Drawings | Michael Scott Hand

I recently began working on a speculative cosmology. My strongest influence, so far, is the philosophy of Empedocles and his concept of the four classical elements (Air, Earth, Water, Fire) as well as the dualistic/opposed forces of Love and Strife. It is also influenced by Einstein’s theory of relativity and scientific theories of spacetime.

This cosmology is, very much, a work in progress and these words and images are intended to be foundational rather than explanatory.

Image one displays reality separated into three distinct layers. These layers may be described as follows (from top to bottom):

Layer 1: The Grid
This is the world of matter which “the living” inhabit. It is a structured, deterministic system of inconceivable complexity that arises from the existence of the lower layers of non-matter. This is primarily the domain of the four classical elements and the reality we see arises out of the combination of these forces in the form of chemical reactions.

Layer 2: Styx
This is the domain of darkness and death. This is primarily the domain of Strife. The souls of the dead arrive here after departing from The Grid, into ankle-deep water and soft sand. Many wander in this realm for an eternity until all their Self is absorbed into the waters of the Styx and, eventually, falls as ashes into the layer below. Others–those who Remember–will journey through the Styx towards the pillar of light at the centre: there the Styx becomes a Maelstrom of Memory as it rises to re-join the Grid. In this way, Knowing Reincarnation is possible and the memories of the past give literal rise to the future.

Layer 3: Love
This is the region of the Amplituhedron and of Love as an intangible force made tangible. I have depicted this region as a ruined and overgrown garden at the centre of which the Amplituhedron beats like the heart of all reality. It is impossible to reach the region of Love, except through total disintegration of the Self in the waters of the Styx; this process is also known as Forgetting. The falling ashes of those who have Forgotten maintain the growth of the garden–for although memories can fade Love never does: it is the ultimate, indestructible force. The garden feeds the Amplituhedron (heart) of this realm and through the very existence of Love, undying, the Column of Cause pierces through the Styx where it gives eternal (re)birth to the fundamental structure(s) of the Grid.

In this alternate depiction: the forces of Love and Strife entwine themselves both around (and through) each other but also around the four classical elements. In this depiction it could rightly be assumed that the interior of the sphere is the reality that we know–the Grid and the exterior are the warped, incomprehensible regions of Love and Strife respectively.