It was a universal belief among ancient civilizations that life came originally from the cosmos, and ultimately would return there after death. The shamanic journey was always to this sky-world - and it appears that it was always located in the direction of the stars of Cygnus - also known as the Northern Cross - accessed either via the Milky Way or an imagined cosmic axis. Andrew Collins demonstrates that this belief is based on an ancient astronomy - around 17,000 years old. All over the world, standing stones, temples and monuments are orientated towards the rising and setting of the stars of the Cygnus constellation or the "entry point" of the Milky Way. Collins has discovered that the use of deep caves by palaeolithic man was essential to the rise of religious thought and the belief in life's stellar origins. Science has now confirmed the existence of high-energy particles in the caves - particles that come from a binary star known as Cygnus X3.

It would seem that these ancient people were aware of what science is now telling us - that the DNA of life came originally from deep space.