History Main / HeavenAbove

** ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' introduces another wormhole that can lead to Asgard, the Devil's Anus. Of course, this entrance to the gods' realm is located in the sky, forcing anyone who wants to visit the gods to literally ascend from the realm of mortals.

** God is frequently described in the Old Testament as emerging from (or as) storms, whirlwinds, or other heavenly disasters, most famously at the end of the Literature/BookOfJob. There, God's appearance as a massive storm uses the violence of the sky to demonstrate his [[TheOmnipotent power]] and [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm expansive nature]]. Some scholars speculate that the modern YHWH/God was once a wind or air god, or at least that such a god might have been part of their history. Still, it must be noted that despite this, many other acts of God described in Literature/TheBible also involve other, less "high-up" aspects of nature, such as the sea and the ground.
** Several prophets, most notably Moses, climbed mountains - the only way to get 'close' to the sky before airplanes - to speak (more clearly) with God.

* In Myth/AltaicMythology, Tengri, the supreme god, is associated with the clear, blue sky. His name literally means "Sky Father".

* Ever since God's [[http://qwantz.com/index.php?comic=264 second appearance]] in ''WebComic/DinosaurComics'', his text has always been portrayed as coming down from the sky, since of course God lives directly above our two dinosaur protagonists. Also, according to [[http://qwantz.com/index.php?comic=350 this strip]], he used to intervene by reaching down his giant hands from the sky, but reaching that far tired him out and he stopped.

* When Zuko (of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fame) is furious at his seemingly terrible fate in life, how does he express his anger? He does so by literally yelling into the sky on a stormy day, calling on whatever higher power controls the universe to hit him with a BoltOfDivineRetribution.
* The ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "The Balance" has Hawkgirl, an alien from a planet that only ever worshiped {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, scares away Hades' minions, beings who work for a polytheistic god, by pointing up to the sky to [[GodGuise claim]] she works for capital-g {{God}}. Looks like the "sky=God" trope is literally universal.

* In just about every language, the word for "heaven" is a synonym for "sky". Hence why we in English refer to stars and planets as "heavenly bodies". In Latin-based languages there isn't even a distinction between the two concepts; the Latin "caelum" means both sky and heaven, as do the French "ciel" and Spanish "cielo".

The sky is equated with things pertaining to the divine.

There isn't one single origin of this trope, since the sky's association with the unknowable or transcendent comes from humanity's natural awe of the stars and ignorance of what they truly are. So if you want to indicate something beautiful, distant, and far greater than man, the sky is nigh-universally the best symbol to use.

* Creator/GeorgeCarlin has described God as both "the man who lives in the clouds" and "and invisible man, living in the sky" in different routines, mocking Christians under the assumption they believe in a vertically-inclined PhysicalGod.

* The GameWithinAGame of ''WebComic/{{Homestuck}}'' requires character to build towers starting from their houses that rise miles and miles and miles through the skies and deep into space. Only by ascending this self-created tower can they complete the game, [[CharacterLevel fully master their abilities]], and collect the mysterious Ultimate Reward which is in the mystical realm not-so-subtly named ''Skai''a. It is only halfway into the nearly eight thousand page comic that Skaia's Reward is revealed: [[spoiler:the opportunity to become the gods of a new universe.]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "The Balance" has Hawkgirl, an alien from a planet that only ever worshipped {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, scares away Hades' minions, beings who work for a polytheistic god, by pointing up to the sky to [[GodGuise claim]] she works for capital-g {{God}}. Looks like the "sky=God" trope is literally universal.

* In just about every language, the word for "heaven" is a synonym for "sky". Hence why we in English refer to stars and planets as "heavenly bodies". In Latin-based languages there isnt even a distinction between the two concepts; the Latin "caelum" means both sky and heaven, as do the French "ciel" and Spanish "cielo".

* There is an UrbanLegend that the first astronaut, UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin, has said something along the lines of "I've been in space, and I've seen no God". Most of the reliable sources agree that if something like that was ever said, it was UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev claiming Gagarin had been in space and saw no God (Gagarin was himself an Eastern Orthodox Christian). However, another astronaut from the Soviet Union may have also said this.

* Creator/AlexandreCabanel's ''Art/TheFallenAngel'': Lucifer is [[KubrickStare staring angrily at the sky]], a sky where God and his angels live and a place that is now forbidden to him. Moreover, the still divine angels are flying above Lucifer and the upper half of the canvas is occupied by, well, the sky.

