Synchronicity and CS Lewis and the trees of Mars
72Out of the Silent Planet
Books by CS Lewis
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The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics
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C.S. Lewis and the Search for Rational Religion (Revised and Updated)
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C.S. Lewis & Narnia For Dummies (For Dummies (Religion & Spirituality))
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Mere Christianity
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The Problem of Pain
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A Grief Observed
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The Weight of Glory
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A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works
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C. S. Lewis Signature Classics: Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, A Grief Observed, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, and The Great Divorce (Boxed Set)
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CS Lewis books on Ebay
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Fiction with a spiritual message
C.S. Lewis was an Irish author and writer probably most famous for The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of books in which children visit another world and where a war between good and evil is taking places and God is represented as Aslan the lion. As a child I never had any liking for church or prayers or anything to do with the Christian religion that my school taught but when I first discovered Lewis' work via The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe all of that was to change.
I read all the other Narnia books and reread them and am about to again now. They were a form of spirituality that made sense to me and still do. I was so influenced by the Narnia books that one of my only son's Christian names is Aslan.
Lewis, who was a very good friend of J.R.R Tolkien, was a Christian writer, and although I would by no means describe myself as a Christian, I understand his books so well and believe they have an important message that I can relate to. It is not just the The Chronicles of Narnia, which are some of my personal favourites, but also his science fiction trilogy, also known as the "Space Trilogy," which are set on Earth, Mars and Venus.
The first of these is Out of the Silent Planet (1938) in which the hero Dr Ransom is kidnapped and forced to go to Mars in a spaceship by the evil scientist Dr Weston and his accomplice, Devine. They intend giving Ransom to some Martian beings known as Sorns, whom they believe will sacrifice him. Weston is after gold on the planet and also intends wiping out the native beings and making it a human world from which he can conquer the rest of space. Humans and science are the rulers of the universe in his mind.
Ransom escapes on Mars, or Malacandra as it is called, and meets with and befriends the Hrossa, the Sorns and the Pfifltriggi, who are the races of beings that live on the planet as well finding out about the Eldila, who are like angels or other dimensional spirit beings. All the life forms on Mars look to a leading eldil known as Oyarsa and above him there is a being called Maleldil, who is the equivalent of God.
Ransom learns that all the beings that live on Mars live in harmony presided over by Oyarsa, and that Earth is known as Thulcandra, the Silent Planet, which is ruled by a "Bent Eldil," who is clearly representing the Devil.
Space, as such, is full of life and the domain of the eldila and Earth has become a planet that is the odd one out in the solar system because of its "bent" ruler. Wikipedia describes the situation as follows:
"Because the eldila, who fill space (or "the heavens," which are depicted as warm and bright under the influence of the Sun) know nothing about what goes on inside those boundaries, Earth is called Thulcandra, "the silent planet". While Earth has fallen into evil, Mars has not. This represented one of Lewis's concerns about space travel: that fallen humanity would have nothing to offer other life in space other than our depravity."
In view of this it is not surprising to find that author and alternative historian Michael Tsarion lists Lewis as a highly recommended author. Tsarion believes this planet was taken over by an evil alien race - the Nephilim of the Bible - who interbred with humans and became imprisoned here and are in quarantine for the safety of the other worlds, but who seek to esape and spread their evil thoughout the universe.
In Out of the Silent Planet, Mars has vast forests of very tall trees and oceans. As in the Narnia books the animals are all portrayed as good beings. Without going more into the story, I will just add that in the end the humans are sent back to Earth for the safety of the life on Mars.
I had just read Out of the Silent Planet again when I happened on a blog at Myspace by my friend Saint of Circumstance. And here is where the synchronicity was amazing - his blog was about the NASA photos of a lake and huge trees on Mars. Google "trees on Mars" and you will find loads of info on this.
