Galactic Sipapu

I hear that every spiral galaxy

            has only one black hole,

an eye to look into the nothing

            that contains the light of stars too vast to count,

            the memory of the energy released to birth a universe

            hidden in a womb that bears

perhaps

            the singular child

            leading us to universes

            yet to be revealed.

***

Astrophysicists, like the stargazers, bards, and astrologers of ancient times, supply us with some of the most powerful images for transcendence in our own time. Loyal readers of this journal know that the black hole has conjured up a number of ways for me to look beyond the world we know to see the deeper texture of reality. That the singularity evidenced in a black hole might be the beginning of a whole new universe merges here with ancient Navajo and Hopi constructions of a hole (the sipapu) in the floor of their kivas to symbolize the birth connection of this world with the next. That the black hole is itself could be a kind of cosmic womb leads me back to more traditional Christian visions.

I share this simply as a note from the underground of my wonderment. Next time you think you might have a handle on our world, take a look at some photographs from the Hubble telescope. Breathe deeply. Exhale. Wonder.

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1 Response to Galactic Sipapu

  1. Bill Ramsey says:

    It is all too easy for mankind to believe that we have it all figured out; we have a “handle on our world.” We don’t!

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