History and Celestial Time
By Walter Cruttenden
Author of the
Lost Star of Myth And Time
This is one of the topics of conversation at the ‘Conference on Precession and Ancient Knowledge’ held
on October 6-7, 2007 at the University of California,
San Diego. Speakers
include Graham Hancock, Walter Cruttenden, Robert Bauval, Robert
Schoch, John Anthony West, Laird Scranton, Marie D. Jones, John
Burke, John Dering and Richard Leviton.
www.CPAKonline.com
Discoveries like the ancient
Greek Antikythera computer (1500
years before the invention of precision geared devices) the
Baghdad
batteries (2000 years before Volta ‘invented’ the battery) or dental
and brain surgery artifacts found in ancient Pakistan (8000 years
out of historical sequence) appear ‘anomalous’ within our current
paradigm of history. However, they are not unexpected according to
the ancient cyclical view.
Antikythera Computer (left) and Baghdad Battery
(right)
Giorgio de Santillana, the former professor of the history of
science at MIT, tells us that most ancient cultures believed
consciousness and history were not linear but cyclical, meaning they
would rise and fall over long periods of times. In his landmark
work, Hamlet’s Mill, Giorgio and co-author Hertha von Dechend,
showed that the myth and folklore of over 30 ancient cultures around
the world spoke of a vast cycle of time with alternating Dark and
Golden Ages that move with the precession of the equinox. Plato
called this the Great Year.
Although the idea of a great cycle timed by the slow precession
of the equinox was common to multiple cultures before the Christian
era most of us were taught this is just a fairytale; there was no
Golden Age. However, an increasing body of new astronomical and
archaeological evidence suggests the cycle may have a basis in fact.
More importantly, understanding the cycle might provide insight into
where society is headed at this time and why consciousness may be
expanding at an exponential rate. Understanding the cause of
precession is key to understanding the cycle.
The standard theory of precession says it is principally the
Moon’s gravity acting upon the oblate Earth that must be the cause
of the Earth’s changing orientation to inertial space, a.k.a. the
‘precession of the equinox’. However, ancient sources say the
observable of an equinox slowly moving or ‘precessing’ through the
twelve constellations of the zodiac is simply due to the motion of
the solar system through space (changing our viewpoint from Earth).
Here at the Binary Research Institute, we have modeled a moving
solar system and found it does indeed better produce the precession
observable and resolves a number of solar system anomalies such as
the uneven distribution of angular momentum within the solar system
and the variable rate of precession. Beyond the technical
considerations, a moving solar system might provide a logical reason
why we have a Great Year with alternating Dark and Golden Ages. That
is, if the solar system carrying the Earth actually moves in a huge
orbit, subjecting the Earth to the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum of
another star or EM source along the way, we could expect this would
affect our magnetosphere, ionosphere and indirectly all life in a
pattern commensurate with that orbit. Just as the Earth’s smaller
diurnal and annual motion’s produce the cycles of day and night and
the seasons (both due to the Earth’s changing position in relation
to the EM spectrum of the Sun), so might the larger celestial motion
be expected to produce a cycle that affects life and consciousness
on a grand scale.
The hypothesis for how consciousness would be affected in such a
celestial cycle builds on the work of Dr. Valerie Hunt, the former
professor of physiology at UCLA. In a number of studies she has
found that changes in the ambient EM field (that surrounds us all
the time) can dramatically affect human cognition and performance.
In short, consciousness is affected by immersion in EM fields.
Consequently, the concept behind the Great Year or cyclical model of
history, consistent with myth and folklore, is based on the Sun’s
motion through space, subjecting the Earth to waxing and waning
stellar fields (all stars are huge generators of EM spectrum),
resulting in the legendary rise and fall of the ages over great
epochs of time.
