Tears of the Prophets
Orbs, also known as Tears of the Prophets, are mysterious artifacts that originate from non-corporeal entities known as the Prophets, who reside inside the Celestial Temple .
Central to the Bajoran Religion, nine different orbs have appeared in the skies above Bajor in the past ten thousand years. According to Bajoran legend, they were sent by the Prophets to provide guidance and wisdom.
Appearing as hourglass-shaped energy fields, the Orbs defy conventional scientific analysis. They produce temporary but intense metaphorical hallucinations on people in the immediate vicinity, which seems to be a form of direct or indirect communication with the Prophets. However, only individuals whom the Prophets permit will experience these visions. These orb experiences often provide some form of personal insight or divination into the future, and many were recorded in the form of ancient Bajoran prophesies. After an encounter with an Orb, individuals sometimes experience continued visions known as orb shadows. Bajorans believe that Orb shadows result when individuals ignore what their Orb experience had told them.
As tangible objects offering communication with their gods, the Orbs are greatly treasured by the Bajoran people. The Orbs are contained inside ornate, jeweled vessels tended by monks, safeguarded inside monasteries. A Force Field also protects the Orb inside its vessel. Officially, contact with an Orb requires the special permission of the Vedek Assembly, although this is a rarely-followed formality.
Despite their appearances, the Orbs are not purely energy fields, they do have a physical presence. An unknown Orb was damaged at some point in Bajoran history, a fragment of which serves as the jewel in a bracelet. This bracelet was kept in Faren Kag's village on Bajor, where it was wielded by the Sirah. The Sirah would use this bracelet to create a creature called the Dal'Rok, and focus the collective energy of the villagers to defeat it. (DS9: "The Storyteller")
During the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, all but one of the Orbs were stolen and taken off-world for study, although the Cardassians never unraveled their purpose or function. The remaining Orb was hidden away by Kai Opaka, and later given to Benjamin Sisko, who she knew was to become the Emissary. The formal peace treaty signed between the Cardassian Union and the Bajoran Provisional Government in 2371 did not resolve the issue of returning the lost Orbs to Bajor, although several were returned under various other circumstances in the following years.
In 2374, a Pah-wraith carried inside Dukat entered the Celestial Temple through the Orb of Contemplation, causing all the Orbs to go dark. This led to widespread panic among the Bajorans, who believed that their gods had forsaken them. The Orbs were restored three months later by the discovery of the previously unknown tenth Orb, the Orb of the Emissary, by Benjamin Sisko on the planet Tyree.
Some of the Orbs:
- Orb of Contemplation
- Orb of Prophecy and Change
- Orb of Time
- Orb of Wisdom
- Orb of the Emissary (not one of the original nine orbs)
Orb of Contemplation
An Orb Fragment in Sirah's Bracelet
The Dark Orb
Orb of Prophecy and Change
Orb of Wisdom
Orb of time
Orb of the Emissary
