Recovering the Lost World --Jno Cook
Other Cosmologies.
$Revision: 16.11 $
Contents of this file:
[Speculative Cosmologies]
[Sitchin]
[Planet X]
[Ancient Astronauts]
[Bible Aliens]
[God's Math]
[Supernova]
[Orion's Belt]
[Mayan Cycle]
[Mars Wars]
[Hologram]
[Binary Star]
[Firmament]
[Taurids]
Speculative Cosmologies
Following are some alternative cosmologies which do not explain and do not hold together, even though many are well researched. I have added my comments only as needed. Most are not so much complete cosmologies as they are explications of catastrophic events in the era from 10,000 BC to the 7th century BC. Most take the current state of the Solar System for granted. That will do, although, as described on these pages, it is completely incorrect. But first a note from Phil Burns, who has commented on some of these:
"My personal feeling is that any historical content that might underlie myths of cosmic catastrophes is difficult to extract and remains subject to multiple interpretations. Interpreting such myths literally is likely to lead to untenable hypotheses involving large scale disruptions of the Earth and solar system that cannot be sustained from physical evidence."
I agree, but I think, first, that "large scale disruptions of the Earth and solar system" can be sustained, certainly and unquestionably, from physical evidence. Burns should get off his couch and fly across the Western United States in a Piper Cub. Burns goes on..
"Myths tell us how the ancients perceived the universe, not necessarily how the universe really worked. Trying to rewrite physics and astronomy based upon mythological interpretation is a fundamentally incorrect procedure."
-- [http://www.pibburns.com/catastro/myths.htm]
Who would rewrite physics and astronomy? I think the real question is, Why are we afraid to enter the imagination of the ancients? Certainly we should be able to make sense of what lies behind "how the ancients perceived the universe." Could we not excercize our imagination to find possibilities without rewriting physics?
The following is a sampling of the work of others who believe this to be true, ranging from bizarre to sublime. I started to understand 'fringe' as a border of loose threads, rather than 'outer edge,' although I respect the work that went into these. Some are followed by comments. Others require none.
If I have misrepresented any of the following, it is an oversight. I will gladly correct the capsule descriptions below, although my evaluations will (probably) remain the same.
-=-= Sitchin =-=-
From an article in Atlantis Rising Magazine describing the work of Zecharia Sitchin, "The 12th Planet" (1976) and additional books, "The Stairway to Heaven" (1980), "The Wars of Gods and Men" (1985), "The Lost Realms" (1990), "When Time Began" (1993). The official website is at [http://www.sitchin.com/] but less lucid.
"... According to Sitchin, mankind owes most of its ancient legacy to visiting extraterrestrials. The Russian-born Israeli resident and ancient language expert has indeed come up with some very intriguing, if not compelling, data. Indeed, few can match Sitchin's scholarly credentials. One of a handful of linguists who can read Sumerian cuneiform text, he is also a recognized authority in ancient Hebrew as well as Egyptian hieroglyphics."
"Not a little controversy, though, surrounds his unusual method of interpreting the ancient texts. Sitchin insists they should be read, not as myths, but quite literally, essentially as journalism."
A single mention of "extraterrestrials" is enough to turn me away entirely. Such insanity can only be sustained by someone who has not the slighest concept of the dimensions of space (see the [Cosmology] chapter for a scale model of near space), and who lacks an appreciation of the span of time it has taken for life to achieve the complexity we experience.
[Sitchin has presented..] "extensive 6,000-year-old evidence that there is one more planet in the solar system, from which astronauts, the biblical giants (nephilim), came to Earth in antiquity. Laid out in the series is an elaborate tale of space travelers from the theoretical 10th planet (12th if the Sun and Moon are included) in the solar system, called Nibiru, or Marduk in Babylonian.""This planet, claims Sitchin, has a very eccentric orbit traveling from far beyond Pluto, cutting across the orbits of the rest of the planets, and then half-circling the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, taking 3,600 Earth years in the process."
"On its closest orbital approach, about 450,000 years ago, a band of Nibiruans known as the Anunnaki, landed on Earth in southern Mesopotamia and proceeded to mine gold, evidently needed for their planet's survival. Early efforts in the Persian Gulf proved inadequate, so underground mining in South Africa was begun."
