What fairy tales of enchanted princesses and legendary lore of the Arabian Nights does not the mere mention of the ruby conjure up to our imagination! No stone has been more intimately connected with poetry and romance, and few gems can compare either in beauty or value with a perfect ruby. When Solomon exclaimed that “a virtuous woman was more valuable than rubies,” and Job, that “the price of wisdom is above rubies,” they both mentioned what to them was the most valuable thing in existence. And its value and rarity have not decreased since their time. Today a perfect ruby of five carats will fetch at least five times the value of a diamond of the same size and quality, while rubies without flaw or blemish, and of the true pigeon-blood variety, weighing as much as ten carats, are so rare and valuable that ten times the value of a perfect diamond would be considered a very low price to pay for so perfect a gem.

The ruby is the oldest or first known of all precious stones, dating far back in the early history of Chaldea and Babylonia. The finest specimens, as well as the largest quantities, are found in Upper Burma, and at the present time over one-half of the world’s supply comes from this locality. The rubies found in Ceylon, Siam and Australia have not the deep rich color of the Burmese ruby which is a shade of red slightly inclined to the purple and is often called “Pigeon Blood Ruby.” The value of rubies depends upon their color and transparency.

The red sapphire or ruby is the most valuable of the corundum family, and when found of a good color, pure and brilliant, and in sizes of one carat and larger, it is much more valuable than a fine diamond of the same size.

Rubies and Sapphires are scientifically the same stone, differing only in color. Corundum, the predominating mineral of both, is composed of nearly pure alumina. The coloring substance, which differentiates rubies and sapphires, is believed to be chromium. In the scale of hardness the gem ranks as No. 9 and is thus the hardest of all substances excepting the diamond. Color is the most important factor in determining the value of the ruby. The gem is always more or less imperfect, but its freedom from bad imperfections is also important. Since fine rubies of all sizes are extremely rare, the price increases very rapidly with an increase in size, and a fine ruby of more than four carats commands an extraordinary price and can be said to be the most valuable of all gems, exceeding greatly a diamond of equal weight. The color of the ruby varies from the lightest rose tint to the deepest carmine, but the rarest and most valuable shade is known as Pigeon Blood. This is the color of arterial blood. The ruby has always been greatly admired, and many say that the ruby in the British Crown is the most beautiful gem they have ever seen.

The ruby is found in limestone deposits on side hills, but the largest quantity is found in alluvial deposits of gravel and clay in riverbeds. These deposits are about fifteen to twenty feet below the surface and from a few inches to five feet in thickness. This material called “byon” is mined or removed and put through a washing process by which the rubies are recovered.

The genuine ruby is gotten from the mineral known as corundum. Emery, so much used, is an impure form of corundum. The superbly blood-red color of the perfect ruby is produced by the very tiny portions of impurity in the substance after they have been crystallized by Nature’s wonderful processes. All genuine—that is natural stones, contain certain tiny flaws and blemishes and characteristic peculiarities. The fewer these flaws the rarer the gem. Imitation stones get their imperfections during manufacture, and as the chemists are more careful than Nature, these imperfections are less noticeable. By the following differences between the real and the artificial, you can test your ruby. A real ruby contains irregularly shaped bubbles; the imitation ruby contains bubbles that are perfectly round. Natural rubies all have a silky sheen, due to a number of tiny parallel lines going in three definite directions; imitation stones never have this characteristic.

While lab-created rubies and sapphires have a distinct use in jewelry, they can never affect the sale of the real gems any more than is the case with imitation pearls. Aside from the fact that the imitation can always be ultimately detected, the person desiring to purchase a ruby, as a ruby, and as a work of beauty and distinction wants a gem which he knows is one of nature’s rarities and is therefore possessed of intrinsically great value. A good illustration of this fundamental feeling is given by Mr. Zell a noted mineralogist, who says, “Many perfect copies of the Sistine Madonna have been made by good artists, the original is priceless, the copies at the most are worth a few hundred dollars, this is the relation of a gem made in nature’s laboratory to one produced by the chemist.”

Today, the ruby is still considered one of the most valuable and beautiful of the precious stones. Artisans of fine jewelry throughout the world continue to utilize this fine gem in their creations. Ruby is the birthstone for the month of July.

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My ancestry includes Colonel Miles (or Myles) Keough (or Keogh) through a relationship that apparently was not formalized with a lady who attended his grave, in a story made famous by many books on the matter. But it can only be true if this lady and her mother named Martin of the New York Governor’s family, whose name is on the wedding certificate of my grandfather as a witness, kept the child a secret all her life. In fact one might even wonder if this child was the offspring of a relationship he had with white Indians like the Mandan. Geneticists can now show the Sioux are white blooded people through Haplogroup X markers as well. Miles’ horse is immortalized in a song by Johnny Horton called ‘Comanche the Brave Horse’ and this horse is stuffed at the Manhattan Kansas museum of the regiment he also brought the tune Gary Owens to, after getting a Papal commendation his family later tore up. Miles was an expert horseman and like Custer he was held in high regard by the Indians. His horse protected him at the end of his life, and the Indians spared it because of its fine acts of bravery.

I also believe that the two Papal medallions which Sitting Bull had were given to him by Keogh rather than taken from his body at the battle. I know he knew he was facing death as he learned the nature of forces aligned against Custer and their support of the Indians. He said so and he sent a secret diary to a trusted associate. He had enormous life insurance policies and half of them were paid to a secret party I suspect might be the Martin who loved him and was committed to caring for his child. I have written a whole book on the situation which amazed me greatly and lead to the assassination of Lincoln by the same groups or cults.

Many people who died with Custer including Miles and Custer’s brother were about to expose the government fraud and graft associated with the Indian Bureau. Custer had the highest political aspirations and a recent Learning Channel archaeology show demonstrated that the Indians had repeating rifles that could fire sixteen shots for every round fired by the troopers. I suspect General Crook hung these men out to dry and others of the Tammany-type who were making huge profits had arranged for the Indians to get these weapons.

Here is a piece on Crazy Horse who is also said to have had red hair like myself; I am sorry to have had to shorten it so much. I am a correspondent with a traditional Sioux adoptee of the celebrated family of Fool’s Crow; and I truly love the people and their knowledge. She is an adept of this family. She says the proper translation of his name would be ‘Berserker (like the Norse warriors) who loves horses’.

“Crazy Horse/Tashunkewitko, Oglala

‘A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky. I was hostile to the white man… we preferred hunting to a life of idleness on our reservations. At times we did not get enough to eat and we were not allowed to hunt. All we wanted was peace and to be left alone. Soldiers came and destroyed our villages. Then Long Hair (Custer) came…They say we massacred him, but he would have done the same to us…’

Crazy Horse (Tashunkewitko) was born on the Republican River about 1845. He was killed at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in 1877, so that he lived barely thirty-three years.

He was an uncommonly handsome man. While not the equal of Gall in magnificence and imposing stature, he was physically perfect, an Apollo in symmetry. Furthermore he was a true type of Indian refinement and grace. He was modest and courteous as Chief Joseph; the difference is that he was a born warrior, while Joseph was not. However, he was a gentle warrior, a true brave, who stood for the highest ideal of the Sioux. Notwithstanding all that biased historians have said of him, it is only fair to judge a man by the estimate of his own people rather than that of his enemies.

The boyhood of Crazy Horse was passed in the days when the western Sioux saw a white man but seldom, and then it was usually a trader or a soldier. He was carefully brought up according to the tribal customs. At that period the Sioux prided themselves on the training and development of their sons and daughters, and not a step in that development was overlooked as an excuse to bring the child before the public by giving a feast in its honor. At such times the parents often gave so generously to the needy that they almost impoverished themselves, thus setting an example to the child of self-denial for the general good. His first step alone, the first word spoken, first game killed, the attainment of manhood or womanhood, each was the occasion of a feast and dance in his honor, at which the poor always benefited to the full extent of the parents’ ability…

He was perhaps four or five years old when the band was snowed in one severe winter. They were very short of food, but his father was a tireless hunter. The buffalo, their main dependence, were not to be found, but he was out in the storm and cold every day and finally brought in two antelopes. The little boy got on his pet pony and rode through the camp, telling the old folks to come to his mother’s teepee for meat. It turned out that neither his father nor mother had authorized him to do this. Before they knew it, old men and women were lined up before the teepee home, ready to receive the meat, in answer to his invitation. As a result, the mother had to distribute nearly all of it, keeping only enough for two meals.

On the following day the child asked for food. His mother told him that the old folks had taken it all, and added: ‘Remember, my son, they went home singing praises in your name, not my name or your father’s. You must be brave. You must live up to your reputation.’

… In those days the Sioux had but few guns, and the hunting was mostly done with bow and arrows.

