Absolute Elsewhere has assembled quite a bibliography. Perhaps it’s time to speak of books. That’s where all the action really is, you know, not in the world of images, but of words. It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. False. Indeed, just the reverse. A word is worth a thousand pictures.
Blue.
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What is a skeptical atheist interested in such outre subjects to do? Seek out the precious stones among the rubbish. Is the goal worth it? Inquire within. If you are interested but can’t face the prospect of wading through so much dross I have saved you much time and effort. You’re welcome.
(Customary disclaimer: I use Amazon as a research resource. But for god’s sake don’t buy these books there.)
You can buy used from Amazon which is not too bad.
As a Catholic boy some of my friends would make light of my religion complaining it had too much mumbo jumbo,mysticism,seeming magic to it.
Then the Exorcist movie came out and many of the friends went ape over that particular aspect of it. They didn’t then become Catholic but just went wild about the possibility of devil possession and what it would do to people.
Because it deals with ancient human history and prehistory, the science of archeology possesses, pardon the pun, a somewhat colorful past. Over the years it has seldom been a dry, disinterested quest for facts. The field has attracted all manner of artful loonies, mad dreamers, mystics and seekers of mystery. As in all fields of human inquiry the further back you go the more intertwined myth is with science. Jeb J. Card, anthropologist at Miami University, has been exploring the outre aspects of his profession in this as well as earlier pubilications.
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Card approaches the subject with meticulous erudition combined with a marvelous twinkle in the eye and a subtle sense of humor. Lost continents, psychic mediums, British imperialists with a Bible in one hand and a trowel in the other, haunted cities, mysterious hieroglyphs, even murder! Who can resist? And after all that, or perhaps because of all that, Card has written a helluva book about how science actually works and what distinguishes it from pseudo-science. And how human it all is.
Unreservedly recommended. Used copies available at reasonable prices!
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Before I proceed let me add a book to my earlier list. Good books about the Tarot are few and far between. So I’m amazed I forgot
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This book, translated from the French, was written anonymously and published posthumously, by a true Adept, a profound Christian mystic. It offers much but assumes much. One of those books not for everyone but available when needed. The Sages say, When the Student is ready, the Teacher appears. But that’s only because the Teacher is always there. The Student has to be able to see him. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear. Mind the Gap.
Ah the Shroud of Turin. An oldie but goodie. I’m less interested in more dubious “evidence” than in the need to identify and possess such artifacts. Especially from a thought system that so privileges “faith” without seeing. What it demonstrates is that faith alone is not enough. We must have something to grasp, to hold on to. I think it’s also a nod to our technological culture. Here’s something miraculous we can test, analyze.
In 1984 I went with my parents and my Aunt Lucille to the World’s Fair in New Orleans. Among the other exhibits there was a pavilion provided by the Vatican. It was full of priceless artifacts and art treasures, which included Caravaggio’s ** you do not have permission to see this link **, and a solid gold throne from one of the more ostentatious Popes. The Vatican Pavilion also included a full sized high definition photo replica of the Shroud of Turin. As far as I can remember that was the first time the Shroud came to my attention. I do remember not really knowing what to make of it.
At some point we lost track of my Aunt. When we got to the exit lobby we found her resting on a couch. She promptly dismissed the entire thing with, “None of that is in the Bible.”
I’ve been on an assignment down in the Great State of Georgia for a while and I came upon this editorial in the newspaper of the small town in which I currently delight.
Opinion: Drone sightings merit a more urgent response by someone at the Detroit News named Nolan Finley. The editorial was picked up all over the country judging by a search online. Unfortunately most were behind paywalls but I was able to find this here site with open access.
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Basically, the government’s response to the mysterious drones appearing over the East Cost hasn’t been nearly paranoid and hysterical enough for Mr Nolan.
As a card-carrying ** you do not have permission to see this link ** this is just the kind of story that pulls me in. In many respects the response to the phenomenon is just as interesting as the phenomenon itself. While Nolan admits that the most closely observed of these objects have turned out to be entirely conventional, well, who the heck knows what’s flying around up there!!! And even if there is nothing there, still, it eats away at our moral fiber.
I guess the funniest part is that Gov Ritchie suddenly noticed drones over his house.
The USA occasionally has these kinds of public panics. I remember the full blown Satanic Panic back in the 1990s. That turned out not to be funny at all since many people were tried and convicted for crimes that turned out to be entirely imaginary.
I’m not sure what Mr Nolan actually expects the government to do. It would probably make a lot of people feel better if something got shot down.
Given the crew about to occupy the halls of power I expect we’ll get more and more of this sort of thing. And the response will be increasingly hysterical and paranoid. Perhaps Mr Nolan is simply preparing us for the times to come.
To clarify, I do like Zioney Zevit’s summary of the whole question in his chapter of Garden called where in the world was eden? where he says, “Eden was somewhere far to the north of ancient Israel, beyond its northern neighbors, who lived along the coast and in the Lebanese mountains, beyond its northern trading partners, who were strung along the southern coast of Asia Minor. But according to Genesis, no matter where it was located, it contained a unique garden that had once been inhabited by the ancestors of all humanity.”
It really reads like the stuff of legends. I can just only imagine that if somehow, some kind of somebody, did find that Eden, that place would become a coveted piece of real estate ultimately marked for exploitation and destruction.
Every age gets the sort of occultists it deserves. Ours tends towards pseudoscience. If someone tried to summon demons or turn lead into gold they wouldn’t taken very seriously. But it seems everyone is up for a good conspiracy theory. According to the ** you do not have permission to see this link **.
This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, –sigh-. We already knew that our frugal and responsible government had a project devoted to Remote Viewing that lasted from 1975 to 1995 and cost the taxpayers $20 million. After twenty, countem’, TWENTY years it was decided that no actual intelligence had been forthcoming and the project was cancelled. In this case however, apparently the project was successful and the Ark was “located”. Doubtless it’s now in a underground warehouse somewhere.
I want to thank Steefen for bringing my attention to this video. Without his careful research I would have missed this one altogether.
The Ark is continuously being located almost as often as the other Ark, Noah’s. Searches for both are almost a cottage industry. One of the charms of this video are the dense but earnest looks on the faces of the hosts as they carefully ponder the claims of their resident “expert”.
Enjoy!
BDEhrman
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