One of the things that I have always wondered was how the universe could be so big. I mean, it is about 13.8-year-olds, so why is it that we can observe the universe at about 93 billion light years across? I mean, shouldn’t we only be able to observe about 27.6 billion light years in total?

When you think about it, nothing can travel faster than light, and light travels at a fixed speed. With the universe existing for about 13.8 billion years, the furthest light we should be able to see is around 13.8 billion years in one direction. When you double that for both directions, you get 27.6 billion light-years across. While that seems logical, why is that not what we observe?

To answer this question, we must take a look at cosmic expansion. This is where things discontinue acting  like the way we expect. Not only are galaxies moving through space, but space itself  is expanding.

Let’s say a galaxy is very far away, and about 13 billion years ago, that galaxy gave off light. The light started to travel toward us. Here is the part most people miss: while that light was traveling, the universe itself was expanding. Imagine that light is moving toward us, but the space between us and the galaxy is expanding.  What this means is that the distance the light has traveled is getting longer while it’s traveling.

So the galaxy that emitted the light is no longer 13 billion light years away; it might now be 45 or even more billion light years away. That particularly explains how galaxies can be further away than 13 billion light-years. However, now you have the problem of things moving faster than the speed of light. Isn’t it impossible for something to move faster than light?

While it is true that nothing in space can move faster than light, it’s also true that space itself can expand at any speed. Those galaxies you see are not going through space faster than light. Rather, they’re being carried away because space itself is stretching and some of them are receding from us faster than the speed of light.

That means that there are parts of the universe that we can see that are moving away from us faster than light. The only reason we can see them is that the universe has been expanding the entire time their light was traveling.

It’s interesting to think that there are galaxies out there currently whose light will never reach us. This is not because it hasn’t had enough time, but because space is expanding too fast. This means that not only is the universe big, but it’s growing in a way that breaks our everyday intuition.

So, space itself can expand at a rate faster than light. The universe that we currently see isn’t the universe as it is now. It’s a snapshot of the past; stretched, expanded, and still moving away from you.

Further Reading (Affiliate Links)

The First Three Minutes by Steven Weinberg

The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene

Welcome to the Universe by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott

Cosmos by Carl Sagan

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Something Deeply Hidden by Sean Carroll

Introduction to Cosmology – Barbara Ryden

When people think about creation stories, they usually think of something fixed. For example, there is generally  a beginning,  a sequence, and a clear explanation. Think of the famous creation story in the Biblical book of Genesis. Verse 1 says that “In the beginning  God created the heavens and Earth,” establishing the starting point. Then there are a sequence of six days. There is a clear explanation.

However, things in Wicca work differently. There are various creation myths, but they don’t necessarily contradict one another.  It is important to note that most of the creation stories in Wicca are not taken literally.

Wicca itself is a relatively modern religion that formed in the mid-1900s. It is inspired by ancient pagan traditions, nature-based spirituality, and mythological symbolism. However, there is no single unified doctrine.

Creation Stories

When it comes to creation, it isn’t described in just one fixed story. It draws from various myths and symbolic narratives.

It is important to know that Wiccan cosmology consists of a duality. For example, you will often come across the Goddess and the Horned God when exploring the deities of Wicca.

These are not always seen as separate beings in the way people think of gods in other religions. They are usually viewed as working together. The Goddess is often associated with the moon, fertility, nature, and cycles. The God coincides with the sun, the wild, the life force, and growth.

The All/Dryghtyn

There are some who believe the universe was created by a single divine source, often referred to as the All or Dryghtyn. Then this divides into two aspects. It is not just about gender but also about balance, polarity, and interdependence.

In many Wiccan stories, everything begins with the Goddess, referred to as the Star Goddess. She existed in a void and became aware of herself when, with that awareness, creation began.

There are often many versions of this, but one of the more well-known beliefs is the idea that she divided herself to experience love, therefore creating God and the universe. Creation was an act of self-expression, desire, and experience.

God And Goddess

Some believe that creation came from the interaction between the Goddess and the God. This is often referred to as the Great Rite or the Sacred Union. In ritual, sometimes the athame is dipped into a cup of water or wine to symbolize this union. This represents the idea of how the natural began.

