Atlantis Rising 88 Sampler

7/29/2019 Atlantis Rising 88 Sampler

1/13


2/13Number 83 ATLANTIS RISING 4See Our Great 8-page Catalog Beginning on Page 74
http://www.atlantisrising.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AR&Category_Code=DLhttp://www.atlantisrising.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AR&Category_Code=DLhttp://www.atlantisrising.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AR&Category_Code=DLhttp://www.atlantisrising.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AR&Category_Code=DLhttp://www.atlantisrising.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AR&Category_Code=DLhttp://www.atlantisrising.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AR&Category_Code=DLhttp://www.atlantisrising.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AR&Category_Code=DL


3/13See Our Great 8-page Catalog Beginning on Page 74 Number 58ATLANTIS RISING


4/13



he migrating habits of ani-mals have long posed one of

the greatest challenges to theruling scientific paradigm. Fromthe returning swallows of Capis-trano, to monarch butterflies, tograsshoppers, to eels, theamazing navigation skills ofmany animals just dont fit intoany of the standard theoreticalmodels, though some re-searchers think things can be ex-

plained with magnetic currentsand orientation to the sun. Noneof that, though, can account forthe astounding abilities of the

T Humpback whale.A recently completed, 8-yearstudy tracked the seagoing giantsover the course of 10,000-mileannual round trips from polaroceans to tropical seas. The evi-dence is clear; for weeks at a timehumpbacks follow incrediblystraight paths for thousands ofmiles and through some of themost turbulent water in theworld. Despite surface currents,

storms, and other distractions,none of the tracked whales everdeparted more than six degreesfrom their chosen course and

more than half stayed withinone degree. Travis Horton of theUniversity of Canterbury in Eng-land wrote the study which ap-peared in the journal BiologyLetters in April.

The whales had been taggedwith transmitters which sig-naled their precise location at alltimes to satellite listening de-vices. The results have re-searchers thoroughly mystified,

though some theorize that thecreatures must use a combina-tion of magnetic field posi-tioning, sun tracking, and

maybe even star navigation. Magnetic currents, though, vary considerably over the 5,000-mileroutes, and sighting on skypoints seems unlikely for animals which spend most of theitime in water where there is noreliable frame of reference. Morestudy is planned, but materialistic science seems poorlyequipped to grasp the guidingprinciples in natures mos

subtle processes, which areclearly something quite distincfrom ordinary materialistic science-think.

New Evidence of Advanced Stone Age ScienceNew Evidence of Advanced Stone Age Science

Humpback tracking data

Humpback Whales:Master NavigatorsHumpback Whales:Master Navigators

he ancient Britons may nothave had GPS to keep them

from getting lost, but, it turnsout, they didnt need it. Thanksto the existence of a precise net-work of ancient monuments, in-

cluding Stonehenge, SilburyHill, the Mount, and many othersites, the ancients were able tofind their way accurately overhundreds of miles.

Historian and writer TomBrooks says his findings provethat Stone Age Brits were no

T Barbarians. They were, instead,sophisticated engineers whoknew how to use a vast, con-necting grid of icosceles trian-gles marked by the giant monu-ments to travel from site to site.

Accurately placing the triangleswould have demanded, at theleast, a complex understandingof geometry. Measurements con-firmed by the latest GPS tech-nology show triangles over 100

miles long on each side accu-rately sited to within 100 me-ters. You cannot do this bychance, says Brooks who ana-lyzed 1500 sites stretching fromNorfolk to Wales. Each site was

built within eyesight of the next.The new work tends to rein-force earlier findings by suchscholars as Alexander Thom, Al-fred Watkins, and John Michellewho wrote of long, precisely

straight alignments of ancienmonuments called ley lines. ThRomans also conceded that thancient druids possessed a remarkable understanding of thmeasurements of the Earth.

