Dante's Sixth Ring held those who committed the sin of heresy. A devout Catholic, "The Divine Comedy" was inspired by the teachings of the Bible, and as one would expect, Dante's Sixth Ring is filled with non-Catholics.

Personally, I was raised Catholic too, but sometime around my teens, I found myself questioning my faith and then completely rejecting it. Since then, I've rediscovered my own version of spirituality, but I don't think I can ever return to the rigidity of an organized religion. Considering my current take on faith and spirituality, I truly believe all organized religions have it wrong. And so all organized religions essentially practice "heresy", and are therefore "heretics". This is why I've tried to include a member of all the major (and some not so major) religions in my version of the Sixth Ring.

The religions I've chosen to illustrate are:
The Ancient Egyptian Religion, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Voodoo, Islam,
Christianity, and The Ancient Roman Religion

In Dante's Inferno, Dante & Virgil are harassed by Medusa, and the Three Infernal Furies of Roman mythology. I chose to make these Furies the Sixth Rings caretakers.

By "Heretic" Dante means specifically those who denied themselves immortality by denying gods "love" (ie. Jesus). Their punishment is an eternal grave in the "fiery morgue of God's wrath". Though these graves are currently open, they are to be sealed come Judgment Day. The use of monkeys can be seen as a bit of a commentary concerning my feelings for organized religion. At the same time, they can be seen as a nod to my "Monkeys with Hats" series