Nothing, of course, has ever been sighted of a 10th planet. Notice that Sitchin lacks the imagination to extend the wonders of the past beyond the objects, desires, and thinking of his own milieu. I was also going to note, "Well, damn, what would you expect to find in the Persian Gulf, except mud?"
-=-= Planet X =-=-
Planet X, or alternately 'Nemeses', or 'Nibiru' after Sitchin, or some such interloper, is the topic at Andy Lloyd's website, to be followed by a book titled "The Dark Star." Following is a brief quote from the opening page of the website.
".. the potential for a small brown dwarf to be found orbiting the Sun is not only scientifically plausible, but would enable us to tie up a great number of loose ends in ancient religion and mythology."
"The recent discovery of the minor planet Sedna lends credence to this claim on a number of levels. I have now updated this theory substantially, moving closer to Zecharia Sitchin's own previous work but also incorporating a swath of new scientific findings into an elegant new hypothesis."
As I have pointed out, the small brown dwarf was Saturn. Sedna is a very small rock which will hardly answer to the requirements. A more likely 'companion' to the Sun is the star Sirius, but way too far away to have any effect.
-=-= Ancient Astronauts =-=-
Erich von Däniken's book "Chariots of the Gods" is alive at this site, where the Archaeology, Astronautics & SETI Research Association publishes the quarterly "Legendary Times" on the web. To quote from their opening page:
"The A.A.S.R.A. is determined to prove whether or not Extraterrestrials visited Earth in the remote past. In his ground breaking book "Chariots of the Gods," Erich von Däniken brought forth a revolutionary theory: Extraterrestrials visited Earth thousands of years ago."
"They left clues behind in the form of mysterious, enigmatic monuments, curious artifacts, misunderstood technologies, and especially stunning descriptions of flying machines and other curiosities in ancient texts, holy scriptures and tales of mythology. What really happened in the past...?"
What really did happen in the past? Conceive of humans being as clever and industrious as we are today, and no extraterrestrials are needed.
"Questions pertaining to humanity's origins and our uniqueness concern each and everyone of us over and over again. Secrets of this world hold the answers. The world is full of mysteries: the the pyramids at Giza, Egypt, Stonehenge in England, or the lines of Nazca, Peru."
"Since the general sciences have the tendency to ignore or underestimate the message behind those mysteries, they are excluded from our daily lives. Therefore, these mysteries become some of the greatest uninvestigated areas which remain unsolved for our youth and coming generations."
I do not buy any of this, and fail to see the "message behind those mysteries." The "mysteries" are all the same stuff anyway. Writers: Erich von Däniken, David Childress, Peter Fiebag, Robert Bauval, Ulrich Dopatka, Luc Bürgin, Giorgio Tsoukalos.
-=-= Bible Aliens =-=-
Add "Bible Aliens" and "UFOs," to the above, and perhaps add "Crop Circles" and "Cryptozoology." What is "Cryptozoology," anyway? [http://www.alienpress.com]
-=-= God's Math =-=-
To just quote from the website:
The author feels that this condition is a message from God. The formula, by the way, a version of Kepler's Law, is (( pi exp( (9/4p)) * ln(30)) - F) exp ((2p/3)) = 20p"The mathematics demonstrates that the major (planetary) orbits of the Solar System are precisely ordered, and conform to an artificial mathematical equation to within 0.2%. I refer to the equation as The Creation Equation."
"The mathematics proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the scientific account of the origin of the Solar System is not correct."
-=-= Supernova =-=-
D. S. Allan and J. B. Delair "Cataclysm : Compelling Evidence of a Cosmic Catastrophe in 9500 BC" (1997). Quotes from the website follow.
[The book is about] "... how this Golden Age of peaceful conditions and equable climates ended traumatically in a tremendous catastrophe about 11,500 years ago. This was part of a cataclysm which disturbed the whole solar system, destroyed at least one sizable planet and its satellite, and also severely devastated Mars and Earth."
It was all too cold 11,500 years ago (9500 BC) for an "equable climate." Earth warmed up after 9000 BC. No planets were destroyed. The asteroid belt dates from long before humans. But there is more..
"Among the fundamental geophysical effects experienced by Earth were a massive fracturing of the crust, a realignment of Earth's axis, elevation of new mountains, and widespread rearrangement of land and sea."
"These changes were accompanied by an appalling global conflagration, a gigantic flood, and what has been described as 'collapsed sky' conditions. A bombardment by debris from the disintegrated satellite of the destroyed planet added to the worldwide chaos."
