The Oklahoma Review, Aux Arc Review, Fort Necessity, Watchword, and blue. She currently teaches essay writing and art criticism in New York and is writing a book on a religious sect in Michigan.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Faustino's Index	x
Heaven	1	(1)
Heaven Alternatives	1	(4)
Hell	5	(1)
Hell Alternatives	5	(2)
Between Places: Purgatory	7	(1)
Limbo Chow: Eggs in Purgatory	8	(1)
Angels	9	(1)
The Nine Orders of Angels	9	(2)
Angelic Seals	11	(1)
Ins and Outs of Heaven and Hell	12	(1)
Miracles	13	(2)
The Devil, an Introduction	15	(1)
Nicknames for the Devil	16	(1)
A Cocktail Break: Three Angelic Aperitifs	17	(1)
Things that Come from Heaven	18	(1)
The Anorexic Angel?	18	(1)
Spells with Devil Candles	19	(1)
A Brief History and Time Line of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club	20	(3)
Seven Heavenly Places that Are Utter Hell	23	(2)
The Seven Heavenly Virtues	25	(1)
The Contrary Virtues	25	(1)
The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy	26	(1)
Guardian Angels, a Brief History	26	(1)
Angel Water	27	(1)
Other Angelic Cosmetics	27	(1)
Buddhist Hot Hells	28	(2)
Buddhist Cold Hells	30	(1)
Ha-ha for Hellions, a Joke	30	(1)
Terms for Heaven in the Bible	31	(1)
Descriptions of Heaven in the Bible	32	(1)
Six Destinies for Reincarnation	32	(1)
Wheels of Life	33	(2)
Cocktail Break: Angel's Delight Shooter, a Saintly Swig	35	(1)
More Math: Mystery of Numbers	35	(1)
Superstitions Related to Heaven	36	(1)
Superstitions Related to Hell	36	(1)
Festivals of the Dead	37	(1)
Bible Figures Who Ascended to Heaven	38	(1)
Beatific Bumper Stickers	38	(1)
Exorcisms	38	(2)
Contacting Angels, Some Suggestions	40	(1)
Celestial Couture	41	(1)
Getting to Heaven	41	(2)
Eight Significant Angels and the Meaning of their Names	43	(1)
Ten Heavens and their Rulers	43	(1)
Nike Isn't Just a Shoe	44	(1)
Bon Mots for Beelzebub	45	(2)
Baby Name Finder, Part I	47	(1)
An Angel Profile: Dumah	48	(1)
Seven Heavens of the Muhammadans	49	(1)
Satanic Bumper Stickers	49	(1)
Excerpt: ``Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven''	50	(2)
Mark Twain
Some Compounds with ``Heaven''	52	(1)
Poesy Primer for Paradise	52	(1)
A Demon Profile: Mara	53	(1)
People/Beings You Might Find in Heaven	53	(1)
A Divine Dictionary of Angelic Appellation	53	(7)
The Luciferian Lexicon	60	(4)
The Mormon Plan of Salvation	64	(1)
Angels for the Days of the Week	65	(1)
Angel-of-the-Month Club, Not Your Average Pinup Calendar	65	(1)
Angels of the Seasons	66	(1)
Angels of the Planets	66	(1)
Wet Your Whistle: The Hellion's Hair-of-the-Dog (The Devil's Cocktail)	66	(1)
Spiritual Hierarchies	67	(1)
Terms for Hell in the Bible	68	(2)
Heavenly Movies: Paradisiacal Plots	70	(2)
Hellish Movies: Flicks on the Styx	72	(2)
From The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake, Plate 3	74	(1)
Cocktail Break: The Gates of Hell	75	(1)
Devas and the Seven Sephirot	75	(1)
Wet Your Whistle: Satanic Sip	76	(1)
Places: The Ascendant Almanac	77	(1)
Places: Demonic Detours	77	(2)
Places: Not Sure Which Way to Go?	79	(1)
Seven Lodges of Hell (or Arka) in the Kabbalah	79	(1)
Seven Hells of the Muhammadans	80	(1)
The Nine Orders of Demons	81	(1)
Comparative Cosmography and Eschatology	81	(6)
Scientology	81	(1)
Baha'i	82	(1)
Islam	82	(1)
Egyptian Heaven and Hell	82	(1)
Greek	83	(1)
Catholic	84	(1)
Ancient Babylonian	84	(1)
Ancient Indian	84	(1)
Hinduism	84	(1)
Judaism	85	(1)
Ancient Persian	85	(2)
Ha-ha for Hellions: Pick Heaven or Hell	87	(1)
Five Rivers of Hell/Hades	88	(1)
SIN	89	(3)
Baby Name Finder, Part II	92	(1)
Poesy Primer: Hell	92	(2)
Satanism, or Devil Worship	94	(1)
Do You Know the Blue Devils in Your Neighborhood?	95	(1)
Islands of the Blest	96	(2)
Fears	98	(1)
Angel-Beast: A Seventeenth-century Card Game	99	(1)
Dante's Inferno: A Primer	100	(2)
``Ballade to Our Lady''	102	(2)
Divination	104	(1)
What is To-Morrow	105	(1)
Une Fete: The Saints and Sinners Ball	106	(1)
Norse Mythology and Its Nine Worlds	107	(1)
How to Date an Asatruer	108	(1)
Ha-ha in Heaven: Jokes	109	(4)
The Threefold Nature of Man	113	(1)
A Cookbook: Noshing in Nirvana, Snacking with Satan	114	(8)
``General William Booth Enters into Heaven''	122	(2)
Vachel Lindsay
Proverbs from Paradise	124	(1)
Meat Loaf's Discography, as it Relates to Heaven and Hell	124	(2)
A Mix Tape for Your Saintly Friends and Family	126	(1)
A Hellish Mix Tape: Ballads for Beelzebub	127	(1)
Second-to-Heaven Holy Sites	128	(1)
Games that Are Simply Divine	128	(4)
Paradise Lost: A Primer with Excerpts	132	(9)
Other Books on Heaven and Hell	141	(1)
How to Make a Snow Angel	142	(1)
Angelic and Archfiendish Art	143	(3)
Quotations: Heaven	146	(4)
Quotations: Hell	150	(4)
Quotations: Purgatory	154	(1)
Proverbs of Hell	154	(3)
William Blake
Saints---Don't Leave Home Without One	157	(1)
The Catholic Saint Club's Cardinal Rules	157	(1)
100 Vocational Saints	158	(3)
Saints for the Ne'er-Do-Well	161	(1)
City Saints	161	(1)
Country Saints	162	(1)
Other Saints to Keep in Mind	162	(3)
Sources	165	(2)
Acknowledgments	167