The Mythological Dimensions of Neil Gaiman

by Burke, Jessica

  Tolkien’s world of Middle-earth and many other dimensions intersect, turning upside down and inside out the explorers’ sense of perception about what is “real.”21 Those who possess a copy of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,22 “the most remarkable, certainly the most successful book ever to come out of the great publishing companies of Ursa Minor,”23 may already realize these concepts were a key staple for Douglas Adams, unless of course you have been hiding out with a mattress on Sqornshellous Zeta.24

  Gaiman’s characters tend to begin their journey similar to that of an Earth-based shamanic exploration of the mind, the mind being the bridge to an infinite amount of internal dream worlds. One example is Barbie’s journey to the Land25 after receiving the Porpentine from a dying Martine Tenbones in A Game of You.26 By contrast, the catalyst for Adams’ characters has been the external heroic journey, an equally organic, natural, human process. The fantastical and dreamlike worlds these silly, semi-evolved simians explore appear at first to them, and the reader, quite extraordinary and foreign. This ability to explore internal and external worlds has been a part of human evolution since they first came down out of the trees and walked upright. It has remained a part of the evolution of Homo Sapiens through to their current state. However, the Earth and its inhabitants, with its infinitely multitudinous probabilities as part of a Plural Zone, should not tamper with travel to parallel worlds and dimensions. If you are a life form originating from a Plural Sector, such as you the reader, then hyperspace travel should not be attempted as you may be prone to experience inter-dimensional foul ups. This, as you may already be familiar, has been quite problematic for Arthur Dent.

  Readers shall hopefully also be informed of how these concepts are applicable to their own lives and world when a Vogon Constructor Fleet arrives27 to make way for a hyperspace bypass, or helping them recall where their towel is.

  Are dreams real? Do we need instructions? In his short story collection Fragile Things, Gaiman provides “Instructions” on the behaviors a traveler should exhibit when entering other worlds. In the enlightening previous chapter by Matt Hills, Gaiman is cited to have come to understand the shape of reality, and an infinite amount of worlds, by his watching of Doctor Who. So either a) the author himself is such as his character Door from Neverwhere and is himself a portal to other worlds, or b) by the telling of stories he is a guide for his audience to these worlds. Yet by the transmission of said stories some may question reality relative to their own.

  Remember your name.

  Do not lose hope—what you seek will be found. Trust Ghosts. Trust those that you have helped to help you in their turn

  Trust dreams

  Trust your heart, and trust your story.28

  So are we to question or distrust the validity of these instructions? By entering these worlds of dream we must trust that they are indeed real and not entirely hypothetical set in motion by a weaver of myth.29 Gaiman, the Harmless Writer, states quite matter of factly about Adams in his Introduction to M.J. Simpson’s biography of Douglas Adams, “This is a book filled with facts about someone who dealt in dreams.”30 Since Gaiman went from writing a book about Douglas Adams to introducing us to the world of Dream in The Sandman series, Gaiman may have indeed been inspired by this notion concerning Adams and dreams.

  Elsewhere in this volume Tanya Jones states, “We consciously create boundaries and imaginary lines and borders to keep us safe and grounded in reality, especially globally and socially.”31 So as the reader how do you know these dream worlds do not exist beyond the page upon which they are written? Are you creating mental boundaries because it questions your sense of reality? Does your head hurt? Good — because it should.

  In The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes Gaiman presents Doctor Destiny, alternatively known as John Dee. While conversing during their drive, Dee asks Rosemary:

  [Dee] “Do you know what Dreams are made of, Rosemary Kelly?” [Rosemary] “Made of ? They’re just Dreams…”

  [Dee] “NO. They aren’t. People think Dreams aren’t real because they aren’t made of matter, Of particles. Dreams ARE Real. But they are made of viewpoints, of images, of memories and puns and lost hopes.”32