"Much of Earth's animal and plant life was annihilated by these frightful events. Some havens and refuges did exist, offering shelter to various faunal and floral species from flood or fire - then to have to endure the appalling conditions which followed. [...]"
"The possible origins of this terrible calamity are considered in some detail, the authors concluding that, after dismissing comets, asteroids and giant meteors, the most likely candidate is a supernova explosion which, on the astronomical scale of things, occurred uncomfortably close to our solar system relatively recently."
A supernova in current parlance is a bombardment by high energy protons. It is not going to split the Earth's crust and raise mountains. I also find the geological information at odds both with accepted dogma and with common sense. But there is much more and the collected information is interesting. They start the 'Ice Age' in 9,500 BC and end in 5,500 BC. The "Ice Age" extends much further into the past, and is probably the result of a larger orbit than we currently experience.
-=-= Orion's belt =-=-
Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert "The Orion Mystery; Unlocking the Secrets of the Pyramids" (1994).
"Since 1979 when he first became interested in the Star Religion of the Egyptians, Robert Bauval has been researching the secrets of the pyramids. Almost by accident he stumbled upon the central mystery of the Egyptian religion, their preoccupation with the constellation of Orion as their hoped-for afterlife destiny."
"At first tentatively and then with growing conviction he presented his findings to a mostly hostile establishment that the major pyramids of the IVth Dynasty were built to represent the stars of this afterworld."
"This, at first sight bizarre, theory he was able to back up with ancient texts, ceiling paintings, star-maps and other data that when taken together makes up an extraordinarily convincing case. The question then becomes not whether what he had discovered is true but rather why had no one noticed these things before?"
The following is additional comment from Adrian Gilbert's site:
"The important role of the Great Pyramid of Khufu in this stellar religion of the pharaohs was more than hinted at by the discovery in 1966 by the astronomer Virginia Trimble that a shaft from the "Kings Chamber" was angled in such a way that it aligned perfectly with the culmination, that is to say the point exactly on the north-south meridian that, at the time the pyramids were built was daily crossed by the Belt of Orion."
"As it was already known that a similar shaft on the northern side of the Kings Chamber aligned with the then North Star: Thuban in Draco, such alignments seemed to be a deliberate piece of astro-architectural engineering."
I have already commented on how the confusion of Osiris and Orion continues to be widely accepted, even though it has no basis. The book additionally misidentifies Sothis with the star Sirius when it is as likely to represent Venus, that is, Isis. The Greek text of the Canopus Decree of 239 BC makes this very clear. The Canopus Decree is discussed in the [Canopus Decree] chapter. Other comments contra the "Orion" book are found in an endnote to the [Noah] chapter.
To base a whole book on the alignment of a single ventilation shaft is insane speculation. These 'alignments' are not correct, since the sky has changed since 2600 BC. As I have pointed out, any retrocalculation before 685 BC will be incorrect. But more importantly, the Egyptians had almost no interest at all in the stars, as others have noted. And the stars in the belt of Orion do not match the plan-view of the Giza pyramids.
-=-= Mayan cycle =-=-
Adrian Gilbert and Maurice Cotterell "The Mayan Prophecies" (1995).
"In this book the authors demonstrate how the Mayan Super Number 1,366,560 days, recorded in the Dresden Codex, indicates ancient knowledge of sunspot cycles and their effect on the human race. They explore the popular myth of Quetzalcoatl and its origins in Mayan ideas concerning the sun cycle."
"They also show the links between the pre-Columbian civilizations of Central America and the Old World, in particular Egypt. Examining the archaeological record, they find further evidence for linking the origins of Mayan civilization with the mythical lost continent of Atlantis, which according to Plato was destroyed in a series of catastrophes."
"The book reaches its climax when they reveal that the Mayan calendar prophesies the end of our own "Age of the Jaguar", the fifth and final "sun" in 2012 AD. This, according to Cotterell's sun-spot theories, could be brought about by a sudden reversal in the earth's magnetic field."
Atlantis, Egypt, sunspots, and the Mayan capacity for prediction. The Maya could not even predict their own demise. There are closer parallels to the Shang dynasty.
-=-= Mars Wars =-=-
Donald W. Patten and Samuel R. Windsor "The Mars-Earth Wars" (1996). The authors are physical scientist and engineers, making the theories a little more solid. The authors are sincerely enamored of the 'dirty snow-ball' theory of comets.