…They came to some wild cherry trees full of ripe fruit, and while they were enjoying it, the brothers were startled by the growl and sudden rush of a bear. Young Crazy Horse pushed his brother up into the nearest tree and himself sprang upon the back of one of the horses, which was frightened and ran some distance before he could control him. As soon as he could, however, he turned him about and came back, yelling and swinging his lariat over his head. The bear at first showed fight but finally turned and ran. The old man who told me this story added that young as he was, he had some power, so that even a grizzly did not care to tackle him. I believe it is a fact that a silver-tip will dare anything except a bell or a lasso line, so that accidentally the boy had hit upon the very thing which would drive him off…

At the age of sixteen he joined a war party against the Gros Ventres. He was well in the front of the charge, and at once established his bravery by following closely one of the foremost Sioux warriors, by the name of Hump, drawing the enemy’s fire and circling around their advance guard. Suddenly Hump’s horse was shot from under him, and there was a rush of warriors to kill or capture him while down. But amidst a shower of arrows the youth leaped from his pony, helped his friend into his own saddle, sprang up behind him, and carried him off in safety, although they were hotly pursued by the enemy. Thus he associated himself in his maiden battle with the wizard of Indian warfare, and Hump, who was then at the height of his own career, pronounced Crazy Horse the coming warrior of the Teton Sioux.

At this period of his life… he spent much time in prayer and solitude. Just what happened in these days of his fasting in the wilderness and upon the crown of bald buttes, no one will ever know; for these things may only be known when one has lived through the battles of life to an honored old age. He was much sought after by his youthful associates, but was noticeably reserved and modest; yet in the moment of danger he at once rose above them all — a natural leader! Crazy Horse was a typical Sioux brave, and from the point of view of our race an ideal hero, living at the height of the epical progress of the American Indian and maintaining in his own character all that was most subtle and ennobling of their spiritual life, and that has since been lost in the contact with a material civilization…

It was observed of him that when he pursued the enemy into their stronghold, as he was wont to do, he often refrained from killing, and simply struck them with a switch, showing that he did not fear their weapons nor care to waste his upon them. In attempting this very feat, he lost this only brother of his, who emulated him closely. A party of young warriors, led by Crazy Horse, had dashed upon a frontier post, killed one of the sentinels, stampeded the horses, and pursued the herder to the very gate of the stockade, thus drawing upon themselves the fire of the garrison. The leader escaped without a scratch, but his young brother was brought down from his horse and killed….

..He was no orator nor was he the son of a chief. His success and influence was purely a matter of personality. He had never fought the whites up to this time, and indeed no "coup" was counted for killing or scalping a white man.

…Their former agreements had been by individual bands, each for itself, and every one was friendly. They reasoned that the country was wide, and that the white traders should be made welcome. Up to this time they had anticipated no conflict. They had permitted the Oregon Trail, but now to their astonishment forts were built and garrisoned in their territory.

Most of the chiefs advocated a strong resistance. There were a few influential men who desired still to live in peace, and who were willing to make another treaty. Among these were White Bull, Two Kettle, Four Bears, and Swift Bear. Even Spotted Tail, afterward the great peace chief, was at this time with the majority, who decided in the year 1866 to defend their rights and territory by force. Attacks were to be made upon the forts within their country and on every trespasser on the same…

…It was rumored that the army would fight the Sioux to a finish; again, it was said that another commission would be sent out to treat with them.

The Indians came together early in June, and formed a series of encampments stretching out from three to four miles, each band keeping separate camp. On June 17, scouts came in and reported the advance of a large body of troops under General Crook. The council sent Crazy Horse with seven hundred men to meet and attack him. These were nearly all young men, many of them under twenty, the flower of the hostile Sioux. They set out at night so as to steal a march upon the enemy, but within three or four miles of his camp they came unexpectedly upon some of his Crow scouts. There was a hurried exchange of shots; the Crows fled back to Crook’s camp, pursued by the Sioux. The soldiers had their warning, and it was impossible to enter the well-protected camp. Again and again Crazy Horse charged with his bravest men, in the attempt to bring the troops into the open, but he succeeded only in drawing their fire. Toward afternoon he withdrew, and returned to camp disappointed. His scouts remained to watch Crook’s movements, and later brought word that he had retreated to Goose Creek and seemed to have no further disposition to disturb the Sioux. It is well known to us that it is Crook rather than Reno who is to be blamed for cowardice in connection with Custer’s fate. The latter had no chance to do anything, he was lucky to save himself; but if Crook had kept on his way, as ordered, to meet Terry, with his one thousand regulars and two hundred Crow and Shoshone scouts, he would inevitably have intercepted Custer in his advance and saved the day for him, and war with the Sioux would have ended right there. Instead of this, he fell back upon Fort Meade, eating his horses on the way, in a country swarming with game, for fear of Crazy Horse and his braves!

…while many were out upon the daily hunt.

On this twenty-fifth of June, 1876, the great camp was scattered for three miles or more along the level river bottom, back of the thin line of cottonwoods — five circular rows of teepees, ranging from half a mile to a mile and a half in circumference. Here and there stood out a large, white, solitary teepee; these were the lodges {Mediwiwin are Masons} or "clubs" of the young men. Crazy Horse was a member of the "Strong Hearts" and the "Tokala" or Fox lodge. He was watching a game of ring-toss when the warning came from the southern end of the camp of the approach of troops…

That leader had quickly saddled his favorite war pony and was starting with his young men for the south end of the camp, when a fresh alarm came from the opposite direction, and looking up, he saw Custer’s force upon the top of the bluff directly across the river. As quick as a flash, he took in the situation — the enemy had planned to attack the camp at both ends at once; and knowing that Custer could not ford the river at that point, he instantly led his men northward to the ford to cut him off. The Cheyennes followed closely. Custer must have seen that wonderful dash up the sage-bush plain, and one wonders whether he realized its meaning. In a very few minutes, this wild general of the plains had outwitted one of the most brilliant leaders of the Civil War and ended at once his military career and his life….

… From time to time, delegations of friendly Indians were sent to him, to urge him to come in to the reservation, promising a full hearing and fair treatment.

For some time he held out, but the rapid disappearance of the buffalo, their only means of support, probably weighed with him more than any other influence. In July, 1877, he was finally prevailed upon to come in to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, with several thousand Indians, most of them Ogallala and Minneconwoju Sioux, on the distinct understanding that the government would hear and adjust their grievances.

At this juncture General Crook proclaimed Spotted Tail, who had rendered much valuable service to the army, head chief of the Sioux, which was resented by many. The attention paid Crazy Horse was offensive to Spotted Tail and the Indian scouts, who planned a conspiracy against him. They reported to General Crook that the young chief would murder him at the next council, and stampede the Sioux into another war. He was urged not to attend the council and did not, but sent another officer to represent him. Meanwhile the friends of Crazy Horse discovered the plot and told him of it. His reply was, ‘Only cowards are murderers.’

His wife was critically ill at the time, and he decided to take her to her parents at Spotted Tail agency, whereupon his enemies circulated the story that he had fled, and a party of scouts was sent after him. They overtook him riding with his wife and one other but did not undertake to arrest him, and after he had left the sick woman with her people he went to call on Captain Lea, the agent for the Brules, accompanied by all the warriors of the Minneconwoju band. This volunteer escort made an imposing appearance on horseback, shouting and singing, and in the words of Captain Lea himself and the missionary, the Reverend Mr. Cleveland, the situation was extremely critical. Indeed, the scouts who had followed Crazy Horse from Red Cloud agency were advised not to show themselves, as some of the warriors had urged that they be taken out and horsewhipped publicly. Under these circumstances Crazy Horse again showed his masterful spirit by holding these young men in check. He said to them in his quiet way: ‘It is well to be brave in the field of battle; it is cowardly to display bravery against one’s own tribesmen. These scouts have been compelled to do what they did; they are no better than servants of the white officers. I came here on a peaceful errand.’

The captain urged him to report at army headquarters to explain himself and correct false rumors, and on his giving consent, furnished him with a wagon and escort. It has been said that he went back under arrest, but this is untrue. Indians have boasted that they had a hand in bringing him in, but their stories are without foundation. He went of his own accord, either suspecting no treachery or determined to defy it.

When he reached the military camp, Little Big Man walked arm-in-arm with him, and his cousin and friend, Touch-the-Cloud, was just in advance. After they passed the sentinel, an officer approached them and walked on his other side. He was unarmed but for the knife which is carried for ordinary uses by women as well as men. Unsuspectingly he walked toward the guardhouse, when Touch-the-Cloud suddenly turned back exclaiming: ‘Cousin, they will put you in prison!’

‘Another white man’s trick! Let me go! Let me die fighting!’ cried Crazy Horse. He stopped and tried to free himself and draw his knife, but both arms were held fast by Little Big Man and the officer. While he struggled thus, a soldier thrust him through with his bayonet from behind. The wound was mortal, and he died in the course of that night, his old father singing the death song over him and afterward carrying away the body, which they said must not be further polluted by the touch of a white man. They hid it somewhere in the Bad Lands, his resting place to this day.

