Category Archives: Grab Bag! (various forms of media)
The Moon and more…
I cannot hope to ever explain the significance of the earth’s one and only natural satellite. Just consider how much influence the Moon has had on the human experience. So many aspects of the world’s cultures, religions, myths, music and literature have been inspired by the Moon. Don’t get me started about the tides! Certainly the Moon is worthy of a few conspiracy theories and sadly like anything insanely horrible: there is no shortage of crackpot ideas concerning the lunar landing and the moon in general.
The most popular lunar conspiracy theory involves the fact that the United States first landed a man on the Moon exactly 41 years and a week ago. In this day and age of important events such as the double rainbow man, Lindsey Lohan crying in court, etc. the anniversary seemed to pass with little notice. Maybe it’s because more and more Americans choose to believe that the lunar landing was a carefully orchestrated hoax perpetrated on the whole world in a film studio? I remember first reading about the concept of a fake moon landing in the now defunct Flipside Magazine in 1996 or 1997 as apart of their few non-punk rock related articles. It was an interview with Bill Kaysing, who essentially the Erich von Däniken for this particular conspiracy theory. From 1974 when he first self-published We Never Went to the Moon: America’s Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle to the time of his death in 2005, he gave several examples as evidence of a fake Moon landing, which have been point by point refuted by more than a few scientific authorities over the years. You can read all about Kaysing’s claims here. I personally rely on my common sense regarding this and resist the urge to study the so-called evidence because it simply does not make sense. Faking and covering up something of this multitude involving so many people in so many places is essentially impossible. Sure… motives of space supremacy (real or implied) can be claimed and studio filming was easy enough to do in 1969, but how do you keep so many people thought to be in on the cover-up including the Apollo astronauts quiet? …but more importantly, WHY? Winning the space race? The notion of a fake lunar landing is definitely a faulty approach to science and history and is exactly why these explanations will only ever raise more questions than they were conjured up to answer: it’s Pseudoscience 101.
Other interesting moon conspiracies involve ancient and/or modern alien bases, secret government moon bases/programs and the dark side of the moon. Please accept my apologies if I just evoked any undesired memories of Pink Floyd. John Lear has a few theories of his own concerning the government, aliens and the moon that you can read about here.
On the lighter side (of the moon or just in general), I received a bottle of Crystal Head Vodka for my birthday last month. You may remember I mentioned it in November 30, 2009′s entry. I really like the skull-shaped bottle, but was not too impressed with the quality of the liquor. I was also very disappointed that I could not come up with a catchy slogan similar to Grey Goose’s “Goose makes you loose.”
I’ve been working on other blogs and ideas for blogs concerning different aspects of anthropology and history. I am still trying to decide on the best way to link them to this site.
Thanks for reading and look for another post on 7/30/10.
References and Links (All on-line information retrieved July 27, 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSxfpSeNmsI&feature=youtu.be&a
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipside_%28fanzine%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Kaysing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing_conspiracy_theories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Moon
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/47john_lear/menu.html
http://crystalheadvodka.com/agw.php
http://ancientaliensinmassmedia.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/the-king-dumb-of-the-crystal-skull/
The King-dumb of the Crystal Skull
The Mitchell-Hedges Skull A.K.A "The "Skull of Doom" (http://www.crystalinks.com/crystalskulls.html)
Don’t worry, this post is not entirely about the worst Indiana Jones movie ever made – just the inspiration for the title. I plan to look at the movie along with a Stargate: SG-1 episode entitled “Crystal Skull” in addition to a little background of these so-called mysterious objects. In both Indians Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the “Crystal Skull” episode of Stargate: SG-1 the skulls are of an ancient alien origin associated with a Mayan context which is unfortunately borrowed from real life. Many other non-fictional theories relate the skulls to a Mesoamerican mystery or supposed lost civilizations like Atlantis. Another common idea is that crystal skulls are not just sculptures, but some kind of supercomputer that we humans are just too ignorant to activate at this time. Others suggest that a special number of crystal skulls exist and have to be reunited in order to perform the special task of enlightening humanity or saving us from the “inevitable doom of 2012.” Some New Age followers believe that these “ancient” skulls have healing powers and messages of hope for humanity. Why are there so many different ideas about crystal skulls? No skull has ever been found in a archaeological setting with scientific conditions in place. These skulls have just turned up through out time with a questionable character’s story. One such character is the late Anna Mitchell-Hedges, the adopted daughter of adventurer F.M. Mitchell-Hedges. This skull is now in the possession of Bill Homann who has appeared in a few New Age slanted documentaries like Mystery of the Crystal Skulls which aired on the SyFy channel in 2008. Below is a clip of it from YouTube.
Another more scientific documentary is the Smithsonian Channel’s Legend of the Crystal Skulls, which concentrated more on the testing the of the skulls and the methods manufacture. Below is a clip of the Smithsonian Channel’s documentary.
Several crystal skulls in existence have been tested with powerful electron scanning microscopes to reveal modern tool marks. Not Mayan, not Aztec but “fraudulent fabrications” according to the Crystal Skulls of Ancient America website and seem to be “crafted within the the last 200 years.” I believe the crystal skulls were originally intended to be art objects that were perverted into “artifacts” by opportunists or perhaps they are the work of European or Mexican artists designed to be instant artifacts for less than reputable antiquities dealers. Volumes of modern mythology have been created and if you own a crystal skull, I imagine you can make quite a living by touring the New Age expo circuit with it. Just look at this poster for JoAnn Park’s famous Max skull below.