In
Lost Star of Myth And Time, we looked at some of the ancient
myths about rising and falling ages tied to the precession cycle,
explored current precession anomalies, outlined a dynamic solar
system model that better explains the precession observable, and
suggested a hypothesis for how a change in proximity to
stellar-generated electro-magnetic fields might be the mechanism
that induces cyclical changes on Earth. Here we would like to use
this model as a guide to better understand where we have been in
terms of consciousness and ancient civilizations in the past, and
more importantly, where we are going in the future. As Graham
Hancock stated, this ‘new - or very old - approach to the greatest
problems of human history’ could be the ‘key to the mystery of the
ages’.
Historical Perspective
Current theories of history generally ignore myth and folklore
and do not consider any macro external influences on consciousness.
For the most part, modern history theory teaches us that
consciousness or history moves in a linear pattern from primitive to
modern with few exceptions.
Some of its tenets include:
- Mankind evolved out of Africa,
- People were hunter-gatherers until about 5000 years ago,
- Tribes first banded together for protection from other warring
parties,
- Written communication must precede any large engineered
structures or populous civilizations.
The problem with this widely accepted paradigm is that it is not
consistent with the evolving interpretation of recently discovered
ancient cultures and anomalous artifacts. In the last hundred years
major discoveries have been made in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley,
the Asian plains, South America and many other regions that break
the rules of history theory and push back the time of advanced human
development. Specifically, they show ancient man was far more
proficient and civilized nearly 5000 years ago than he was during
the more recent Dark Ages of just a thousand years ago. In Caral, an
ancient complex on the west coast of Peru, we find six pyramids that
are carbon dated to be 4700 years old, a date contemporaneous with
Egyptian pyramids and rivaling the time of the first major
structures found in the so called ‘Cradle of Civilization’ in
Mesopotamia. However, Caral is an ocean away from the ‘cradle’, and
we find no evidence of any writing or weaponry, two of the so-called
necessities of civilization. At the same time we do find beautiful
musical instruments, astronomically aligned structures and evidence
of commerce with distant lands. Clearly, such sites defy the
standard historical paradigm. But what is stranger still is that so
many of these civilizations seemed to decline en mass.
In ancient Mesopotamia, Pakistan, Jiroft, Iran and adjacent lands
we see knowledge of astronomy, geometry, advanced building
techniques, sophisticated plumbing and water systems, incredible
art, dyes and fabrics, surgery, medicine and many other refinements
of a civilized culture that seemed to arise from nowhere yet were
completely lost over the next few thousand years. By the time of the
worldwide Dark Ages every one of these civilizations had turned to
dust or nomadic ways of life. Near the depths of the downturn there
were ruins and little else to be found. And in some areas where
larger populations still remained, such as throughout parts of
Europe, poverty and disease were often rampant and the ability to
read, write or duplicate any of the earlier engineering or
scientific feats had essentially disappeared. What happened?
While records of this period are still very spotty the
archeological evidence indicates consciousness, reflected as human
ingenuity and capability, was greatly diminished. We just seemed to
have lost the ability to do the things we used to do. Ironically,
this is just what many ancient cultures predicted. The world’s
foremost Assyrianologist, Stefan Maul, shed light on this phenomenon
in his Stanford Presidential Lecture when he tells us that the
Akkadians knew they lived in a declining era; they revered the past
and tried to hang on to it but at the same time lamented and
predicted the Dark Ages that would follow. His etymological studies
of cuneiform tablets show the ancient words for ‘past’ have now
become our words for ‘future’, whereas their words for the ‘future’
have now become our words for the ‘past’. It is almost as if mankind
orients his motion through time depending on whether he is in an
ascending or descending age.
We find this principal of waxing and waning periods of time
depicted in numerous bas-reliefs found in ancient Mithraic temples.
The famed Tauroctany or bull slaying scene, is often surrounded by
two boys, Cautes and Cautopetes. One holds a torch up on one side of
the zodiac, indicating it is a time of light, the other holds a
torch down on the other side of the zodiac, indicating it is a time
of darkness. As the accompanying chart will show, these time periods
correspond with the Vedic description of when the Earth goes through
periods of rising and falling consciousness.