Thus died one of the ablest and truest American Indians. His life was ideal; his record clean. He was never involved in any of the numerous massacres on the trail, but was a leader in practically every open fight. Such characters as those of Crazy Horse and Chief Joseph are not easily found among so-called civilized people. The reputation of great men is apt to be shadowed by questionable motives and policies, but here are two pure patriots, as worthy of honor as any who ever breathed God’s air in the wide spaces of a new world.” (18)

Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
Guest ‘expert’ at World-Mysteries.com

Each Chinese New Year begins on the day of first new moon. In the western year 2005, the new moon began on February 9. It was the Chinese year 4702. In actuality, most Chinese began using the western, or solar, calendar in the early twentieth century, except on important holidays. Many of the calendars in China show both the solar dates of the western calendar and the lunar dates of the Chinese calendar. Chinese astrology is based on the twelve cycles of the moon.

The Chinese zodiac consists of twelve animals, rather than the solar signs used in the west. In the Chinese calendar each period lasts for a full cycle of the moon, from new to full. There are twelve complete lunar cycles in a Chinese zodiac year, but one animal symbolizes the entire year. According to their calendar, the Chinese complete a cycle every twelve years. So if you were born in the year of the rat, you would celebrate your zodiac birthday every twelve years, and your Chinese zodiac sign would be the rat. In the west your astrological sign appears once each year.

The calendar and its animals were created from an ancient legend. It tells us that the animals were all fighting about who was going to be in the prime (first) position on the Chinese calendar. The gods devised a test in which the animals would compete for their position by swimming across a river. Another version says that the Buddha requested visits by the animals before he left earth. He named the moon cycles after the animals in order of appearance. So the Chinese zodiac symbol is a circle divided into twelve equal sections; think of it as if you were marking off slices of a pie. There is a picture of the animal representing that Chinese zodiac sign in each section. The calendar’s use dates clear back to 2600 BC.

The animals used in Chinese astrology are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep (goat), monkey, rooster, dog, and boar (pig). Persons born during their cycle are said to take on their animal traits:

• Rat- Perfectionist, charming, aggressive, secretive, party-loving, quick-witted, stubborn, good at politics and business, can be mean
• Ox- Quiet, quick to anger, excellent memories, hard-working, family loyalty, creative, skilful hands, responsible, self-confident
• Tiger- Leaders, courageous, territorial, possessive, fighters, generous and selfish, magnetic, passionate, works solo, dynamic
• Rabbit- Sweet-natured, conservative, artistic, tasteful, sentimental, emotional, shy, faithful to partners, romantic, avoid fighting
• Dragon- Regal, leader, centre of attention, powerful, lucky, aggressive, dynamic, big ego, snobbish, tyrannical
• Snake- Charming, popular, lies easily, possessive, hates rejection, deep thinker, well-mannered, lazy, romantic, insecure
• Horse- Crowd lover, rebellious, energetic, selfish, self-centered, good with money, cunning, lacks self-confidence
• Sheep or goat- Artistic, creative, lazy, disorganized, charming, well-mannered, dreamy, pessimistic, romantic, worrier, not good in business
• Monkey- Charming, witty, clever, emotional, unscrupulous, love food but not gluttons, deceptive, funny, lucky
• Rooster- Straight-forward, honest, flashy dresser, loyal, honest, dreamer, psychic, busy, loves a bargain, observers
• Dog- Traditional, loyal, sincere, intelligent, private, judgmental, serious, anxious, likes solitude, champions causes
• Pig or boar- Loving, caring, chivalrous, sincere, honourable, easy to take advantage of, belief in goodness, love food, romantic, jealous

As you can see the Chinese calendar with its Chinese zodiac symbols is most interesting indeed. If you look up your Chinese zodiac sign, you will enjoy the time learning more about yourself.

Bo Guo is the owner of Char4U.com and OrientaLabels.com. Please include an active link to our sites when reprinting this article.

HUMAN GENOME PROJECT: - In 1991 Michael Coe wrote Breaking the Mayan Code in which he said knowing how this language was ‘both phonetic as well as pictographic was as important as the Human Genome Project and space colonization’. Personally I think it is very important to see the Mayans had a language understandable in many contexts across numerous tribes and people. It IS very important to our proposed Brotherhood of Man. It is not as important as either of the other major advances for the near future of mankind; space colonization will be our saving grace as remnants of humanity even if he would interpret the Mayan prophecy that calls for a new civilization in 2012 as an end to earthian humans. My personal hope is the prophecy relates to a new purpose and focus for humanity. That will require ethical approaches to the Human Genome Project. We do not need to force a small group of humans into some new species even if they think it would be best for themselves or all of us, collectively. Those who will desire the near immortality gene-therapy and the fixing of telomeres it will allow should not be allowed to become Homo Sapiens Immortalis if all people are not allowed access. How can we stop this from happening? What about cloning humans? Then there is Danny Hillis and those who would like to dump their brain into a perfected robot of sentient ability. This is not a science fiction primer but it must seem so at this juncture, or at least it would have to my father’s generation.

"The genetic instructions for making a person take up less than 21/2 centimetres of the 1.8-metre-long strand of DNA that’s stuffed inside virtually every cell in the body, according to new findings. Most of the rest of the human genome is filled with weird life-like entities that have settled in the genome like squatters, among them microscopic bits of foreign DNA {Gardner says some is Anunnaki or alien DNA, and that blank parts exist for more programming.} that live like parasites on human DNA and even smaller bits that sponge off those parasites. Although scientists have known that such critters existed in the human genome, only now have they been able to see how many there really are, how they are distributed among people’s genes, and how these complex communities evolved inside the cells of human ancestors over millions of years…

‘We’ve called the human genome the book of life, but it’s really three books,’ said Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., and a chief of the human genome project. ‘It’s a history book. It’s a shop manual and a parts list. And’ it’s a textbook of medicine more profoundly detailed than ever.’…

The researchers also found that sperm carry twice as many mutations as eggs, suggesting that men are the major source of genetic errors and evolutionary innovation.

By comparing the human genome to the genome of simpler organisms like the fly and the worm, scientists are also seeing with unprecedented detail how just a handful of genetic innovations helped launch early vertebrates ahead of the biological pack hundreds of millions of years ago.

For all the evolutionary creativity that led to the human race, genome scientists said, there is shockingly little variation from person to person. Around the globe, they are all about 99.9 per cent genetically identical.” (10)

Do you think there is more we will learn about how white men came to be, or how many hominids there have been as modern as us? There appears to be a great deal of information available in our genes. Could they be a computer access code that the soul commands? I think the akashic and cosmic energy is consciously swimming around and inside all life. The NASA scientists say life is everywhere and I say love is there too. If only we allow ourselves to feel and sense its’ all encompassing warmth that permeates every void and fills every rock. The shamans made their drugs by attunement and receiving direction from the plants and rocks. Jung’s archetypes are very much connected to the genes which carry our past. Perhaps Jesus and his ‘living father within’ are closely connected to enable us through our genes. The mystics say the genes receive instruction from the soul and spirit. Our archetypes or the lattices of ‘one-dimensional harmonic force’ with all 11 M-branes in each and every atom, coordinate in our solar bodies as well as our dross physical bodies. It is ludicrous to think we know all about consciousness or the soul, and most people live in ignorance or deny its’ essence.

The trips we can take as we allow our soul to infuse our solar body and consciously travel are awesome. They are no more hallucinatory than the grimace on the face of the professor who denies these ideas. The poets and minstrels of yore were able to carry our imaginations to the nether regions as we began to dance in harmony with nature. The forces of nature have coherence and meridians or lattices and vectors that allow the functioning of all that is so magnificent. We have tried to place ourselves above nature and we will (hopefully) never achieve that all too egotistical pursuit. These forces are there to welcome us as we stand on the cliff contemplating a dive. Viktor Hugo wrote a wonderful appreciation of Shakespeare that I love to quote. He likened our observation of Shakespeare to standing on this cliff and looking out to "Glimpse the waves of the marvellous!" Each time we return to read his plays we experience greater depths and return to that cliff and take one step further down as we’re drawn closer to the all embracing reality of the waves in the cosmic ocean that awaits us in connected beauty upon the end of our journey.

Author of Diverse Druids Columnist in many Ezines

Ephesus had a shrine to the Anatolian mother-goddess and the Cretan Lady of Wild Things that was later incorporated into the Greek worship of Artemis. (33) This magnificent statue has many ‘cosmic eggs’ on it that are extremely relevant to the Berber painting of ostrich eggs that are found in the Saharan finds mentioned in Carthage as well as connected to the Druid’s eggs. A Cambridge scholar I saw on a TV show recently was still calling these eggs ‘breasts’. It is ludicrous and almost funny if you look at a picture of the statue with over a hundred ‘breasts’. What level of academic ineptitude is this? We have seen many who know the worldwide importance of the cosmic egg including Gimbutas, but then perhaps this scholar knows were his bread is buttered. Smyrna is mentioned by Grant going back long before our present focus and shows Amazons (Kelts as we have shown) were once a part of the picture, but this is probably before the fall of Ariadne on Crete and goes back to times such as Malta shows had 2800 years before the Great Pyramid - with no weapons. Smyrna is the site of a great Merovingian family with a name you’ll quickly recognize. Onassis, who married into another Merovingian family through Jackie Kennedy. Thus we ask you to remember what the old saws do say about history repeating itself.

