This post displays a visual version of the “Cosmic walk” group process, a journey that spirals through deep time from the birth of the cosmos to the present day. This process is intended to guide participants in coming into contact with the enourmous scale of time which we now know is spanned by the story of our reality. The story touches on just a handful of the important events that have shaped our our cosmos, solar system, planet and biosphere.
For further resources, variant versions of this story and useful links, please visit the “Cosmic Walk” page.
1) The Big Bang
13.7 billion years ago, our Universe flashes into existence, lit by the power of the…
3) Grandmother supernova
8 billion years later, 4.6 billion years ago, our Grandmother Star becomes a supernova
4) Formation of the solar system
4.5 billion years ago, our Solar System forms from the remains of the supernova explosion.
5) The Earth cools
4.4 – 4.1 billion years ago – Exuberant volcanoes expel hotly agitated deep earth to…
6) The wonder of life
4 billion years ago, the rich chemical brew brings forth the wonder of life, as…
9) Emergence of nucleated cells
2 billion years ago, Despite the enormous drag of its tidal seas the planet is…
10) Emergence of sexual reproduction
1.5 billion years ago, crisis conditions arise such as food shortages, lack of moisture and…
11) Predator-prey co-evolution
1 billion years ago, increasingly, predator organisms learn to use the complex biomolecules of their…
12) The first multicellular life
700 million years ago, the first Multicellular Organisms emerge. Some organisms begin living together in…
13) Earth sees herself
600 million years ago, light sensitive eyespots evolve into eyesight. The Earth sees herself for…
14) Colonisation of the land by plants and invertebrates
460 million years ago – Leaving the water, animals such as worms and mollusks and…
15) The first amphibians emerge onto land
395 million years ago – The first amphibian animals hop and lumber onto land, trading…
16) Forests evolve
335 Million years ago, the first subtropical forests evolve. Over generations, these forests load themselves…
17) Permian-Triassic mass extinction
235 million years ago sees the end of the Permian period when the 4th and…
18) The first mammals
225 million years ago, the first mammals, small and nocturnal, jump, climb, swing, and swim…
19) The first birds
150 million years ago. Birds emerge, a direct descendant of the dinosaur as leg bones…
20) The first flowers
114 million years ago, Flowers evolve gorgeous and overt sexual organs, making themselves irresistible to…
21) Cretaceous mass extinction wipes out the dinosaurs
65 million years ago – Shortly after primates appear on the scene, the Cretaceous period…
22) The age of mammals begins
Over the course of the next 60 million years Earth greets rodents, whales, monkeys, horses,…
23) Human ancestors leave the forests
4 million years ago, Hominids leave the forest, stand up, and walk on two legs.
24) Modern humans emerge
100 thousand years ago, Modern Humans emerge. Language, shamanic and goddess religions, and art become…
25) Agriculture is developed
11000 years ago, Agriculture is invented. Humans begin to shape the environment.
26) The classical religions emerge
3000 years ago, Classical Religions emerge. Hinduism, Confucianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam.
27) Scientists calculate the age of the Earth
250 years ago, scientists begin to calculate the Age of the Earth. Humans try to…
28) Empirical evidence of an Expanding Universe
85 years ago, empirical evidence of an Expanding Universe is discovered. For the first time…
30) Earth is seen from space
52 years ago Earth is seen as Whole from space. The Earth becomes complex enough…
31) Our sacred Story
Today The Story of the Universe is being told as our sacred Story. The Flaring…