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Likewise, from East Asia to the Americas, from ancient Greece to Israel, the ascent of a mountain is considered a privileged means by which one can enter into the presence of God.īecause the theme of ascension has been variously developed in different cultures, it is difficult to ascertain the relationship among the religious ambits where ascension is attested and where it often involves the quest for origins and possible reciprocal influences. Similarly, Mu ḥammad saw a ladder with angels in the temple in Jerusalem, and some Christian mystics, in particular John Klimakos (seventh century), used the ladder as a symbol to represent the phases of spiritual ascent. The theme of the celestial ladder has been developed in monotheistic religions from Genesis 28:12, which describes Jacob's dream of a ladder reaching up to heaven upon which angels ascend and descend. Some cultures also offer the further possibility of magical flight. Many cultures record ways that such a journey can be made (via, for example, a mountain path, a ladder, a tree, a rope, or even a cobweb). Rituals of ascent involve the living person becoming initiated into a new, sacred status. The result of such a journey is not only a transcendent vision or spiritual knowledge, but the possibility of divinization or assimilation with the gods.
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In many purely literary works the theme of a heavenly journey is employed only for adventure's sake, but according to the majority of religious traditions, an ascent to heaven represents a journey into divine realms where the soul, living or dead, reaps many rewards.