Smyrna was situated at the head of the gulf named after it, into which the River Hermus debouched. The original town, Old Smyrna, stood on a rocky peninsula (Haci Mutso) beside the north-eastern shore of the gulf. This settlement existed since Neolithic times, but its founders according to contradictory Greek legends, included non Greek Leleges {Phoenician pirates}, Amazons, and King Tantalus of Phrygia. (34)

‘Non-Greeks’ is no surprise in neolithic times because there were no Greeks. There was probably occasional settlements and conflicts over the area we now think of as Greece but remember Homer’s ‘DNN’ and what many Greeks know to this day as they call themselves Danaus. We have shown lots of different proof and authority to connect them through Thrace to the Danube in periods before what we call Greece or Mycenaean culture.

The Phocaeans present us with acts that mirror the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon as well, in terms of establishing emporiae or colonial trading posts. They also show us how mobile it was necessary to be after the Goddess (egalitarian ‘Brotherhood’) was brought to her knees. Just as important in our eventual connection with Britain is ‘the ships of Tarshis’ and Tartessus on the Iberian Peninsula where Spain and Portugal claim national privileges today despite all the horror they have wrought. It is recorded in many places that Milesians came from Iberia between 1500 BC and 500 BC just as the Spanish Armada later dumped a lot of Celtiberians into the genetic mix of Scotland and Ireland in more recent times.

Through all of this period from the end of the Hyksos invasions of Egypt there is growing aristocratic and macho oriented structure apparent within the Phoenicians of the Mediterranean despite the fact Egypt still allowed women to rule as we know from the numerous Cleopatras. The kings and supranational corporate entities were adding more power in every century and they were putting in place the control of armies as well as the priesthoods they always found willing to favour their desires. Yet the people and the merchant class were wary and we see Carthage through the eyes of Aristotle around 345 BC. He was surprised to find they still had an Assembly of the People which was actually strong and democracy was thriving there. (35) This political tug of war is still endemic in our society today. Around that time Pseudo-Aristotle writes that Carthage passed a law forbidding anyone (presumably without their approval) from going to America. When the Gracchi failed and the Republic of Rome failed (the Bruttii who killed Caesar and other good men of the Phoenician or Pythagorean and aristocratic genre became adapted to a new structure) a very big nail was driven deep into the ethic or even semblance of equality. The establishment of Caesar (later Kaiser and Czar are words from the same root) ended even the superficial appearance of a majority of citizens having equal say.

They {Phocaeans} took part in the activities of Naucratis in Egypt, where Phocaea was one of the twelve Greek cities which shared the temple of Apollo {Frazer’s ‘Golden Bough’ documented Plutarch and others knew Apollo and others were representations of Osiris and the rituals at his representational graves included burning people with ‘Red Hair’) known as the Hellenium, dating from the time of the Pharaoh Amasis (c.569- 525) {Right at the key point of the Battle of Alalia}. By this time, too the Phocaeans, in their own native city, had built a temple of Athena, made of fine white porous stone. They also initiated what was to be an abundant and widely circulating electrum coinage (accompanied by issues of silver that were initially smaller), depicting the city emblem of a seal, and launching a long and varied series of miniature artistic designs. They were also famous for their dyeing industry.

{The Phocaean coin had the BEE emblem that has been found on Cretan digs going back to the Royal House of Mallia or Mile and Milesians to the third millennium BCE. We showed’ ‘purple’ dye in Mexico and Peru where they had an industry of making this all important spiritual or royal colour. There was a time that modern academics like Nuttall thought this was the best evidence of transatlantic cultural exchanges with the Phoenicians. Could the Phocaeans have been there?}

But their most extraordinary accomplishment lay in the distant west. {N. B.} The first of the Greeks, according to Herodotus, ‘to make long voyages’, it was the Phocaeans who pioneered the remotest and most perilous routes. It was they, for example, who followed up the first Samian contacts with the kingdom of Tartessus around the mouth of the River Baetis (Guadalquivir) on south-western Spain (c.640), sailing not in merchant ships but in fifty-oared warships(so that cargo-carrying was sacrificed to speed and fighting capacity). The friendly relations that they thus established with the long-lived king of Tartessus, Arganthonius, secured the Phocaean adventurers a large share of the bronze, tin and silver in which the Spanish hinterland abounded.

Pliny the elder also adds a record of a certain Midacritus who is likely to have been a Phocaean. ‘Midacritus’, he observed, ‘was the first to import ‘white lead’ (that is to say tin) from the ‘Tin Island’ (Cassiteris),’ {He notes ‘Midacritus’ means approved of Midas which indicates a Phrygian connection. I suggest that Midas was the King of Lydia and part of the Phoenician from Pont to Tyre and Hittite connection going back to the Danube Kelts of Finias. Any Ionian states that were his neighbors could earn his approval. I emphasize EARN and suggest this is the person for whom the likes of today’s IMF organizers and the Fed backers are really like.} by which he meant, however, not the Scilly Islands but Cornwall (’the Stannaries’). Tin was immensely important to the ancient world, since it was an essential constituent of bronze. It existed in various near-eastern countries as well as in Greece itself, but not in sufficient quantities to make supplies from the west unnecessary. Pliny’s words might merely mean that Midacritus sailed to Tartessus, in order to pick up a cargo of tin which the Tartessians had acquired from Cornwall. But more probably he himself {Like Joseph of Arimathaea}, by way of Tartessus adventurously fetched the tin from Britain. On the assumption that Midacritus’ expedition was in the mid-sixth century or a little earlier, he and his compatriots were choosing a good time for such enterprises, since their potential rivals the Phoenicians were preoccupied with the encroachment of Persia.

{Where did the Medes come from? Fred Eberg of the Univ. of Pennsylvania may have a clue in the Russian lost civilization of Turkmenistan. It is before Sumer and they say there was a language. There are dozens of large fortress like cities seen from remote sensing satellite equipment. On radio interviews I’ve heard he talks about re-writing history books in respect of it having a language, but before, it was the Danube Old European. Because it is unlike nearby Mesopotamian cultures in structures and script we can draw another connection to the Danube but we must wait for more details. They definitely irrigated the desert and that shouldn’t surprise anyone, but it seems to surprise these ‘experts’. The nearly delph-like china and other artifacts along the Silk Road doesn’t move them to say for sure that China was part of the trading network, yet the Kelts were there in 3,000 BC according to National Geographic; 1000 years before they find the china materials.}

The Phocaeans also created the historic city of Massalia (Marseille) on the Mediterranean coast of Gaul, at the eastern fringe of the Rhone delta (C.600).” (37)

The Phocaeans had established joint colonies on the Black Sea with the Milesians at Samsun (Amisus) and the fact they could go to Spain and Britain makes it clear they could have taken the short route across the Atlantic from the west African Carthaginian outposts that lots of artifacts in South America seem to have come from (Amphorae, etc.). He doesn’t address these probabilities but some of his numismatic friends have dealt with the coins found in America. He was President of the Royal Numismatic Society and a medalist in the Americas. The quotes from Mr. Grant speak to the necessary perspicacity and courage and his word usages seem open to this possibility but it would be academic suicide (or would have been when he wrote the book) for him to address these issues of such great impact. They knew the earth was a sphere and the ‘Flat Earth’ dogma didn’t even exist until a millennium or more after the Battle of Alalia. Massalia also gave them access to the Rhone River routes to Britain, Brittany and Hallstatt Kelts. The actual time he is talking about probably saw the elite not using this valuable tin. Iron was everywhere but tin could be monopolized. The interesting point about all the wealth in these times that also might tie in with South America relates to the abundance of gold. There were times when Egypt valued silver more than gold. We are convinced there were at least two millennia before this; that corporate Phoenician enterprises were the dominant issue and trade with the Americas was a key factor.

Marseilles is still important to the drug trade but nearby Sardinia and its medieval castles going back to the Hyksos or Shardana once housed their bank and drug manufacturing. There were more emeralds than the Mediterranean produced and the gold from Peru along with those emeralds (which were used to view the stars by the Queen of Sheba) made some people very rich and yet still they made potions to hook whole cultures.

Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
Guest ‘expert’ at World-Mysteries.com

Vlad Tepes or Dracula was born in 1431, in the fortress of Sighisoara, Romania. His father was the military governor of Transylvania and a member of the Order of the Dragon. The order was created in 1387 by the Holy Roman Emperor and his second wife, Barbara Cilli.

In the winter of 1436-1437, Vlad(Dracul) became prince of Wallachia and took up residence at the palace of Tirgoviste, the princely capital. In 1442, he and his younger brother Radu were taken hostage by the Turkish Sultan Murad II. Dracul was held in Turkey until 1448, while his brother Radu decided to stay there until 1462.

