Quote
The quote is from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. The full quote is:

Was not this narrow enclosure, with the heavens for a ceiling, sufficient to enable him to adore God in his most divine works, in turn? Does not this comprehend all, in fact? and what is there left to desire beyond it? A little garden in which to walk, and immensity in which to dream. At one's feet that which can be cultivated and plucked; over head that which one can study and meditate upon: some flowers on earth, and all the stars in the sky.

In the novel, the chapter describes a kindly bishop, a spiritual man who takes great comfort in his small garden. It provides both the beauties of the earth and the heavens for his contemplation. I chose this quote because it mentions flowers and stars – keynotes of this chapter, and of the story itself.

Healing
When Julian and Noel go to meet the taxi, they find Edith, Thomas, and Bronwen waiting downstairs. They are prepared for a day of hiking, and Julian can't help feeling a little concerned that it might be too much for Edith, who died at the age of 89.

The others are amused by this, because although they don't look any younger at the Waystation, they have been physically healed to the point that hiking for miles is no problem for them now. Edith no longer has arthritis, and Thomas doesn't even need to wear glasses any more.

(By the way, so many of the characters in this story wore glasses, until I realised how idiotic that was, and had to go back and edit them all out!)

Bronwen points out that she weighed only thirty kilos when she died from cancer, and now she looks exactly the same as before she became ill (of course she hasn't gained any weight – she weighs nothing at all.) I was careful not to say what Bronwen's weight was before she got sick. Thirty kilos was clearly an unhealthy weight for her – she died – but I didn't want to put a number on what a healthy weight was.

Being healed only seems to affect people's body size if it is caused by illness. Bronwen no longer looks emaciated as she did when she died from cancer, but Noel is still thin, Julian is still awkwardly lanky, Thomas still has a heavy build, Edith is still tiny, and Colin's soulmate Pauline is plump. More than anything, I wanted to stress how human everybody is at the Waystation.

Upsadaisy Downs
An area of rolling hills, pleasant to walk through, with pubs and inns along the way so you can stop to eat and drink at regular intervals. It is perfect for that very British pastime of "rambling", which is more serious than a simple walk, but too casual to be called a hike. Julian actually loves hiking, and in different circumstances, I think he would have happily signed up for a day on the downs.

The name Upsadaisy, the same encouragement we give to a small child who's tumbled over as we pick them up, is meant to be another reassuring touch at the Waystation. You're dead? Well, "upsadaisy"! Headed back to Earth? "Upsadaisy"! Whatever has happened, dust yourself off and start all over again.

There isn't anywhere called Upsadaisy Downs in real life, because it's too much of a lame joke for anyone else to choose. But Daisy Downs and Upson Downs ("ups and downs") are common names for country properties in Australia, so I can't really say this one is very original either!

Thomas and Nancy
Thomas pronounces that the feelings Julian and Noel have for each other are "love at first sight". He likens it to meeting his wife Nancy, and that he could never look at another woman once he'd seen her. I wanted to suggest that Thomas might be one of those rare people who got to marry their soulmate on Earth. The name Thomas means "twin", to suggest a twin soul.

Thomas' love for Nancy suggests one reason he doesn't seem particularly keen to go Forward: he died when only in his early sixties, and his wife is almost certainly still alive. Thomas could have made up his mind he is going Sideways so he can wait for Nancy, rather than go Forward without her.

Julian is worried that Thomas may be crude about his relationship with Noel, or even homophobic. There is no saying what Thomas would have been like on Earth, but in the Afterlife, people are also healed of the "sickness" of prejudice, so attitudes such as racism and homophobia simply don't exist.

The Waystation
While in the taxi to their destination, Julian comes to realise that The Wayfarers Inn is in an outer suburb or satellite village of The Waystation, which is actually a city. This comes straight from the Bible, because The Book of Revelation tells us that Heaven is a huge, beautiful, glittering city. The Waystation looks like London, only much cleaner and nicer. This is like Judgment City in the film Defending Your Life, which is a cross between Los Angeles and San Francisco [pictured].

The streets are wide avenues, as in "the great street" of Heaven mentioned in the Bible. They are lined with elms, mentioned in classical poetry as one of the trees in the Underworld, and a favourite for planting on the tombs of heroes. Chestnut trees are another avenue tree, symbolic of new life and abundance; the nurturing side of the Waystation, and another sign of a "fresh start" after one life finishes.

There is no traffic, apart from the taxis and shuttle buses which transport people around the Waystation, and the streets are filled with new arrivals. New arrivals seem to spend about a week at the Waystation, so this would be the number of people who die in a week in the UK. I did look it up, and it's around 10 000 new arrivals at the Waystation on any given day, but the number of permanent residents is much higher – a lot of staff would be needed to run the Waystation efficiently.

All the new arrivals look happy and healthy – they have been healed mentally as well as physically, and their negative emotions taken away. The city centre of the Waystation is filled with places of innocent amusement, because this is a time of rest and recreation for new arrivals.

