History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Maya Cosmogenesis 2012: The True Meaning of the Maya Calendar End-Date

Average customer rating:

Fascinating book
Maya Cosmogenesis 2012
2012 Research starts here
The real End Times on 2012
Fascinating

Maya Cosmogenesis 2012: The True Meaning of the Maya Calendar End-Date
John Major Jenkins , and Terence McKenna
Manufacturer: Bear & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Mayan | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Native American | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1879181487
Release Date: 1998-08-01

Book Description

While researching the 2012 end-date of the Maya Calendar, John Major Jenkins decoded the Maya's galactic cosmology. The Maya discovered that the periodic alignment of the Sun with the center of the Milky Way galaxy is the formative influence on human evolution. These alignments also define a series of World Ages. The fourth age ends on December 21, 2012, when an epoch chapter in human history will come to an end. Maya Cosmogenisis 2012 reveals the Maya's insight into the cyclic nature of time, and prepares us for oue own cosmogenesis--the birth of a new world.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating book.......2007-09-27

Cosmogenesis 2012 is a compelling book about the meaning of the Mayan and Mesoamerican calendric images. It reveals evidence as to why the Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012 along with explanations as to what this could entail for humanity. I recommend it for anyone interested in the end date of 2012.

Maya Cosmogenesis 2012.......2007-03-09

This work of Jenkins was all and more than I thought it would be. I share his path to where we are going in 2012. I would purchase any work of Jenkins as I know I would not be disappointed.

2012 Research starts here.......2007-02-18

John Major Jenkins has looked into the question of why the Maya ended their 13-baktun cycle in the Gregorian year 2012, and has researched the matter in incredible detail, and comes to conclusions that result from detailed study of many archaeological and specialist works. His study shows that the Maya deliberately targetted this point in time as the end of the cycle, and the evidence is found in king-accession rites, mythology, architecture, and the ball-game.

As you will know if you've read other reviews, the reason is the alignment of the winter solstice sun with the galactic equator - an event that happens only once in a cycle of precession - around 26,000 years. This IS NOT the "alignment of the solar system with galactic centre" or any of the other misrepresentatations of his work that have appeared.

This work stands whether or not anything noticeable happens in the years around 2012 - the fact is, that the Maya predicted that something would happen around 2012. This has become evident since the publication of this book, since the Tortuguero prophecy entered the public domain. In April 2005, the existence of Tortuguro monument 6 was revealed, (though known to a few specialists before that). The stela gives the end-date 4 Ahau, 3 Kankin, 13 Baktun (a combination of 3 calendars that gives the 21 December 2012 date) and gives an accompanying prophecy of the return of the Nine Gods.

The real End Times on 2012.......2007-01-23

I will make the boldest prediction of all... and when the time comes, you will remember this. Great spirits have come to me... great spirits... They have revealed their predictions and they have revealed their secret names to me. Remember this well on 2102. The named spirits were Jackson Danniels, James Beehm, Jonathon Wocker, and the ancient Russian sage, Stolly Chanaya... And here is what they said - in telepathic visions to me: On January 1, 2012, this is what will happen:

"The year 2011 will now be 2012." And later that year, many peoples will predict the end times will again visit in 2039 and that they never really meant 2012... it was a telekinetic typo....

Fascinating.......2006-11-30

Full of interesting facts about the Mayan civilization, how they saw the earth and their brilliant understanding of the Universe. I now understand how the complex calendar works. As to the prophecy, yet again, we can only wait and see!

The Mayan Prophecies: Unlocking the Secrets of a Lost Civilization

Average customer rating:

GOOD BUT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
Dissapointed with ending
Dodgy...
Very dissappointing
Nonsense

The Mayan Prophecies: Unlocking the Secrets of a Lost Civilization
Adrian Gilbert , and Maurice Cotterell
Manufacturer: Element Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

Mayan | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Native American | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ESP | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1852306920

Customer Reviews:

GOOD BUT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER.......2006-02-09

THIS BOOK IS FASCINATING, HOWEVER IF YOU DON'T LIKE SCIENTIFIC READING IT MAY BE HARD TO FOLLOW. OTHERWISE ITS A GREAT READ IF ARE INTERESTED IN ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS AND EARTH'S MYSTERIES.

Dissapointed with ending.......2005-11-02

I found the conclusion of the book to be inconclusive and feel that it is not based on any hard science; its the author's opinion supported by sketchy facts, figures and theories from other sources. It's artful and entertaining, but it's not like its going to leave you with the truth of 2012 being the end of the world.