In the next book Perelandra or Voyage to Venus (1943), Ransom and Weston end up on Venus, where again, Ransom meets the friendly beasts, such as a dragon, and inhabitants of Perelandra, including the Green Lady, who represents the Biblical Eve in another Garden of Eden. Weston is cast as working for the Devil, and he does all he can to lead her astray, He actually becomes the "Un-man" when he is possessed by the Bent One's spirit. It is against this evil that Ransom must battle against incredible odds. He knows that is why he is there and what is at stake.He must prevent Weston bringing evil into Perelandra.
The third book in the series is That Hideous Strength (1945) and set on Earth.
Links:
CS Lewis on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis
Michael Tsarion's personal site: http://www.taroscopes.com/
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Comments
We grew up having C. S. Lewis as our bedtime stories. I have heard and read all of the "Narnia" stories, and they are all great and also very funny. Strange thing is I never thought of them as having Christian Connections at the time I heard them, they were simply exciting stories that captured my imagination.
I just wonder if being born in Belfast qualifies you as being Irish? Lewis was sent to school in England and never lived anywhere else after that. I don't think he thought of himself as being Irish.
That said, this is an interesting hub. I haven't read the "Silent Planet" trilogy for many years, and must do so again. Unlike "Misty", I clicked that Lewis was re-telling the New Testament at the "Resurredtion" scene, after which all the other stories fell into place.
What do you make of Philip Pullman's anti-Lewis trilogy?
Thanks for your replies, Jerry, Cindy and The Indexer!
Cindy, yes, I picked up on the Christian theme when I first came upon his books but for me personally it was Christianity I could identify with as opposed to hymns, prayers and church that were just stuff you did because it was expected but meant very little! I think Lewis' work appeals to me because I am an animal-lover and beasts are good characters in the books unlike the Bible where they are generally possessions to be counted as signs of wealth, edible (clean) or inedible (unclean) or sacrificial victims!
Indexer, I have not read Pullman's work and not heard of it till now and don't need to read it. Seeing as I am such a Lewis fan the best it can do is annoy me!
Lewis is described elsewhere as Irish and I am described as Welsh and I have seen many examples of people labelled that way if they are born somewhere. Another way round it is to put "-born" after the country or nationality and I didn't think to when writing this hub! My friend King Arthur - http://www.warband.org - gets portrayed in the media as "from Wales" "from Cornwall" and "from Scotland" depending where the story is going out from and none of those places are right! lol
Well I learned something today! I've also read the Narnia books many times over, and have also read them to my children, and I knew about the Christian connection. What I didn't know, however, was that he'd also dabbled in science fiction, and I will certainly look out for these books. Thanks for an interesting hub.
Hi Steve, well how's this for a bit of synchronicity: when i came out to Tenerife to visit I was reading Out of the Silent Planet, which I left with my sister. I read Perelandra on my return journey. I plan to read That Hideous Strength soon. I also have a copy of his theological works which are very interesting, particularly the Screwtape Letters. As for the "trees" of Mars they're about a km across so must be bloody mighty trees indeed. I think I will await the scientific explanation rather than rely on the speculation of techy nerds on the internet.
Amanda, the books are classed as sci-fi because they have spacecraft and other planets but basically they are spiritual works detailing the battle between good and evil.
Excellent synchronicity, Chris! I have gone into a big reading all Lewis books again phase! He hasbeen my favourite author for a very long time although obviously I go for years without reading any of his books.
The trees on Malacandra are very big too! Trees can grow to immense sizes even here if people don't cut them down, burn them or chop off branches.
Another great hub, Steve! I am still praying to laid off so I have some reading time--I can't recall ever having this negative an attitude toward my work. If things keep going the way they are going, I'll get my wish soon!
Thanks Pam! The strange thing about this is that whilst Jesus in the City Temple never saved me (because he wasn't there!) and church and services at assembly in school as a child just bored me and were something to be tolerated but Lewis' brand of Christianity I resonate with! The interesting thing about it is that he left the faith for many years becoming an atheist and also studied the occult before going back into Christianity. Lewis' brand of the religion in his books also encompases animals, beasts of legend and myth and extraterrestrials. In the Narnia books he depicts Jesus/God as Aslan the Lion. I think this is why I love his work!