Ongoing Process

Creation is something that is seen as an ongoing process. For example, life evolves through evolution from which every living thing comes.

Wicca cosmology often sees time as being cyclical rather than linear. Things are destroyed, and then reborn. Wiccans often celebrate the cycle of the year through eight Sabbats that are generally a month and a half to two months apart. The seasons reflect creation, and nature is a living expression of the divine. Creation is always happening. Each year, trees lose their leaves only for them to come back the next year.

The universe is something that is constantly renewing itself. It wasn’t created just to be ignored and left alone. There is often a blur between creator and creation, being that The All exists within all things. This means that all beings are sacred, including the earth and the rest of the universe.

Wicca Creation vs. Traditional Creation Stories

There are differences between Wiccan creation stories and more traditional creation narratives. First, there is no single authoritative story, but rather, there are various interpretations of the Wiccan creation stories. They are more symbolic and metaphorical than the traditional stories. Wiccans see things in balance and not as a one-time creation event. The divine merged itself with the physical world and isn’t a separate entity. In Wicca, there isn’t one clear answer when it comes to creation.

In Wiccan creation stories, they aren’t just trying to explain how the universe began but also what the universe means and how we experience it.

If you visit the website www.witchschool.com, they have a free course that introduces you to Wicca. I believe it is in the second lesson of this course where they talk about a creation story.

Further Reading (Affiliate Links):

The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

Drawing Down the Moon by Margaret Adler

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Can Movement Exist Without Time?

Let me throw a simple-sounding question at you—but gets really weird, really fast: If time stopped completely… could anything still move?

At first, you might think, “Well, maybe.” I know that’s what I thought at first. I mean, the faster you move, the slower time goes, but what if the reverse happened and time stood still? Would everything freeze in its place?  But once you really dig into it, the answer is actually strange.

We’ve all heard something like this: “If something travels at the speed of light, time slows down… maybe even stops.” So then we ask, if time stops, how can anything still move? Another relative question is, does the fact that things move prove that time has to exist?

Here’s the key idea: movement is defined as a change in position over time. That “over time” part isn’t optional—it’s the whole definition.

It seems that if time truly stopped, no change could occur and no processes could unfold.

So then what about light?

Here is where it gets really strange. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, as something moves faster, time slows down relative to an outside observer. At the speed of light, time doesn’t pass at all
But here’s the catch: Only things with no mass, like light, can actually travel at that speed. Humans and objects cannot travel at this speed.

From our perspective, light clearly moves. It travels across space. It takes time—at least from our point of view. But from light’s “perspective”… and I say that loosely. No time passes between when it’s emitted and when it’s absorbed. So in a sense, light doesn’t experience a journey the way we do.

So, ff time stopped completely, could anything still move? The answer is “no” because movement requires time. If there is no time, there is no change, and if there is no change, there is no motion.

However, the strangeness doesn’t just stop there. According to modern physics, space and time aren’t separate things. They are part of one system, often called “spacetime.” Asking if movement can exist without time is similar to asking can distance exist without space. It doesn’t just fail, but it breaks the definition.

Time isn’t just something we measure with clocks, but it’s built into the very possibility of change itself. In other words, if it weren’t for time, nothing would ever happen.

That even raises deeper and more complex questions. Is time something that is real, or is it just the way we experience change? If light doesn’t experience time, what does this tell us about reality itself?

Experiencing Change

The Theory of Relativity says that time is part of the fabric of the universe. Aristotle described time as “The number of motion with respect to before and after.”

There is also the idea called “presentism,” which says that only the present is “real.” One difficulty of this view is that it makes it difficult to define a universal “present” that would be shared by everyone.

However, many physicists go with a view called “eternalism.” This means the past, present, and future all exist equally. Think of time like a book; the entire book is there, but you experience one page at a time. This is referred to as the “Block Universe.” The passage of time may be an aspect of conscious experience rather than a feature of reality itself.

Perhaps what we experience is the flow of time constructed by the brain. The brain remembers things, knows what is presently happening, and sometimes can predict the future. I’m not talking about psychic ability, but rather the idea that we have plans and that we will try to go through with them.