I don't regret reading it, however, and would recommend it to someone who is interested in learning about the subject. It just gives you one more opinion to chew on and ponder. And, I like pondering things.

Futhermore, there is some historical information on the Central American Civilizations of the past, the Mayan calendars, as well as some interesting theories on Sunspot's.

Dodgy..........2005-06-21

The blurb on the back reads "The present world will end on 22 December 2012. So prophesied the Maya 5,000 years ago..." - yet on page 4 the authors indicate that the Maya appeared around 500AD, which by my reckoning is only 1,500 years ago.

Such internal inconsistencies riddle this book, and make it unreliable. On the face of it - and ignoring the 2012 prophecy, which uses some pretty tortuous mathematical manipulations - there is a lot of interesting information here about the Maya, but I'm afraid I just don't know how much I can believe or trust.

I'm sure many people will lap up this book, and simply assume that the "facts" on the Maya must be true because they are written in an authoritative manner, but please keep an open mind - which includes remembering that the authors may be wrong.

Very dissappointing.......2004-09-09

It was implied that the earth's magnetic field reversed 3K years BC. This caused Atlantis to sink and new lands to appear. This scenario would make sense. What doesnt make sense is that according to a geographic magazine (scientific fact), the last time the earth's magnetic field reversed was 780,000 years ago. Moreover, its occurrence is random and not in some sequence deciphered by the Mayan calendar. Assuming the Mayan calendar was true, then what would happen in 2012? The facts are that the sunspots activity align with the Mayan calculations. In a period of years before and after 2012, there will be instances of very few or no sunspots occuring. This will effect fertility and weather patterns but mostly in the equator area. Hence, Mexico, India, Southeast Asia, Africa will be affected. The only reason the rest of the world will be affected is due to the side effect of us polluting the world with CO2 from too much cars and waste dumping, thereby melting the polar ice caps. The sunspot event before and after 2012 will just make things worse. So the doomsayers would come out and point to the Mayan prophecy as applicable to the whole world. As you can see if we did not pollute, North America would not be affected.

I give this book 1-star for the first chapter and explanation of the Mayan number system. I dont agree with the chapter about how images came up when Pacal's tomb cover were superimposed. The fact is that one can superimpose any drawing or try even Michaelangelo's fresco's. By careful delineation, one would come up with weird forms as what the author found in Pacal's about a jaguar? a bat?

Nonsense.......2003-07-09

This book is about coincidences. The authors notice a similarity between certain large numbers in the Maya calendar cycle and their own astrological theories about sunspot cycles. The numbers don't match, but from this "coincidence" the authors conclude that the Maya warned of a cosmic disaster for the year 2012.

The book could have stopped there, but instead it digresses into a sort of personal log of the authors' visits to Mexico, then revisits old material on transatlantic contact, Atlantis mythology, Edgar Cayce, Velikovsky, and other nonsense. Some of the historical material about Mexico is interesting and well written, but is clearly taken from other sources.

Some of the claims are bizarre, such as that the crystal "skull of doom" was used as a magnifying glass in a fire ceremony. Or that the "loops" on the Palenque sarcophagus represent magnetic field lines on the sun, something the Maya couldn't possibly have known about.

The authors' contempt for those with other points of view is annoying. The book that derides Von Daniken, astrologists, and professional archaeologists all at the same time.

The sloppiness about numbers is also annoying, especially since their entire case rests on numbers. The authors cite a "remarkable correlation" between the dates given for the great flood by Plato (9500 B.C), Cayce (10,500 B.C.), and the Maya (11,205 B.C.) These dates differ by over 1700 years, a variation of 15% relative to the present day. Considering that one of the authors claims to be an engineer and a scientist, this is inexcusable.

Book Description

Step by step, Sullivan pieces together the hidden esoteric tradition of the Andes to uncover the tragic secret of the Incas, a tribe who believed that, if events in the heavens could influence those on earth, perhaps the reverse could be true. Anyone who reads this book will never look at the ruins of the Incas, or at the night sky, the same way again. Illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

A rambling, biased, tome.......2006-07-23

The author examines Inka and Mayan myths using a variety of tools, and many, many words. To the first myth he applies the theories in Hamlets Mill to explain why the Foxes tail is black and pinpoint AD 650 as the rise of warfare in the Andes. From here it's mostly downhill.

