Why must there have been such a thing? - Edit 1
Before modification by Fanatic-Templar at 23/04/2010 07:30:40 PM
But given the concept of infinity and endlessly cyclical time, I believe that this 'first' Age, when the Creator created everything, is not actually the first because in order to have infinite cycles, an infinite past had to be created along with an infinite future.
The 7 spoked Wheel is basically an image for a cosmic loom, which bit by bit creates the respective Pattern of each Age. There must have been a time, when the weaving of the Pattern started, after the Creator placed the Wheel, and thus there must have been a "first 1st Age", a "first 2nd Age", and so on.
Why do you assume it is impossible for the Creator to create infinite time going backward in time, but possible to create infinite time going forward?
But if he actually did this. As far as we know from RJ about the cosmology of the WoT, the Pattern is gradually "woven" by the Wheel. This implies - of course - a first 1st Age, even if this Age and all following Ages are then endlessly repeated. The Creator didn't already create the full Pattern with all of the past and future from the start.
... there is no beginning or ending to the turning of the Wheel. It's in, like, the first paragraph of every book
.Seriously though, time cannot be circular if it has a beginning, and since it does have a beginning, that means that it needs to have been created retrospectively as well as prospectively, so that it would stretch back infinitely in what is a strange paradox.
This becomes even weirder when you factor in Shai'tan and that he was sealed 'at the moment of Creation'. What does that mean for him, especially given that in his current state he cannot step outside of time?
Also, while the future is to some extend predetermined, it has not yet been woven. Is the same thing happening in the past? Is a past always in the process of being created by the turning of the Wheel, or was an infinite past created instantly?
The point is, the Wheel of Time's cosmology requires that there not be a beginning, so one must assume there wasn't.
Now, after the cycle is established, there are indeed no beginnings or endings, since it is a Wheel and we have a full Pattern. Nevertheless there must have been a first turning of the Wheel and a first weaving of the Pattern, after the moment of Creation. After the first full turn of the Wheel, the Wheel basically weaves over the present Pattern and, while most remains the same, details are changed.