Crystal Voyage Flyer (http://enlightenedfilms.com/MAX/images/CrystalVoyageFlyer.jpg)
So crystal skulls have made quite a splash in popular culture and the media thanks in part to the Indiana Jones movie, but I don’t think even George Lucas or Steven Spielberg could have imagined Crystal Head Vodka. Wow! I am a little disappointed that Dan Ackroid is endorsing it, but a job is a job… I guess. Hmmmm… Crystal Skulls would even be a good band name, but not nearly as good as Ancient Astronauts.
References and Links (All on-line information retrieved November 30, 2009)
http://skepdic.com/crystalskull.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Kingdom_of_the_Crystal_Skull
http://www.gateworld.net/sg1/s3/321.shtml
http://www.mitchell-hedges.com/
http://scifistorm.org/2008/05/15/crystal-skulls-special-on-the-sci-fi-channel-sunday/
http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/smithsonian/show_crystal_skulls.do
…and you thought Stargate was just a TV show.
It is, but to many this is more than a TV show or a convenient plot device. Some people will tell you that they are indeed, real and have been in use since ancient times with the help of friendly aliens. William Henry is probably the most well known researcher concerning the mythology and use of “real” stargates and wormholes. He is an author, speaker and self-described investigative mythologist, with no notable credentials concerning his area of study. William Henry is actually a pseudoarcheologist with New Age guru leanings. Mr. Henry does like to mention his educational background or lack there of. Instead we are simply told he has been studying mythology for twenty years. Big deal, I’ve been a “student” (fan) of the Dallas Cowboys since I was eight years-old and have done extensive “research” (watched games, read books, viewed documentaries, etc) over the course of twenty-four years. By the logic of William Henry and other pseudoscientists, I am definitely a qualified expert on the important topic of the Dallas Cowboys. I really should produce some DVDs, host lectures or tours and/or get into publishing like William Henry has. About eight minutes into the below clip, William Henry uses a bit of sour grapes rationalization to demonstrate his distrust of or lack of understanding regarding academia. In short, Mr. Henry is relieved that he is not limited by the confines established education and can “connect dots.” At the risk of putting words in his mouth, I think what he is trying to say is “I can do whatever I want with archeological data and mythology and twist the work of scholars into what I need it to be for my DVDs and books.”
In short, he believes that the ancient Babylonians, Sumerians and other civilizations used stargates for wormhole travel with the assistance of the Anunnaki aliens from the Sirius galaxy according to his mythological research. On his website, williamhenry.net, he suggests that depictions of rings or circles in art and architecture must be evidence of a “transformation in our consciousness and our potential for the future.” Stranger still, William Henry believes that stargate imagery will one day come to be as symbolic as the Christian cross.
William Henry with the "stargate" at Thanksgiving Square in Dallas, TX (from http://www.williamhenry.net/blog.html)
Another common belief of his is that domed buildings are a somehow a secret nod to this transformation mentioned above and maybe can even function as a stargate if the right conditions are met. One such domed building is our own nation’s capitol, that is actually not a work of fine architecture, but a spiritual pathway to the unknown. The existence of this mysterious pathway right under our noses is explored in Dan Brown’s latest novel, The Lost Symbol. I think that these are just aesthetic choices, not unlike triangles or other geometric shapes long used in art and architecture. William Henry has also misinterpreted ancient hieroglyphics as evidence of wormholes being used by ancient god-kings. In this photo, from williamhenry.net, “Osiris, the Egyptian god of resurrection, walks (surfs) the Way of the Stars aboard his wormhole-shaped ship of eternity.”
Osiris in his wormhole-shaped boat (from http://www.williamhenry.net/about.html)
I’m sorry it looks like a boat to me and probably to most people for that matter. Why is this a wormhole, because it is U-shaped? Look at this Native American birchbark canoe.
An Algonquin birchbark canoe (from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.birchbarkcanoe.net/images/mainimage1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.birchbarkcanoe.net/birchbarkcanoes.htm&usg=__DQQo-w7JXlPE7Kxj6gBxlmpOp8s=&h=568&w=876&sz=163&hl=en&start=27&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=a0XnyW82O7PZCM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=146&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dindian%2Bcanoe%26ndsp%3D21%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN%26start%3D21%26um%3D1)
It’s a wormhole! The Algonquins certainly must have used wormholes, too! No, it’s just a common shape for watercraft in general. No stargate, no hidden symbolism, but rather one example of human ingenuity overcoming the physics of traveling over water. In my next post I’ll discuss misinterpreting art and hieroglyphs without consideration to cultural context further. Other people also draw a conspiracy laced connection in addition to the established metaphysical connections to stargates. Here is a clip exploring stargate symbolism laced with paranoid conspiracy theories, New Age nonsense and… Nintendo? Read the viewer comments on the YouTube page for this clip to restore your belief in reason.
References and Links (All on-line information retrieved November 25, 2009)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=follow-up-what-exactly-is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_Grapes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anunaki
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNiVq9R3qhs&feature=player_embedded