** God is frequently described in the Old Testament as emerging from (or as) storms, whirlwinds, or other heavenly disasters, most famously at the end of the Literature/BookOfJob. There, God's appearance as a massive storm uses the violence of the sky to demonstrate his [[TheOmnipotent power]] and [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm expansive nature]]. Some scholars speculate that the modern YHWH/God was once a wind or air god, or at least that such a god might have been part of the their history. Still, it must be noted that despite this, many other acts of God described in Literature/TheBible also involve other, less "high-up" aspects of nature, such as the sea and the ground.

* Just before the death of the titular character of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', [[spoiler:time freezes and he talks about seeing his dead friends and family "on the other side." As he says their names, his best friend, his son, his mother, and his father figure all walk across the balcony across the stage, implying this "other side" is above Hamilton.]] This upwards view of heaven is further emphasized when Hamilton desperately cries "Rise up" just before he is shot.

* Volume Four of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' includes a description of [[{{Heaven}} God's realm]] as a Silver City "above" the universe proper, which angels can only leave by "falling toward the world." The odd thing about this is that the Silver City isn't just "above" the Earth, but it is also above the psychic realities that makes up the Kingdom of Dreams, Asgard, Hell, and other places that can't properly be said to be "above" or "below" anything else.

* In Myth/NorseMythology, Asgard, the realm of the gods, is said to be one level up on the world tree Yggdrasil from Midgard, the realm of mortals (i.e. Earth).

* In ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears'' when [[spoiler: Goldiethe fish]] dies, Papa Bear says that she went to the a big castle in the sky, a metaphor for the afterlife.

** Of all the places in Greece they could have lived, the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Gods]] decided to seat their thrones on the highest mountain in the country, Mount Olympus, placing the gods on the point closest to the heavens. They are otherwise described as "of the heavens", clearly connecting them to other indo-european traditions.
** In Myth/NorseMythology, Asgard, the realm of the gods, is said to be one level up on the world tree Yggdrasil from Midgard, the realm of mortals (i.e. Earth).

** Several prophets, most notably Moses, climbed mountains - the only way to get 'close' to the sky before airplanes - to speak (more clearly) with God.
* In Japanese Mythology the celestial planes where the primordial divinities lived were the first things in existence. They were also the lightest so when the denser earthly world came into being, they settled above all others.
* Yang, the light energy in Asian mysticism, is associated with the sky.
* In a sort of backhanded way both Myth/EgyptianMythology and Myth/AboriginalAustralianMyths invision the SpiritWorld as in the sky rather than in the underground as most other mythologies. However the sky's home to more than just benevolent spirits...

* The characters on ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' occasionally pray for help (though only to "the universe) in tough spots, and they always do this by looking up and begging. In the case of the [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS1E22ComeOn first season finale]], a prayer to the sky even leads to a uniquely heavenly miracle: a heavy rain inexplicably appears and keeps the protagonist's love from leaving with the wrong man.

* Inverted on ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' for both trolls and dwarfs. They're usually subterranean, so they view ''down'' as the direction of Heaven. [[OurBetterIsDifferent Related]]: Dwarfs use "enlightened" to mean "ignorant and misguided"; someone who's profoundly knowledgeable or appropriately civilized would be "endarkened".

* In ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears'' when [[spoiler: Goldie the fish]] dies, Papa Bear says that she went to the a big castle in the sky, a metaphor for the afterlife.

* In ''Literature/TheColdMoons'', badgers believe that heaven (called "Asgard") is in the sky:
-->''Beaufort gazed up as the sun fell, below the skyline, thinking of [[spoiler:Eldon]] as the old leader started his final journey, up to Capricorn, the southern gate of the sun, over the rainbow bridge, through the halls of Gladshelm and Valhalla to live again''.

* The GameWithinAGame of ''VideoGame/{{Homestuck}}'' requires character to build towers starting from their houses that rise miles and miles and miles through the skies and deep into space. Only by ascending this self-created tower can they complete the game, [[CharacterLevel fully master their abilities]], and collect the mysterious Ultimate Reward which is in the mystical realm not-so-subtly named ''Skai''a. It is only halfway into the nearly eight thousand page comic that Skaia's Reward is revealed: [[spoiler:the opportunity to become the gods of a new universe.]]