The Multiverse

I just read Kurt Vonnegut, Jr’s “Slaughterhouse 5”. First off, this is an excellent book. Secondly, it got me thinking (I know, I know. NEVER a good thing). Specifically, about the whole Tralfamadorian concept of the fourth dimension of time, in which (as goes my understanding) that no one ever dies because they exist continually in moments of time. Billy Pilgrim became unstuck in time and frequently traveled back and forth in time from horrific moments he was enduring to moments he was happy about.

I’ve been a firm believer in Reincarnation since I can remember. I can remember sitting in church (Methodist) as a very small child, listening to the sermon and thinking “that’s not right! That’s not how it works” (heaven/hell). Surprisingly, I have no recollection of piping up with my observations, which means either I did and was promptly shushed and/or squashed (all things considered, the most likely scenario) or, I kept this to myself. Given the family propensity to be tact-free and allow whatever is in one’s head to go straight out into the world, it would be highly unlikely for any child related to my father to keep quiet about this radical notion. But then again, I grew up on a farm, and therefore saw cattle giving birth and came to the conclusion – all on my own – that since cows lick their newborn calves clean and then eat the afterbirth, humans do so as well. And therefore, I was NEVER going to have children. I figured this out at 8. It was about 20 years later when I finally mentioned this to my mother, who was horrified. WHY didn’t I ASK? Well, why would I? Every mammal on the place did this! (As it turns out, I was unable to have kids, so it was a moot point.)

The point being, there is a remote possibility that I kept my thoughts to myself realizing, even at the ripe old age of 3 or 4 that what I was thinking was not at all in tune with my fledgling Christian upbringing. And since the church was filled with very stern Methodists, maybe I should keep quiet. This was the same church where I learned in Sunday School about the differences between races. See, God, when he was making people, made them out of clay and baked them in an oven. The first batch came out too well done (i.e., burnt). These were the Negros. Someone asked what a Negro was (we grew up in a lily white area). Black skin. Oh. The next batch was underdone. These were the Chinese. The teacher hastily included ‘Yellow skin’. Oh. But the next batch was juuusssst right. And these were the white people. The lesson I took away from that: Stay away from ovens. I also thought that white people should have been the underdone group, but, who was I to argue with the teacher? Never argue with the teacher! (My mom was a teacher. We learned never to argue with your mom OR your teacher.) I didn’t mention this lesson either. Probably because it was so strange. Had anyone asked what happened in Sunday School, I’m sure I’d have mentioned learning about God and Ovens. I wonder if my parents would have asked the teacher why the Holocaust was being taught to 5 year olds? Probably not. They were too busy fighting each other to worry about something that happened nearly 20 years before. (And yes, I finally – 20 or 30 years later – mention this bizarre teaching to my mother who was absolutely horrified. I think she’s spent way too much time in her life horrified about things that nest in her children’s minds.)

So against this Methodist backdrop sat my idea that this was not my first life and wouldn’t be my last. Nor was it the ONLY life. One shot and done? Nope. Doesn’t work that way said my outraged new mind. You keep getting chances to make it right. I still believe that. I’m just wondering two things now. The “pre-Slaughterhouse 5” idea is – do you get to pick the time you want to be reincarnated in? In other words, is reincarnation linear? If you die in 1960, do you have to come back in the future? Or, can you choose to reincarnate in 20 AD? Or 2000 BC? In Crete? Before Thera blew up? (Though someone – a whole lot of someone’s – have to be around for that event.) Or Egypt during Pharonic times (though I must admit, my disdain bordering on strong dislike of all things “priestly” stems from there. There’s a search for a certain Egyptian Priest’s tomb right now and when I heard of it, I felt a chill inside and immediately thought ‘let him be. Don’t try to find HIM’). But not Rome. I Definitely do not want Rome. (I think I was a slave once during that time. Being a slave in the Roman Empire would not have been fun. I’ve always despised Rome.) And if the multiverse theory is correct, do your actions in a different place and time mean a different history in that timeline?

My other question (post-Slaughterhouse 5) is: If being reincarnated is the result of having to be re-born over and over again until you get it “right”, does that mean (multiverse theory again) you have to relive THIS timeline/life over and over again until you get IT right?

I really don’t like that idea at all. I do not want to relive the first 20 years of this life. Come to think of it, I don’t want to relive this life at all. It’s been a series of one stupid decision after the next served up on a bed of an unhappy (to say the least) childhood. Which makes it a prime candidate for me having to relive it. Yuck. I SO do not want to do that!!