At 17 years old, Vlad, supported by troops lent to him by pasha Mustafa Hassan, tried to seize the Wallachian throne but was defeated by Vladislav II (who had earlier assassinated his father and oldest brother ) after two months or armed conflict. Vlad had to wait until 1456, when he was able to seek retribution against his father’s assassin.

Vlad’s first act of vengeance was aimed at the boyars of Tirgoviste for the killing of his father and older brother Mircea. Around Easter of 1459, Vlad had all the boyar families arrested and impaled the elder members on stakes while forcing the others to march from the capital to the town of Poenari. He then ordered them to build him a fortress on the ruins of an older outpost overlooking the Arges River. Many nobles died in the construction of this castle, the ruins of which can still be seen today.

Vlad became known for his brutal punishment techniques; often ordering people to be skinned, decapitated, blinded, roasted, hacked, buried alive, stabbed and blinded to name a few. He also liked to cut off his victim noses, ears and sexual organs. But his favourite form of torture was impalement on stakes, hence the surname "Tepes" which means "The Impaler" in the Romanian language. It was this form of punishment that he used against Transylvanian merchants who ignored his trade laws.

There are many tales about the psyche of Vlad Tepes. He was known throughout the country for his fierce adherence to honesty and order. Almost any crime, from lying and stealing to killing, could be punished by impalement. Being so confident in the efficiency of his law, Dracula placed a golden cup on display in the central square of Tirgoviste. The cup could be used by thirsty travellers, but had to remain on the square. It was never stolen and remained entirely untouched throughout Vlad’s reign. He looked upon the poor, vagrants and beggars as thieves. Consequently, he invited all the poor and sick of Wallachia to his court in Tirgoviste for a magnificent feast. After his guests had eaten and drunk their fill, Dracula ordered the hall boarded up and set on fire. There were no survivors.

At the beginning of 1462, Vlad launched a campaign against the Turks along the Danube River which was very successful, managing several victories. In retaliation for these losses, the Sultan decided to launch a full-scale invasion of Wallachia with an army three times larger than Dracula’s. Vlad was forced to withdraw towards Tirgoviste, burning villages and poisoning wells along the way.

These acts were designed to hinder the Turkish army in their search for food and water. When the Sultan’s armies finally reached the capital city, exhausted and hungry, they were confronted by a horrific sight: thousands of stakes held the bodies of some 20,000 Turkish captives, which came to be known as "Forest of the Impaled." The scene which was laid out before them had an immediate effect; the Sultan hungry and worn out retreated. The Sultan Mehmed left the next phase of the battle to Vlad’s younger brother Radu who pursued his brother and wife to Poenari castle on the Arges River.

Dracula’s wife, in order to escape Turkish capture, committed suicide by hurling herself from the upper walls, her body falling down the cliff face into the river below.

Vlad managed to escape the siege and made his way to hungry with the help of local peasants. Upon his arrival the Hungarian king Matthias arrested Dracula and imprisoned him at the Hungarian capital of Visegrad.

In 1475, Vlad Tepes again became prince of Wallachia where he enjoyed a very short third reign. He was assassinated towards the end of 1476.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about Vlad Tepes or as he was better known-Dracula.

In my next article will learn about the life of(Mad)King George III.

Unitl then,

Best wishes and have a great day

Stuart Bazga

Guide to Castles of Europe

A Guide to Castles of Europe was born from childhood dreams and aspirations. It is my hope to educate and stimulate you into exploring these castles for yourselves.

If we think about it at this juncture, clearly there is little to commend this Judaeo/ Christian/Islamic God if he is represented by the people who led this church. Pagans have a far better history and stand foursquare and ‘head and shoulders’ above this God of this often re-written Bible. The separation of man from his soul; man from his equal (woman); man from Nature and man from most all that is good; is all I see! Maybe Melchizedek or some other Biblical character (like the Mormon secret society is named after) will be raised up and made a new savior. Maybe it will be John the Baptist (the Johannites and Benjaminites) or it might even be one of the censored people of the Bible like Jasher who will be re-cycled and make it appear they’ve changed. Whatever it is, I don’t want the same structure and would like to see people DOING what Jesus did. Thinking for themselves and communing with his soul ‘within’ to touch the beauty in all nature!

We can’t expect people to read such a totally different picture of history and not challenge our ideas. We are including the best scholars we can and yet there will be many who are so threatened they will say all kinds of bad things about us. We know that there are risks and that the ‘powers that be’ will not help make this ’stuff’ become common knowledge. The Hermetic ‘cults’ of Egypt and Greece that were so popular when people were allowed to follow knowledge (more) in the early Hellenistic times were from Isis and Osiris. They were the founders of Egypt who were not Gods. Like Moses and Jesus who the rabbis tell us became the object of hero worship so it has often been with great people once they are dead. Priests take the peoples’ good opinion of their heroes and turn them into ‘cults’ with themselves as the key interpreters.

Readers who study hard and have an open mind will find a veritable mine field of ‘stuff’ to try to sift through in order to find any essence of truth. I see some great truth might exist as I contemplate the naturally growing nanotubes and lattices or helixes that all energy manifests through. The whole universe vibrates according to an intelligent design such as mathematically demonstrated by Dembski. There is no reason to have made Darwin out to be a pure evolutionist. His Theory of Love is just as important. Although he was forced to differentiate himself from Lamarck he was in fact inspired by him. Few enough are the scientists who see there are divergent forces at work in all truthful outcomes. The quality of energy is as important as the quantity of energy, in whatever forces impact mutation. It is not unreasonable to say there is a collective force with purpose in some Divinely Providential construct. It is folly however, to think a mere human might fully comprehend it. That kind of ideology smacks of religious claptrap, I know. Nonetheless I propose there is merit in Dembski and all open-minded evaluations of what might be. We are often seeing the science or present fad therein proclaims an absolute proof that is subsequently proven false. I like the atomic physicists who were called atom-mysticists at first. Neils Bohr was one of them and he observed something like the following: “A great truth has an opposite, which is also true. A trivial truth has an opposite which is only a falsehood.”

We have endured the ‘experts’ of mechanistic professionalism far too long. Their ego has made them cling to fads and fictions with the most ignorant among us. When Edison’s phonograph was presented to the Paris Academy of Sciences they throttled the presenter as they claimed he was a ventriloquist. At the end of the 19th Century a Patent Office Official said they should close down because everything that could be discovered had been already patented. This is the kind of sunshine law that all bureaucracies should install but not because they are right about no more inventions being possible. Even worse is the early 20th Century Britannica proclaiming torture was a thing of the past in ‘civilized’ Europe? Clearly we must do our own thinking.

“Although Darwin was in the habit of repudiating violently any intimation that he had profited from Lamarck, we have already seen that he was acquainted at an early age with English versions of the latter’s work and in 1845 there is a reference in an unpublished letter to Lyell (Biblio: In the possession of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.) regarding ‘my volumes of Lamarck.’” (1)

Lamarckian evolutionary theory allows for the mix of creation and the impact of directed creative and psychic or soulful participation. If God is everything and we all act in concert, there is a powerful collective force to be reckoned with. We might even change the nature of our Noble leaders by holding them in the light. Let us not cling to theory that faith or fad alone limits and selects facts to fit the prevailing ‘norm’. Dembski must not be censored and censured by the biologists who fight to maintain their stranglehold on evolutionary theory. Charles Fort and Arthur Koestler are as wise as any who have ‘observed’ in the last century and they would not encourage such censure, I am sure. Creation should not be laid at the feet of God and we are part of God, we must act responsibly and with right action and thought. Come with me, and bring an open-mind that you can assimilate and later test. I will endeavour to see the ‘light’ in all its harmonizing glory. Barthold Niebuhr put the adventure in these relevant words:

“He who calls what has vanished back again into being, enjoys a BLISS like that of

creating.”

Thor Heyerdahl was such a person. His insight changed a lot of academic attitudes as he proved many things held sacred were anything but correct. We need to provide far better reason for a change in opinions than the prevailing paradigm if only because they have such a stranglehold on opinion. The propagandists have many writers and academics at their beck and call. This has been true for many millennia, and they have had the ability to destroy most evidence that would disprove their fictions or myths. That is one reason why linguistics and botany or other forensic tools are the best evidences for our effort to present an alternative history. Even when a 99% archaeological certainty that fits facts and established criteria to keep much truth out of the realm of accepted evidence – such as the Roman statue or head found in Mexico – there are those who debunk it or make it seem unimportant.

My personal knowledge of statues at Chichen Itza convinces me there were many Etruscan and Greek artisans at work in Central America. If you ever go there be sure to drop in on the Villas Archaeologique. As you read Heyerdahl in the following quote be cognizant that five separate forensic labs have concurred that cocaine from Peru was part of the diet the mummies of Egypt enjoyed. Balabanova was well aware of the implications of this upon world history. That is why she had all the other labs test her results. Lanning provides artefacts detailing those involved in this trade. These secrets were very important to the potion makers or pharmacists of the ancient world. Hallucinatory drugs probably started the Phoenicians down this road a long time before Egypt. Our artefacts and evidence on stone and bas-reliefs includes the ancient handshake of the Phoenician enterprise that I think Moses and his family benefited from for a very long time.

