| Wormhole aliens | |
|---|---|
Benjamin Sisko (right) speaks with a Bajoran Prophet (left), posing as his mother |
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| Home world | None, reside inside the Bajoran wormhole |
| Base of operations | Bajoran wormhole |
| Affiliation | Bajorans |
In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Prophets, also known as Wormhole Aliens, are non-corporeal beings who inhabit the artificially constructed Bajoran wormhole which connects a distant point in the Gamma Quadrant to the Alpha Quadrant, near the planet of Bajor and the space station Deep Space Nine.
The Bajoran people worship the Prophets as gods, in a religion referred to as The Way of the Prophets; this is because the Wormhole Aliens have sent prophecies, as well as mysterious spiritual devices called Orbs or Tears of the Prophets, to Bajor. The prophets exist outside of time and space, and do not understand linear time; a probable explanation for the prophetic visions experienced by many who interact with them. Commander Benjamin Sisko, who took command of Deep Space Nine after the withdrawal of the Cardassians from Bajor, became the first corporeal being to communicate with the prophets on stardate 46379 ("Emissary"). The Bajorans thus consider him a sacred emissary. The Prophets appear to Sisko as people with whom he is familiar, and refer to him as The Sisko.
At some point in the distant past, some Prophets were forcibly expelled from their wormhole home, and chose to reside on Bajor, where they became known as the (supposedly mythical) Pah Wraiths. The wraiths long for revenge against the other Prophets, and often take over the bodies of corporeal beings to reach that end. In the DS9 episode "The Assignment" a Pah Wraith occupies the body of Keiko O'Brien, to force her husband, Chief Miles O'Brien, to kill the Prophets using the station's deflector array.
Since the Wormhole Aliens/Prophets seem at times to have little knowledge of other species, the exact nature of their relationship to the Bajorans is unknown (they often claim that "We are of Bajor", although it is unclear what they mean by this). It is unsure whether the Prophets ever called on the Bajorans to worship them, or whether the Bajorans took it upon themselves to do so; in any event, the Prophets (with the exception of the Pah Wraiths) do not seem to be tyrannical deities, and most of their activities concerning their devotees seem to be sending them aid or helping to defeat the Pah Wraiths.
Commander Sisko's birth mother Sarah Sisko, while human, was possessed by a Prophet for the purpose of conceiving and giving birth to the Emissary. The Prophet left Sarah's body shortly after her son's birth.[1]
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Tears of the Prophets or Orbs are a set of artifacts which featured prominently in the story arcs of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. According to Bajoran religious tradition, they were sent to the Bajoran people from the Prophets to help guide them, hence their name.
The Bajoran orbs are somewhat mysterious in that they defy scientific analysis. They are hourglass-shaped and emanate light and a visible field of energy. Each Orb has a unique power or property; some will create visions, others (such as the Orb of Time), can actually transport a person to another time. After an Orb encounter, individuals may experience later visions known as orb shadows. Although medical science explains these residual hallucinations as the result of excess neuropeptides in the brain, Bajorans believe that Orb shadows only result when individuals ignore what their Orb experience had told them.
The first four of the nine original Orbs are named in Deep Space Nine. The fifth, the Orb of Memory, is featured but not directly named. The tenth Orb, the Orb of the Emissary, is also named. The remaining Orbs (6-9) are identified in various Star Trek novels.
Bajorans believe the devices were sent by the Prophets to communicate with the Bajoran people. As gifts from their gods, these orbs are highly prized, kept in ornate jeweled cases and conventionally guarded by force fields. Nine such orbs, at least five of which were found in the Denoris Belt, were recovered by the Bajoran people during their long history. Of these nine, many were stolen or desecrated by the Cardassians during the Cardassian Occupation, and at least one is known to have fractured (see "The Storyteller"). A tenth Orb, the Orb of the Emissary, was discovered by Captain Benjamin Sisko on the planet Tyree. This Orb was (presumably) hidden there by his mother, Sarah Sisko, who was acting under the influence of the Prophets.
The Bajoran Orbs are: