Within
Molop Az dwell little demons that transport the buried dead there piece by
piece. The people know this for they have visited the graves of the recent dead
to find the bodies partially gone. Because of this, the Mezops bury their dead
in trees so the birds find them and carry them off to the Dead World; only their
enemies are buried in the ground. This is why Pellucidar's moon is called the
Dead World, not because it is bereft of life. It contains mountains, oceans,
lakes, rivers, grassy plains, and dense forests.
When
Ja the Mezop explains this all to David Innes, he does not say whether he
believes in the afterlife, or if in fact it is true. Although the Dead World
doesn’t seem big enough to hold all the dead, perhaps it is so that the gilaks
are reconstructed there bit by bit for an eternal life free from tarags, zariths,
and Perry’s inventions.
If
the Dead World is Heaven, it is surely the gloomiest name for Heaven on record!
The
Forest of Death may be our version of Hell as within dwell the Gorbuses who have
fleeting memories of outer world life where they were all murderers. In Back
to the Stone Age, when the Gorbus, Durg, finds out that von Horst is from
another world, he says, “Once we Gorbuses lived in it. It was a happy world;
but because of what we did we were sent away from it to live here in this dark
forest, miserable and unhappy.” Durg goes on to say that, “We eat because if
we didn’t we believe that we would die and go to a worse place than this.”
The
Mahars believe that Pellucidar “is round, like the inside of a tola shell,”
a single, vast, spherical cavity, which is in the center of all-pervading
solidity. It and everything in it was put there for Mahar use.
The
mad Jukans sacrifice people to their god, Ogar. An idol to him is in a plaza in
the center of the palace of Meeza. The Priests of Ogar "pray" to him
by doing cartwheels.
The Xexots believe in their Noada, who is the daughter of Pu, their god. Dian the Beautiful and O-aa are both mistaken as the Noada. The Xexots believe if they are good, they will go to Karana when they die, if not, they will go to Molop Az. They have a high priest and lesser priests who collect the offerings. The House of the Gods is the temple of the city of Lolo-lolo where Dian is taken.