Jarred Diamond, the well-known historian anthropologist and
author of Guns, Germs and Steel makes a good case that it is
primarily local geographic and environmental advantages on the
planet Earth that determine which group of humans succeeds or fails
versus another. Those that have the steel, guns and bad germs win.
While this helps explain many regional differences of the last few
thousand years it does not address the macro trends that seemed to
have affected all cultures (including China and the Americas) as
they slipped into the last worldwide Dark Age. The cyclical or Great
Year model overlays and augments Jarred Diamond’s observations
giving a reason for the widespread downturn. It suggests that it is
not just the geography and environment of man on Earth that
determines his relative success but it is also the geography and
environment of the Earth in space that affects mankind on a vast
scale. Just as small celestial motions affect life over the short
term so do large celestial motions affect us over the long term.
Understanding that consciousness may indeed rise and fall with
the motions of the heavens gives meaning to ancient myth and
folklore and puts anomalous artifacts such as the Antikythera device
into an historical context that makes sense. It speaks to why so
many ancient cultures might have been fascinated with the stars and
it provides us with a workable paradigm in which to understand
history. It could also help us identify the forces that propelled
the renaissance and that may be accelerating consciousness in the
current era. Myth and folklore, the scientific language of yore,
provide a colorful look at consciousness throughout the different
ages.
Character of the Ages
The Greek historian Hesiod tells us of the wonderful nature of
the last Golden Age when ‘peace and plenty’ abounded. Hopi myths
tell us of cities on the bottom of the sea. Typically ancient
peoples broke the great cycle into an ascending and descending
phase, each with four periods. For example, the Vedic or Hindu
culture tells us that when the Autumnal Equinox moves from Virgo to
Aires we go through the ascending Kali, Dwapara, Treta and Satya
Yugas (the golden era) before slowly declining in reverse order as
the equinox completes its journey. The Greeks and other early
Mediterranean civilizations used like periods and labeled them the
Iron, Bronze, Silver and Golden Ages. More distant cultures such as
the Maya or Hopi used still other names such as ‘worlds’ or ‘Suns’,
and labeled them ‘fourth or fifth’, to identify the recent epochs.
A relatively modern proponent of the cyclical system was the
Sanskrit Sage, Swami Sri Yukteswar, author of The Holy Science. He
taught that the position of our solar system relative to another
star now indicates we are in recent transition from the lowest
material age, the Kali Yuga, into the electrical or atomic age, the
Dwapara Yuga.
In this period, it is said we begin to see the world as more
transparent as we move from an awareness of self as a physical body
in a strictly physical universe, to an awareness that we are
something more, living in a universe filled with subtle forces and
energies. The technological discoveries of the laws of gravity,
electricity and magnetism just in the last few hundred years give
this idea credence ñ and the trend is accelerating. In the last
century it has even been discovered that physical matter is not
really solid at all. We have found it is made of molecules and these
in turn are made of atoms, which are themselves constituted of 99.9%
empty space. The little bit of matter that does exist in the heart
of the proton and neutron, is now thought to be principally
vibrating energy, at least according to the latest String Theory.
Indeed, reality is looking more and more ethereal just as the hoary
Vedas predict.
Ages beyond the present are difficult to grasp because a lesser
consciousness cannot behold a greater consciousness anymore than a
cup of water cannot hold the ocean. So we tend to extrapolate the
past material view of things when envisioning the future i.e. more
gadgets and technology. But the Oriental teachings about cycles
indicate this is just a passing phase. They say the real trend is
towards a god-like state where the physical is but a manifestation
of something from the netherworld. And so it seems when we read
Greek mythology or pages of Vedic scripture.
The Silver Age or Treta Yuga, the third age (from the bottom) is
the Greek ‘age of the demigods’, or to the yogis of India, the age
of divine magnetism and the mind. While this is a difficult concept
to grasp consider the story of Babel.