  Indeed, then we can safely assume that Dreams are Real, this commentary by Dee is coupled with insight on The Ruby, or Dreamstone belonging to Morpheus, which is in the hands of Dee who illustrates how he can manipulate the reality of dreams with it. It is interesting that Gaiman utilizes the viewpoints of Doctor Destiny ( John Dee), to illustrate the world in which he is working. Destiny states in Preludes and Nocturnes, which is a nod to the John Dee of your world, “I’m a Hermetic Philosopher and Scientist too.”33 Dr. John Dee, consultant to Queen Elizabeth I, straddled the world of science and magic, immersing himself in magic, astrology, Kabbalah, Hermeticism, while attempting to commune with angels in order to learn the universal language of creation. The science of the Jewish people, Kabbalah, deals with utilizing the mind as a bridge to access sub-created worlds within the Etz Chaim, The Tree of Life, or more appropriately the worlds of the Sefirot. Each of these divine centers upon the Tree, and within the human energy system, deals with various aspects of creation governed by an angelic hierarchy. It is a way of understanding the relationship between the microcosm and the larger matrix of the Macrocosm.34 Dee’s use of magic and its relation to the universe can be further defined by the instructor of Joey Harker’s Practical Thaumaturgy class, or Magic 101: “‘Magic’ is simply a way of talking to the universe in words that it cannot ignore.”35 Within the worlds of The Sandman and DC Comics, Doctor Destiny is a parallel version of Queen Elizabeth’s consultant who did all of these things alongside the manipulation of dreams through the Ruby, which belonged to Dream.

  Upon the Earth of Gaiman and Adams, dreams are the stuff of the mind, and humanity apparently has the ability to access these worlds built right into it.

  So how did humanity get this way?! Let us briefly look at what Adams tells us about the Earth and humanity. If you plan on learning anything from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy then it is that you, the reader, and your fellow inhabitants of the planet Earth all form a matrix that is a part of an organic computer called Earth, “…you see the mice set up the whole Earth business as an epic experiment in behavioral psychology, a ten million year program…” said Slartibartfast to Arthur Dent when he visited the planet Magrathea.36 Additionally, we learn from these events that the mice are “merely protrusions into our dimensions of vast hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings, the whole business with the cheese and squeaking is just a front…and they control quite a large sector of the Universe in our dimension.”37 So which is it? Do humans have access to worlds through dreams and sub-creation via Tolkien’s theories of Creation, utilizing arcane, occult knowledge and ritual magic of John Dee, thereby allowing them to cross over to a parallel universe where Gaiman is actually the author of The Lord of the Rings?38Or, as Adams tells us, are we merely crossing into dreams via our created nature for the benefit of the mice? You may have already surmised the answer. Gaiman has cleverly hidden many nuggets of instruction and wisdom in his work, which concern humanity and its relation to its multidimensional nature. For example:

  The In-Between is a dangerous place. There are—creatures—that live here, or partly here. We call ‘em ‘mudluffs.’ That’s an acronym, MDLF, standing for multi-dimensional life-form. Which is kind of a pointless label, I know—we’re all multidimensional life-forms, right?39

  Since Adams has told us the Earth was created by pan-dimensional beings, the mice, as an organic computer matrix to find the Ultimate Question, of which the answer is 42, then it is not a far stretch that the human brain is hard-wired for pan-, trans-, or intra-dimensional activity.

  [Zaphod] Hey, will you get this, Earthman? You’re a lastgeneration product of that computer matrix…and you were right up to the moment your planet got the finger, yeah?

  [Arthur Dent] Er…

  [Ford Prefect] So your Brain was an orga
nic part of the Penultimate Configuration of the Computer Program

  [Arthur Dent] Organic? But I’ve never felt an organic part of anything!40

  The initial shock of opening up to these ideas does not entirely wear off for Arthur Dent throughout the events of his travels, “I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle.”41 However, for Joey Harker, “It felt good, it felt right, to use my mind to open the In-Between, to pass from world to world to world.”42 Additionally, when Joey Harker was commissioned to be the Walker for his team, and they commenced upon an intra-dimensional excursion, he “…took a deep breath, [and] opened a door into madness with [his] mind.”43

  For those of us who have moved beyond thinking their digital watches are still a pretty neat idea, into contemplation of their own mental state and its relation to multi-dimensional travel, let us look at how some reactions to the actual travel to other worlds and dimensions before you, the reader, create a mess of the Universe by attempting any such foolishness on your own.