In Taoism, the Tao is seen as an ever-unfolding process and not as something that is frozen in the past and future.

A question that remains unanswered is “Why do conscious things experience a moving present at all?

Spacetime

According to the Theory of Relativity, two people can experience time differently, and both of them would be correct. Time, therefore, is not a universal backdrop against which the universe unfolds. It is woven together with space into spacetime.

There isn’t a unique “now” in the universe since we all experience time differently.  Many scientists believe time is not a basic ingredient of reality but emerges from deeper physical processes.

There are some ideas of time that may be true:

1. Time is real because it is an essential part of spacetime, and things like time dilation are measurable.
2. Time isn’t absolute. This is because different observers experience time differently.
3. The feeling that the present moves may not be a fundamental property of the universe. It is still an open question as to whether or not “flow” is built into reality or arises from the way conscious beings process information.

Conclusion

There are many weird things that can be found in science when you start talking about spacetime. Scientists don’t have all the answers and sometimes speculate about things that are beyond our full understanding.

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Further Reading (Affiliate Links)

Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip S. Thorne

The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene

The Order of Time – Carlo Rovelli

From Eternity to Here by Sean Carroll

Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe by J. Richard Gott

Relativity: The Special and the General Theory – By Albert Einstein

Time Reborn – Lee Smolin

A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawkings

Something Deeply Hidden – By Sean Carroll

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Introduction

Washington often ranks in the top three presidents when it comes to historians. It’s usually him, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt from the ratings I have viewed. Not only did he not reside at the White House, but he was voted in by the entire Electoral College. He was the only president to do these things. He also played a vital part in forming the Supreme Court with only six judges at the time.

When George Washington took office in 1789, there was no roadmap. No traditions. No expectations. Just a fragile Constitution and a nation that could easily collapse under its own uncertainty. In fact, Washington is the only Independent to ever hold the office of the presidency. He was affiliated with no political parties and even warned against forming them.

Washington wasn’t just leading a country—he was inventing the presidency itself. That makes his legacy uniquely powerful… and also worth examining critically. While he helped stabilize the United States, some of his decisions laid the groundwork for tensions that would define the country for decades.

After the failures of the Articles of Confederation, the new Constitution created a stronger federal government. But many Americans feared that this new system might become too powerful—too similar to the monarchy they had just escaped.

Washington had to walk a tightrope and had to be strong enough to lead and be restrained enough to avoid tyranny. This was not an easy thing to do. He was very unlike Donald Trump in this regard, as Trump seems to crave power and would be a tyrant if allowed.  Much of George Washington’s leadership was defined by this balance when being the leader of a country.

The Achievements: What Washington Got Right

1. Establishing Presidential Precedent

Washington set norms that still define the office today such as a cabinet of advisers, respect for the Constitution, and the peaceful transfer of power (which sets him apart from Donald  Trump).

Most famously, he stepped down after two terms, setting an informal limit that lasted until Franklin D. Roosevelt broke it over a century later.
That decision alone may have prevented the presidency from drifting toward monarchy. After Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 22nd amendment was made that a president cannot hold office for more than two four-year terms.

2. Stabilizing the Economy

With guidance from Alexander Hamilton, Washington supported the Federal assumption of state debts, the creation of a national bank, and a stronger centralized financial system. These moves were controversial—but they helped give the U.S. financial credibility and stability.

3. Maintaining Neutrality in Global Conflict

When war broke out between France and Great Britain, Washington issued the Neutrality Proclamation of 1793. This decision kept the U.S. out of a potentially devastating war and allowed the country to focus on internal growth. It wasn’t popular with everyone—but it was pragmatic. It was a good way to not get entangled in another war. At the time, the USA relied heavily on trade with Britain. On the other hand, France came to our aid during the Revolutionary War. Washington thought it would be in our best interest to remain neutral.

In fact, Americans were told that if they got involved in the war, they wouldn’t have the protection of the American government. This helped to establish the presidency at a director when it came to foreign policy. However, there were many Americans who felt that they were abandoning their alliance with France, which led to political parties being formed, such as the Federalist and the Democratic-Republicans.

