Books]
Catastrophism and Alternative Cosmologies
[RCS started 2009.07.16] $Revision: 1.3 $
Worlds in Collision Immanual Velikovsky
1950
See also the review at Hogan's site.
[updated 3/10] Here, in brief format, is the content of Worlds in Collision. The text is from Alfred de Grazia's Cosmic Heretics (1984). I should note that some of this just doesn't hold up. Many of the claims can be traced to more likely causes, some of which I will enumerate after each paragraph.
"Worlds in Collision is a book in two parts, one on the Venus catastrophes, the second on the Mars catastrophes. These conform to two sets of events that are claimed to have befallen the world in the years around 1450 and 700 B.C., about seven hundred years apart. The planet Venus, argued Velikovsky, began its career as a comet that probably exploded from the giant planet Jupiter sometime, whether a few years or thousands of years before its disastrous encounters with Earth." -- de Grazia
- The planet Venus was born of Saturn in ca 4200 BC, not Jupiter. The reason for assigning it to Jupiter is that Venus was seen by some of the ancients as appearing from behind the coma of Jupiter in 3147 BC. Additionally, with Venus on a helical path from Jupiter (supposedly at today's distance from the Sun), Venus might have come close to Earth. Both the celestial mechanics and the timing is wrong. Venus was part of the Saturnian system from circa 4200 BC.
- It is clear that Venus never was or could be a comet, and certainly not in the "ice-ball subliming water to a tail" concept which has been current for since 1950. The tail of Venus is a plasma shadow in glow mode extending into the region away from the Sun. Mesoamerica insistently claims that the tail was green, which is certainly not representative of water vapor. There was likely a second tail of ionized and dispersed matter, which curved away from the straight plasma shadow tail.
- Besides an electrical contact in 1492 BC (quoted as 1450 BC by deGrazia), Venus made electrical contact in 2349 BC (using Ussher's chronology), with an absolutely massive plasmoid which destroyed the Earth's equatorial rings, and was remembered by many as a 'flood.' It is still univerally celebrated as 'the day of the dead.' All other researchers, including Velikovsky and David Talbott, have remained ignorant of this event, despite the fact that it represents the most often told mythology of any nation. Only Mo Mandelkehr managed to penetrate the mystery, although he lacks details and dates.
"Flaming Venus passed with its huge cometary tail close by the Earth occasioning general disaster by flood, fire, pestilence, electric shock, and fallouts of various materials, and incited a horrendous fear that affected all areas of culture everywhere down to the present day. Mankind lived virtually in a Venusian world for seven centuries, for other near passes occurred at 52-year intervals, until the comet disturbed Mars, sent Mars to molest the Earth and Moon, and brought a Martian period that endured for rather less than a century. All of this had severe and prolonged after-affects geologically, biologically, and culturally." -- de Grazia
- Venus never came 'close' to Earth. My best estimates are that in 2349 BC Venus made electrical contact from a distance of 20,000,000 miles; in 1492 BC it was at a distance of 9,500,000 to 12,000,000 miles.
- The "horrendous fear" dates from 2349 BC, not from 1492 BC. The event of 2349 BC produced the Himalayas and the Tibetan Basin.
- The 52 year periodicity only existed between 2349 BC (the 'flood of Noah') and 2193 BC (the fall of Akkad) as solar years. Any other reference to 52 'year' periods are based on the confluence of the Mesoamerican Tzolkin and Haab calendars, which ticks off 52 year periods, but which are not solar years.
- There was no reason for Venus to "disturb" Mars, etc. Earth first overran the orbit of Mars in 3067 BC for about 300 years. The precession of the second nodal point of the orbits would have been enough to have these two planets diverge from contact, and then repeat it at a later date -- a second time probably placed in 1936 BC, and a the third time starting in 806 BC.
- At the earlier times, as well as in the 8th and 7th century BC, Mars was accompanied by the planet Mercury.
"Velikovsky endeavored to be exact, allowing the series of Mars incidents to occur between the years -776 and -687 on the basis of legends and historical-archaeological evidence from around the Mediterranean and wherever else in the world it cropped up. For example, an incident of the year -776 would be the founding of the Olympic Games, those sacred manifestations of aggressive competitive sport that brought the Greek communities together and were said to have been founded by Hercules, who has been identified by several scholars with the god Mars or Ares; an instance of the year -687 would be the destruction by natural disaster of the army of the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib while besieging Jerusalem." -- de Grazia
- The event of 776 BC can be picked out of our current records with an ephemeris program, although there are many similar situations, and allowances have to be made. It is an event which is rather more difficult to define or justify.
- The disturbances by Mars happened over a period of 120 years, starting in 806 BC, not "less than 100." The last disturbance by Mars was in 687 BC. A year later it was Mercury which made an electrical contact with Earth (and a resultant shock), and reduced its orbit to fall completely within the orbit of Venus. The physical mark can be found on Mercury and in North America, and in the record of fire-devastated prairies. The Earth shock of 686 BC by Mercury has been confused with a possible shock by Mars. The Mercury shock, plasma streaming, and planet fire on Mercury are remembered worldwide as the Tower of Babel event.
- What Velikovsky and others have entirely missed is the plasmoid from Jupiter (which can be followed from Mesoamerican records by calendar dates for 685 BC) directed at the Sun (the Phaethon legend), and the resulting change in the Earth's axial inclination, and the date of the equinox. It was brought on by the relocation of Mercury, which caused stupendous plasma displays at Venus and Mercury for 40 days in 685 BC. The calendar dates can be found from Mesoamerican records - repeated 5 times.
Find all the details at [Recovering the Lost World]. This website take Velikovsky's work as a starting point for the development of a history of antiquity which answers more questions than any other alternative cosmology, and is ultimately correct.
But it could never have made any sense if it were not for the elucidation provided by the writings of David Talbott (The Saturn Myth 1980), the writings of Julian Jaynes, and especially the theories developed by Wal Thornhill, Don Scott, and Anthony Peratt, which last readily explains virtually all the planetary interactions in electrical terms (although all of them offer discouragingly few clear details).
URL of this page: https://saturniancosmology.org/contrarybooks/collision.phpThis page last updated: Saturday, July 21st, 2012
[home page]
jno (at) saturniancosmology (dot) org
I'll be glad to add your relevant reviews
Copyright © 2010 - 2024 Toledo Plasma Works
Permission to reprint in whole or in part is granted,
provided full credit is given.