  If you find yourself entering a world beyond your normality… “My God,” complained Arthur, “you’re talking about a positive mental attitude and you haven’t even had your planet demolished today. I woke up this morning and thought I’d have a nice relaxed day, do a bit of reading, brush the dog…It’s now four in the afternoon and I’m already being thrown out of an alien spaceship six light-years from the smoking remains of the Earth!” “All right,” said Ford, “just stop panicking!”

  “Who said anything about panicking?” snapped Arthur. “This is still culture shock. You wait till I’ve settled down into the situation and found my bearings. Then I’ll start panicking!”44

  For Neil Gaiman, entering dream worlds, subterranean cities, or parallel worlds may be second nature as he speaks quite casually about them in his online journal, whether it’s slipping into a parallel universe where everything is reversed,45 slipping into one while reading an interview,46 viewing photographs from a parallel universe47 or admitting knowledge of a parallel earth.48 In the author’s note that opens his novel InterWorld, Gaiman states:

  This is a work of fiction. Still, given an infinite number of possible worlds, it must be true on one of them. And if a story set in an infinite number of possible universes is true in one of them, then it must be true in all of them. So maybe it’s not as fiction as we think.

  In light of this comment by Gaiman, the reader should take some ease as they adjust to the idea of worlds and parallel universes beyond their own. In one way this reflects what Adams wrote in the synopsis of Hitchhiker’s: “Not to worry about the Earth…there are an infinite multiplicity of parallel universes in which the Earth is still alive and well.”49 The ease with which Gaiman speaks of parallel universes and dream worlds in his stories may be due to the “deep physics,” and “weighty SF/ cosmological scientific questions,” within the thinking process of Douglas Adams.50 But for people such as Arthur Dent and Richard Mayhew, there is a genuine struggle with accepting the change to their lifestyle and perception of ‘reality.’ As we sympathize with Arthur’s lifestyle difficulty, culture shock, and imminent danger of being tossed out an airlock on an alien spaceship, we can equally do so with Richard. According to the diary entry Richard writes in his mind:

  Dear Diary, he began. On Friday I had a job, a fiancée, a home, and a life that made sense. (Well, as much as any life makes sense) Then I found an injured girl bleeding on the pavement, and I tried to be a Good Samaritan. Now I’ve got no fiancée, no home, no job, and I’m walking around a couple of hundred feet under the streets of London with the projected life expectancy of a suicidal fruitfly.51

  When you are thrust into an alien environment, or it dawns on you that there is a whole different world under the streets of London, humanity tends to yearn for the creature comforts that bring them a sense of normalcy such as the closeness of a loved one, a dog, a home, a good cup of tea, and a steady job. These socially programmed conditions do not allow room for the human mind, for the most part, understanding beyond their creation of mental borders, which provide a safe standard of what is normal to them.

  The average human may not even know what the catalyst will be that allows their entry into these worlds. For Arthur Dent it was Ford Prefect who had received a signal on his Sub-Etha Sense-O-Matic concerning the arrival of the Vogons.52 For Richard it was assisting a face down on the sidewalk, hurt and bleeding Door.53 With Barbie in A Game of You, she witnesses the death of Martin Tenbones who had ventured into her own world to hasten her return to The Land, which she had previously thought of as dream adventures and not part of her ‘reality.’54

  To what advantage, or disadvantage, is all of this… So, you may indeed be wondering, as the thought of venturing upon this type of travel dawns on you, to what advantage would it be, or disadvantage.