"The surface of Mars and its two satellites provides ample evidence supporting recent catastrophism in the Solar System. For example, the energy and momentum exchanges for the transition of the orbit of Mars from the catastrophic era to the modern era are provided in this volume. Back tracking the orbits of Venus, the Moon and Mars to the catastrophic year 701 B.C.E. all calculate well, which is a confirmation of this model of catastrophism."
"This new model of cosmology accepts the evidence of planetary catastrophes surrounding us. It is a model of recent orbit changes among Venus, the Earth and Mars. While not an "original thought", the claim is that a reorganization occurred within the cultural memory of numerous groups of the Earth's inhabitants, who recorded their experiences."
-- [http://www.creationism.org/patten/PattenMarsEarthWars/index.htm]
Don't let the domain name scare you, this is a reasonably well written piece about the intersection of the orbit of Earth and Mars up to the beginning of the 8th century. But the back-tracking through well mannered calculations do not constitute a confirmation. It offers a single and rather simple solution, much too rigid and invarient in its mechanics, of the near-contacts with Mars during this time period, extending back to Mars being hit by some (watery) asteroid. It fails to give an account of any previous celestial history, or suggest a closure.
A magnetic field is required for Mars (which does not exist), which alternately topples the axis of Earth (and Mars) to assume a "least interactive position" of 22.5 degrees with respect to their plane of rotation about the Sun. Although momentum and energy equations are carried out to many decimal places, the difference in orbital inclination to the equator of the Sun in not taken into account. Some of the momentum seems to be transfered to the outer planets without any plausable mechanical connection over long distances, and without explaining how gravitational interaction would furnish the connection.
There is a previous book by Patten about a world flood, "The Biblical Flood and Ice Epoch" (1966), which is far-fetched.
-=-= Hologram =-=-
Roger Ashton "The Bedrock of Myth" (1987). An essay. From the text:
"The foregoing is the forbiddingly difficult context of providing a magnetospheric model for the Polar Apparition. It must agree with the variety of metaphors of myth. It must be present when human technological metaphors require it to be so. It must be visible in the same form to people scattered over wide areas of North America and Eurasia."
"I therefore propose a hologrammatic phenomenon of polarization of light of stratospheric particles which is manifested only at certain points in a series of intensities of solar radiation at harmonically related electromagnetic frequencies."
"At an appropriate intensity, the radiation at various frequencies is in a proper mutual relationship, and the hologram is brilliantly lighted. It is seen in essentially the same form from points of viewing thousands of kilometres apart. It appears to be in the rotational polar space. It constitutes the central feature of the sky. The complete visual assemblage of it is that lost ancient sky which was radically different from what we now associate with the sky."
This is just an essay, but it is a 'heads-up' on physical models for the Saturnian Configuration in general. I am including it here for that reason. The 'hologram' isn't a hologram, nor do I find "harmonically related electromagnetic frequencies" or "hologrammatic phenomenon of polarization of light of stratospheric particles" at all convincing.
-=-= Binary star =-=-
Alfred de Grazia and Earl R. Milton "Solaria Binaria" (1984), in the "Quantavolution" series of papers and books.
"An astronomer and astro-physicist join to perfect an elegantly coherent and logical theory, backed by physical, psychological, and mythological studies, of the origins and history of the solar system with Jupiter as the remnant of the Uranian binary partner of Sol."
The theory is based on the concept of our Solar System being the remnant of a binary star system. Thus a plasma connection between the Sun and Jupiter is responsible for the creation of the inner planets. The theory suffers from an unwillingness to allow for the enormous time scale required for the energy transfer under plasma conditions, as I have noted elsewhere. De Grazia, however, is a prolific writer and his site is well worth looking at.
-=-= Firmament =-=-
John Ackerman ("angiras") "Firmament: Recent Catastrophic History of the Earth" (1996) and "Chaos: A New Solar System Paradigm" (2000) establishes the repeated meetings of Earth and Mars (and Venus) primarily from Vedic sources. Ackerman is a physicist.
"Prior to 4000 B.C. there existed only two terrestrial planets, what I call priori-Mars and the Earth. That is, Mercury and proto-Venus were not present in the solar system. Priori-Mars, the more ancient of the two by some 800 million years, was in an orbit similar to that of Venus today. It had a thick atmosphere, lots of surface water, rain, and a myriad of life forms similar to those found on Earth. The entire planet was covered with vegetation."
