The idea of time travel didn’t originate from one single point—it has evolved over centuries through mythology, philosophy, literature, science, and spiritual thought.
🏺 Ancient Origins (Myth + Philosophy)
Hindu texts (circa 700 BCE): The Mahabharata tells of King Kakudmi, who travels to see the creator god Brahma, and when he returns, thousands of years have passed on Earth. This is one of the earliest time dilation stories.
Greek philosophy: Thinkers like Heraclitus and Plato explored the nature of time, eternity, and change—but not time travel in a direct sense.
📖 Literary Time Travel (1700s–1800s)
1771: Memoirs of the Twentieth Century by Samuel Madden imagines letters from the future—early speculative fiction.
1881: The Clock That Went Backward by Edward Page Mitchell featured a time-traveling clock.
1895: H.G. Wells published The Time Machine, the first story to popularize time travel with a mechanical device, introducing the term "time machine" itself.
🧪 Scientific Time Travel (1900s–present)
1905–1915: Albert Einstein’s special and general relativity showed that time is not fixed—it’s relative to speed and gravity, laying the groundwork for real scientific theories of time travel.
Late 20th century: Physicists like Kip Thorne explored wormholes, time loops (closed time-like curves), and the possibility of faster-than-light travel.
🧘♀️ Spiritual + Metaphysical Concepts
Ancient and modern spiritual traditions have long embraced nonlinear time:
Buddhism: Time is an illusion of the mind.
Indigenous cultures: Time is cyclical, not linear.
Modern spiritual practices: Embrace past-life regression, soul journeys, and the idea that the soul exists outside of time.
🌀 So, When Did Time Travel "Begin"?
Spiritually: Thousands of years ago—in myths, visions, and meditations.
Scientifically: The early 20th century, with Einstein’s relativity.
Culturally/Literarily: The late 1800s, with stories like The Time Machine.
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God bless.