Spirit world

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The spirit world (or ghost world) is a generic term essentially meaning "afterlife". It can be used for any planes of existence that spirits go on their deaths or spiritual conciousness (ex. dreamers) are able to travel to. A spirit world may be part of the "Inner and Outer Planes".^{S&L 132}

While there are many ways to travel between the planes, few are easy. The simplest is the transition between Azeroth and the Emerald Dream, a vast, ever changing spirit world;^[1] the barrier between the two is often crossed by dreamers drawn to the spirit world. Even in the case of the two closely related worlds, making the transition in the flesh is much more difficult.^{S&L 129} This form of travel is sometimes called astral or spiritual projection.^{S&L 131}

The final destination of the spirits of the deceased remains a mystery to the priests and philosophers of Azeroth. However, as spells such as resurrection can reunite a dead body with its spirit, and a majority of living creatures from the tauren to the troll shadow hunters claim they can communicate with and call upon the power of the spirits, a widely held belief is that the spirits of the dead remain on the Material Plane — in an immaterial state that can only be altered or contacted through the use of magic.^{S&L 131} Shadow hunters deal with the darkestaspects of the spirit world. Their connections topowerful voodoo spirits give them the ability to curse and heal at a whim.^{M&M 45} The Twisting Nether (aka the astral plane) may even be another spirit world, or the main spirit world. Spells that project characters' spirits projects their spirit forms into the Nether.^{S&L 132} Spirit healers wait within the astral realm for those unfortunate adventurers whose spirits will soon join them. These floating figures of death and rebirth return people to life where their spirits stands.^{WoWOSG 28}

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The Twisting Nether is sometimes described as the realm of death, or realm of spirits, and is thought to be place where spirits of the dead go upon death. This may explain the twisting rotating sky seen in the so called "spirit realm" that players see when they are killed in World of Warcraft. Some quests require the player to die in order to visit this realm to solve requirements. Though the Nether may be considered an afterlife by some, it is only one of a few. Paladins generally are sent to the Holy Light upon death, whereas there is also evidence that Druids spend the afterlife in the Emerald Dream, and it is also assumable that Shamans would roam the world with the spirits of the elements.

In World of Warcraft, you can resurrect yourself by speaking to a spirit healer or finding the corpse of your physical body.

There are some devices^[2] and potions^[3] that can allow you to see the spirit world while alive.

In Wrath of the Lich King

This section concerns content exclusive to Wrath of the Lich King.

Recently, the Lich King gained rule over the spirit world with the help of the Val'kyr.^[4]

References

1. ^ The World Tree and the Emerald Dream: "The Emerald Dream, a vast, ever-changing spirit world, existed outside the boundaries of the physical world."
2. ^ [Spectrecles], [Evoker's Helmet of Second Sight], [Druidic Helmet of Second Sight], [Stealther's Helmet of Second Sight], [Shamanistic Helmet of Second Sight], [Stalker's Helmet of Second Sight], [Overlord's Helmet of Second Sight]
3. ^ tincture described in [Quest:Vision_of_the_Dead#Description Description] and given in [Quest:Vision_of_the_Dead#Completion Completion] of  [67] Vision of the Dead
4. ^ Description section of  [71] The Echo of Ymiron