So advanced, sophisticateand accurate is the geometricasurveying now discovered,Brooks told Britains Daily Telegraph, that we must review fundamentally the perception of ouStone Age forebears as primitiveor conclude that they receivesome form of external guidance.

he ancient Britons may nothave had GPS to keep them

from getting lost, but, it turnsout, they didnt need it. Thanksto the existence of a precise net-work of ancient monuments, in-

cluding Stonehenge, SilburyHill, the Mount, and many othersites, the ancients were able tofind their way accurately overhundreds of miles.

Historian and writer TomBrooks says his findings provethat Stone Age Brits were no

T Barbarians. They were, instead,sophisticated engineers whoknew how to use a vast, con-necting grid of icosceles trian-gles marked by the giant monu-ments to travel from site to site.

Accurately placing the triangleswould have demanded, at theleast, a complex understandingof geometry. Measurements con-firmed by the latest GPS tech-nology show triangles over 100

miles long on each side accu-rately sited to within 100 me-ters. You cannot do this bychance, says Brooks who ana-lyzed 1500 sites stretching fromNorfolk to Wales. Each site was

built within eyesight of the next.The new work tends to rein-force earlier findings by suchscholars as Alexander Thom, Al-fred Watkins, and John Michellewho wrote of long, precisely

straight alignments of ancienmonuments called ley lines. TheRomans also conceded that theancient druids possessed a remarkable understanding of themeasurements of the Earth.

So advanced, sophisticatedand accurate is the geometricasurveying now discovered,Brooks told Britains Daily Telegraph, that we must review fundamentally the perception of ouStone Age forebears as primitiveor conclude that they receivedsome form of external guidance.


6/13Subscribe or Order Books, DVDs and Much Mo22 ATLANTIS RISING Number 88

ATLANTOLOGY

Continued on Page 5

BY FRANK JOSEPH

tlantis has, at last, been found! That,at least, is the view of American ar-chaeologist, Richard Freund, whoseresearch was highlighted in a March

National Geographic Channel special.Finding Atlantis follows Freunds interna-tional team of field researchers to an exten-sive region of mud-flats just north of Cadizand south of Seville, Spain. Beginning in2009, Freund employed satellite photog-raphy, ground-penetration radar, and digitalmapping of the vast marshlands which, hebelieves, conceal the lost city in DoanaPark, one of Europes largest swamps.

The site in question had been discoveredsix years earlier when a German aerial sur-veyor was intrigued by satellite imagery ofwhat appeared to be the outline of an expan-sive and curiously circular formation in the

Parque National Coto de Doana. Headed bygeophysicist Paul Bauman from Worley Par-sons in Calgary, Canada, Freunds expeditionused electrical resistivity tomographya vir-tual MRI of the groundto quickly and effi-ciently map subsurface targets and provideinstantaneous results for archaeologists.They are convinced that, indeed, Atlantis hasbeen found there, because both satellite pho-tography and electronic surveying indicatean artificial arrangement of concentric cir-cles conforming with Platos description ofthe imperial capital as described in his fourthcentury BC dialogue, the Critias. They be-

A

goddess, Astarte, and must date no earlthan 800 BC, when the Phoenicians begcolonizing Iberia. They cannot, therefore, associated with Atlantis, which, by all acounts, perished centuries earlier.

Dating the lost city has been and remai

among the most hotly contested topamong Atlantologists. Plato stated that tcapital was destroyed 9,000 years before Egyptian temple-priest shared his accouwith Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, who vited the Nile Delta during the mid-sixth cetury BC. In other words, Atlantis was suppoedly lost some 11,560 years ago. Advocatesa literal interpretation of Platos dialogupoint out that this date coincides with tclose of the last glacial epoch, when cattrophic flooding occurred throughout tNorthern Hemisphere. Whole island chaidisappeared beneath rising seas, and vcoastal territories of Western Europe we

inundated.Opponents point out that Platos detaiportrayal of Atlantisits citadel, fleets ocean-going ships, metallurgy, chariots, stuary, monumental architecture, urban planing, codified laws, agriculture, distributiof labor, organized religion, political hiarchy, etc., etc.describes a characteriscally Late Bronze Age civilization (1500 1200 BC), and could not have, therefoflourished during the Lower Paleolithic ewhen the wheel, like virtually every othmaterial detail associated with Atlantis, h

A NationalGeographic

Documentary

Tries to Makethe Case, but

Does It?

lieve the location under consideration was aharbor city buried by the water and mud of agreat and ancient tsunami, long since turnedto marshland.

