As a science fiction writer and avid enthusiast, I often wonder where the idea of multiple worlds came from. I am not talking about in our current era where you can pick up a book on multiple dimensions at any book store. I am referring to the days before Science became the giant it is today. I am talking about back when our ancestors kept warm before a fading fire. When did they start to think about other worlds?
Our current literature, our television shows and movies all deal with this idea of worlds betwixt our own. Fringe is currently embarking on a theme of a mirror world that is threatening to collide with our own. Riese is a world inhabited by humans no different than us, fighting a religious sect that threatens to ruin their world.
The Event deals with Extraterrestrials who are exactly like us, except for some slight genetic variations and where the story will go is anyones guess, but I am willing to bet that it too deals with a mirror world concept. Narnia, Oz... and the various worlds created by George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis, the Tower that Stephen King refers to in many of his writings and even LOST and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA all delve into the mystery of alternate humans in alternate timelines or alternate worlds.
Star Wars popularized this for my generation by saying first and foremost, "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away..."
Is this a memory we all carry with us? I sometimes wonder, when I see ancient ruins of a highly technical nature, whether or not our ancestors were just like us. Perhaps they walked around with small communications devices and talked about their favorite celebrities, in a world far away, before something cataclysmic forced them to come here.
Maybe history (prehistoric or otherwise) does repeat itself. Rama in his Vimana may have been the ancient version of Obama in a Hybrid car. Or, perhaps Isis and her ability to go between worlds is the ancient equivalent of Olivia Dunham and her ability to go between universes. And yes, our versions are mostly fictional because we can only compare our entertainment to the mythology of the past, but therein lies the mystery. Our entertainment mirrors the myths and legends we have carried down through cultures, eras and generations.
Why?
Are they old, fictional stories and nothing more? Or, are they memories? The more we learn the less it seems we are willing to accept. Why is Orion so prominent a celestial fixture with megalithic structures? Why are there beings who are half human and half animal decorating the walls of great and ancient civilizations?
Mostly, why does God...any god, look JUST LIKE US?
Maybe it's time we consider the possibility that all stories start somewhere and that in the most likelihood, that somewhere started with the truth.
History may be written by those who make it and that only means our history is rich with unimaginable twists and turns that may have been too good to be true...which is why we are still intrigued, thousands of years later. No one ever said Legends weren't true. Remember that.
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