Wheel of Time Cosmology

==The Wheel of Time and the Great Pattern==
"What is the Wheel of Time? Imagine a great cosmic loom in the shape of a seven-spoked wheel, slowly spinning through eternity, weaving the fabric of the universe. The Wheel, put in place by the Creator, is time itself, ever turning and returning. The fabric it weaves is constructed from the threads of lives and events, interlaced into a design, the Great Pattern, which is the whole of existence and reality, past, present, and future."
When the books refer to the Wheel and the Pattern in regard to events like the Dark One destroying the Wheel and remaking the Pattern, they are referring to the entirety of creation. What that entails is explained below:
"Within the influence of this Lace of Ages are not only the earth and stone of the physical world, but other worlds and universes, other dimensions, other possibilities. The Wheel touches what might be, what might have been, and what is. It touches the world of dreams as well as the world of waking."
Confirmation that the Wheel is not just the main universe, but includes the World of Dreams, the Mirror Worlds, or alternate universes, and the Parallel Worlds, or other dimensions. More on these, and the distinction between Mirror and Parallel, is below.
"The Great Wheel is the very heart of all time. But even the Wheel requires energy to maintain itself and its pattern. This energy comes from the True Source, from which the One Power may be drawn...Working both together and against one another within the True Source, it is saidin and saidar which provide the driving force that turns the Wheel of Time."
From the perspective of beings within the Wheel, the One Power is infinite in scope and power. We never find out if eventually the Wheel will stop turning on its own, although the phrase "ever turning and returning" suggests it will never stop.
==The Main Universe==
The cosmology for a single universe, the main one at least, is simple. The story takes place on our Earth (see below), and when Rand becomes able to perceive the entire universe he realizes it is so much more than just his planet. It was confirmed by Robert Jordan that circles of linked Aes Sedai in the Age of Legends could Travel to other worlds and star systems, although other galaxies would be impossible even for a full circle. Moghedien confirmed this in the books when she was flaunting her Age's superiority over the backwards Third Age, saying that the Aes Sedai in her Age could "travel to other worlds, even worlds in the sky. Do you know that the stars are..."
"In this world there is no one beginning or one end, for each spoke of the great Wheel represents one of the seven Ages, receding into the past and returning in the future as the Wheel spins, the fabric of each Age changing only its weave and pattern with each passing. With every pass the changes vary to an increasingly greater degree."
Each Age has defining characteristics that make it recognizable, but every turn provides variation. Imagine each Age as the outline of a plot, but each turn of the Wheel provides different details and characters to fulfill that plot.
"No one knows the length of time it takes for a full turning of the Wheel, nor is there a set time for each Age. There is only the certainty that all will come around again, though surely long past the span encompassed by human memory, or even legend."
"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again."
As the Ages pass, the previous Age's events become legend. This can be seen all through the series when characters refer to events of the Age of Legends, the prior Age. Myth seems to refer to stories of more than one Age ago, as the reader is provided various myths from before the Age of Legends. Those myths also provide the main evidence that the universe in the Wheel of Time is our universe, with one of the myths being confirmed by Robert Jordan.
*Myth: Lenn was a human of the First Age "who flew to the moon in the belly of an eagle made of fire" and had a daughter Salya who "walked among the stars." Robert Jordan confirmed the connections to John Glenn, who said the famous phrase, "The eagle has landed," and Sally Ride.
*Myth: Mosk the Giant "wielded a lance of fire which could reach around the world" and went to war with "Elsbet, Queen of All." At some point Mosk and Merc, another giant, "fought with spears of fire." Mosk is Moscow and his lance of fire was an intercontinental ballistic missile. Elsbet is Elizabeth, and refers to the UK. Merc, the other giant with his own spear of fire, represents America.
*Myth: Materese the Healer was the "Mother of the Wondrous Ind." She refers to Mother Theresa, and her title refers to how she worked in India.
*Myth: Anla the Wise Counselor refers to Ann Landers, a famous advice columnist from the Chicago Sun-Times.
*There is also an ancient artifact representing hubris, shaped like a three-pointed star in a circle, and described as an unknown material softer than metal despite having a silvery finish (plastic Mercedes-Benz hood ornament)
==Parallel Worlds==
These refer to other dimensions rather than alternate universes. The most obvious examples are the realms of the Finn, only accessible through the redstone door ter'angreal and the Tower of Ghenjei. In these realms the laws of physics work differently, with space folding back in on itself and time flowing oddly.
The only other confirmed Parallel World is the homeland of the Ogier. They use an artifact called the Book of Translation to travel between dimensions. According to them, during some Ages they are present in the main universe, but during others they reside in their Parallel World. It is unclear exactly what criteria they have for deciding which dimension to make their home in.
In addition to the statement from World of WoT, the Ogier provide in-book evidence that the Parallel Worlds exist within the Wheel and not outside of it. The Ogier were deciding whether to open the Book of Translation and flee the Last Battle, but chose not to, as the Dark One's victory would effect their home dimension as well.
