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Early Eastern Variation of the Myth

In ancient China, around 200 AD Zhuge Liang, a statesman and legendary military strategist, invented the first sky lantern. It is believed to be first used by Zhuge Liang to send messages from the battlefield. However, the sky lantern quickly became a favorite toy among children, and entire festivals were created for people to write prayers on their sky lanterns before sending them to the heavens; this festival is still in practice in Taiwan. The prayer on the sky lanterns evolved in China from general prayers to more specific prayers for children alive and passed. It was believed that if a child in heaven could catch the sky lantern with a prayer, the prayer would be brought before God to be granted. The children in heaven could then play with the lanterns until reunited with their parents to continue this next stage of life.

 

Early Western Variation of the Myth

Roughly two thousand years later, the ancient Aztecs created balloon sculptures as sacrifices to the Gods. The Aztecs believed that when people die, they go to Mictlan, the underworld of Aztec mythology. The people’s spirits would then be assigned jobs to do for the Gods based on how they died. If a woman were to die during childbirth, she would have the opportunity to sit and dine with the Sun God during sunset, but during the day would be assigned to take care of the children in heaven.

 

The Aztecs used treated and inverted cat intestines to create balloon sculptures. Only mothers of deceased children were allowed to make and prepare the balloon animals. When prepped correctly and left in the sun, the inverted intestine would seal around the stitching, creating an airtight shell that the mother would have formed into an animal. Once cured under the sun and airtight, the balloon animal would be inflated using an Aztec Death Whistle, designed to express the emotion of or imitate the sound of a wailing mother who lost her child.

 

Once these balloons were inflated during the next ritual sacrifice, they would be added to the sacrificial pyre and burned as offerings to the gods, believing that these toys would reach their children in Mictlan. Knowing these can only be made by their mothers, the children will take comfort in knowing they have not been forgotten, and when their parents die, they will join them in Mictlan.

 

Modern Variation of the Myth

Today the myth has evolved into something seemingly related to the idea of Purgatory in catholicism. Now the myth often referred to as St. Jude’s Parable of Lost Boys is as follows:

 

“Aira was a boy no more than five years old, with jet black hair and big hazel eyes. He was a small boy for his age. One night his beloved pet, scared of a raging thunderstorm, ran out of the hut in which the boy lived. The boy saw this and ran after his dog. In the cold rain, the boy searched for his dog. Aira’s parents and older brother searched for him at daybreak until they found Aira and their dog, shivering, huddled together under a yew tree. The family brought them home, but Aira came down with a sickness. A fever took him not three days later. Aira found himself among colorful clouds and children playing all around him, jumping up and down on the clouds; pleasant squeaks of the clouds rubbing together echoed the children's laughter. Aira felt a presence hold his hand and heard a voice tell him to play here, that he was safe here. To play, and live, and laugh, and that one day your parents will meet you here to take you to meet the rest of your ancestors and that when they do, you’ll ask for five more minutes.”

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The description of the clouds is interpreted as balloons. When balloons are released from the clutches of fine motor challenged babes and fellow juveniles. The balloons rise up into the heavens to support the floor of heaven for children who die too young and innocent. The balloons create a fun theme park for the kid’s souls, not dissimilar to an open-air celestial moon bounce. The children will play here until their parents or parental figures come for them to bring them to “normal” heaven with the rest of their families. Each balloon that has contained the reflection of a smiling child is imbued with this purpose and end goal. Balloons that do not get released and rise up fulfilled their purpose on Earth, bringing a child joy. While the children are playing, they have no concept of time, giving them no way to conceptualize how long they've been there, allowing them to be ever-present, playing, and happy before they're picked up. Every time a child is picked up from this Ikea Kidpen of Godliness, a balloon that supports it deflates, having fulfilled its duty.

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Other Facts

• This myth is where the catholic church originally created the idea of cherubs.

• Believers in the myth say that the myth explains the colors of the sky during sunrise and sunset.

  • As the sun rises and sets, it shines through this area of heaven, and the sun rays filtering through the balloons give the sky its colors. God designed this to reassure grieving parents that their children are not forgotten and are being taken care of.​

• Similarly, this myth is attributed to an explanation of the aurora borealis in the North and the aurora australis in the South.

  • The light shining through the balloons as children are playing on them makes the colors dance through the sky again by design to reassure the living that their loved ones are safe and happy.​