"One of the most profound ideas suggested by the Velikovsky/Ackerman (V/A) scenario is an understanding of how a higher power may have only recently regenerated the Earth to enable its population by billions of human beings. ... The V/A scenario makes it possible for us to understand how major changes in a solar system were activated by small physical actions leveraged by a level of intelligence far beyond our own."
A tip-off is the "level of intelligence far beyond our own." Ackerman eventually proposes that Earth is populated by Marsian life. I do not see the need for any of this.
"The Velikovsky/Ackerman scenario, derived from ancient myth, involved two periods. The first was very short, lasting some fifty years, but was the one in which most fauna on Earth were destroyed. These were the proto-Venus encounters."
"It passed close to the Earth on two occasions, the first when it was still an earth-sized ball of flame. It scorched northern Africa and the Middle East, forming the Sahara desert, and left a path of destruction that can still be seen today in satellite images. These two encounters overturned the lithosphere of the Earth causing tidal waves to sweep across entire continents killing most animals and beings."
"The second part of the Vedic period involved the interactions of what I call priori-Mars with the Earth. These were not transient in nature, but involved the capture of the more diminutive planet in geosynchronous orbit around the Earth for fifteen years and then its release into a solar orbit for another fifteen."
"This process was repeated one hundred times over 3,000 years, and the associated events on both planets are detailed in Firmament."
Ackerman has Mars stand over the Himalayas for 15 years at a time, thus raising them to great heights. It requires a magnetic field for Mars and an iron core which leaks out of the giant crack called the Valles Marineris, bundles up, and start revolving about the Sun independently, eventually to enter Mars again at the end of the 15 year period. At the very last instance of this repeating cycle it fails to return, and now circles the Sun as the planet Mercury -- magnetic, dense, and smaller than Mars. Another feature are long tubes of lava that extend from Mars towards Earth. During these many visits all the Martian oceans and vegetation leak out and are cast onto Earth.
=-=- Taurids =-=-
Victor Clube and Bill Napier "The Cosmic Serpent" (1982) and "Cosmic Winter" (1990). Two of the more substantial books on meteors, without emphasis on impacts. Clube and Napier are astronomers.
"Clube and Napier suggest that Jupiter and Saturn occasionally divert giant comets into the inner solar system into short-period orbits. Debris from the resultant disintegration of these giant comets can adversely affect the environment of the Earth. Dusting can block sunlight, resulting in globally cooler conditions."
"Impact events in the Super-Tunguska class may result in not only heavy localized destruction but also the occasional 'impact winter' or dust veil with global climatological effects. Clube and Napier identify the progenitor of the Taurid complex as such a giant comet whose injection into a short-period (about 3.3 year) orbit occurred sometime in the last twenty thousand years."
"The effects of the disintegration of this object in an Earth-crossing orbit should appear in the geological and climatological record as well as in protohistorical and historical records."
"Clube and Napier ... also seek evidence of catastrophic events in ancient mythology. Their contention is that the great Taurid progenitor was the basis for much of the mythology associated with 'sky gods' and themes of generational conflict along gods."
"Clube and Napier note that many of the themes Velikovsky ascribed to 'comet Venus' rightfully belong to the Taurid progenitor, and at least some of those ascribed to Mars by Velikovsky rightfully belong to Halley's Comet."
"Clube and Napier expand on their earlier book The Cosmic Serpent. They discuss the role of dusting and impact events in creating cosmic 'nuclear winters.' They also improve their discussion of how the mythological evidence derives from the disintegration of the Taurid progenitor."
"Clube and Napier also note the potential importance of Taurid events in climatological events in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D., the Middle Ages, and even later periods, down to the present."
The books are held in high repute because of the qualifications of the authors, but also because the subject matter is inarguable. Comets are emphemeral, and just about anything can be said of them, especially in the past tense. The Yucatan Chicxulub 'impact crater' has lent its reputation to the tales of comets. There is plenty of collected data from myth and legends, but the subject is one of pure avoidance.
URL of this page: http://saturniancosmology.org/other.php
This page last updated: Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
Size of this page: 4780 words.
Feel free to email me with any comments or corrections. Find an email [address] here.
Copyright © 2008 Jno Cook
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms and licence of Creative Commons. A copy of the license is
included on the page entitled
Creative Commons Deed 2.5