Navigating Deep Time (1 of 4)
When magickal folks travel to other worlds, they dislike becoming lost. Much like planning a mundane road trip, magickal people will consult a map to decide what route to take. After that, they will decide on interesting sites to see and the necessary rest stops to make. Armed with a plan, they can take an enjoyable and hassle-free journey.
Traveling in “deep time” is no different. I discovered this while I was driving though the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I accidently motored through a time portal, and into the Ice Age. The landscape around me abruptly transformed from green mountains to snowy hills. Startled, I found myself surrounded by a herd of shaggy mastodons milling about. Some were families browsing among the spruce trees. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to avoid crashing into one of these massive creatures. Still cruising in a straight line, I felt relief as I went through another gate to my present time. During my perplexing road trip, I experienced a sliver of “deep time” - the time before recorded history. In my case, it was the Pleistocene epoch (about two million years ago (mya)).
Before exploring “deep time”, the magickal person should understand this concept. For archeologists, Ancient Egypt is “deep time.” Astronomers and physicists consider the “Big Bang”, the beginning of the universe, to be “deep time.” Most geologists and paleontologists consider "deep time" to be the time before human history. They call this time, “geologic time”, because it is based on the age of the Earth’s rocks (according to science writer Andrew Alden).
Since “geologic time” encompasses billions of years, paleontologists have divided it up into more understandable units. They split “deep time” into two major sections - the Precambrian Supereon (4,000 mya to 542 mya) when the Earth began, and the Phanerozoic Eon (from 542 mya), from when complex life rose until the present day. The Phanerozoic Eon is further divided into the Paleozoic Era (the rise of life forms, 543 mya-251 mya), the Mesozoic Era (the “Age of Dinosaurs,” 251 mya-65 mya), and the Cenozoic Era (the “Age of Mammals,” 65 mya-present day). Each era is further divided into periods; periods into epochs; epochs into ages; and ages into years respectively. By using this geological time scale, a paleontologist can identify the time period of a particular fossil.
Since paleontologists travel “back in time” in their work, the traveling magickal person can learn from their techniques. To investigate various periods of “deep time”, paleogeologists construct maps based on the age of rocks and fossils, they discover in various regions of the world. Their maps aid them in understanding what the Earth was like during a particular time. Maps, drawn by paleogeographers, feature an overlay of the modern Earth. In addition, these maps detail landmasses, mountains, plains, and ocean depths of the past.
In his travels of the Nine Worlds of the Norse Universe, Raven Kaldera, a shaman of Northern-Tradition Paganism, stressed the importance of having a magickal map to be safe. Terrified of getting lost, he embroidered an elaborate map on his shaman’s cloak. When Kaldera traveled the Worlds, he would grasp a part of that World on his cloak as a “mental anchor”. To create his map, Kaldera researched other people’s ideas of the Nine Worlds. After meditating on each, he realized that the World Tree (Yggdrasil) was the Axis that the Worlds revolved around.
Traveling in “deep time” is no different. I discovered this while I was driving though the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I accidently motored through a time portal, and into the Ice Age. The landscape around me abruptly transformed from green mountains to snowy hills. Startled, I found myself surrounded by a herd of shaggy mastodons milling about. Some were families browsing among the spruce trees. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to avoid crashing into one of these massive creatures. Still cruising in a straight line, I felt relief as I went through another gate to my present time. During my perplexing road trip, I experienced a sliver of “deep time” - the time before recorded history. In my case, it was the Pleistocene epoch (about two million years ago (mya)).
Before exploring “deep time”, the magickal person should understand this concept. For archeologists, Ancient Egypt is “deep time.” Astronomers and physicists consider the “Big Bang”, the beginning of the universe, to be “deep time.” Most geologists and paleontologists consider "deep time" to be the time before human history. They call this time, “geologic time”, because it is based on the age of the Earth’s rocks (according to science writer Andrew Alden).
Since “geologic time” encompasses billions of years, paleontologists have divided it up into more understandable units. They split “deep time” into two major sections - the Precambrian Supereon (4,000 mya to 542 mya) when the Earth began, and the Phanerozoic Eon (from 542 mya), from when complex life rose until the present day. The Phanerozoic Eon is further divided into the Paleozoic Era (the rise of life forms, 543 mya-251 mya), the Mesozoic Era (the “Age of Dinosaurs,” 251 mya-65 mya), and the Cenozoic Era (the “Age of Mammals,” 65 mya-present day). Each era is further divided into periods; periods into epochs; epochs into ages; and ages into years respectively. By using this geological time scale, a paleontologist can identify the time period of a particular fossil.
Since paleontologists travel “back in time” in their work, the traveling magickal person can learn from their techniques. To investigate various periods of “deep time”, paleogeologists construct maps based on the age of rocks and fossils, they discover in various regions of the world. Their maps aid them in understanding what the Earth was like during a particular time. Maps, drawn by paleogeographers, feature an overlay of the modern Earth. In addition, these maps detail landmasses, mountains, plains, and ocean depths of the past.
In his travels of the Nine Worlds of the Norse Universe, Raven Kaldera, a shaman of Northern-Tradition Paganism, stressed the importance of having a magickal map to be safe. Terrified of getting lost, he embroidered an elaborate map on his shaman’s cloak. When Kaldera traveled the Worlds, he would grasp a part of that World on his cloak as a “mental anchor”. To create his map, Kaldera researched other people’s ideas of the Nine Worlds. After meditating on each, he realized that the World Tree (Yggdrasil) was the Axis that the Worlds revolved around.