  Well to begin, you could be Rose Walker who discovers that not only is she a very rare Dream Vortex, but when she dreams that her dreams are incredibly real and vivid. Additionally, she learns that “each mind creates and inhabits its own world, and each world is but a tiny part of that totality that is the dreaming.”55 To Rose’s disadvantage she learns that one of the rules of protecting the Dreaming is that Dream must terminate her existence.56

  For Richard Mayhew, assisting a young girl who was hurt, bloodied and face down in the street, which is honorable unto itself, finds that helping her causes him to lose his job, fiancée, be no longer recognized by his co-workers,57or be allowed to withdraw money from an ATM.58 Upon this realization that he may be stuck with Door and her strange world, he reluctantly accepts the quest of assisting her. This has some advantages, particularly in regard to finding a heroic side. Not only does Richard defeat the Beast,59but he also is able to face and overcome the Ordeal of the Key.60 This in the end leaves him back on the right side of his perfectly normal world and soon after with a choice to return to the Underside of London.

  If you have dreams of large wolflike dogs, talking parrots, rats dressed as Inspector Gadget and a land in which you are referred to as a Princess, then like Barbie, you may realize soon enough that those dreams are real. Barbie, lying down upon her bed, enters The Land via her mind and dreams, and finds herself on an adventure with Luz, Wilkinson, and a variety of other beings.61

  According to the infinitely varied Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, readers will find Arthur Dent in very similar situations. His planet is destroyed, he cannot find a good cup of tea, learns that there is a 15-milehigh statue of him, ends up on the planet Lamuella finding work as their Sandwich Maker, discovers he has a daughter, finds himself on an alternate Earth with his love Fenchurch, who disappears while traveling off planet and who Arthur rediscovers at Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

  As this all may indicate, the stories of these characters may not entirely specify they are from your Earth, galaxy, or universe. If you find that you are not from the Earth of Gaiman and Adams, or that of Arthur Dent, Barbie, Richard Mayhew, or Joey Harker, then you must realize that:

  …the universe we exist in is just one of a multiplicity of parallel universes which co-exist in the same space but on different wavelengths, and in millions of them the Earth is still alive and throbbing much as you remember – or very similar at least – because every possible variation of the Earth also exists.62

  This may indeed work to your advantage if you are seeking to get away for a while, from you daily humdrum routine activities and live a little. Keep in mind there are plenty of disadvantages of a human being from a Plural Sector deciding to travel beyond the boundaries of his or her semi-evolved simian mental capacity. If said human decides to take it upon his or herself to do so, then remember one thing: Know Where Your Towel Is.

  Concluding Remarks From all of this discussion there are many ways to enter a parallel world, whether it is through the mind and dreams, helping a hurt young girl, discovering you have a team of alternate selves, using the universal language of creation, or merely by having your pla
net destroyed. Additionally, we have learned via Gaiman and Adams of the existence of many dimensions, many parallel worlds, and many versions of the Earth to consider. From the authoritative insight of these authors, we have learned how many beings can travel from one world to another and the advantages and disadvantages should you choose to travel yourself. On one version of the Earth, some people believe in a Creator Being that brought forth humanity out of a universal language. John Dee was such an individual and this was his ticket to exploration.

  However, one highly evolved ape descendent named Terence McKenna, believed that humanity’s transformation occurred with the incorporation of the Psilocybe cubensis mushroom in the diet of the early ancestors of Homo Sapiens. This is the very same mushroom that today is referred to as the “magical” kind, which is a potent psychedelic that improves visual acuity and stimulates sexual activity. According to McKenna, this effect would have definitely proved to be of evolutionary advantage to humans’ omnivorous hunter-gatherer ancestors that would have stumbled upon it “accidentally,” and the discovery of which would make it easier for them to hunt.63

  For our purposes, we already know that one version of the Earth, purported to be created by a Judeo-Christian Creator Being, was in fact the product of mice seeking to find the Ultimate Question. It is of interest to note here that McKenna also suggested that intelligence on Earth may have spread due to these spore-bearing life forms, (i.e., magic mushrooms). These spores, being of a species of high intelligence, arrived on Earth after migrating through outer space in order to establish a symbiotic relationship with human beings. From this symbiosis, McKenna theorized that the mushroom’s potency promotes linguistic thinking.