Exploring Modern Mythology: Aliens are the New Gods

When writing fantasy and sci fi stories, writers often tap into the great and glorious world of time-honored mythology to anchor their books in the fantastic. I accessed this ancient well of story fodder in my first series, The Akasha Chronicles, steeped in Celtic mythology and lore. It was great fun to research ancient myths and legends and explore how they still speak to us in our modern world.

But when I set out to write a new science fiction series (H.A.L.F.), I decided to focus on modern myth, legend and lore by focusing on alien mythology and the government conspiracies related to it. When writing H.A.L.F., I assumed that the myths surrounding the Roswell crash event were true. What if a flying saucer crashed in the desert on a ranch near Roswell in 1947? What if the military did, in fact, recover not only crash debris but also alien bodies?

It’s against this “mythical” backdrop that H.A.L.F.: The Deep Beneath is set. I chose not to create wholly new myth, but to add my own spin to some of the now nearly universally known stories of alien encounters.

I’ve been fascinated with all things mythical, paranormal and supernatural since childhood. I read every book in my school’s small library in the “Supernatural” section. I think I read A Wrinkle in Time two or three times.

Roswell Crash, Roswell UFO Museum

It’s no surprise that as an adult I’m intrigued by alien mythology (and my own sighting of the “Phoenix Lights” in 1997 fueled this further). As I read books on the UFO phenomenon, MUFON newsletters, toured the Roswell museum, and watched every documentary I could find about ET’s and UFOs, the more fascinated I became with the idea that a new mythology has developed over the past seventy years or so. Aliens have become our new “gods”. The idea that we were created not by a divine being or merely by the process of natural selection, but that we exist due to ancient aliens meddling with the gene pool on Earth has grown from fringe thinking to reality for many people. This thinking has been popularized and perpetuated by writers such as Erich von Däniken (Chariots of the Gods), Zecharia Sitchin (The 12^th Planet and other books), and by the show “Ancient Aliens” on the history channel.

Keeping with the idea that aliens have become our new “gods”, ETs almost always have “supernatural” powers of some kind. The idea that a being from out there – from the heavens – will descend to our plane, possess powers beyond our own and become a savior is a popular theme of legend and myth. The continued popularity of characters such as Superman and Thor (both aliens) attest to the idea that humans look to “out there” to help us solve our problems. We can’t seem to get enough of these humanoid characters that are relatable yet better than we are. They’re smarter, stronger, and have abilities we can only dream of. Perhaps these characters fulfill our wishes, dreams and desire to be bigger and better than ourselves. Or maybe it’s our fear of the dangers that plague our world – from natural disasters to war and terrorism – that fuels our unquenchable need for superheroes to descend from the heavens and help us out of this mess.

H.A.L.F.: The Deep Beneath, Audibook 

I had all of this in mind when writing The Deep Beneath. The story centers on a human main character, Erika Holt, and a human-alien hybrid character, H.A.L.F. 9 (aka Tex). In the first draft, Tex was a bit cute. He was more a mix of E.T. and Paul than like the murderous aliens in “Independence Day”. But as I got deeper into the project, I realized that a “cute” alien-human didn’t work. He was, after all, created (in my fictional world) to be a weapon. He’d been intentionally deprived of normal social interactions with humans and his education and access to information limited to what his creators deemed relevant. He needed to be more dangerous and less cute.

While reworking the character, I endowed Tex with telekinesis. It seemed a logical ability for him to have as he has far greater intelligence than a typical human (and a trait often linked to the greys which is where Tex’s alien DNA comes from). Tex has access to regions of his brain that most humans aren’t even aware they have. Tex has some other abilities but I’ll leave those as a surprise for the reader!

But I think the overarching reason that I write –and read – science fiction is to examine, through “alien” eyes, what it means to be human. Through alien characters, we can look at ourselves. Maybe this is what makes them so much fun to read, watch – and to write.

The Celtic Origins of a Modern YA Quest

My first book series, The Akasha Chronicles, incorporates ancient Celtic mythology and magic into a story about a modern, teenage girl. I’ve been asked how I researched the Celtic aspects of the series and came up with the magical elements. Here’s the story of how The Akasha Chronicles acquired its Celtic flavor.