Professor Freund, the driving force be-hind the Doana Park investigations, is Di-rector of the Maurice Greenberg Center forJudaic Studies at Connecticuts University ofHartford, and has conducted recent archaeo-logical work across Israel. Interesting as hiswork in Spain appears, however, Freunds as-

sertions seem somewhat premature. To date,no excavations have been undertaken at thesite which he proclaims to be Atlantis.Without thorough, systematic digs of the ar-chaeological zone, nothing certain can beknown about it. Moreover, a chronologicalframe to help determine the sites place inprehistory is missing. Freunds conclusionsare based almost entirely on aerial photog-raphy and a pair of figurines his team-members recovered from the area. Unques-tionably significant finds, these small ce-ramics are, however, clearly identifiable asPhoenician representations of the fertility

Richard Freund with Doana Park artifacts



ALTERNATIVE SCIENCE

o those of us who love them, mapsare wondrous things; and justlooking at a map with eyes and mindwide open can allow us to see pat-

terns previously unnoticed.Looking at a map of North America re-

veals the ancient, eroded Appalachians in theeast and the younger and higher mountainsof the western third of the continent. In be-tween is the deceptively flat and seeminglystable heartland, its smooth contours brokenonly by scattered ranges even more ancientthan the Appalachians, now so worn down

that they are really little more than hills.Dominating the heartland is the vast Missis-sippi River system with its three mainbranches, the Ohio, the Mississippi itself, andthe Missouri, all draining the continent intothe Gulf of Mexico in the south from thehigher ground in the north. But, in the farnortheast is a most peculiar feature, thebroad St. Lawrence Valley. This rivers flow isfar less than that of the Mississippi, but(rather like the Rio de la Plata in SouthAmerica) its lower reaches are abnormallywidefar wider than the Mississippi. Sincerivers and lakes, for obvious reasons, follow

T

Continued on Page

BY WILLIAM B. STOECKERthe low ground, it is possible to trace theareas of low elevation along the St. Law-rence, then along Lake Ontario and LakeErie, the Wabash River Valley, the lowerOhio River, and on down the Mississippi. Butthe lower regions of the St. Lawrence look asif some great force was trying to split thecontinent apart.

From all of this, a somewhat ominouspattern emerges. Most well informed ob-servers know of the series of powerful earth-quakes near the Mississippi and New Madrid,Missouri, in 1811 and 1812, and the count-less smaller quakes that have continued toshake that region to this day. Geologists

have discovered in this area something theycall the New Madrid Seismic Zone and, justto the southwest, the Reelfoot Rift. In fact,there are a number of ancient rift zones, orlong faults, in the heartland; and there havebeen earthquakes almost everywhere inAmerica, including Arkansas, and, especiallyrecently, a good many in Oklahoma. Therehave been earthquakes in Indiana and evenon the flat Gulf Coast Plain areas of Texas,Louisiana, and Alabama where sediment ismiles deep. In fact, geologists speak of theSt. Lawrence Seismic Zone and the WabashSeismic Zone; and some consider the New

Madrid area to be an ancient rift where, loago, seismic forces tried to split the connent. Some believe that the rifting begsome 750 million years BP (before tpresent) during the Neoproterozoic Ewhen North America was part of the connent of Rodinia. Others believe that trifting may date to the time when the Appachians formed. Most believe that it is a fairiftbut is it?

Retired Texaco geologist Jack M. Refinds the conventional view very suspicioIn fact, Reed believes that the entire GulfMexico is an active seismic zone and, psibly, a separate, south-moving crustal pla

He thinks that there may very well be ocontinuous rift from the mouth of the Lawrence to the Mouth of the Mississippi athat the seismic activity in the Gulf hhelped to create this rift. He points to sutectonically active formations as the MonrUplift, the La Salle Arch, and the Sabine Laarea on land, and, in the Gulf of Mexico, tDesoto Canyon, and a domed uplift nearthe Cretaceous Shelf Edge, the SuwannStrait, and the West Florida Escarpment. TSuwannee Strait is a depression extendiacross northwestern Florida and parts

What Do We ReallyKnow About the Risks

That We Face?



the remains had been moved.One showed leg bones that were undoubtedly human, confirm

that one of the stated reasons for their removal was, as I suspectclearly bogus.