“Preconceived opinions on the lack of maritime activity in pre-Spanish America have also affected the botanical discussions of the origin of the common garden bean, ‘Phaseolus vulgaris’. Last century Könicke, in a paper on the home of the garden bean, pointed out that this crop plant was formerly generally accepted as having been cultivated in Europe by the ancient Greeks and Romans, under the name of Dolickos, Phaseolus, etc. The cultivation of the same bean among the Aborigines of America was therefore explained as the result of its post-Columbian introduction from the Old World by the early Spaniards. (2) This was the theory until Wittmack discovered in 1880 the common garden bean among the archaeological excavations of Reiss and Stübel at the prehistoric cemetery of Ancon, Peru. (3) It was there found interred as food with mummy burials long antedating the European discovery of America. Here was suddenly ample proof of the pre-European cultivation of ‘Phaseolus’ in America, and beans were subsequently recovered from pre-Incan sites along the entire coast of Peru. At this time, however, pre-Columbian specimens of the ‘European’ bean were no longer accessible. The view was taken, therefore, that the Old World ‘Phaseolus’ must after all have originated in aboriginal ‘America’, and been carried back thence to Europe by the early Spaniards. (4)

{Some have gone so far as to say that bird droppings are the result of all these plant migration. The Yam or American sweet potato turned the tide for the champion of Euro-centric history in botany and zoology. He had to confess he had been wrong after decades of fighting the point. Why then do we celebrate the SLAVER Columbus? Is it not to maintain a colonial secret of deceit upon which our sovereign nations are founded? The Incans had a style of government that utopian philosophers like Sir Francis Bacon used as the model in writing about possible forms of great government.}

More recently Hutchison, Silow and Stephens pointed out, with corroborative botanical evidence, that the ‘Phaseolus’ beans represent but one more indication of contact between the Old and New World before Columbus. (5) The same problem concerns varieties of the lima bean, ‘Phaseolus lunatus’, growing wild in Guatemala and common in the earliest Chimu and Nazca graves of coastal Peru. In 1950 Sauer points to certain very early genetic peculiarities of a race of lima beans of primitive characteristics long under cultivation in parts of Indonesia and Indo-China, and says: ‘If, then, south-eastern Asia should prove to be a reservoir of the more primitive lima beans, long since extinct in Peru and Mexico, a further problem of the time and manner of trans-Pacific connection is raised by which the American bean was communicated to the native population across the Pacific.’ (6) The same problem is also raised by a related bean, the jackbean, or swordbean, ‘Canavalia’ sp. Stoner and Anderson have called attention to the following: ‘The sword bean (‘Canavalia’), widely cultivated throughout the Pacific and always considered to be of Old World origin, is now known from prehistoric sites along the coasts of both South America and Mexico.’ (7) ‘Canavalia’ beans excavated from the stratified deposits at Huaca Prieta on the Pacific coast of Peru, date from between 3000 and 1000 BC. (8) Sauer states that its archaeological distribution and relation to wild species now indicate the jackbean as a New World domesticate. (9)

The above brief survey will show that, not only has anthropological thought for nearly a century been biased by ethno-botanical evidence, but to a quite considerable extent anthropological presuppositions have similarly affected American botany. The literature on the origin and spread of certain American and Pacific island cultigens demonstrates that many botanical assumptions have been based on the conviction that the New World was isolated from the rest of the world prior to the voyage of Columbus. Similarly, it has been taken for granted that only Indonesian craft could move eastwards into the open Pacific, whereas the culture of the South American people was presumably confined to their own coastal waters due to the lack of seaworthy craft. The material reviewed above shows that there is adequate evidence of aboriginal export of American plants into the adjacent part of the Pacific island area… Merrill favours Africa as the original homeland of the gourd, and proposes that it reached America across the Atlantic. (10) If the 13-chromosomed cultivated Old World cotton, together with wild American species, were actually employed in the hybridization of the 26 chromosomed New World cotton species then an overseas introduction from the Old World is by far shorter and easier with the westward drifts across the open Atlantic than against the elements across the six times wider Pacific, where no 13-chromosomed cottons exist. The coconut was relayed straight across the Pacific. If it originated in tropic America where all related genera occur, it must have spread with the earliest Pacific voyagers, since it was present in Indonesia at the beginning of the Christian era. The yam has a similar complete trans-Pacific distribution… the same strong ocean river, sweeping from Mexico straight to the Philippines should be taken into account.” (11)

The dyeing industry of Phoenician purple is in Peru as well as Mexico, and it was a critical and valuable export of Tyre. There are heraldic similarities and customs galore which we will continue to show. The purpose of adding these tidbits to all the other ones I have covered in other books is to demonstrate two things. First and foremost (for the purposes of this book), we can see academics and science are frequently wrong. Wrong, and motivated! Secondarily there is the matter of megaliths and henges, Pyramids and dolmen or Round Towers that are all over the World. They are key components of the Neolithic Library system that encompassed all the ‘Brotherhood’ of man in a spiritual and growth oriented culture of tolerance and egalitarian morals.

NOTES:

1) Darwin’s Century, Evolution and the Man Who Discovered It., by Loren Eisely, 1958, Doubleday, 1961, pg. 187.

2) Sea Routes to Polynesia, by Thor Heyerdahl, with editorial notes by Karl Jettmar, Ph.D., Professor of Ethnology, Univ. of Heidelberg, and a foreword by Hans W: son Ahlmann, Ph. D. former President of the International Geographical Union, 1968, Futura Publ., ed., 1974. brings us Könicke (1885, p.136) from pg. 73.

3) Ibid, Wittmack, (1880, p.176).

4) Ibid, Wittmack, (1886, 1888).

5) Ibid, Hutchinson, Silow and Stephens (1947, pg.138).

6) Ibid, Sauer (1950, p.502).

7) Ibid, Stoner and Anderson, (1949, p.392).

8) Ibid, Whitaker and Bird (1949, pg.2.).

9) Ibid, Sauer (1950, pg.499).

10) Ibid, Merrill (1950, pp.9-10).

11) Ibid, pgs. 73-76.

Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
Guest ‘expert’ at World-Mysteries.com

CHRETIEN DE TROYES:

Academics will freely admit that this man was a troubadour. But what is a Troubadour? They were important to the genesis of the Cathar mystique for a certainty and the Princeton people I will shortly quote will say that Chrétien was one of the first Troubadours in this region. Surely they do not think it would be one of the first involved in these arts. In point of fact they are very very ancient arts in the training of a Druid, who would become a minstrel and jester before taking up the involved study to be a Bard or Baird. Druids, Bairds and Ovates are the best known appellations for those who completed these long and arduous studies which were already suffering and shortening by the time of Pythagoras who was part of the last known Dean of Studies in the Mediterranean region. Abaris (Rabbi) the Druid was that Dean and his name gives us a clue as to one of the branches or systems which took over some of their training.

The Cathars were very Gnostic and open to the Pharisaic Rabbinical message. In Caesar’s Journals we are told the period of study was 20 years but it was 25 a millennium earlier and there were still other specialties one could study throughout their lives. One of those might lead to being called a Peryllat or ‘alchemist’. Many members of the family of Jesus were alchemists and it is quite likely that Yeshua bar Joseph studied with Comarius who also tutored Cleopatra. Apollonius of Tyana is part of the Jesus amalgam and the Cathars kept most of the Gaedhil/Gnostic learning alive. One of the charges that the Inquisition leveled against the Cathars had to do with Dianistic or Tantric sexual practices and I believe the sexual or Bhakti ‘union’ (Yoga) was part of their training and system which highly valued women including giving them high priestly functions and leadership roles including Esclarmonde de Foix who is reminiscent of Hypatia of Alexandria, who both should be studied as a great heroine for all time.

The Bairdic Educational system had included a seven year specialty in developing languages for their far flung colonies in the second millennium BCE and they developed such codes and Gematria as you see in Hebrew and the Aymará of Peru. I have delved into these Oghamic studies in many other books including one with the title From OM to Ogham. Plato observed that knowledge was declining due to the written word after the Phoenicians gave them their refined alphabet. Some scholars think a few of the poems attributed to Orpheus (a lesser Bard or Troubadour) are in fact the writing of Pythagoras. The Grail myths are rich repositories of the pre-Christian traditions.

“Little concerning the person we call "Chrétien de Troyes" (fl. ca. 1160-1191) can be affirmed with certainty. What we know must largely be inferred from the writings attributed to him. These include five romance narratives written in rhyming octosyllabic couplets during the final third of the 12th century (Érec et Énide [ca. 1165], Cligés [ca. 1176], Le Chevalier de la Charrette (Lancelot), Le Chevalier au Lion (Yvain) [ca. 1177? 1179-80?], and Le Conte du Graal (Perceval) [ca. 1190]); a sixth narrative, Guillaume d’Angleterre, has been attributed to him by some, although many scholars find this doubtful. At least two surviving lyric songs are said to have been composed by him (if so, he is the oldest known trouvère with work closely related to that of the Old Provençal troubadours). {The region is also known as Langue d’Oc or Languedoc. Occamy is ‘alchemy’ in one translation so we can see the importance of the Troubadour to Bairdic or Peryllat spiritual quest is the tongue or language and codes of alchemy.}

Certain works said by him to belong to his oeuvre–they are listed in the opening verses to Cligés–have not survived; these include, especially, a romance entitled Du roi Marc et d’Iseut la Blonde. One of the Ovidian poems given in the Cligés list appears as part of an early 14th-century compilation called the Ovide moralisé.

