This article is about a non-fiction entity related to the Astronist belief system or the Astronic tradition.
Any article relating to a fictional entity will be clearly marked as being part of the Spacefaring World.
Astronic eschatology, formerly known as Millettic eschatology, or Millettarian eschatology, is a dispositional discipline of Astronism dealing with a variety of subjects principally involving death, the afterlife and the nature of the afterlife, funerary practices, the concept of destiny and its application, the existence of a soul, as well as the final destination of humans.
Due to the variety of subject manners it deals with, Astronic eschatology forms a significant aspect of belief and is one of the principal ignitors of discussion. Technically, Astronic eschatology refers to both Astronist and pre-Astronist beliefs regarding such subjects, but more than often it is made synonymous with Astronist eschatology.
Astronic eschatology encompasses three principal branches of study including:
- Astronic necrology – the study of funerary traditions specific to Astronism
- Astronic thanatology – the study of the events leading up to a person's death as well as the nature and purpose of death
- Incorporeology – the study of the soul from an Astronist perspective
- Mortology – the study of funerary traditions and forms of commemoration across multiple religions
There exists three major schools of Astronic eschatology including naturalism, transtellationism, and transcensionism. The naturalist school views all eschatological subjects from the perspective that supernatural occurrences are either non-existent or explainable through natural means. Key aspects of naturalism include denial of the existence of a soul and rejection of an afterlife.
Transtellationism is the opposite to the naturalist school and encompasses a vast array of beliefs that incorporate some supernatural element. The existence of a soul and some form of an afterlife are common characteristics of the transtellationist school of eschatology. Finally, the transcensionist school can be considered naturalistic in orientation yet also non-theistic meaning that in transcensionism is indifferent to the existence of a soul, an afterlife, or the involvement of the concept of God.
The disciplines of eschatology and thanatology are often intertwined with the latter officially residing within the former as it particularly deals with the specific beliefs regarding the nature, circumstances, meaning, and purpose of death, particularly the differences between the death of a sentient being or the death of a non-sentient.