Two showed the exact location of the remains, but it was not tarea shown in Daguerres painting. Instead, they had been found

the threshold of the west door.The fourth showed a skull, face down, with a ragged-look

wound just a short distance above theforamen magnum, the natuaperture that allows the spinal cord to connect with the brain.

Taking just a small leap of the imagination, what might this tus?

Theres a long-lived legend that Rosslyns master mason, turning from Rome after studying the design of an exquisite pillarperson, found an apprentice had carved the pillar in his absenFlying into a rage, he slew the apprentice with a blow to the headlegend that resonates with the eponymous murder of Hiram Abchief architect of Solomons Temple, absolutely central to the Freeasonic ritual of the Third Degree.

Could the skull belong to the apprentice? The teeth were in markably youthful condition, and the shape of the head wound

peared consistent with the stone-trimming end of a masohammer.

Researchers skeptical of the chapels claimed Masonic roots scat the legend, protesting that its not exclusive to Rosslyn. Whthere are indeed similar tales told about other ecclesiastical buildiof the day, Im not so quick to throw the baby out with the bathwatAs a speculative researcher, and in the absence of the forensic edence already more than a year in coming, Im happy to present sospeculative thoughts about the Rosslyn bones.

Above the area of discovery are three carved heads. Rosslyn tration describes the one in the southwest, gazing northeast, as the heof the apprentice; the one in the northwest, gazing southeast, as thead of the master mason; and, on an adjacent wall, the apprenticmother, weeping for her son. The chapels website describes

BY JEFF NISBET

hotographic pioneer and artist Louis Daguerres 1824painting, The Interior of Rosslyn Chapel, shows twoworkmen crouching by the base of a pillar, with three Tem-plar Knights nearby. One workman is staring intently at

some bones they have found beneath the flagstones.For a bizarre example of life imitating art, lets fast-forward 186

years.On March 1, 2010, Scottish Television reported that workmen at

Rosslyn, the chapel made famous by The Da Vinci Code, had discov-ered remains in an area with no recorded burials. The remains, con-tinued the STV report, had been removed from the site to be exam-ined by archaeologists to discover their age, type and if they arehuman or animal.

The local police confirmed the find but said it was not beingtreated as a crime. Rosslyn Chapel declined comment.

Two things aroused my interest.First, I was sure that even an untrained eye would be able to dis-

tinguish between animal and human remains and wondered why thearchaeologists could not do the same. Second, I wondered exactly

where the remains had been discovered. The idea they might havebeen found in the spot Daguerre showed in his painting made mechuckle.

It would take me a year to get some answers.During that time, I searched for news updates. There were none. I

also broached the subject with two St. Clair/Sinclair clan onlineforums. Since a William St. Clair had built the chapel in the mid-fifteenth century, these groups share an abiding interest in its his-tory. No one knew anything.

Finally, on Feb. 21, I wrote to a Rosslyn Chapel executive. Therewas no reply.

Someone knew more, but no one was talking.Two weeks later, however, my inquiries finally bore some fruit

an Email containing four remarkable photos of the excavation, before

P

ANCIENT MYSTERIES

THE ROSSLYN BONESTHE ROSSLYN BONES

Subscribe or Order Books, DVDs and Much Mo32 ATLANTIS RISING Number 88

Is the Tale of the Murdered Apprentice More Than Just a Legend?Is the Tale of the Murdered Apprentice More Than Just a Legend?



LOST HISTORY

Continued on Page 37

magine for a moment that the mostcoveted of all Holy Relics has been se-cretly hidden on a remote island in theCaribbean. J.P. Noel, author of The St.