4. Asserting Federal Authority

The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 tested whether the new government had real power. Many farmers in Western Pennsylvania felt that taxing the whiskey would lead to them losing a portion of their income. At one point, around 400 whiskey making farmers destroyed an inspectors home. Washington responded by calling up militia forces and personally leading them part of the way.  The rebellion dissolved without major violence, proving that the federal government was not just symbolic—it could enforce its laws.

The Problems: Where Washington Falls Short

Washington wasn’t perfect, and he did a few things wrong.

1. Slavery and Moral Contradiction

Washington was a slave owner throughout most of his life. While he became regretful about it, he eventually arranged for his slaves to be freed after his wife’s death (Afraid for her safety, Martha Washing freed her slaves early on January 1st, 1801.

He benefited from enslaved labor and did not take public action to challenge the institution. This created a deep contradiction. The man who led a revolution for liberty for some presided over a system that denied it for others. This flaw is found to be common among many of the early presidents.

2. The Jay Treaty and Public Backlash

The Jay Treaty aimed to avoid war with Britain and stabilize trade. There was a backlash against this treaty because it wouldn’t stop the British from kidnapping American sailors and making them part of the Royal Navy. However, on the other side, it could have created a war that would devastate the new country so Washington supported the Jay Treaty. This is where signs of a two party system began to manifest, as the Democratic-Republicans supported the French, the Federalists supported the British. There were public protests and political divisions.

Washington pushed it through anyway—showing strong leadership, but also a willingness to override popular sentiment.

3. Native American Policy

Washington’s administration pursued expansion into western territories, leading to conflict with Native nations. In some cases he would make treaties with them. However, he view their standard of life being lower than that of the Americans and would try to “civilize” them by trying to stop them from hunting and to adopt a more European-like agriculture. However, he used military against them if they didn’t comply which often led to bloodshed. His relationship with the Natives was complicated, and probably not as bad as someone like Andrew Jackson.

4. The Rise of Political Parties

Washington famously warned against political factions, yet his presidency helped create them. Within his cabinet Thomas Jefferson would be the leader of the Democratic-Republicans while Alexander Hamilton would lead the Federalists. The Federalists wanted a strong central government while the Democratic-Republicans was in favor of states’ rights. Federalist were for manufacturing, commerce, and a national bank. The Democratic-Republicans promoted agrarianism (a political philosophy that favors rural agricultural life to be better than urban life), farming, and fair trade.

Instead of preventing division, his administration became the battleground where party politics began. This irony is hard to ignore.

5. Expanding Federal Power

While necessary in some cases, Washington’s actions strengthened centralized authority and set precedents for federal intervention For some American citizens, this raised concerns such as had the revolution simply replaced one powerful government with another? There are many who still wonder that today with all the things we get taxed for.

The Farewell Address: A Final Warning

In 1796, Washington delivered his famous farewell address, and warned about political parties, foreign entanglements, and regional divisions, all of which would become part of America’s future. Imagine if the USA today avoided foreign entanglements. Instead we are in them to a great extent. This doesn’t make Washington wrong, but it makes him quite perceptive.

Final Assessment: A Necessary Founder, Not a Perfect One

Washington’s presidency was foundational. He created stability-where there was uncertainty when it came to creating a new nation. He showed a restraint in power by only being president for two terms. When asked what they should call him, he didn’t go with a term that symbolized royalty, but rather said to just call him “president.” He helped to define what leadership should look like.

But he also participated in slavery, oversaw expansion that harmed Native populations, and contributed to political divisions even though he tried to avoid it.

Washington wasn’t great because he was flawless. He was great because he understood the weight of power—and, more often than not, chose restraint. That doesn’t erase his failures. But it does explain why his presidency still matters. He built the foundations of what a presidency should look like.

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Further Reading (Affiliate Links)

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis

Washington: The Indispensable Man James Thomas Flexner

The Cabinet by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

Never Caught by Emily Armstrong Dunbar

The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents by Bill Yenne

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See Also:

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

James Madison

 

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