Learn about the world of Heaven
History: Ice Age Earth and Shamanic tradition among the Peoples on Heaven
With writer’s notes from Alan Hancock
Around 20,000 years ago humans began migrating north and west through what is now Siberia and eventually reached a land bridge that extended across the straits between Asia and North America. The journey would have been difficult, and perilous. During summer months the route across mountain ranges and open tundra might open up, but could be closed at any time by the onset of colder wintery weather. Any misjudgement on the part of its leader would have landed a group in danger of being cut off from food and shelter, with no way forward or back for months. I imagine that one of these migrations ended this way, with a band of stone-age nomadic hunter-gatherers stranded in difficult terrain as the snow and ice closed in for the long winter. I can imagine too that the clan had some kind of shaman who had responsibilities for the spiritual well-being of their people. Such a shaman would have been in contact with the spirit world, and turned to the spirits for help. There is a long tradition among ancient peoples of Siberia and North America of shamanic journeys to other realms. I imagine the shaman of this lost tribe undertaking such a journey to seek aid for their people.
What if such a request had been answered? In the fictional world of Heaven I saw the shamanic S.O.S. being picked up by some kind of alien intelligence, and answered. Out of the encounter between shaman and alien force, the shaman learns how to travel to another world that is waiting for the arrival of humans. Their task is to convince the rest of the band that they can travel together to this world, if they trust both their spiritual leader and the alien civilisation. Some would not, and choose to take their chances finding a way back across the icy mountains to more hospitable land. I imagine nothing would be heard of them. And then the others would drink the medicine, say the prayers, and set off on an astral journey with their shaman – and arrive in a world like Earth, but which offers a safe, empty space for them to move into. Welcome to Heaven – a world created by Machines and a mycelial culture for them to live in symbiosis with their human charges.
As generations come and go I see the Peoples continuing to develop the shamanic tradition of their ancestors, and perfecting the art of voyaging to other realms. They would have the time – Machines and Mycelials were doing the work that on Earth required the development of human technology. Shamans of the Peoples became skilled in travel to other worlds, to return with knowledge to help their communities. It would have been a long and arduous training for sometimes perilous journeys, but the rewards were enormous.
In the Heaven of the graphic novel this situation continues for many thousands of years and brings a Golden Age of prosperity and cultural development. This comes to an end when conflict between the two creator civilisations – Machine and Mycelial – leads to war that lays waste much of the planet. Since then there has been an uneasy truce. This is put under strain in recent times when a fresh stream of humans begin to arrive from Earth: adventurers into the world of psychedelics and visionary travel. These are the Newcomers, who try to hijack the traditional knowledge of flight to other worlds in order to bring people and technology from Earth. One of the two forces on Heaven is helping these new arrivals as they form an organisation called the Way, which sets out to conquer the lands of the traditional Peoples. They want to exploit not just the material resources of the land, but also the spiritual knowledge of the ancient shamans.
This is the world that we see at the opening of Book One: Guide my Steps. We get glimpses of the history from characters like The Ancient One – last survivor of the Golden Age, from fringe-dweller outlaws Auntie Hammer and Sister Sky, and from Angel – herself a powerful shaman.
THE DARK WOLVES
The Dark Wolves are entities that roam the space between worlds. They have existed there since life emerged in the universe: they are predators and parasites. Like wolves of myth and folklore, Dark Wolves prey on unwary travellers, the weak and unprepared. They stalk and hunt any lifeforms that journey through interstellar space with the aim of accessing their minds and hiding there. A traveller infected with a Dark Wolf may have terrifying dreams of being pursued and overcome by some malevolent force, which then makes it home inside their psyche. From then on the Dark Wolf feeds on its host’s negative emotions, amplifying them and driving the host to spontaneous and extreme acts of violence, over which the individual has no conscious control. An entire life can be shaped and finally destroyed by the Wolf, which then moves on to find a new victim, whose energy it will absorb.
The shamans of Heaven were well aware of the threat posed by Dark Wolves and first learned how to elude them. Later some of the more powerful and skilful among them discovered that if they found a victim inhabited by a Wolf, they could draw it out and either destroy it, or tame it. Only the bravest could accomplish the latter – but the risk was compensated by the outcome. Because once tamed, the Wolf could become a guardian and protector for its host against a range of psychic and physical threats – in the way that a vicious dog can be trained to become a guard-dog.
As the Newcomers push back the traditional Peoples of Heaven and destroy their culture, such knowledge and powers are being lost. In recent times many Newcomers from Earth have attempted to travel between the worlds to reach Heaven. Some don’t make it – they lack the necessary skills and judgement. Others become the prey of Dark Wolves and arrive in their new world unaware that their being has been taken over by a dangerous parasite. These humans are prone to outbursts of anger and violence; they gradually but irrevocably lose any sense of right and wrong. It is this band of people who have formed The Way, and are waging war on the Peoples for control of their land and traditional knowledge. The Dark Wolves initiate the violence and feed off its emotional outcomes. It is a dangerous cycle, and one that could shape the future of Heaven. Only the old shamans can find a remedy, and they are now few in number.