Croix Ark, takes that idea seriously and takeshis readers on a wild journey to explore the

stunning possibility that the Ark of the Cove-nant may indeed be resting in the U.S. VirginIslands.

After opening with a captivating storyabout a vacation taken to St. Croix Island,Noel relates how he was bitten by a local in-sect. The surprising euphoric effects and apossible near-death experience launches himon a quest to investigate the bug, its venom,and a possible new pharmaceutical drug forhealing and pain mitigation.

As he struggles to learn about his insect,Noel becomes enthralled by the unique andmurky history of St. Croix. A second trip tothe island intensifies his curiosity, and hestumbles across an old structure located inthe Salt River Bayoriginal landing site ofChristopher Columbus, which is markedwith red crosses.

As he began to research the island of St.Croix, Noel was struck by the poorly docu-mented presence of the first European inhab-itants: the Knights of Malta, who had onceowned St. Croix.

An extensive history of the Knights Tem-plar and the Knights of Malta/St. John, NoelsThe St. Croix Ark argues that the Ark of theCovenant could have been secretly movedto St. Croix when the Knights of Malta pur-chased the Virgin Islands.

The reader gets a complete understanding

of Noels conspiracy theory, a journey thatdates to the time of the first Crusades, and aplace called King Solomons Temple, whichis, as most of us know, the last known loca-tion of the Ark of the Covenant.

Noel sifts through countless documentsand spends nearly 3,000 hours seeking foranswers and pursues an unforgettablejourney with the potential to rock not onlySt. Croix but historians everywhere.

An Alternate HistoryAt the center of Noels account is a de-

tailed explanation of how the Knights cameto purchase St. Croix in 1651 as well as his

previously unexplored theory of just how theArk could have been brought to and storedon the island.

To fully comprehend his assertion, onemust first understand the Arks history. Theoriginal location is said to be SolomonsTemple, which is also the originating homeof the Franciscan monks, hundreds of yearsprior to the first crusade. Noel suggests thatthese monks in turn became the KnightsHospitallers.

Following the destruction of a hospitalbuilt in AD 600, a second was erected on thesite of St. John the Baptist Monastery. It was

I BY J. CHAMBERLIN

here that the Order of St. John was estab-lished. The Knights of St. John or KnightsHospitallers ultimately become known as theKnights of Malta.

Noel suggests that a decade before theFirst Crusade, the Knights discovered theArk. The instigation of the Crusades couldhave provided a temporary solution to secureJerusalem and to safely remove the Ark.

The discovery of the Ark, he believes,would do much to explain the mysteriouscreation of the Knights Templar, the infa-mous nine members said to have been theguardians of deeply religious artifacts. Noelquestions why historical depictions of thissmall group portray them as responsible forthe protection of thousands of Christian pil-grims.

Noel argues that the Knights of Malta hada secret Sect, known as the Secrati,charged with guarding the Ark (similar tothe Templars who had previously guardedit). Highly secretive, as they were, thesemen, it would seem, would be the perfectpallbearers for this, the holiest of relics.

As that premise is explored in depth, thebook reveals details which make it clear that

the Knights Templar and the Knights oMalta are likely a brotherhood. The Knightshe argues, transported the Ark from Jerusalem to a citadel in Acre, a small town in Israel. The author points out historical recordconfirming a connection of the two orderand placing both in the same fortress at Acre

The notion becomes more intriguing aNoels history unfolds. Acre was merely stepping stone to the next holding groundKrak des Chevaliers in Syria. As with AcreKrak des Chevaliers has also been documented as a home for the Knights of Maltaand Knights Templar.

The knights had held the Ark for morethan 150 years, when the King of France formally abolished the Templars in 1312. Theipossessions were given to the Knights oMalta, demonstrating, says Noel, that the twoentities worked in unison to protect the Ark.

Also in 1312 the Knights of Malta werforced to leave Cyprus. For the following 214years their new home would be Rhodes.