The author then drags us through his own internal mental processes of doubt and disbelief as he looks at other myths. Through this long process he forcefully and unnecessarily brings up many biases such as there is no proof that a matriarchal society ever existed anywhere in the world. Period. He returns to the subject of matriarchal disbelief many times calling it a big 'red flag'. He leads us through his admitted internal stubborness of this and many other issues.

Although I believe the author is correct in his assocation with the Fox's tail being black being a celestial event ala Hamlets Mills, he spends so many words looking at other myths from a plethora of angles that you are forced into a single conclusion. That no one outside of a culture has any clue at what a given myth really means. The entire book is like running naked through the forest yelling out conclusions about myths which rightly are interpreted only by their creators.

At one point in the discussion of 'finding father' he claims that the Andean man lacked a true heart with the ability to love while he was primarily a hunter within a matrilinear horticultural society. Andean man only gained his heart and full ability to love when the culture changed to fully agriculture and he had to stay at home with the wife and kids. Give me a break. To any Andean person alive this is rubbish. What kinds of conclusions and judgements can we make living outside the cultural box. It is this kind of subtle talk that is a jaguars hair short of prejudice and racism.

Ultimately, although if you like reading from the 'academic' view, this book does lead you through enough alleys to make you feel like the author knows what he is talking about, ultimately it fails from it's biases and from being rooted in a combination of sexism and western scientific dogma.

If the author wanted to really understand the Andean mind then he would have had to undergo a process of breaking open his head and surrendering to the mystery of myth reather than trying to break open the myths using the rational mind. Myth is mythic. A view which ultimately escapes the author. It might be worth it to take this book on if you have a university paper to write. It will certainly scintillate your professor being of the same vocabulary and possibly biases. But if you are looking to expanding your understanding of the Inka or Andean cultures from a spiritual or mythic perspective then look elsewhere. Get yourself to South America, Peru, spend time with the shamans. Then you can learn what myth is really about. And how it lives today.

Werner Herzog: Make this Film.......2006-07-11

This book is every bit as entertaining as the run-of-the-mill speculative/paranormal UFO-from-Atlantis books with which it is unfortunately cross-listed on Amazon, but the author's scholarly rigor makes it much more satisfying. Sullivan supports his fascinatingly unconventional conclusions with evidence, sound reasoning, and a bit of self-critical skepticism.

But the real charm of this book is the fact that he pursued such a crazy theory in the first place. Behind the scholarship is a "guy-with-a-crazy-dream" human-interest story (e.g. Fitzcarraldo, Field of Dreams). This would make perfect film material for Werner Herzog. To hear the author tell it, he spent several years in the academic wilderness (as well as the Andean wilderness), chasing after the (wholly-unsupported) hypothesis that Incan myth encodes both astronomy and Andean history. To his advisers, this must have sounded a lot like writing a grant to study the pyramids of Mars. For a lesser intellect, this would have been a career-killer and the reader gets the sense that Sullivan knew it. One of the best parts of the book recounts Sullivan's meeting with Owen Gingerich and "the Vatican Astronomer" at the Harvard planetarium. He's clearly terrified that these eminent astronomers will think he's a kook. But when they conclude: "he's done his homework," Sullivan breathes a sigh of relief.

A word of warning: get the hardback. I got the paperback edition and the binding was defective and the first 50 pages fell out the first time I read them.

Cosmic Relations Incas and Stars.......2005-06-25

The Secret of the Incas : Myth, Astronomy,
and the War Against Time
by WILLIAM SULLIVAN
Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (May 20, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN: 0517888513

COSMIC RELATIONS

'The Secret of the Incas: Myth, Astronomy and the War Against Time' is an incredible collection of research by William Sullivan on ancient myths and their relationship to animals, ancient cultures and astronomical bodies aligned with world events. This book is delightful in knowledge and majorly intense. The following paper was written as an introduction to his work. I am always pleased to bring only the higest quality
research for the reader's enjoyment and education.

Dr. Colette M. Dowell
Circular Times

SECRET OF THE INCAS

By William Sullivan

In 1969 a book was published which figured to revolutionize the study of human history. This was Hamlet's Mill: An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time, written by two historians of science, Giorgio de Santillana of MIT and Hertha von Dechend of Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt. The startling hypothesis of this book was that myth, on one level, constitutes nothing less than a technical language created to encrypt and pass on very sophisticated astronomical observations related to the precession of the equinoxes.