==Mirror Worlds (Alternate Timelines)==
"The Mirror Worlds of course come right out of physics, and the possibility of (inaudible) universes and all the rest of it." - Interview with Robert Jordan
The above quote, combined with textual evidence, makes it extremely likely that the Wheel of Time is a multiverse where every moment spawns a new timeline depending on the different courses events could take. Here's what we know from the books:
*"From Stone to Stone run the lines of "if," between the worlds that might be." - The Great Hunt, Chapter 13, page of old manuscript describing the Mirror Worlds
*"If a woman go left, or right, does Time's flow divide? Does the Wheel then weave two Patterns? A thousand, for each of her turnings? As many as the stars?" - The Great Hunt, Chapter 13, written speculation of an ancient Aes Sedai on the nature of the Mirror Worlds.
*"The Pattern has infinite variation, she says, and every variation that can be, will be." - The Great Hunter, Chapter 16, Lanfear educating Loial on the Mirror Worlds
*"Apparently, not every Stone connects to every world, and the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends believed that there were possible worlds no Stones at all touched...It is believed there are worlds where a year is only a day here, and others where a day is a year here. There are supposed to be worlds where the very air would kill us at a breath, and worlds that barely have enough reality to hold together." - The Great Hunt, Chapter 37, Verin sharing what she knows from her studies of ancient Aes Sedai knowledge. 
*The same chapter has them view so many alternate timelines that Rand couldn't count them all. Verin says, "The Lines that joins the Worlds That Might Be, laid by those who knew the Numbers of Chaos...Different lives for the different ways things might have happened."
*"In all of these worlds, whatever their other variations, a few things are constant. One is that the Dark One is imprisoned in all of them...There is one Creator, who exists everywhere at once for all of these worlds. In the same way, there is only one Dark One, who also exists in all of these worlds at once." - The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 21, Verin explaining the Wheel to Egwene
*"The Portal Stones are said to be gateways to alternative realities within the Pattern. The knowledge of their use has been lost, but it is believed that Aes Sedai in the Age of Legends used them freely. Indications are that they may predate the Age of Legends." - World of WoT
*The monstrous creatures used by the Seanchan were actually brought over from Mirror Worlds using Portal Stones sometime in the first thousand years following the Breaking - from the World of WoT
Putting together everything we know, we can see that Robert Jordan based his world on multiverse theory, where each event generates a new timeline based on how things could have happened. Some alternate timelines are very similar to the main one, with characters living out different lives, but others are drastically different, even having different flows of time or weakened realities. The Creator, Dark One, and Tel'aran'rhiod are the three constants between all the infinite timelines.
==Tel'aran'rhiod (World of Dreams)==
"The point is that there is a third constant besides the Creator and the Dark One. There is a world that lies within each of these others, inside all of them at the same time. Or perhaps surrounding them." - The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 21, Verin explaining the world of dreams to Egwene
"Between the weave of this Great Pattern are spaces, and it is there that the ancients believed Tel'aran'rhiod exists." - World of WoT
The World of Dreams, or the Unseen World, is a dimension that touches all others, reflecting all realities at once. Things that have a stable presence in physical reality have reflections in TAR that can be interacted with by people who enter TAR. One of the greatest uses for TAR is obtaining information. Physical objects like letters, army camps, and the like can all be looked at in perfect detail without any risk of being caught, unless the enemy has their own Dreamers patrolling TAR. People and domesticated animals do not have reflections there, except for when the Dark One's increased touch upon the Pattern in the Last Battle began to break down the boundaries between the worlds. 
TAR can be freely manipulated by Dreamers, those who can enter TAR consciously or in the flesh. While channeling can be used there, the power of thought and will is far greater, as shown when Perrin was able to casually handle balefire with his mind. Dreamers can use thought to instantly teleport themselves throughout TAR, called shifting, and can even focus on their needs to shift to a location that will help them with whatever they need to do. Strength of will is everything when fighting in the Dream. One with a sufficiently powerful will can forcefully change another Dreamer, enforcing their idea of the other person onto that person. For example, Egwene snapped Mesaana's mind by believing Mesaana had a broken mind.
It is possible for powerful channelers, or those with a special ability, to freely enter the world of dreams in the flesh, rather than visiting in dreams. When doing so, their power to affect TAR with their mind is drastically enhanced, and they can take physical objects and other people with them. This provides a very distinct advantage in battle, as a powerful Dreamer like Perrin can force an opponent that would normally be too powerful for him into the Dream, where he is arguably the most powerful Dreamer in known history. Channelers such as Rand and the Forsaken use a different method, making a dimensional portal similar to a Gateway, yet not exactly the same.
The flow of time is altered in TAR, seemingly at random. According to Robert Jordan, "Time in Tel'aran'rhiod and the real world run at different rates, but it never runs backwards."
If a Dreamer flies into the sky in TAR and keeps going, they reach an infinite, black void filled with pinpricks of light that resemble stars. Each point is the dream of a living being, in all the infinite worlds of the Wheel. Trying to enter those dreams places the Dreamer in the power of the one whose dream they are entering, making it inherently dangerous. However, Dreamers are able to speak to others in their dreams by moving up to the pinprick and lightly touching it.
Category:The Wheel of Time
Category:Explanation Pages