Noel points out that after the KnightTemplar were disbanded, they continued to

Replica of the Ark of the Covenant in the Royal Arch initiatorychamber of the George Washington Masonic National

Memorial. (Photo: Ben Schumin)

Is The Ark of the Covenant in the Virgin IslandsIs The Ark of the Covenant in the Virgin Islands



GREATER DIMENSIONS

any historical ac-counts of meetingswith angels or mes-

sengers of God havebeen recorded. Joan of Arc hadongoing conversations with an-gels and prophetic visions of bat-tles and finding lost swords. Theprophet Muhammad is said tohave received the Koran fromthe angel Jibra'il (Gabriel). TheAviator Charles Lindbergh re-ported conversations with phan-toms that accompanied him onhis solo flight across the At-lantic. These friendly, vapor-likeshapes were able move back andforth through the walls of theplane as they discussed his navi-gational tactics and reassuredhim.

In our modern times, thereare innumerable reports ofpeople receiving guidance andinformation from all kinds of dif-ferent beings, especially duringchallenging events in their lives.People report hearing guidingwords, being touched or lifted toavert a dangerous situation, orsmelling a pleasant fragrancearound the time of someonesdeath. There are also reports of

M

BY PATRICK MARSOLEK

people mysteriously appearingand then disappearing in themiddle of a traumatic event and

offering assistance and calm at acritical moment. Sometimesthese beings are even describedas the classic image of an angel,with glowing auras or wings.

Beliefs in beings who are in-termediaries between humansand God permeate many dif-ferent cultures and religious tra-ditions, from primitive indige-nous cultures to all of the majorworld religions. A 2007 Pew pollfound that as many as 55 percentof Americans believe they havebeen protected by a guardianangel during their lifetime; thepercentage of people who believein the existence of angels is evenhigher.

The word angel usuallymeans a messenger of God, butthe word can also refer to anyspiritual beings who guide orcarry out Gods tasks. For thepurpose of this article, when Iuse the word God, Im refer-ring to the supernatural creatorand overseer of the universe,who has many different namesand forms in the varied spiritual

traditions and world views fromWakan Tanka, the great spirit ofthe Lakota, to Elohim of theJewish faith.

In some belief systems, an-gels manifest for a specific task;and, after they fulfill their pur-pose, they cease to exist. Inother traditions, the angels areimmortal and manifest eternallyin the world as certain qualities.For example, the angel Gabriel isthought to deliver Gods justice

and power, while the angel Ra-phael manifests Gods healingforces. A Christian who is suf-fering and in crisis in the operating room might perceive Ra-phael as an unexplained membof the surgical team who appeabringing comfort and soothingwords.

In polytheistic faiths, indi-vidual Gods can sometimes fillthe role of these specific angelThe trickster, who is known as

Sir Galahad (Arthur Hughes)

Every Culture in the World Feels the Influence.What Should We Make of It?

Every Culture in the World Feels the Influence.What Should We Make of It?

Gilded mythologicalfigures from eighteenthcentury Bangkok,

Thailand. In theforeground is Apsornsi,half woman, half lion.

Gilded mythologicalfigures from eighteenthcentury Bangkok,

Thailand. In theforeground is Apsornsi,half woman, half lion.



Coyote in the American West, asAnansi to the people of West Af-rica, or as Puck to the Celticpeople, is a God who bringstransformation, raises aware-ness, and acts as an equalizer.These gifts come through thetricks and mischief that hebrings. People might experiencethe trickster directly in an en-counter with a physical presence

in their lives, as a vision, or,when things are going wrong,and they feel like the universe isplaying tricks with them.

Its important to note that inmost cultures, an-gels are not alwaysbeings of light whoare here to help hu-mans. In the Chris-tian faith, Satan isthought to be afallen or dark angelwho, although stillan agent of God,brings challengesand hardships.Islam divides inter-mediary beings intoangels, demons,and djinni (or jinn,see the followingarticle by RobertSchoch). The djinnimay be either goodor harmful. In mostcultures, the di-viding line betweengood and bad an-gels is not clear.Trickster, for ex-

ample, may act be-nevolently in one

situation but with evil intent inanother. As with the Fairiespirits of the Celtic faiths,common folklore states that ifyou encounter a spirit, you needto be very careful. They maybring blessings into your life, orthey may bring you greattrouble.