Of the above-mentioned titles two were left incomplete by Chrétien: the Charrette was brought to a close by Godefroi de Leigni, under Chrétien’s supervision (according to Godefroi); the Graal was (almost certainly) interrupted by the poet’s death.

Not only did each of our poet’s works undergo copying throughout the 13th century (all eight manuscripts of the Charrette were produced in that century), they were each subject to myriad reworkings, in verse and, especially, in prose. Perceval underwent a number of "continuations" and inspired many textual "spin-offs" before the Grail story it told came to be incorporated into the vast Prose Lancelot (along with the Charrette, which constitutes the midpoint text of this great compilation). Post-World War II scholarship has demonstrated that Chrétien’s oeuvre was fully integrated into the system of textual references and allusions underlying many important 13th-century texts–a series of "epigonal romances" (e.g., Fergus, Le Bel Inconnu) and a work like the Roman de la Rose (Guillaume de Lorris’s Narcissus episode, as M.A. Freeman has shown, "re-reads/re-writes" Ovid through a process of refraction involving Chrétien’s Blood Drops on the Snow scene in Perceval [Freeman 1976-77]). A romance composed as late as Froissart’s 14th-century Méliador "revives" Chrétien de Troyes’s Arthurian manner and matter, as P.F. Dembowski has demonstrated (1983).

Chrétien himself utilized a similar network of textual allusion in his own romances. Scholars interested in sources have for generations pointed to such "first-generation" romances as the romans antiques (Énéas, Troie, and Thèbes) and Wace’s Brut and Rou, not to mention the Tristan corpus (especially Thomas), as constituting a kind of quarry from which Chrétien extracted materials which he utilized in his own constructions. Chrétien’s bookish learning–he was clearly a clerc fully trained in the arts curriculum of his day–is evident in his love of such figures of ornamentation as adnominatio, rich rhyme, and chiasmus, and, as well, in the particularly fertile manner in which he refracted the Arthurian materials he borrowed from Geoffrey of Monmouth and Wace through the lens of such works of late Antiquity as Martianus Capella’s De Nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiae (in Érec et Énide) or the writings of Macrobius. As he states in the Prologue to Érec et Énide, he–and he proudly names himself–and his work must be distinguished from the fragmented and vulgar tales hawked before kings and counts by uneducated minstrels.” (6)

Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
Guest ‘expert’ at World-Mysteries.com

The sapphire, protector of the innocent, celestial guardian of truth, bringer of health and youth, symbol of the heavens and birthstone for the month of September, is in fact the same stone as the ruby, the mineral corundum.

The blue corundum, ranging in color from the lightest blue to deep blue and black, is the same stone as the ruby, the only difference being in the color. The choicest color is the soft velvety blue, approaching the cornflower in shade and exhibiting that color vividly by artificial as well as by natural light. The deeper-colored stones are known as male, and the light-colored ones as female sapphires. Although choice sapphires are rare, a much greater quantity of good and large stones are to be had than of rubies, and therefore the price of a large sapphire does not advance in the same proportion as the price of a large ruby.

The word “sapphire” which means blue is of the same form in nearly all the early tongues, thus showing that they were in use by the ancients. Sapphires are found in many parts of the world and are usually found in the same locality as the ruby. The largest number and finest quality of these stones come from Thailand and India, and are found and recovered in much the same way as the ruby.

The sapphire is next to the diamond in hardness and it is this quality that makes it impervious to wear and insures its sharp edges and corners against years of use. Like the ruby the value of the sapphire is determined by its color. The finest stones are a deep blue and the deeper the color the more highly it is prized if its translucency is not impaired. Although the sapphire with its many shades of blue is considered the most desirable stone, it is also found in other colors such as red, green, yellow and pink.

The Oriental emerald or green sapphire does not approach the beryl or true emerald in depth of color, but because of its superior hardness and brilliancy, added to its extreme rarity, it is the most valuable of green gems. The Oriental amethyst or purple sapphire sometimes reflects a red color by artificial light, and is valued highly as a gem stone; the common amethyst is softer, less brilliant, and loses by artificial light. The various other colored sapphires, such as yellow or Oriental topaz, light green or Oriental aquamarine, greenish-yellow or Oriental chrysolite, and aurora red or Oriental hyacinth, are all valuable as gem stones when they are pure, well cut, and have pronounced colors—in fact, the name Oriental is given to distinguish the corundums from the less valuable minerals of the same colors which they resemble, but which they greatly surpass in beauty and value because of their brilliancy and superior hardness.

Asterias or star stones are corundums of three different colors; the star sapphire proper is a grayish blue, the star ruby red, and the star topaz yellow. These stones are usually cut cabochon or convex, and display under the rays of the sun, or when exposed to one candle or other artificial light, a beautiful star with six points. This star is produced by foreign substances in the corundum, and the lapidary brings about the regular effect by cutting a pointed carbuncle so that the center of the star begins at the apex, and the six bright stripes radiate to the base of the stone. The bright lines of the star following the light move over the surface of the stone and produce a remarkable effect. These stones are amongst the most wonderful of mineral productions, and good specimens are very valuable. The corundum cat’s-eye, called Oriental girasol or sunstone, has a bluish, reddish, or yellowish reflection of light of a lighter shade than the stone itself, and which moves on the convex surface of the stone like the lines of a star stone.

To this day, sapphire is one of the most important members of the family of gems and is certainly one of the most favored by jewelry artisans worldwide. Consequently, there is more “hanky-panky” with treatments, alteration of color and various other techniques to disguise or improve flaws etc., than almost any other precious stone. Buyer beware of bargains that look “too good to be true”. Deal with reputable jewelers both online and offline. The sapphire is the birthstone for September.

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Around my twentieth birthday life became a series of incredible events. Perhaps in retrospect it has never ended. I was living on my own with other guys in houses where partying was the rule and bars were meant to be closed. I had started reading Eastern mysticism and was heavy into music after years of boredom in school. It seemed like the world was much more interesting in every aspect of life’s potentials. I wasn’t making much money as an apprentice accountant but I was getting lots of parking tickets. I had just met a woman seven years my senior by the name of Myrna, when I went to the Don Jail for my second visit that year. The policeman asked me if I’d like him to take me in Friday late, so they would have to let me out the same night.

"No, I loved it the last time. I learned more in two days in jail than a whole year in school. But thanks a lot; I do appreciate your kindness."

"You are definitely different!"

"So are you!"

Myrna had gone to California to spend three weeks vacation with a Salvation Army Major friend of hers and their family. We had not really made love and her divorce was being finalized, so I had time on my hands. The week before I went to jail, a really freaky thing happened when I went to a party in Clarkson. It was a hundred miles from Myrna’s home in Bay Ridges. I had been at her Bay Ridges home with her before she moved. I walked into this bachelor pad and saw Myrna’s collage hanging on the wall. I pointed to it and told my friend Joe; “That looks just like Myrna’s.”

Under the picture was seated a man who gave me a glare and I suddenly realized it was her husband Jim. She had told me he was a violent man and that she had been afraid he might use his shotgun if he had caught us when we were at her house. It was such a co-incidence I couldn’t believe it. I went to Barry Cunningham who was living there and he started to tell me about it before I even asked.

"Does he know?" I asked before deciding to stay.

"Not yet. He is a bit of a hot head… This is pretty ‘far out’, eh Bob? He’ll never believe a kid like you is with Myrna. Frankly it is a little hard for the rest of us to figure out too."

Barry enjoyed making fun of me, but never really believed anything I said, so I had learned to smile and shine him on.

My first time in jail had included frank discussions with some very diverse people. The prison was totally full and I was put in the hospital ward with 31 other people. One of them was on his way to the ‘big house’ for his second murder. Another was a professional thief in his early forties who had spent most of his life in prison, but enjoyed it. He was extremely fit and worked out all the time in prison. His philosophy was he could steal a lot of money when he was out, and take good care of his family who had a nice home. With no education and free food and board in jail every couple of years he thought he was doing better than most. He never hurt anyone and figured the people he stole from had insurance. Another man discussed how he had turned into a homosexual because he wasn’t able to handle the pressure of pleasing a woman. I told him that it sure would be good if sexual dynamics were taught to everyone. My own experience was close to non-existent but I knew I would be a good lover. However, Myrna had told me on the night she left when I tried to please her that I hadn’t succeeded. She was averse to cunnilingus and I was certain it would get better, but I couldn’t really help him out. Everyone loved to tell me their life stories and this perturbed a younger guy who was in for two months on a drug possession charge. He was the ward trusty and had a knife. He came at me brandishing the knife while the other guys were teaching me bridge.