I wonder if you don't resonate with more of the pagan legend and iconography that the early church absorbed--this seems to really come through Lewis's writing in a way that it doesn't with evangelical sermons and original texts. It would be a fine project if someone could tie the traditions together in a continuous line instead of perpetuating the supposed chasm between the two. I do think it could be done. After all, the story of Jesus is basically Isis/Osiris told anew. It's a very ancient story. Not to take anything away from the historical Jesus at all--in fact, it would add a new dimension to the idea of "the Word made flesh" to tie Christianity to the more ancient tellings of the tale.
Yes, I have read and seen loads about that, Pam, and about the other very similar deities with many parallels in their stories like Mithra and Krishna! I have also heard and read lot of other weirdness like the Mormon idea that Jesus went to America and the Aetherius Society who say he is on Venus. I just remembered (how could I forget?) that Judy Hall who was David Icke's astrology counsellor at one stage in his career once told me that in a past life I was one of the early Christians on the island of Patmos! I wrote to her for an astrology past life reading. If that's right I should know a lot more about it than I do! lol But it would explain why I have been looking for Jesus but just didn't find him in the City Temple in Cardiff, in childhood experience of Christianity or in the books by Icke that claim he didn't even exist! Not to omit the fact that many many years back I went through one year of my life studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses who called at my house weekly and I didn't find him there either! I did go to the Kingdom Hall once but because I said I wasn't going to do this on a regular basis they told me they could spend no more time on me and explained with some scripture that showed that the faithful congregation was to meet regularly which I was refusing to do! They also failed to answer my question which was if "Jehovah is bringing to ruin all those ruining the Earth" and that is why smoking is wrong (which they told me), why is it OK for Witnesses to drive cars that emit far more air pollution than a cigarette? That was another cult that failed with me after I gave it my best!
C.S. Lewis, the most notorious athesit-turned-Christian. His space trilogy is phenomenal and I'm glad you mentioned it, albeit the final installement literally blew my mind after 40 pages. HE was quite the author, and while I enjoyed Narnia in my preteen years I abandoned the childish concept for the Lord of the Rings, lol. I also liked his religious ranting in Mere Christianity and his satirical Screwtape Letters. His least known authorship was "The Pilgrim's Regress", to which I confess utter confusion.
Glad to hear you are a Lewis fan too, Tim! Interesting that - I never really went for the Tolkien books and dont list him as a favourite author but the Narnia books I am about to read again!
I be;ieve it's a personality issue, where one who likes the one books series generally doesn't like the opposing :)
Could well be! It was funny though because Tolkien was a favourite in the 60s hippy era and I was into a lot of that but not Tolkien! I never liked Led Zeppelin either! lol
Wow, you're the first person I know who's "free spirited" but not into Led Zeppelin...that's actually refreshing. I figure the hippy-side of me likes folk music more than anything modern or mainstream.
Tolkien was actually the dude who influenced a lot of Lewis' works, especially Narnia!
Yes, the Wikipedia entry says:
"The first book, Out of the Silent Planet, was apparently written following a conversation with his friend J.R.R. Tolkien about these trends; Lewis agreed to write a "space travel" story and Tolkien a "time travel" one. Tolkien’s story, "The Lost Road", a tale connecting his Middle-earth mythology and the modern world, was never completed. Lewis’s main character of Ransom is based in part on Tolkien, a fact that Tolkien himself alludes to in his Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien"
Yes, I remember once being in the middle of thousands of excited Led Zep fans at a Bath Blues festival and I was bored to tears and was just wishing they'd finish! I also hated Emerson Lake and Palmer who had a similar effect on me and I saw them at the IOW!
Jerry G2 says:
16 months ago
I've always been a C.S. Lewis fan, of both his fiction and non fiction. The stories are very good, the non fiction is thought provoking, and I just feel like you're enriched by the simple experience of a Lewis book. Great hub, thanks for sharing!