Taking a closer look at Fairiecan reveal some of the com-

plexity of beliefs about all kindsof angels and spirits that can in-fluence our lives. What exactlyfairies are is debated in meta-physical circles. Some think theyare the recently dead, who are insome kind of transition to an-other place. Others say they areelementals, such as gnomes orsylphs, who are respectively asso-ciated with the earth or the air.These spirits take care of thephysical qualities of the worldand are present wherever thoseelements manifest. Others sayfairie are demoted angels, de-mons, or even pagan deities.

There are also debates aboutthe evolutionary hierarchy ofthese ethereal beings. For ex-ample, in the Hindu traditions,the Devas are benevolent spiri-tual beings who are thought tobe more evolved, or closer toBrahma, than the Ghandarvas,who are the nature spirits con-nected with trees and flowers. Inthe Christian tradition, there ismuch debate on which angelsare closer to God and which arecloser to humans. For ex-

ample, ThomasAquinas proposedangels occupy con-centric spheresaround God. In thefirst sphere heplaced Seraphim,Cherubim, and Thrones.Then come the Domina-tions, Virtues; and Powers,and lastly the Principali-ties, Archangels, andAngels.

Seraphim, one ofthe groups of angels

closest to God, often areportrayed as fiery six-winged beings and calledthe burning ones as theysing or extoll Gods praises.They are described in theBook of Enoch and the Bookof Revelation. Recently animage of a Seraphim, which isthought to date from the four-teenth century, has been redis-covered in Istanbul. It portraysthe six-winged angel with twowings over the face, two out to

the side, and two down over thebody, leaving only the face vis-ible. The abundance of wings isthought to represent the purityof this being and his closeness toGod. The face is the only partrecognizable as a human trait,the rest of the figure being spirit

Most worldviews place angelsand spirits on some type of evo-lutionary continuum. The Ghan-

darvas and elementals, such assylphs and salamanders, areoften thought to be less evolvedand more like primal nature en-ergies. The Latter Day Saints be-lieve that angels are former hu-mans or the spirits of humansyet to be born and thus close tohuman in personality andwisdom.

The thirteenth century Per-sian poet Rumi wrote:I died as inanimate matter and

arose a plant,I died as a plant and rose again

an animal.I died as an animal and arose a

man.Why then should I fear to be-

come less by dying?I shall die once again as a man

To rise an angel perfect fromhead to foot!

Again when I suffer dissolutionas an angel,

I shall become what passes theconception of man.

Angel in aMetarie, LAcemetary

Continued on Page 68

Anthropomorphic Coyotetrickster, from North AmericanIndigenous mythology

The Fall ofthe Angels

(Dor)

eraphimn a 14thentury

Byzantineathedral

eraphimn a 14thenturyyzantineathedral



THE PARANORMAL

ecently, while in the United ArabEmirates (February 2011), I traveledto the foothills of Jebel Hafeet inAbu Dhabi, along the border with

Oman. Here 5000-year-old, beehive-shapedstone tombs record an all-but-forgotten an-cient people. Based on artifacts found in theirgraves, they traded with Mesopotamia, pos-sibly Egypt, and perhaps even more remote

regions. But it was not justthe former human creatorsand occupants of these struc-tures that caught my atten-tion. According to the locals,jinn, supernatural or super-sensible beings who alongwith humans and angels arean essential component of thecosmos, now inhabit thesetombs. Like humans, jinn canbe moody. When I visited thetombs, the atmosphere wasone of calm relaxation, in-voking peace and contempla-

tion. The jinn must have beenin good humor! Or perhapsthey had gone out for the day.Such is not always the case.One modern explorer, ap-proaching the entrance to atomb here, suddenly felt aforce hit him with such fe-rocity (he described it as thefeeling of being hit by a mo-torcycle or car) that it liter-ally threw him backward,breaking one of his legs. Mili-tary helicopters avoid flyingover the tombs for fear of direconsequences if they shouldupset the jinn.

