A
few hundred years ago leading intellectuals considered
the orbits of the Earth and the other planets to be perfect
circles and that the sun, the moon and the earth were
perfect spheres. We now know that there is nothing so
accurately balanced, proportioned, or stabilized to be
perfectly round or circular. Creation is not without
flaws and it is a mistake, in the absence of evidence
to the contrary, to assume that Godel's concept of a
symmetrical universe is any more valid than those old
dogmas that we now consider with amusement. Astronomers
have found some regions in the universe in which matter
appears to be sparsely distributed and others where many
galaxies and vast clouds of primordial gas and dust exist
in abundance. If these observations are correct there
are obviously some regions where the gravitational force
is higher than others.
| Space,
therefore, is not a perfect circle; |
 |
|
it
could conceivably be egg-shaped: |
 |
| or
be like a potato* : |
 |
Fig.
1
----------------
*Surveys and observations of the cosmos made since 1987, when
this article was first published in Prediction magazine, indicate that mass
is clumpier
throughout the cosmos than was originally believed and that the outer limit
of the universe is not even.
If
mass were unequally distributed throughout the universe
and the space-time continuum distorted as a result, would
this affect our view of the cosmos? Indeed so. Einstein's
theory that light waves are curved by gravity has been
proven to be accurate. The first time was over seventy
years ago when the light from a distant star occulted
by the sun was curved by the sun's gravity and detected
on earth while the actual position of the star was hidden
by the sun's disk, thus:
Fig.
2
A similar effect may be causing the considerable difficulties astronomers are
encountering as they attempt to measure the distances to exceedingly distant
objects in deep space. In making their calculations, cosmologists must
take the possible effects of curved space-time correctly into account.
If they do not, it will result in mistaking the apparent position of these
remote objects for their true location due to the effects of gravitational
lensing between the quasars and earth, similar to curvature distortion
caused by a star's gravity.
In
a letter to this writer, an astronomer with Cardiff University
who reviewed this article, stated that astronomers do
take the curvature of space-time
into consideration "rather seriously" in their calculations,
but that "the evidence appears against it." However, in an article
entitled "Are Quasars Far Away?" by Jack W. Sulentic, in the
October 1984 issue of Astronomy, made no mention of space-time
curvature or of the possibility of distortions in the continuum causing
difficulties
in measuring either the distance to quasars or their unbelievably high
recessional velocities. Nor has this writer seen mention of curved space-time
being the possible cause of these problems in other publications he has
researched. It is highly important that these questions be resolved. However,
as the limits of cosmology are being expanded every year by new methods
of observation, and new and more distant objects are continually being
discovered, the probability of a significant error factor in calculations
may be increasing proportionally.
But what does all this have to do with our discussion of time? Simply this.
Remember, Einstein tells us that space must eventually curve around to
meet itself. If this is so, and space and time are a continuum, then time
must also act similarly. Should the universe not be perfect, the same anomaly
must also apply to time!
The possibility of time and space warps has been the subject of much speculation
and has provided material for science fiction writers for years. ("Warp
factor five, Mr. Sulu."). Many cosmologists now believe that such
space-time warps do, in fact, exist in the vicinity of so-called "black
holes", where gravity is so strong that light cannot escape and as
material falls into the "event horizon" it approaches the speed
of light. According Einstein's Theory of Relativity, when the speed of
light is reached time becomes infinite and events stand still, or so it
would appear to an observer on the outside of a black hole looking in,
or to one in the black hole looking outwards. A person falling into a black
hole would, in effect, forever be falling into his future and if it were
possible to reemerge he would come out into the past. But, of course, this
is purely conjectural and physically impossible.
Mankind has long desired to part the veil of time to see what fate the gods
have in store for him. Is there any way that this curtain may be drawn
aside? There is indeed! The answer lies within the mind, which brings us
into the realms of ESP (extrasensory perception). Assuming that this concept
is open for consideration, the mental limitations of the psychically gifted
person and distortions in the space-time continuum need to be taken into
account.
As we said earlier, we customarily perceive time sequentially: 
Fig. 3
- an unending series
of chronological events that flow past us, as though we were observers on a
bridge watching a vast river pass beneath our feet.
We are at the point of Now and it is as if we are peering straight down
at the water through a narrow field of view, seeing a small section of
the river's surface but neither its depth nor its breadth. We are unaware
of its invisible currents, the contours of the bottom, or the effects caused
by unseen indentations of the shoreline. But as the river moves behind
us and our perspective broadens, we are able to observe more of it. We
call this downstream perspective "past history."
We see debris floating on the surface of the river and from it we may deduce
some past events that might have attributed to it. It is incorrect, however,
to assume that all of this refuse that has turned the pristine flow into
a polluted, flotsam-strewn river entered the waters at the point of Now.