(I suppose you could say that the Afterlife in the story is 'ableist', but I have several physical disabilities, and would be thrilled to have them all taken away). 

Golden Years Cinema
Named after the 1975 David Bowie song, "Golden Years", as another sneaky Bowie reference. The movies currently showing are among my favourites, and have some bearing or comment on the plot.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946), focuses on a despairing man who prepares to commit suicide by drowning.

The Wizard of Oz (1939), the main character is transported to a strange, dreamlike world. The colour coded uniforms in Between Life and Death were inspired by this film, where people from each country wear clothing of a particular colour.

Here Comes Mr Jordan (1941), a fantasy comedy romance looking at the Afterlife. Big inspiration.

Tiferet Square
The main square at the Waystation, a vast concourse which goes right around the park in the middle of the city.

Tiferet is the sixth sefira (attribute) in the Tree of Life mystical diagram in the Jewish Kabbalah, representing aspects of reality, such as existence, God, and the human psyche. Tiferet means "beauty" in Hebrew, and represents the Sun - it is is associated with the phrase, "Let there be light, and there was light". Note that this connects it with the number 19 and the Sun tarot card, mentioned as pertaining to Julian's previous lives.

There are usually ten or eleven sefirot in the Tree of Life, suggesting that there may be ten or eleven city squares at the Waystation, named after each of them. If so, the others would be Kether ("Crown"), Chochmah ("Wisdom"), Binah ("Understanding"), Da'at ("Knowledge"), Chesed ("Kindness"), Gevurah ("Strength"), Netzach ("Victory"), Hod ("Glory"), Yesod ("Foundation"), and Malkuth ("Kingdom").

Tiferet is the central sefira, just as Tiferet Square is the central square of this city.

Mandala Park
A mandala is a geometric design used for spiritual guidance and meditation, from the Sanskrit for "circle". In Hinduism, it is positioned within a square with four gates, containing a circle with a centre point, like the park in this chapter. Although cosmic in nature, it represents reality.

There are avenues of lime (linden, tilia) trees through the park, long believed to be sacred, and also thought of as trees for lovers. Bees buzz in them, symbols of rebirth as well as love and romance. Its meadows of pale narcissus bring to mind those in the Underworld in Greek mythology, while the stone pools of water symbolise the divine, and the connection between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Hope Gate
One of the four gates into Mandala Park, and the one where Phil drops Julian and Noel off. Is he sending them a message by doing so?

The marble arch forming the gate is similar to the one at the main entrance to Hyde Park in London. It reads Embrace hope, all who enter here – an obvious flip of Abandon hope, all ye who enter here, which is the message over the gate of Hell in Dante's Inferno.

Immediately inside the Gate is a fountain, a symbol of eternal life. Around it are green mosaic tiles made to look like the rising sun, symbolising a fresh new start. The golden letters encircling it bid the pilgrim to make a wish, which will be granted if their heart is filled with hope (a bit like wishing wells in real life, which I was always fascinated by as a child).

Noel immediately wishes that wherever he and Julian are sent, they will go there together. Julian does not have the confidence to make a wish, unsure whether he has enough hope in his heart.

The Rose Garden
The white roses in the garden are symbolic of purity and spirituality. The Virgin Mary is called "The White Rose of Heaven", and in his Paradiso, Dante pictured all of Heaven being contained within the petals of a white rose. White roses are sacred to Aphrodite or Venus, making them flowers of true love and commitment. They also symbolise remembrance of the dead at funerals.

The roses are planted in the shape of an eight-pointed star. This is known as The Star of Venus, sacred to the goddess Ishtar or Inanna, "The Queen of Heaven". It is often paired with a rosette. Ishtar and Mary together place a feminine power of deep, spiritual love beyond death in this garden, while the motif of stars and roses is one which will be continued in the story.

(The eight-pointed Star of Venus is the symbol for the number 17 in numerology, and its tarot card is The Star, ruled by Aquarius. It's often known as The Star of Hope. My birthday is the 17th, and I'm an Aquarian, so the garden is my thumbprint on the story!)

As they allow their spirits to be refreshed by the scent of the roses, Julian can feel himself standing in an open doorway, as if the garden is actually a portal to another dimension, where he can sense a sky filled with clouds and stars, and a cool breeze blowing. Luckily, Noel brings him back from the brink here with his simple common sense.

By the way, the roses in the garden are Rosa alba, a white rose grown in Europe since ancient times [pictured at the top]. it has a very sweet yet subtle fragrance. It may be the same flower as the Rose of York – Julian is from Yorkshire.

Write What You Know
After my mother died, I was naturally very sad for a long time. One day when I was thinking about her, I had what might be called a waking vision of her entering Heaven. She walked through a doorway in a shaft of light, into the most beautiful garden, filled with roses. It felt as if my mind's eye was telling me, "It's alright. She's in a good place. She's okay now." Mandala Park (and perhaps the mysterious doorway) is very much inspired by this comforting image.