All the World and Time

All the World
and Time

Charting the Mythological

Paradise

In the state of paradise, time does not exist, so there can be no death, no loss and no suffering. The universe is static and fixed, as there can be no growth, for growth would imply that the state before growth was less than perfect. In Medieval cosmologies, this is referred to as the place above the moon, meaning that the farther one moves from earth, one finally enters that place that does not suffer the corruptions of the material world, of life below the moon.

The Journey

Because life below the moon is considered inherently inferior to life above it, the intent of earthly existence is to make one's way back to the state of paradise, the stage before the fall, before the birth of the corrupted material plane. The journey is the path by which the hero (the Everyman for the rest of us) illustrates how we can achieve this restoration on a personal level.

Monsters & Mazes
The journey is a test, and its stages are a range of challenges to the mental, physical and spiritual aspects of the hero. Because man is tempted toward complacency, sloth or indulgence in the pleasures of the material world, challenges both weed out the inferior journeyman and offer the superior being the chance to prove himself.

Sacralization
In his fallen state, man must forever rededicate himself to his journey's goal, because the nature of living below the moon means he will be corrupted again and again. To cleanse himself of the earthly, man engages in a variety of actions that bring the presence of the sacred into his life. This can be done through rituals such as communion, meditation, new years celebrations, weddings or birthdays. Such cleansing rituals can be personal or, in the case of scapegoating, communal. Man can also sacralize space, providing areas where he can commune with the divine. Sacred space is located mythologically on mountain tops, groves, dedicated altars or churches, and in spots where communal ceremonies are held.

The End of the World
As the journey reaches its climax, the state of chaos increases in intensity, overwhelming the logic and laws of the material world. In this final stage, the hero is most direly tested, so that the world he knows is inverted or altered from its normal state. Paradoxically, this state of confusion can also liberate the hero from thinking and responding in conventional terms. Unable to rely on the normalcies of the material world, the hero is forced to seek answers on a different plane, to see the truth not of the material world, but of the world beyond the material. Thus, though he may journey to hell, or to the woods (a repeated image in Shakespearean drama and many folk tales) or into a Kafkaesque dimension (Catch-22, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Trial), if he is true to the counsel of previous guides, he can find the answer here that eludes others in the "normal" world.

From Here to Eternity
Following an apocalypse, a disapora, or some kind of earthly cleansing, the corrupted material world is purified and the effects of the fall negated. While heroes and individuals have heretofore made private journeys back to the sacred, in this obliteration of time, all the cosmos is restored to a state of perfection. There is no life below the moon, for all life lives forever, whether that be in eternal happiness or, for those having failed the challenges of the journey, eternal loss.

Pre-Time

Below the Moon

The Restoration

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Paradise	In the state of paradise, time does not exist, so there can be no death, no loss and no suffering. The universe is static and fixed, as there can be no growth, for growth would imply that the state before growth was less than perfect. In Medieval cosmologies, this is referred to as the place above the moon, meaning that the farther one moves from earth, one finally enters that place that does not suffer the corruptions of the material world, of life below the moon.
The Journey	Because life below the moon is considered inherently inferior to life above it, the intent of earthly existence is to make one's way back to the state of paradise, the stage before the fall, before the birth of the corrupted material plane. The journey is the path by which the hero (the Everyman for the rest of us) illustrates how we can achieve this restoration on a personal level.
*Monsters* & Mazes	The journey is a test, and its stages are a range of challenges to the mental, physical and spiritual aspects of the hero. Because man is tempted toward complacency, sloth or indulgence in the pleasures of the material world, challenges both weed out the inferior journeyman and offer the superior being the chance to prove himself.
*Sacralization*	In his fallen state, man must forever rededicate himself to his journey's goal, because the nature of living below the moon means he will be corrupted again and again. To cleanse himself of the earthly, man engages in a variety of actions that bring the presence of the sacred into his life. This can be done through rituals such as communion, meditation, new years celebrations, weddings or birthdays. Such cleansing rituals can be personal or, in the case of scapegoating, communal. Man can also sacralize space, providing areas where he can commune with the divine. Sacred space is located mythologically on mountain tops, groves, dedicated altars or churches, and in spots where communal ceremonies are held.
*The End of the World*	As the journey reaches its climax, the state of chaos increases in intensity, overwhelming the logic and laws of the material world. In this final stage, the hero is most direly tested, so that the world he knows is inverted or altered from its normal state. Paradoxically, this state of confusion can also liberate the hero from thinking and responding in conventional terms. Unable to rely on the normalcies of the material world, the hero is forced to seek answers on a different plane, to see the truth not of the material world, but of the world beyond the material. Thus, though he may journey to hell, or to the woods (a repeated image in Shakespearean drama and many folk tales) or into a Kafkaesque dimension (Catch-22, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Trial), if he is true to the counsel of previous guides, he can find the answer here that eludes others in the "normal" world.
*From Here to Eternity*	Following an apocalypse, a disapora, or some kind of earthly cleansing, the corrupted material world is purified and the effects of the fall negated. While heroes and individuals have heretofore made private journeys back to the sacred, in this obliteration of time, all the cosmos is restored to a state of perfection. There is no life below the moon, for all life lives forever, whether that be in eternal happiness or, for those having failed the challenges of the journey, eternal loss.