Have You Ever Felt the Edge of the Universe When You Look East?

Does anyone else get a cold, wrong feeling when they look at the Eastern sky at night?

It sends chills up my spine. I feel vulnerable.

I’m not talking about the weather. I mean a feeling of uneasiness. It tastes like fear. It feels like an error.

I feel safe looking West. That’s where the Sun went. It’s the rearview mirror. But looking East feels like standing in a doorway you shouldn’t be standing in. I finally realized why.

When we look East, we are staring through the “windshield” of Earth, directly into our own shadow. But it’s bigger than that. We are looking away from the heat of the Sun, away from the other planets, and away from the center of the galaxy.

We are staring at the Galactic Rim.

We are facing the thinning edge of the Milky Way. The cheap seats. It’s the jagged coast where the stars run out and the true, intergalactic dark begins. That “cold” feeling is the instinct of standing on the cliff’s edge, in the middle of the night, with your toes hanging over the side.

You are looking at the drop-off.

Oh, to the Gods of Sirius, give me the strength of our ancestors. Our time on Earth is a flicker against that black backdrop.

It is that exact fear ; that vulnerability on the edge of the abyss, that forced me to write Guardians of Humanity. Because when you stare into that deep dark sky , you have to believe someone is out there, watching the gate.

Let me know in the comments below 👇 if you felt this way, looking into our vast universe.

Bari Marcus Anthony

Comments :

We always talk about the beauty of the stars, but rarely about the terror of the empty space between them. What’s the most unsettling thing you’ve ever felt while stargazing?