Confirmed Pagan here. I have been in the woods for as long as 17 days alone, its a trip. I am a firm believer in the life in all things. And in particular, when I am alone in the woods I sometimes ponder or get the feeling that all my forefathers are there with me - all the relatives, dead and gone, long since dust, who once were but are no more. Are they in a heaven, Christian or otherwise? Who knows. All I know, is when I get in the frame of mind, they are there, with me. And I'll confess, I have from time to time heard their "voices" (thoughts) when I wasn't actually asking them anything, not under stress, not even listening, but more like being taken unawares. The feeling relates to my relatives, not to the infinite billions of non-relatives who have existed, which is what I would expect from some cosmic consciousness, regrettably I seem capable only of the relative kind. And sad to say, I have never heard the voice of God, any God, not even a whisper, or at least not so that I can understand it.

Nothing particularly stressful about being alone in the woods, except the futility of life if you find yourself stuck, but I think its being alone on my own that brings the connection to others on more strongly. Strong enough that I believe in this presence when I'm also at home, among my living family and friends. Maybe its just a comforting belief, to think that my forefathers who has gone before still exist somewhere, and I will also someday exist wherever they may be. My conscience tells me they are all watching me, always, and they may have something to say about what I do with my life when its all over. I have alot of questions for them, and I hope when I ask them they'll understand me. And if instead I meet darkness at death, that's fine, it was a comforting thought for a fair amount of my life to imagine something else. (And if I end up a caterpillar in another life, then hey, the Buddhists were right). also fyi, I don't believe in hell, not for anyone, though I will occasionally wish that someone should burn in hell for what they've done in life.

My cosmology, you're welcome to it...