Some of the debris was present far up river, and we contributed to it as
the water passed beneath us. Although our contribution to the River of
Time may be small, it is never insignificant. The rubbish we cast into
it today will effect people or beings sometime in their today, which is
our yesterday. The Past, the Present and the Future, like our river, are
all one energy.
How, then, should we view time if not as an orderly procession of events? Why
is it that some people seem to have ESP faculties while most of us do not?
Is it possible that some of us may actually have the ability to "see" into
the future (precognition) or into the unrecorded past (retrocognition)?
We know that the brain is divided into two hemispheres: the left and the right.
The left hemisphere is the practical, logical, rational side with which
we perceive time in the linear mode. The right hemisphere is the creative,
intuitive, imaginative side, which is not subject to the limitations of
time or space, but may be affected by distortions in the continuum.
Imagine that you are traveling on a train that has a curtain hanging down the
center aisle of the coach in which you are riding and that the view from only
your side is visible. If you are sitting on the left side of the coach and
the track curves to the right and you might not detect any change in the train's
direction (ignoring, for the purpose of the illustration, centrifugal force
as the coach rounds the bend). However, if you were sitting on the right side
of tlhe coach and looking out of the window you would first see the locomotive
come into view, and gradually you see more of the train as it curves around
the bend. You are, in effect, seeing into the future (precognition) for you
know that in a few moments, barring some unforeseen event, you will follow
that locomotive around the curve. But a person on the left side of the carriage,
whose vision is restricted because he cannot see the bend in the tracks, does
not share your clear view. His perspective limits his observation to a passage
of events in succession (linear time). If he wishes to broaden his outlook,
he must tear down the curtain and, if he desires to see around the bend into
the future, he must move to the right side of the coach. In like manner, we
who wish to observe the future must eliminate the restrictions that separate
the left and right hemispheres of our brain and develop the dormant ESP faculties
most of us possess.
Another
model of our perception of Time could be likened to a
loop of events: Fig.
4
Let us assume we are at point X where we may look back and view a series of
past events to a point called recorded history (A). However, at some point
in the past (B) recorded history ends and lost history begins, which may
be the source of folklore and mythology. At a still more remote time (C),
only fossilized evidence records history, but eventually even the fossils
disappear. At point (D), conjectural history begins (i.e. human and ape
species evolve from a common ancestor. That point is preceded by theoretical
history (E), i.e. the "Beginning" or the "Big Bang".
The assumption is that there must have been some distant starting point.
Remember, however, that it has been proven that space and time are curved,
and if time is curved perhaps history is also. Could future events cast
their own shadows in the present? Indeed so! What has happened in the past
may be repeated again in the future, but due to distortions and ripples
in the space-time continuum, the events will not occur in exactly the same
sequence or with the same end result in each cycle of the cosmic wheel.
What of the future? Standing at X, we can perceive the past
up to a point, but our forward vision is indeed limited. We make certain assumptions
about
the future: that we will live to see the sun rise on the morrow; that we will
commute to our jobs, and that we live to a ripe old age. We trust that this
pattern of life will continue indefinitely. But will it? The odds are in favor
of our broad assumptions holding true for a few tomorrows, but every coming
tomorrow becomes less certain. Each of us is but a hairsbreadth away from the
Eternal Now.
Recall our hypothetical train trip. It may be possible to see around the bend
for a limited distance if we could strip away the twin curtains of prejudice
and intolerance that blinker our view. If we, at X, stand on our psychic
tiptoes perhaps we might see a few more events of the coming future as
they march toward us on the eternal loop of time.
In
this physical dimension our extrasensory perception will
always be limited and imperfect. Not even the most gifted
clairvoyant who ever lived had perfect precognition.
A variety of methods and aids are available to those
who seek to rend the veil of time and become less visually
handicapped. Genuine psychic gifts are acute clairvoyance
and intuition; the tools some psychics use are astrology,
dowsing, palmistry, tarot, Cartouche, runes or similar
aids which help unblock the doors of the subconscious
mind. We are all born with psychic abilities, but by
the age of five or six they are submerged by the growing
practicality of everyday life. However, if we could develop
these inborn faculties and use them in the proper manner
who knows how far into the future or into the unrecorded
past we might eventually be able to see?
Top
of Page |
We
are all affected by time. It rules every moment of our lives
from birth to death. Mythology has cloaked it in many guises,
some benign; others, like the Grim Reaper, less welcoming.
But always time appears enigmatically before us, ever challenging,
perhaps destined to be unmasked by the oncoming tide of Aquarian
discovery.
