Milky Way- The Heaven's Trail Myth

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 I recently received a comment on my Pinterest board  asking me if I had seen a particular image (center photo above), a viral image infamously known and captioned as "Heaven's Trail". My curiosity got the best of me as it often does. I was led to her article titled The true Tale of "Heaven's Trail" and then later found a great article here written by Thomas Zimmer himself. As I continued with my research on the seemingly phenomenal photo, that included captions like “There’s a place in Ireland where every 2 years, the stars line up with this trail on June 10th-June 18th. It’s called the Heaven’s Trail.” 

Although the photo was taken at Island Sylt, North Sea, as described in Zimmer's article, the rest of the hype is just plain nonsense created by someone's fantasy and then passed on and on by the most gullible people. According to Zimmer the photo is very real with no special photoshop effects. Maybe a few filtering and enhancements in my opinion, but overall a real image taken with a real camera.

I included various keywords in my search, such as; Milky Way, Heaven's Trail and so on....I quickly came to the conclusion that the photographer gained a lot of attention. Having an image go viral, giving way for a photographer/artist to further gain his popularity. If I were him, I would post my site url on every forum, blog, etc. that I could find and baste in the glory and debunk any falsities in the process.

Below I included quite a few Milky Way mythologies among other cultures. I wonder if one day, in the very distant future will the Heavens Trail myth be included in such a list. Just for fun, I added a cyber-culture myth below.


Mythology among cultures (quoted from en.wikipedia.org)

Armenian

Ancient Armenian mythology called the Milky Way the "Straw Thief's Way". According to legend, the god Vahagn stole some straw from the Assyrian king Barsham and brought it to Armenia during a cold winter. When he fled across the heavens, he spilled some of the straw along the way.

Khoisan

The Khoisan people of the Kalahari desert in southern Africa say that long ago there were no stars and the night was pitch black. A girl, who was lonely and wanted to visit other people, threw the embers from a fire into the sky and created the Milky Way.

Cherokee

A Cherokee folktale tells of a dog who stole some cornmeal and was chased away. He ran away to the north, spilling the cornmeal along the way. The Milky Way is thus called "The Way the Dog Ran Away".

Eastern Asia

Peoples in Eastern Asia believed that the hazy band of stars was the "Silvery River" of Heaven.  In one story, the stars Altair and Vega were said to be two lovers who were allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month, when a flock of magpies and crows formed a bridge over the galactic river.

Egyptian

In Egyptian mythology, the Milky Way was considered a pool of cow's milk. It was deified as a fertility cow-goddess by the name of Bat. Among the Finns, Estonians and related peoples, the Milky Way was and is called "The Pathway of the Birds". The Finns observed that the migratory birds used the galaxy as a guideline to travel south, where they believed Lintukoto (bird home) resided. In Estonian folklore it is believed that the birds are led by a white bird with the head of a maiden who chases birds of prey away. Only later did scientists indeed confirm this observation; the migratory birds use the Milky Way as a guide to travel to warmer, southern lands during the winter.

Mesopotamian

In Mesopotamian mythology the tail of Tiamat became the Milky Way. Another myth about Labbu is similar interpreted.


Greek and Roman

The Greek name for the Milky way is derived from the word for milk. One legend explains how the Milky Way was created by Heracles when he was a baby. His father, Zeus, was fond of his son, who was born of the mortal woman Alcmene. He decided to let the infant Heracles suckle on his divine wife Hera's milk when she was asleep, an act which would endow the baby with godlike qualities. When Hera woke up and realized that she was breastfeeding an unknown infant, she pushed him away and the spurting milk became the Milky Way.
(older Greek Myths not included)

Hindu

In the Hindu collection of stories called Bhagavata Purana, all the visible stars and planets moving through space are likened to a dolphin that swims through the water, and the heavens is called śiśumãra cakra, the dolphin disc. The Milky Way forms the abdomen of the dolphin and is called Akasaganga which means "The Ganges River of the Sky".

Hungarian

In Hungarian mythology, Csaba, the mythical son of Attila the Hun and ancestor of the Hungarians is supposed to ride down the Milky Way when the Székelys (ethnic Hungarians living in Transylvania) are threatened. Thus the Milky Way is called "The Road of the Warriors" Hungarian: Hadak Útja. The stars themselves are sparks from the horseshoes.

For more information on Milky Walk Mythology visit en.wikipedia.org 

Cyber-culture 
abstract

During the Millennium Age, between the Age of Aquarius and the Age of Pisces, humanity entered into a time of awakening. Some religious in nature, praying that their souls will find their way to a utopian- like place in the Kingdom of Heaven. When such seekers came across an image on the World Wide Web, that was deemed as being "Heaven's Trail" (captured by the infamous Thomas Zimmer)- those seekers imagined it would lead them to a place to dwell peacefully for all eternity. 

With any spiritual notion comes a scientific theory.

Galileo first turned his telescope on the Milky Way in 1609; this was one of his major discoveries. It wasn't until a couple of centuries later that astronomers began to realize that this band of stars was in fact the local version of the "spiral nebulae" that astronomers were discovering all over the sky.
Learn more about the Milky Way here




For more information on Milky Walk Mythology visit en.wikipedia.org