Image via WikipediaLarry Christopher, our Guest Writer for today's post, is taking us back to a topic we've previously touched with our "Are Aliens and Demons One And The Same?" article last year, but, this time, fairies are being thrown in as well...
Talking about fairies, I remember having read many years ago that some of those Men in Black, that so many people believe only appeared since the 1940s, could actually have been some of the "fairies" sighted many centuries ago (well, the original ones anyway).
[Of course, in those days, people had never heard of aliens (or visitors from parallel universes or, even, time travelers) and had to refer to things they've heard about when confronted to "out of this world" experiences...]
But, that's another story...
So, I'll now give the floor to Larry for today's one.
Enjoy...
Loup Dargent
Image via WikipediaFaeries, Aliens & Otherworlds - Keys to Parallel Worlds and Multidimensions?
Larry Christopher
Tales of Otherworlds are almost universal in folklore and myth.
There is not space to recount all of them, but today there has
been a renewed interest in tales from the British Isles and
Scandinavia, specifically those related to faeries, elves and
other such Otherworldly creatures.
An interesting question to consider is whether these ancient
tales were perhaps references to what modern philosophers and
quantum physicists now call multidimensions, parallel worlds or
possible worlds. These are all terms for the theory that reality
is made of many dimensions, not all of them conforming to the
same laws, especially in terms of time.
Faerie stories from the British Isles are of particular
interest here, because they often specifically refer to the
distortion of time that occurs when mortals interact with
denizens of faerie. One of the most popular stories, from
Ireland, is that of Oisin, a young man who falls in love with a
faery woman, Niamh, and follows her to Tir Na Nog, the Land of
Eternal Youth. Tir Na Nog is a fascinating topic of its own, as
it is a place where time as we know it does not exist. Oisin, of
course, is mortal, but has the choice of remaining in Tir Na Nog
where he would become immune to the passage of time. As often
occurs in such tales, he makes the mistake of returning to his
native land, where he finds that hundreds of years have passed
and everyone he knew are long dead.
Stories from other lands have similar themes. The Welsh version
of Tir Na Nog is Annwn, which is featured in the Mabinogion
collection of stories. The Norse have Valhalla, though this is
less a parallel world and more like the Christian heaven, as it
is a place where mortals go after dying a heroic death.
Yet another, more modern, version of time distortion occurs in
stories (whether true or not) of alien abductions. These are
often frightening experiences, though sometimes the aliens
encountered are friendly. In many cases, a common feature is
that when the person is fortunate enough to be returned to
earth, a distortion of time has occurred. As with faerie
stories, this time distortion can go either way -even much more
or much less time has passed than the "victim" believed.
We can, of course, simply categorize all of these tales as just
that -tales, based on superstition, imagination or just plain
fabrication, perhaps with alcohol or drugs thrown in the mix.
However, when we consider the enormous number of such tales that
are similar in so many respects, we might just as likely
consider that there may be something to them. Could there not be
a myriad of realities, some of which, under certain conditions,
overlap with our own?
Shamans have traditionally believed something similar. Shamanic
journeying involves visits to other realities and interacting
with spirits and beings who reside there. Another aspect of
shamanism is the belief that the dream world is just as real as
the waking world, and that we are actually "journeying" to these
Otherworlds when dreaming. That is why we often encounter people
in dreams who are deceased in "real life."
It would be difficult, probably impossible, to prove in a
rationalistic way that any of these tales or experiences
represent actual shifts in reality or visits to Otherworlds.
Those interested in pursuing this possibility, however, might do
well to study folklore alongside some modern theories of
philosophy and physics and consider the similarities.
There is not space to recount all of them, but today there has
been a renewed interest in tales from the British Isles and
Scandinavia, specifically those related to faeries, elves and
other such Otherworldly creatures.
An interesting question to consider is whether these ancient
tales were perhaps references to what modern philosophers and
quantum physicists now call multidimensions, parallel worlds or
possible worlds. These are all terms for the theory that reality
is made of many dimensions, not all of them conforming to the
same laws, especially in terms of time.
Faerie stories from the British Isles are of particular
interest here, because they often specifically refer to the
distortion of time that occurs when mortals interact with
denizens of faerie. One of the most popular stories, from
Ireland, is that of Oisin, a young man who falls in love with a
faery woman, Niamh, and follows her to Tir Na Nog, the Land of
Eternal Youth. Tir Na Nog is a fascinating topic of its own, as
it is a place where time as we know it does not exist. Oisin, of
course, is mortal, but has the choice of remaining in Tir Na Nog
where he would become immune to the passage of time. As often
occurs in such tales, he makes the mistake of returning to his
native land, where he finds that hundreds of years have passed
and everyone he knew are long dead.
Stories from other lands have similar themes. The Welsh version
of Tir Na Nog is Annwn, which is featured in the Mabinogion
collection of stories. The Norse have Valhalla, though this is
less a parallel world and more like the Christian heaven, as it
is a place where mortals go after dying a heroic death.
Yet another, more modern, version of time distortion occurs in
stories (whether true or not) of alien abductions. These are
often frightening experiences, though sometimes the aliens
encountered are friendly. In many cases, a common feature is
that when the person is fortunate enough to be returned to
earth, a distortion of time has occurred. As with faerie
stories, this time distortion can go either way -even much more
or much less time has passed than the "victim" believed.
We can, of course, simply categorize all of these tales as just
that -tales, based on superstition, imagination or just plain
fabrication, perhaps with alcohol or drugs thrown in the mix.
However, when we consider the enormous number of such tales that
are similar in so many respects, we might just as likely
consider that there may be something to them. Could there not be
a myriad of realities, some of which, under certain conditions,
overlap with our own?
Shamans have traditionally believed something similar. Shamanic
journeying involves visits to other realities and interacting
with spirits and beings who reside there. Another aspect of
shamanism is the belief that the dream world is just as real as
the waking world, and that we are actually "journeying" to these
Otherworlds when dreaming. That is why we often encounter people
in dreams who are deceased in "real life."
It would be difficult, probably impossible, to prove in a
rationalistic way that any of these tales or experiences
represent actual shifts in reality or visits to Otherworlds.
Those interested in pursuing this possibility, however, might do
well to study folklore alongside some modern theories of
philosophy and physics and consider the similarities.
Image via WikipediaAbout The Author:
For more about possible worlds and quantum
physics, visit www.squidoo.com/possibleworlds
Explore the world of faerie at www.faerierealms.infophysics, visit www.squidoo.com/possibleworlds
