Cosmology of Ages

Lately I've been working on a new cosmology. Though I got the names and some of the concepts of this cosmology while I was playing Myst, the central concept -separate worlds that we can travel to by books- was something I've instinctively felt for a long time. I knew reading and writing were sacred acts, now I'm beginning to see why. The following story doesn't cover the cosmology completely, but it does bring it interestingly and it is an example in itself.

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"You've played Myst?", Jared asked. He answered he had.
"Good.", Jared said. "That will make it easier to explain."

"Listen: those guys knew the truth. Ages exist. We're in one!"
He looked at Jared sceptically.
"It shouldn't be to hard to grasp.", Jared continued. "Our entire universe is one Age. When we write a book, we create a link to a new Age. When we read those books, we're transported to those Ages. Not physically, like in Myst, although I wouldn't be surprised if a people actually exists who know how to travel physically to other Ages, but mentally. You've read books, you
must have experienced it. Tell me, have you ever been to Sherwood?"
At this, he nodded slowly, uncompromisingly.
"And Neverland, and Avalon. Have you seen Nemo, Ishmael, Huckleberry Fin? You have. You now what I mean. Well, just as you have visited those Ages, others will visit ours. Someone wrote this Age for others to visit."

He asked: "Are those visitors here, now? Are they listening to us talk?"
Jared replied: "They may well be. Who knows? Ages are vast, not only in space but in time. The writer of this Age may show his public something far from here, far from now. Ages continue once they have been created. A writer may revisit his Ages, and see what has become. And there also visitors with the power to visit Ages without a book to guide them. If I ask you to see the Age of Robin Hood, after King Richard has returned and Robin and Marion are married, could you? Not just imagine it, but see the Age before your eyes and let it unroll by itself, without your influence guiding it."
He thought about this.

"But the stories we read, the stories we write, they spring from our imagination.", he said. "They don't exist of themselves. If I took the story of The Three Musketeers, and changed it so that D'Artagnan never came to Paris, that doesn't mean I've altered an entire world."
Jared replied: "But you cannot alter Ages like that. If you do, the result is no more than a lie. And somewhere, the real Age of The Three Musketeers would live on. Imagination and Ages are different things, just as crafting an Age and making up a story are different. Imagination is unilateral: you write down what you will to be there. Crafting an Age is different. If you've ever created one, you would know. Sometimes, when writing Links -this is what we call books that
bring you to real Ages- you will find the evolution of events out of your control. Preconceived notions of how the story will go will be abruptly pushed aside as the Age you have created gains a life of it's own and it's own momentum. Had D'Artagnan not been so that he came to Paris of his own will, there would be no Age. It is part of him, just as he is part of it. And so it is for us."

"What happens to Ages then, when nobody visits them, if they are discarded after being written?"
Jared answered: "It matters not. To visit an Age is not to influence it. People can visit an Age en masse, or not at all. One Link provides a person with one glimpse at a part of an Age, in one place at once, for some determined timespan. You've reread books: you know we can visit Ages again and again if we wish. Were we to look outward from this Age at the people looking in, we might see no faces at all, or many. We might see one person once, or many times. The Age continues regardless."

"But we are stuck in one Age, aren't we? We can only look at other Ages through Links, never leaving our own Age."
Jared said: "Leaving your own Age is hard, but not impossible. We do it every night: we dream. In our sleep, we go to the place between the Ages and travel physically to other Ages, strange Ages that we had not hitherto imagined. And there are other ways: meditation, magic... Many people have learned how to travel the Ages: yogi's, shamans."

"Then what is the purpose of this? Why are the Ages here, and why are we in the Ages? If the two of us are part of a construction by someone in another Age, far from here, why do we exist?"
Jared responded: "To live, to learn. We see in other Ages what we see in our own. Just as we are created by someone in another Age, so have we created people in our own Ages. Perhaps there is One who was first, the author of the first Ages. It matters not. We are here, and as we learn from other Ages, we learn about ourselves."

UPDATE: I'm still working on this. Perhaps I'll write a book about it...

Also, see this.

The Elder and the Younger

This is the eternal fate of the firstborn: to suffer, to grow, to protect
This is the eternal fate of the lastborn: to be privileged, to stay the same, to stay sheltered

I was reflecting on a commonality that runs throughout mythology worldwide: the two races. One race always comes first, one last. These races can be Gods, they can be mortal, or the elder is immortal, the younger mortal.

In Greek mythology, the Olympian deities, such as Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades (all siblings by the way) were preceded by a race of deities more indicative of primordial concepts: Cronus (Time), Oceanus (Sea), Themis (Justice). In Norsh mythology, the Aesir and Vanir were less crearly cut: perhaps the remnants of two mythologies merged.

A pattern that occurs often with the two races, is that though the elder race is better than the younger -tougher, longer living, more highly moral- it is the younger race that is most privileged.

An example from Christian mythology would be Angels and Men. The dilemma of the elder can be seen in plays that look at the fallen angels from the angels' perspective. Joost van den Vondel's play "Lucifer" for example, starts out by Lucifer discussing with other angels the race of men that God had just created. Even though these beings were far more flawed, more imperfect than the first born angels, they were given far more privileges and held in far higher regard in God's plan. It doesn't seem fair. "Dogma" fans will recognize this particular rant. It was cited in the movie. (An online version of the play in original old Dutch can be found here)

An even more stunning example, I think, is Tolkien's mythology as gathered in the Silmarillion. See here the first race, elves, immortal, fair, strong, in tune with Erda. Then comes a young race of mortal men, naive, brutish, and yet graced by Illuvatar with a strange yet beautiful gift: death, to live only for a short time gives that time more sweetness.

As an eldest son of two eldest children, I've encountered this dilemma. The pressure to set an example, make something of yourself, while the youngest sister gets away with behaviour that would have gotten me trotten out to the hallway when I was young, and told to stay there until I was ready to come back in and finish my plate, can be daunting. (Of course, everything is always better in 'the old days'...) On the other hand, these expectations can be a drive to perform, and the stricter upbringing have taught me some manners I'm glad to have now. I have often seen spoiled behaviour in some of my younger cousins that had me thinking "Glad that's not me."

It is true that younger siblings often leed a more sheltered live than the elder. The people around have gained experience, and patience. But in the end this is not something that bothers me, even if I am a little envious of it.

In the end, if the elder is so wise as his greater experience has led him to be, he should be happy for the younger and feel a responsibility to protect them.

Runes (Futhark)

I've been reading up on the subject of Ancient Runes. It's Alfabet is called Futhark, after the first letters, like the word alfabet is named after alfa and beta. In order these letters are Fehu Uruz Thurisaz Ansuz Raido and Kenaz.

The Norsh considered the Rune writing to be holy, a knowledge givven to man by Odin, the chief god, who had to offer himself to the world tree of Yggdrasil to get them.

I think I'll make my own set of runes, and try some half-baked prediction of the future. The book said the best time to make new runes would be at the end of winter, so I'll wait with making them for a while... I'll report back when I make them.