Supposedly before Babel (pre 3100BC in the last descending Treta
Yuga) humanity spoke with one tongue and communed freely with
nature. The Old Testament tells us mankind began to build ‘towers’
and then languages were ‘confused’ and people could no longer
understand one another (Genisis 11:1-9). In the standard theory of
history this story makes no sense but in the cyclical model it has
great meaning. It would have occurred around the time of the first
tower buildings in ancient Mesopotamia, probably between 3000BC and
3500BC. This is precisely around the time (3100BC) when according to
Sri Yukteswar the world declined from the descending Treta yuga into
the descending Dwapara yuga, a time when clairvoyance and telepathy
were lost (see Chart). We learn from Paramahansa Yogananda, another
proponent of the yuga cycle and the famed author of Autobiography of
a Yogi, that this time will come again in the year 4100AD when we
pass from the ascending Dwapara into the ascending Treta yuga. He
tells us at this time there will once again be a ‘common knowledge
of telepathy and clairvoyance’. Perhaps then we will better
understand the meaning of the ancient myths.
The Treta Yuga is said to be the age of levitation,
telepathy, a time of shaman and wizards of old, when tremendous
physic and mental abilities were common, truly an ‘age of the
demigods’. We have all heard stories about mythical powers of saints
and sages who have these gifts. Now seen as rare, the majority of
people don’t take these reports seriously or realize that we too
might have this same latent ability in a higher state of
consciousness. Yet, this is exactly what the ancients told us. In
fact, Christ was quoting the far more ancient scriptures of the Old
Testament when in the depths of the last Dark Age he said; ‘Is it
not written that ye are gods,’ and he himself embodied this
consciousness when he said, ‘These things that I do ye shall do
also.’
Chart by Laurie Pratt, published in East West Magazine in 1932.
The zenith of the Golden Age last took place in 11,502BC. The pit of
the last Dark Age was in 498AD.
The final stage in the cycle of time is the Golden Age or Satya
Yuga. It is considered the highest time on Earth. If the Treta or
Silver age is inconceivable to us today, then the Golden Age must
sound like a myth or a dream. The Greeks called it the ‘age of the
gods’ and the myth and folklore of the Vedas and ancient Egypt hint
that this was a time when gods literally walked the Earth and most
of mankind lived in perfect harmony with nature and the heavens.
While there now remains very little physical evidence of this long
ago period, we do find that virtually every ancient megalithic
construction prior to the year 1500BC seems to be oriented towards
some astronomical or cardinal point. Going back further there are
signs multiple structures may have been aligned to mirror
constellations or the larger heavens. The Golden Age is said to be a
time when we could perceive and communicate with astral or causal
realms and directly know God without the intermediacy of any
religion. Again, this sounds like little more than a fairy tale
given our current state of consciousness, but it is a theme common
to ancient peoples who spoke and wrote of the long lost higher ages.
Predictive Value
Admittedly, the higher ages sound incredible but we hope to show
evidence at the next CPAK and through future papers, books and film
that the cycle has a basis in fact, driven by the solar system’s
motion through space. Just as the seasons of the year, caused by the
Earth’s orbit around the Sun, can be forecast in time (through
calendars and various astronomical means) so can the seasons of the
Great Year be calculated by the slow precession of the equinox.
The cyclical model is not only precisely measurable (by
monitoring the annual change in the precession rate, now about 50.29
arc seconds per year) but I believe it has predictive value. I am
presently working on a new book showing changes we can expect over
the next few decades to few thousand years as we progress through
the Great Year. It is based on cross interpretations of myth and
folklore, extrapolation of trends and interviews with futurists.