When I first conceived of Emily’s House (Book 1 of the Akasha Chronicles), I was not a writer yet! It was during hypnosis that was supposed to help me lose my baby weight that I had a vision of a golden armlet hovering over rolling green fields. (BTW, hypnosis does not help you to lose weight. Apparently, sitting in a chair, half asleep does nothing to boost your metabolism ;-) I couldn’t get that golden arm bracelet out of my mind!

I began scouring the Internet for pictures of the golden object I’d seen. Before long, I came across a photo of a torc – the golden armlet! And from there, I began reading all that I could find about ancient Ireland and the pre-Christian Celts.

Though I wasn’t actively writing fiction at that time, the more I researched, the more a story began to develop in my head. My research about ancient Ireland led me to Brighid, an ancient Goddess.

I came across a story of an order of women that were the keepers of the flame of the goddess Brighid (pronounced BREE – id). The story goes that these Druid women worshipped the goddess Brighid, whose symbol is a column of fire. It is said that no men were allowed into their cloister, and any men who ventured into their grove were cursed. I loved this idea of women with powerful magic.

Interestingly, once Christianity displaced Druids on the Emerald Isle, the group of women who once worshipped the goddess, Brighid, became a group of Catholic nuns who honored the Saint Bridget. They kept that sacred flame going for many generations. But during the Reformation, it was decided that tending to the fire was too pagan and it was ordered that the flame be extinguished.

I had the opportunity to visit Kildare, Ireland and the ancient foundations of the original abbey still exist – the place where the ancient flame was kept alive! It is one of the oldest, continuously used worship sites in all of Ireland, and has a legacy as a sacred site dating back into the Celtic times as well. In 1993 in the Market Square in Kildare, the fire of Brighid was re-lit by Mary Teresa Cullen, the then leader of the Brigidine sisters. Since then, the Brigidine Sisters in Kildare have tended the flame. Here is a photo of the ancient foundation at St. Brigid’s Cathedral in Kildare.

The story of the goddess Brighid and the order of women who worshipped her inspired me greatly. I took the ancient Celtic mythology – and the story of the women who kept her flame alive – and tweaked it to fit my needs. When you read Emily’s House, you’ll recognize The Order of Brighid as a reference to this ancient order rumored to have existed prior to the modern Christian times in Ireland.

In addition to hundreds of pages of Internet articles and Wikipedia pages, I also read a lot of books that inspired the Celtic aspects of the series. Here are a few of them:

Despite pages and pages of research and information, much of the Celtic mythos in my novels is of my own imagination – a melding of some of the juicy facts mixed with my own creations.

For example, my character Lianhan Sidhe (pronounced SHEE) is based on a mythical Celtic creature. In the ancient myths, Lianhan Sidhe is a beautiful fairy with a dreadful power. It is said that most men cannot refuse her, a beautiful muse who offered inspiration but at a price – most men who become her lover go mad and die prematurely.

I tweaked the myth quite a bit in Emily’s House to create my own version of Lianhan Sidhe, a beautiful – but deadly – creature.

And you may have heard of a Banshee. I came across research that suggested that Bian Sidhe (Banshee) and Lianhan Sidhe were sisters. Two beautiful, but potentially deadly, faerie sisters of ancient Ireland. I had to use that in my story!

But the Celtic influence didn’t stop at just the ancient backstory portion of the book. I wanted to use it in the modern story as well. Much has been written about the connection between Druidic practices and philosophy, and ancient Vedic tradition of the Brahmins. West meets East. The Vedic tradition of India can be traced back over 10,000 years. During my research, I found the parallels between the ancient philosophies of India and the more modern Celtic thought fascinating. The combination of the two philosophies led to the chapters where Emily receives training in the Netherworld.

I spent over three years reading books, articles and Wikipedia pages while writing Emily’s House! Despite countless pages of research, a small fraction of what I learned was used. As you read Emily’s House and Emily’s Trial, you may wonder what is real and what did the author create?