People have always imagined traveling through time… whether intentionally or not, the possibility of visiting the future or the past is fascinating. Transported by standing stones, wormholes, space ships or other time “machines” and mechanisms, it’s a chance to explore alternate realities.
History can be lived, re-lived, and possibly even influenced. Different futures can be extrapolated upon depending on our current choices. In time loops we can learn something about ourselves. It’s always an adventure!
For humans, time is defined by the earth plane and its endless cycles. Even on a large scale, time is measured as cycles; there are four Indian yugas, or epochs, lasting hundreds of thousands of years. Observing the sky, Mayans could predict cosmic events thousands of years in advance. We measure time by the sun, moon and seasons we see in nature - and the human life span, multiples by generations.
Nature is cyclical, yet we have constructed a linear timeline within it. It’s a way of dissecting time; carving it up into smaller and smaller pieces, we impose our own structure on time to feel a sense of control. It can also be a way to understand our world better, and to create models to predict the future (dabbling in future possibilities, again!)
Nevertheless, it seems that deep down we know our experience of time is ultimately subjective. When something is enjoyable or absorbing, time goes by quickly; if we are engaged in a tedious or repetitive activity it is achingly slow. Clocks don’t measure that!
Our time travel dreams are usually about escaping the cycles of nature and accessing points along the linear timescape. This is more easily understood than the parallel dimensions that exist simultaneously with ours. Shamans of old were travelers of alternate universes, in service of the now. There are different laws of physics, of time and space, in other dimensions.
Right now some are trying to freeze their bodies to alter - beat? - the “ravages of time” on our physical being. They believe that through technology they can live forever. We already have the mechanism for living forever! It’s called the soul, and we move through different times and forms to evolve - and ultimately escape time altogether.
Our perception of time is can be shifted in many ways. Innovation in communication and travel have always done that; what once took months, weeks, or days of travel can now be crossed in hours. Ingesting psychedelics also create an experience of subjective time! As time is compressed or expanded, it also affects space. They are intimately connected, as Einstein - a man “ahead of his time?” discovered.
Peace, love and healing -
Bear
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