The murderer stood up and glowered at the thin young man as he advanced towards me. "You! Stay in the corner or lose your life!"

It was amusing to see this man who was older than me cower and shiver in the corner until dinner. He never really recovered during the rest of the time I was there. Another man who no one ever talked to was kept drugged. He was a big black person with muscles like a football player. His case was something everyone else talked about though.

It had taken nine guards to subdue him one time when he was conscious. I was told he threw them off his back like they were little kids. His mind apparently operated in a high hormone state. He also was a sleepwalker. Late on the first day, a man was brought in to the ward who had just returned from Venezuela. He had loaned his car to a friend who had left him with about $400 worth of tickets. He was a professional man who feared everyone else there and stuck close to me. I was about six foot and two hundred and ten pounds with a good physique. His reasons were numerous, and fear would have been his companion regardless of where he was. He stayed on the bunk above me. As we went to sleep the black man got up and came directly to him. I think fear is something animals and people alike can sense. When I woke just before sun-up the man who had been in the bunk above me was gone. Everyone had a good laugh thinking about how he had rattled the bars and paid his way out, rather than deal with the sleepwalker who was reportedly gay.

The second time I was in the ‘Don’ turned out to be one of the most important events in my life. I was shown into a cell with about twelve single beds and no bunk beds. The prison pipes were alive with the news of my return. It is nice to be remembered but sad that so many people find it necessary to spend so much time in jail. The truth is that jail is safer than the shelters and more interesting than the group homes. Stealing something for throwing a brick through a store window and taking something you need often doesn’t result in jail. Sometimes it leads to having money to get drunk with your friends or better things. They don’t seek to put drugs down your throat or alienate you with religious dogma and/or analyze you to see if they can make you part of a drug program that removes your libido and zest for life either. Some prisoners and ’street people’ are actually smart enough to see that this benefits some rich drug pushers in the psychiatric and drug complex too.

I found that people in jail like to be treated with respect and know that their opinion is valued and they can teach smart young ‘yuppies’ too. If there is one key word in relationships, I was learning that might be RESPECT! No one tries to force someone to do something they don’t want to do when they share respect, I think. It made me learn a lot about sales and how to become close to new people as well. Fear was definitely the opposite ingredient. I don’t know how many people in the supposed real world have as high an ethical or ‘brotherhood’ component as these friends I made in jail. I even began to wonder if I was in the ‘big house’ whether I would be able to charm enough people to make it so that I wouldn’t have had to offer up my anal virginity or worse. Fortunately my life hasn’t made this point clear to me yet.

As I walked to the bed that was to be mine I noticed a book on the floor. It was a compendium of existentialist authors! Sometimes I would answer the often asked question ‘What religion are you?’ with the high sounding phrase ‘I’m a French Atheistical Existentialist.’ during this time in my life. I definitely wasn’t into some man-made or projected GOD! They call this anthropomorphing in some academic circles. I was surprised to see this book along with some other intellectual books on the floor of the bed next to the late twenties man who looked a lot like Cat Stevens.

"Are you reading this?" I asked after I settled on my bed.

"Just refreshing myself. I’ve read it two or three times before."

"What are you doing here?"

"Fifteen days."

"What for?" I asked with genuine interest.

"It doesn’t matter really. Let’s just say they called it assault." I sensed it might have been a female/male conflict and knew he didn’t want to talk about it.

"So what is a clean cut looking military man like you doing in jail? I thought the cops liked to give their own a break."

"I am an officer in the Militia and an accountant but I don’t do the army thing anymore. I kinda wish I could let my hair down like you. I’m a hippie at heart."

"Followers and flower children in the most part. Just do what makes sense; it’ll stand you in good stead." The late twenties or early thirties man that I was drawn to, said wisely.

"Yes, I certainly do that. I like Sartre’s saying ‘Love is absent space." He didn’t respond and I really wanted him to talk with me. "So, you’ve led a very interesting life, haven’t you?"

"They want you at the bars. Who are you? I heard something on the pipes that sounded like ‘the guy who loves jail is back’; is that you?"

I went to the bars at the front of the cell and talked to an older guy who had been in the hospital ward a couple of months earlier. I barely remembered having talked to him, but he was the retired guy who would throw a brick through a store window and sometimes wait for the police to bring him to jail. He told me that about seven people I knew who were back in jail. They wanted me to know they remembered me. I thanked him heartily and shook his hand through the bars with both of mine. I told him to thank the other people for their having remembered me and that I could have avoided jail by doing what the cop had offered. He knew that the others would like the fact that I valued what I had learned and experienced that much. As I walked back to my bed I smiled a lot. I knew I had made the right decision to let life bring me whatever was waiting for me, it felt like another good thing was about to happen.

"So, my name is Bob Baird. I’m here for the weekend and yes, I am the guy who loves jail. I don’t believe in paying parking tickets for unmarked zones, and there is no other place to park near where I have lived. More illegal taxation without representation."

"Maybe we should have another tea party?

“Are you from the States?"

"No. But I spend a lot of time there. I am an actor and writer."

"What’s your name?"

"I use different names. Kyle Edwards or Ed Kyle - Whatever you like!”

"Kyle. I like that! So you are a writer. I’ve written some thoughts about the dimensions of energy that surround us and even a sort of journal/biography but I know I can do a lot better."

"It is a real craft that requires a lot of dedication and a tough skin to handle all the rejection. I’m working on one right now, in my head."

It was fifteen minutes later that I realized I had been working on his book with him. He said very little and listened with no particular sense of amazement that I was reading his mind. I had read all there was on ESP and parapsychology but still didn’t accept it was a fact without personal experience. It was a watershed event for me.

"Say Kyle why don’t you read my mind. I’ve almost finished your book. Can you do that too?"

"Sure, it just takes a little trust and willingness to make a mistake now and then."

He waited for a minute then began to give me advice on sex and my relationship with Myrna. It was very specific and somewhat embarrassing for him to know how inexperienced I was. That would have been enough to say that my trip to jail had been better than the last time. Much more was to transpire as a result of Kyle and his influence. It is only recently that I have a better idea of the extent of it. That is thirty years of thought. I hope the reader takes a little less time to accept the possibility of these things. However, I expect some people will reject the possibility or be left saying the same things I had said before this ESP event. I need to experience it myself!

That kind of skepticism is fine, if the mind doesn’t seize up and deny its’ powers of observation and relationship with the soul. Before I say what it was that makes this such an important event in my whole life let me tell you some more about Kyle; who I stuck to like a leech the whole time I was there that weekend. He didn’t want to tell me how to get in touch with him after I left. I am sure he was a little worn out by my enthusiastic pursuit of his wisdom. Some of what he told me was too incredible to put my mind around. Don’t be afraid to admit you feel the same way, and yet don’t close the mind to the possibility. That is all I have asked the thousands of people I have shared this event with over the last thirty years. Kyle had been a paraplegic at the age of five. One day in his Quebec home with his nurse in attendance, a fire truck went by.

"Kyle look it’s a fire reel!”

He rose from his wheelchair to her absolute surprise. Later at the age of eight or nine years old he participated in the Canadian National Diving Championships. He won the junior and intermediate title and was allowed to compete with the seniors. In the process of this competition he banged his head on the platform. The X-rays showed that he was a paraplegic, the doctor ordered a new set and they maintained a close scrutiny to ensure no further foul up happened. The new X-rays were identical. Kyle never graduated from high school yet he became a teacher in the prairies. He was an animal trainer and his description of his ability to relate with animals was something I had read about and Crocodile Dundee did with animals in the movie which came out two or so decades later. This is the key ingredient in the rest of this story. I guess that sounds a little like the radio host Paul Harvey.

When I left the ‘Don’, I saw a cat near the sidewalk ahead of me. It was an orange and white tabby that didn’t move out of my way nor did it come for rubs from my outstretched hand. It winked at me with one eye and I received a flash of enlightenment. The knowledge of what exists in the lowest form of life is ruled by the same principles and rules that impact the more complex creatures. Knowledge is not comprised of words or logical constructs and when fully integrated it appears quite simple. That is the nature of principles. Seeing or feeling the white light in Yoga has an element of this, as does the Near Death Experience. This was more than that!

In a mere fifteen seconds my head was filled. I may only have been able to incorporate a small portion of what it offered yet it seemed almost to be the kind of divine illumination that many ecstatic religions report. It was something I pondered upon for many years. My current attitude about it is that it was not the level of knowledge that I would have gotten at the most complex level of life, but rather one or more steps beneath that. James Redfield’s book the Celestine Prophecy told a nice story that incorporates the knowledge of the Enneagrams. Around the early 1920’s Jesuit priests brought this knowledge out of Persia. It is probably related to the Magi of Zoroaster and the three wise men of the Bible.

Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
Guest ‘expert’ at World-Mysteries.com