ASCENSION. 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. 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. Rituals of ascent involve the living person becoming initiated into a new, sacred status.

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). Some cultures also offer the further possibility of magical flight. 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...