I finished reading Warren Ellis’s SHVERING SANDS yesterday, a collection of essays and various writings Ellis has spewed onto the Web over the last seven years.

What I enjoy about Ellis’s writing is that not only does he entertain me as a dancing monkey would, but he also brings to my attention interesting and weird things I might otherwise never have known.

For instance, in one entry he was discussing how drug use can sometimes fuel stories writers might otherwise not have come up with. In particular he mentioned Terence McKenna, a writer/philosopher who used psychedelics in part to form his view of the world. One of Ellis’s favorite McKenna stories was about a time bifurcation that posited a world where Jesus Christ had never been born, and the positive effects this had therein.

I had never heard of McKenna before, but the story sounded interesting, so a quick google later and I was able to locate a copy of the essay in question, “The Great Timestream Bifurcation”:

The soliton of improbability which interacted with our world occurred two thousand years ago in the phenomenon of the Immaculate Conception. An event that I think you and I can agree is highly improbable! But let us take it at face value and see if we can work with it. When the Immaculate Conception occurred through the collision of the soliton of improbability with this Galilean village girl called Marian or Mary, in one world she became impregnated with a figure destined for a great religious and political future: our world. The world in which Christ was born, became a young man, taught his message, and went to his execution around 27 AD. Another world sprang into existence at the moment of the Immaculate Conception and in that world nothing whatsoever happened to this young Galilean girl. She continued to live with Joseph. He continued to make fine furniture. Eventually they were able to move to the better side of Nazareth. And that was their story.

So you see I’m suggesting that at the time of Christ, a parallel world came into existence that knew nothing of Christ. And consequently the forces which shattered Roman civilization never came into existence in that parallel world.

The essay isn’t very long, and if you’re into this sort of thing, it’s definitely worth a couple of minutes of your time to read. McKenna’s take on the Tunguska event is particularly cool.

And if you like having a middle-aged Englishman shout at you (or you enjoy HOUSE), you should definitely buy SHIVERING SANDS.