During the current transition from the Kali age (of gross material
consciousness) to the early Dwapara era (of an awareness of energy
and finer forces) we are manifesting our heightened awareness and
increasing ingenuity through an endless array of technology that
allows us to annihilate the barriers of time and space. We can now
fly just about anywhere on the globe within the time it takes the
planet to make one spin on its axis. Likewise, we can instantly
communicate with someone on the other side of the Earth and send
them a picture or video of almost any event, real time. All these
things were not only impossible but also unthinkable just a hundred
years ago.
Underlying this trend there is actually a greater concern for
nature. We will see, more and more, a return to living in tune with
Mother Earth and it will be facilitated by greater understanding and
thinner technology. As technology becomes something hidden in the
background, we can expect some amazing changes. For example, while
we currently still need antennas to transmit communications (and
soon power) or silicon to compute or store information even these
may be outmoded in the future. Physicist John Dering (a CPAK
regular) has speculated that given the trend of compute power
sometime in the not too distant future we will develop interface
devices that allow us to pick up the wave forms captured by trees or
the antennae of bugs, and we may be able to tap into and decipher
all the information (waveforms) that have ever passed by a rock or
any inanimate object in the landscape. Could it be that our ancient
ancestors better understood the subtle qualities of stone? Another
CPAK author, John Burke, has already shown that ancient cultures had
a tremendous knowledge of electromagnetism as evidenced by the outer
stones at Avebury where he has demonstrated all of the standing
stones magnetic poles are identically aligned. He has also shown
that some Indian Shaman in the American West can find areas of high
electrostatic charge or geophysical discontinuities just by feel.
They use these areas for healing purposes. Contemplating these ideas
gives new meaning to the stories of our ancient ancestors.
Understanding their wisdom may be key to understanding our future.
The Search For The Binary Star
Cruttenden frequently speaks to groups about the ancient mystery
of the precession of the equinox. His talks explain how cutting edge
scientific evidence challenges the current theory of precession. Due
to the work of Cruttenden and others, interest in ancient knowledge
and solar system theory is on the rise as more people become aware
of the importance of our present Age and the potential it holds for
humankind. Cruttenden founded the Galileo Awards to further
stimulate research and interest in precession and help in the search
for our Sun’s binary companion. Cruttenden was featured on several
television and radio programs, including CNBC, CNFN, KOCE. Recently
he has given talks at the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los
Angeles, East-West Bookstore in Palo Alto, University of Virginia,
University of Arizona, University of California at San Diego,
Newport Film Festival and the Society for Scientific Exploration.
In 2004, Cruttenden founded and appeared at the Conference on
Precession and Ancient Knowledge (CPAK) in Vancouver, BC, Canada
along with other authors and researchers: John Major Jenkins, John
N. Harris, Karl-Heinz Homann & Uwe Homann. He sponsored and
participated in the Second Annual CPAK conference in Sedona, Arizona
in November, 2005 which included as speakers Graham Hancock, the
author of Fingerprints of the Gods, geologist and author Robert
Schoch, known for his work redating the Great Sphinx in Egypt, John
Major Jenkins, author of Maya Cosmogenesis, and several other
experts on ancient cultures. The 2007 conference is currently
scheduled to take place in October in San Diego, California.
Copyright by Walter Cruttenden.
Presented with permission of the author.
Walter Cruttenden is an amateur theoretical archaeo-astronomer
and author of the binary theory of precession. As Executive Director
of the
Binary Research Institute he researches the celestial mechanics
of the precession of the equinox, as well as myth and folklore
related to this phenomenon. He is the writer-producer of
The Great Year, a PBS broadcast documentary film (narrated by
James Earl Jones) that explores evidence of astronomical cycles of
time known to cultures throughout the ancient world.
Most recently Cruttenden wrote
Lost Star of Myth And Time, a book that provides an alternative view of
history based on the solar system’s motion through space. It is his
belief that the myth and folklore depicting a repeating cycle of
Golden Ages and Dark Ages may have a basis in fact, due to the
alternating stellar forces that affect Earth as our solar system
moves in a 24,000-year binary (dual star) orbit.
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