The precession is a gyroscopic-like wobble of the earth's axis of rotation requiring 26,000 years to complete a single cycle. Two aspects of this work - which the authors themselves styled a "first reconnaissance" into the subject - were pure dynamite. First, if the ideas in the book were true, then those myths which are astronomically encrypted are self-dating, that is they carry a record of a moment in precessional time that is at least as accurate as a radio carbon date. This view renders obsolete the concept of "prehistory" which is defined as "before the written record."

Second the authors found that a very precise and idiosyncratically expressed religious cosmology, linking world ages to the gain or loss (due to precessional motion) of "access" to the Milky Way at solstices and equinoxes is found in cultures all over the world. The clear implication of these ideas was that an unexplored, and highly dramatic history of the human race awaits engagement by students of the human legacy.

I was so bowled over by these ideas when I first encountered them - in 1974 - that I eventually realized I had to know if they were true. The very first thing I learned was that there is no university in world where you can go to learn anything whatsoever about these ideas. The academy, for reasons of its own, has chosen to ignore the profound implications of this work for going on 25 years now.

My own book, The Secret of the Incas: Myth, Astronomy and the War Against Time (Crown 1996), is an account of my own twenty year journey of exploration into the astronomy of myth, and I am happy to report that this odyssey was not undertaken in vain.

The Gateway God of Tiahuanaco Courtesy: 'Secret of the Incas' copyright 1996 William Sullivan

I am now certain that Hamlet's Mill will, sooner or later, revolutionize our understanding of our past and even who we are as human beings. I have taken rather a long time in setting up a brief discussion of my book because I want to make clear that what I found out about the Incas came as a complete surprise. I didn't set out in search of esoteric prophecies or experiments in geomancy on the scale of empire. I had initially chosen the Incas to study because they had no writing and hence relied largely on oral tradition - myth - for the transmission of information across time.

Furthermore, it seemed to me that if the cosmology described in Hamlet's Mill really was operative in the southern Andes, then truly we must be looking at a world-wide phenomenon. From the beginning of my research, however, I was constantly made aware of the strangeness of the events surrounding the formation and destruction of the Inca Empire.

Few people realize that this empire was less than a century old when it was utterly destroyed by a handful of Spanish conquistadors. In 1532 a Spanish expeditionary force of 175 hardened adventurers, under the command of Francisco Pizarro, ascended the Andean massif in search of a fabled Empire of Gold. Unknown to them as they approached two great Inca armies were engaged in the climactic battle of a great civil war of succession. When, on November 15, the Spanish force reached the ridgeline overlooking the valley of Cajamarca the victorious Inca king Atahuallpa was completing the third day of a fast of thanksgiving for his victory. What the Spanish saw was an encamped army of 40,000 men. That night the Spanish made out their wills and said confession. Yet on the morrow, given the advantage of surprise and horses, they would engage this army, capture the Inca and kill or wound 10,000 men.

Only years later would I realize that the legends that the Inca Empire was born under the shadow of a prophecy were all true. About the year 1432 the father of the first Inca Emperor foretold that after five generations of Kings the Empire and its religion would be utterly destroyed. The fifth and last king to rule the Empire unmolested was Huayna Capac, father of Atahuallpa.

In my research I first found that Inca myths did indeed encrypt precessional information. The first stories which I came to understand concerned a "flood" which destroyed the entire "world" but which was survived by a peasant along with his family and flocks who ascended the "highest mountain in the world" to weather the storm. Applying the "tool kit" of Hamlet's Mill, I regarded mythical animals as representing the constellations named after them; topographic references as analogues for positions of the sun on the celestial sphere; and mythical "gods" as planets.

As a result I learned that these flood myths yielded a date of 650 A.D., which corresponds precisely to the latest archaeological findings in the Andes that a repressive, secular and militaristic empire, known as Wari, suddenly conquered the greater portion of the Andean Highlands beginning in the early 7th Century.

The astronomical, or precessional event which took place at this time was the failure (for the first time in 800 years) of the Milky Way to be visible at sunrise on June solstice. In cosmological terms, this meant that the gates of the land of the gods had slammed shut. Years later I would find the myth - the foundation document of the Inca Empire, really - that formed the theoretical basis for the Inca prophecy.

In 1432 the Inca priest astronomers could see that a predictable precessional event loomed in the future, only this time it was the gates to the land of the dead which were about to slam shut. It was this predictable event which gave rise to prophecy. Since the foundations of Andean religion rested upon ritual interchange with the ancestors at December solstice, the closing of the "gate," if taken literally, would indeed bode the end of everything.

