upper world
Realm of gods
The upper world is the realm of the living, as opposed to the underworld of the dead—a distinction central to many mythologies.
Greek heroes descended to the underworld and returned to the upper world.
The term also contrasts with underworld in its criminal sense: the upper world is respectable society, the legitimate sphere above the shadows where crime operates.
- heavenSky or bliss
- pearly gatesOrnate doors with opalescent decoration
- kingdom of heavenGod's sovereign spiritual realm
- celestialOf the sky above
- celestial realmHeavenly sphere above earth
paradise · divine · heavenly host · sky · on high · ethereal · higher plane · gods · ascend · realm · afterlife · life after death · eternal rest · spirit · clouds · transcendent · mortal · elysium
- realmsrealm, kingdom, domain, Heaven, Hades
- shamanismshamans, shaman, spirit guide, medicine man, medicine woman
- Andean mythologycreator god, sun god, thunder god, origin myths, sea goddess
- Indigenous SpiritualityGhost Dance, spirit animals, ancestor spirits, vision quest, ancestral spirits
- Steppe Shamanismancestor spirits, animal totems, nature spirits, spirit animals, spirit journey
- Heavenparadise, pearly gates, eternal life, kingdom of heaven, New Jerusalem
upper worldunderworld
Realm of the departed
lower world · netherworld · hell · Hades · inferno
upper worldunderworld
Realm of the departed
criminal underworld · black market · demimonde · shadow world · shadow economy
upper worldunderworld
Realm of the departed
underground · depths · caverns · the deep
upper, world, upward, upwards, uppish, uppermost, worlds, worldly, worldliness