The jinn or djinn (jinn, orjinns, plural; jinni, singularmale; jinniyah, singular fe-malespellings differ), ap-pear in Islams Holy Quran(Koran) as creatures with freewill capable of rationalthought and, like humans,thus accountable for their ac-tions. They are variously de-scribed as spirits or psychicentities intermediate betweenthe gross material and purespiritual worlds. Allah created the jinn from a

smokeless flame or the fire and heat of ascorching wind (easily experienced in thedesert) prior to the creation of Adam, theprogenitor of all humankind, from clay.Sometimes jinn are interpreted as simplymade of energy; by one exotic modern hy-pothesis, the jinn are composed of electricallyand magnetically charged particles taking theform referred to by physicists as plasma.According to certain Islamic teachings, an-gels differ from jinn in that the angelsthemessengers and servants of God (Allah)either are not typically capable of, or do notexhibit, the free will of jinn and humans. In

Rjinn are afraid of wolves, so never appearwolves).

In a sense the jinn can be thought ofthe Arab desert version of the satyrs anymphs of classical Greek and Roman mthology and the faeries (fairies) and like crtures of European lore. The jinn may seduhumans, and like the satyrs, they can tathe form of humans with the feet of an a

imal, often that of a goat donkey. In one Arab tale,farmer is working in his fieldnight. A stranger stops by aoffers to help. After awhile, tfarmer looks at the strangefeet, only to see that they are tfeet of a donkey. Overcome wterror, the farmer runs to tlocal village, meeting a man wtries to calm him down and ashim why he is so upset. Tfarmer describes the helpstranger, who must have beenjinni since he had the feet o

donkey. The man looks at tfarmer inquisitively and asLike my feet? Looking dowin horror the farmer sees ththis man too has the feet odonkey and must therefore bjinni.

The jinn have their own soeties, rulers, and religions. Theat, drink, marry, and propagaAccording to one story, the jidine on flesh that supernaturaappears on discarded bones, athe supersensible and supernural animals they raise feed dung. Certain jinn know speciized crafts, such as carpentstone working, or metalworkiand jinn on occasion can mofrom one place to another wincredible speedalmost stantaneously. Although thmay live for centuries or evmillennia, the jinn are susctible to death.

In Arab and Islamic trations, different types of jinn distinguished, with differepersonalities. There is the jinwith the personal name Ib

(possibly derived from the Greek Diabolos,

Devil; sometimes associated with or assumto be the same entity as Lucifer), later calShaytan (Satan, the accuser, or devil; or agroup, jinn called shaytans, sheitans, shtans, shaytaans [and various other spellinfor all of the types of jinn]), reputedly pelled by Allah from Paradise for disobeenceIblis refused to bow to Adam Allahs orders. Other forms of jinn incluthe jann (a relatively weak primeval racejinn), the ghul (ghouls), the 'aam('ulmmaar; jinn who live in houses alongs

different traditions (particularly the Chris-tian tradition), this distinction becomes con-flated as an angel (variously referred to asLucifer, the Devil, or Satan) and his angelic(or formerly angelic) followers rebel againstGods authority, fall from Gods grace, andeffectively set up an evil alternative to Godskingdom. Indeed, as we shall see below, cer-tain types or species of jinn are associated

with the concepts of devils and ghouls.During the pre-Islamic era in the MiddleEast, minor or lesser spirits, apparentlyviewed as below God and the angels, wereoften more or less viewed as jinn or theirequivalent.

Normally invisible to humans (the wordjinn is derived from the Arabic for con-cealed or hidden), at times the jinn canmake themselves known either throughtheir actions or by assuming such forms assnakes, vultures, rabbits, dogs, cats, don-keys, sheep, dragons, monsters, or even hu-mans, both adults and small children (the

Among Arabs, the Realm ofAngels Has its Own Set of Rules

BY ROBERT M. SCHOCH, Ph.D.

Continued on Page

Subscribe or Order Books, DVDs and Much Mo44 ATLANTIS RISING Number 88


13/13
http://www.atlantisrisingmagazine.com/

Atlantis Rising 88 Sampler

Documents

Transcript of Atlantis Rising 88 Sampler