Everyone in the world has some knowledge of Cosmology. What is it? Cosmology is the facts of the universe. Well, the facts as someone believes them. It’s the conception of the cosmos as an organised, structured entity, including its origin, order, meaning and destiny. For instance, the physical cosmology of our universe - that is, the scientific view - is dominated by the Big Bang theory. The universe started from a big bang and expanded and cooled over billions of years to this point. The earth is suspended in space by gravity. There’s not a spiritual or divine aspect to this cosmological model. However, when we look at the various religious beliefs in the world, we start to see a lot of different variations on “the facts”. Different versions of how the universe was created. Different “facts” of how everything is laid out. There’s spiritual beings who influence everything and layers or dimensions like heavens and hells.

For a long time, it was the prevailing belief that the world was a flat disc or plane and you could sail too far and fall off the edge. “The facts” were that there was a heaven physically above us and a hell physically below us and to believe otherwise was considered heretical - or anti-Christian. While it has been widely known that the Earth is spherical for millennia, there are still a handful of flat-earth believers today, who have created a new logo and website as recently as 2013. However, while a few Christians have held onto this belief the longest, they weren’t the only group to believe the earth was flat. All cultures had a flat earth theory of some kind - how could we not when we walk on the earth’s surface without falling off and had no concept of gravity.

So, what does all of this have to do with writing your fantasy novel or world-building? Listen and find out.

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