A gentle voice from heaven calmed me:
"If you live with the highest feelings, like those of us who were monks in life—such as unconditional love, experiencing kindness and joy, wishing no harm to anyone, not envying, not seeking revenge—then in your lifetime you will acquire the light body of a celestial being, which will carry your soul upward. There's nothing to worry about, my dear. The astral body is only for the lower worlds, and there, among the demons and hierophants, you have no business being there, since you have no basic instincts."
They, the dungeon dwellers, came to me often, and our conversations would last past midnight. Ordinary men, warriors, bandits, peasants who had come to this life without any particular joys or higher spiritual aspirations, usually end up here, and their astral shells are not dismantled unless they have undergone the ritual of submission to the hellboss, and there are many such there. It was a truly vile sight, and I tried to trash the memory of the scene with disgust, but once you've seen it, it's hard to erase from your memory.
But their existence in the afterlife is generally quite pleasant and even filled with jolly entertainment: actors stage massive theatrical productions with murderous pranks, passed away popular singers gather around themselves vast parties with orgies and feasts featuring tasteless dishes made from the spent human psychic energy drained to down. And the deeper the layer, the more vile the spectacle... Bosch and his paintings are at rest.
Life is just as one would wish on Earth, but it's not possible everywhere due to moral principles. There, restrictions are lifted.
"We remember you well, Lana..." declared a group of brutal men. "Before your incarnation, you lived here, with us, and it was difficult to catch you for intimate relations."
... Ouch... I winced, imagining it. It was hard to believe, that I had to hide underground, hiding in secret places from the demons' tricks.
"But I've never met you before," the mischievous Ray confided, sharing with me the feeling of a soft, warmth spreading in my heart. "Love... do you feel it?"
"Yes... it's... very nice! It's like... Oxytocin... the happiness hormone in the blood... I feel the same way!"
"What? I've never heard of that! Are you being so smart again?"
"Well, it's just... people on Earth feel that way when they hug and care for someone. It's a substance produced by the pineal gland, located in the center of the brain."
"What? Hmm... well, I collect this delicious energy from people's chests for my own pleasure and can transfer it to another being. And it's great that you sense it, as a deep empath. That's how we live... those living in the flesh are a source of energy for us, all kinds of it—a wide range: from fear to joy...
... Suddenly, a sharp irritation pierced my heart...
"Just so you know, Ray is my boyfriend!" a woman's scandalous cry rang out.
I realized the feeling came from her... What woman is seriously jealous of a ghost? This made me laugh out loud, and I burst out laughing.
"Laura, stop it!"
"Ray has become very handsome..." the slender girl in a scarlet dress continued, playfully showing off her graceful arms and legs, clad in high-heeled sandals. "They say it's thanks to you, but he's still mine!"
"Well, I got it!" I snapped back, accompanied by Ray's ringing laughter. "Just don't shove your charms in my face, Laura! I'm not claiming to be your boyfriend's lover! Although, you know, a man always chooses the women he loves!
"That's true! But we're supposed to fight for the heart of the man we love!"
… Well, well... how am I supposed to fight for the heart of a ghost?
"Don't you know how?—Ray's voice rang out. "I need to be desired, praised, kissed, called affectionately..."
"Like... you're my good boy?"
"No... no, good boy! I'm still a hooligan!"
… As always, Ray is up to his old tricks, playing pranks on me with his friends. He's a real joker, but the feeling of love transmitted from him to my heart chakra is genuine, and I'm floating with happiness... I just want to praise him, but I don't know how?
"You're a sweet and pleasant ghost, Ray! Is that okay?"
… A new wave of warmth flowed into my soul, spreading in my chest...
"Well... yeah... think about some more affectionate epithets for me!"
…What a vain demon, stealing love from people!
"No... well... I really am in love with you, Lana!"
"Don't believe him! - some spiritist interjected. - He has so many gullible women! He's a womanizer... He plays with feelings, that's all! Don't take him seriously!"
"Don't listen to him! I believe we met in past lives, Lana! My feelings are sincere, and the energy of your soul flower excites me! Of course, I seek someone like you and give in to the flaring feelings... I'm actually a loving demon! And there's nothing wrong with that! Love is everything to me! How can I live without it?"
...And of course, I had to endure a lot of shouting and even cursing from female spirits, telling me to stop messing with such a wonderful and popular guy and stop communicating with him... How funny!
In fact, Ray is a love connoisseur who also uses heart energy for interactions. Typically, demons push lust into the lower chakras of earthly women, and this forces them to actively seek out partners for intimacy, since they directly participate in the process of physical intercourse of any couple, enjoying the hot power of sexual energy; without it, their lives are both boring and insipid. They are also called incubi and succubi in demonology.