A New View of "Down Under"!

I had been wanting a world map for my wall, for ages, and a few months ago, I was in a local bookstore in Ballarat, and found a map that made me chuckle.

An upside down view of the world! How strange it looked! The whole idea, was that Australia was sitting on top of the world, and was not located "down under" at all. The shapes of countries looked odd, and out of place. For instance, Italy looked like a lower case "r" rather than a boot. As well, a majority of my fellow Canadians were, in this case, living on the top section of our country not near the bottom! Hmmm... Interesting!

And so, my world view changed when I took a second to think about it.

My whole life I had been taught that there was a northern, southern, western, and eastern hemisphere... that places such as Canada and Russia, and let's face it most of the world were all located in the Northern hemisphere, while places such as Australia, Antarctica, and "South" America, were considered predominantly southern nations.

I realized: With the earth suspended in a universe where there actually is no compass, who decided that "North was North?". Apparently early European navigators, decided to name a star - the north star, and began using magnetic compasses to find their way - which was the beginning of the development of world maps today. However, at one time, the East used to be the top - which is where the word Orient-ation came from.

Well... in the end, I decided to buy the map, and now I feel like the world is mine to discover again. It actually allows me a whole new appreciation for the world God made and created, and I feel like a child rediscovering the majesty of the world again. It certainly takes me a few more moments to find countries and places in regions that I thought I new beforehand!