The soul society

Soul Society (尸魂界; the Japanese spelling used literally translates to "dead spirit world")[1] is the afterlife (also called the spirit world). It is meant to correspond to Heaven or Nirvana in human belief systems. It is the place where most departed souls and the Shinigami dwell.

While Rukia Kuchiki initially describes Soul Society as something of a paradise, where nine out of ten times it is better than the living world and hunger is never a problem,[2] Soul Society is portrayed as anything but sublime (having died as a baby, Rukia's lack of knowledge regarding the human world may have influenced her viewpoint). In fact, aside from the slowed aging and aforementioned lack of hunger, life there is much like that in the living world.

The place where souls go after they die. This world consists of the Rukongai (Rukon District in the English version), where souls first live when they arrive in the Soul Society, and the Seireitei (lit. "Court of Pure Souls"), which is at the center of the Soul Society. The mode of life here closely resembles that of feudal Japan.

The human world is for the living. Dead souls gather in the Soul Society. These two worlds are parallel to each other and are two sides of the same coin. Families separated by death are rarely reunited in the Soul Society. People live nestled together like a family of strangers. One never gets hungry (if you don't have spiritual powers) and aging is slowed to a great extent, with lifespans of 2000 or more years not being unheard of, though such ages are limited to Shinigami or other Soul Society dwellers with high spiritual power. Children can even be born ast they are in the Human World. People can also be killed as regular humans are, though they are capable of surviving wounds that would normally be considered fatal. A soul that dies in Soul Society is reincarnated on Earth as a new human with no past memories. [3]

Shinigami come and leave Soul Society by unlocking the Senkaimon using a Hell Butterfly. Pluses, on the other hand, enter Soul Society through the ritual of Soul Burial.

Spirits can be born in Soul Society as much as in the living world with the shinigami acting to balance the souls.

Intruders can pass through the Senkaimon in the same manner, but only in soul form. This allows spiritual beings, such as Ichigo in his Shinigami form, to enter without permission. Humans can also use such a gate through the use of Reishihenkanki (霊子変換機; lit. spirit exchangers), which convert solid matter into Reishi's. While this method uses the same gate, the lack of a Hell Butterfly forces intruders to pass through the Dangai, a bordering dimension between the human world and Soul Society (not to be confused with Hueco Mundo). This is much more dangerous to do, as souls that cannot pass through before the gate to Soul Society closes are trapped there forever.

Finally, Hollows can also directly rip a hole to Soul Society from Hueco Mundo, or in the case of Arrancar, using their ability, Garganta.

When people die they are assigned a number to a part of Soul Society according to when they died. Spirits can be born in soul society as much as in the living world with the shinigami acting to balance the souls.


Laws

* t is against the law for a Shinigami to give their spiritual power to Humans.

* It is against the law for a Shinigami to use forbidden Kidō.

* It is against the law for any citizen of Soul Society to create weapons of a dangerous nature not sanctioned by the feudal government. To do so is treason.

* It is against the law to attack a captain. To do so is treason.

* It is against the law to commit terrorist action or attempt overthrow of the balance of Soul Society. To do so is treason.

* It is against the law to commit murder.

* It is forbidden for a Shinigami to acquire Hollow powers.

* It is by ancient law that two Shinigami cannot hold the same zanpakutō. They must fight for the honor of bearing the spirit, with the spirit going to the winner.[6]

* It is against the law for the Gotei 13 to meddle in the affairs of the noble families unless the family in question breaks one of the laws of Soul Society beyond a shadow of a doubt.

* It is a crime for a Shinigami to remain in the human world longer than a certain time limit as this is viewed as living a second life

Punishment

* Exile: Certain crimes allows for the punishment of exile, commonly stripping a Shinigami of their powers and banishing them to the real world.

* Detention: A not well known punishment among the citizens of Soul Society is the detention of high level shinigami. Commonly reserved for those who have either broken the law or quit the Gotei 13 or those who just seem dangerous and mentally unstable (as per the governments interpretation). This is carried out by the Special Forces.

There are several forms of executions in Soul Society, although only two have been revealed:

* Spirit-sealing pit: The spirit-sealing pit is an ancient form of execution in which Shinigami criminals are thrown into a pit walled with deathstone – a type of stone that absorbs spiritual power, preventing those nearby from using their powers. Hollows are then thrown into the pit with the criminals as the means of execution. The practice was considered too barbaric and discontinued.[7]
* Sōkyoku (双): Sōkyoku is a form of execution usually reserved for those with extremely strong spiritual powers, namely shinigami captains. The Sōkyoku is a giant halberd that utterly destroys a soul on contact. When released, Sōkyoku takes on the form of a phoenix, its true form, called Kikōō.[8] The Kikōō has the destructive power of one million zanpakutō, and that power is multiplied by a factor of 10 at the moment it pierces its victim.[9]