Finally, I learned that the Inca Empire was conceived and formed for the sole purpose of stopping this event from happening. The Inca Empire was an experiment in sympathetic magic, designed to stop time in the sense of precessional motion. The primary means for achieving this end were the ritual uses of warfare and of human sacrifice. Since each tribe in the Empire had from the most ancient times considered itself descended from a particular star or constellation, the Incas offered a yearly sacrifice of a child from every tribe in order to send emissaries back to the stars with a single message: "May the earth not turn over, may the sun and moon stay young, may there be peace." a plea to the creator to keep open the bridgehead to tradition that spanned the Milky Way.

The creator's response was a terrible one, for he sent the Spanish, who arrived precisely on time. The Incas were never able to regain the edge which they gave up initially on that first day in Cajamarca, and so the prophecy came true. Now, this is a strange story, a story so powerful in fact that it threatens to swamp what I think is the real significance of the research I have done. The Incas were a test case.

By applying the tools of Hamlet's Mill to a single culture, and in depth, the history of a so-called "prehistoric" people has been rewritten. Along the way I found that the Incas shared with peoples all over the world access to a peculiar meta-language - the technical language of myth - which is so distinctive and so idiosyncratic that no mechanism other than seaborne contact appears adequate to explain its wide diffusion. The implications of this finding are staggering. It means that we are all heirs a world-wide civilization of great time-depth of which we have virtually no notion. The histories of the individual peoples who participated in this great tradition lie gathering dust on dark library shelves, classified as "myths."

Meanwhile the academy continues to turn its back on this, the heritage of the human race, a system of thought which gave rise simultaneously to the human scientific tradition and to human religion as well. Indeed all the world's great religions, including Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Shinto, Hinduism, Shamanism and Native American Great Spirit religion, make frequent, respectful reference to this ancient system of thought. From Newgrange in Ireland (ca. 3200 B.C.) to Angkor Wat, from Tiahuanaco to Babylon, from Giza to Hawaii, we live in the ruins of a civilization whose very existence we only dimly suspect.

As the precessional clock ticks onward - a clock whose rhythms the ancients were convinced gave clues to the rhythms of human history - perhaps it is past time that we humans reclaim our history, which is our birthright, and with it perhaps reclaim some of the more sacred aspects of our human nature.

by William Sullivan

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Sullivan is a native New Englander. Educated at Harvard College, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Rajasthan India, and later studied the History of Religion under J.G Bennett at Sherborne House in Gloucestershire, England. In 1988, after several years of fieldwork in Peru and Bolivia, he received a doctorate in American Indian Studies from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He lives in central Massachusetts with his wife Penelope and their children Phoebe and Jonathan. There are bears in the backyard.

DR. Colette M. Dowell

Poor book if you are not an expert in mythology.......2004-10-20

If you are not educated in mythology and the like, skip this book. I thought it would describe the history of the Inca Empire and mention mythology while doing so, but this book is MAINLY about the mythology itself. Only for experts in the field if you ask me, not for the general public. Written in a boring style.

Not exactly alternate history.......2002-12-13

While this work does not provide absolute or concrete evidence, it does contain enough documented information that a very small leap of faith in the thought process of the Andean populations present in pre-Columbian SA will convince you of the truth of Mr. Sullivan's meritous effort.
Numerous reviews refer to this as an alternate history work, however off hand there is nothing I remember about it necessarily contradicting accepted history. Mr. Sullivan provides diagrams and star charts (which I later verified w/my own software) to solidify his claims. His years of research paid off with a in my opinion a viable answer to one of history's most difficult-to-answer questions. A definate must buy if you are interested in archaeoastronomy or just an extremely interesting read.

Stars of the First People: Native American Star Myths and Constellations

Average customer rating:

More hopeful than the Greeks: Native American star myths
a well-rounded presentation of North American star lore
Well-written book with information hard to find elsewhere

Stars of the First People: Native American Star Myths and Constellations
Dorcas S. Miller
Manufacturer: Pruett Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0871088584

Customer Reviews:

More hopeful than the Greeks: Native American star myths.......2005-07-08

Dorcas Miller's book is a gateway into our North American sky. I have already given my first copy to a scout leader. Her organization is superb: sky-watchers can pick a star or constellation and use the reference guide to access all its stories; ethnographers can follow the chapter organization by region and tribe. I will annotate her lists as I add other sources and tales.

Miller starts with the conventional Greek constellations that still map our sky for professional astronomers, providing myth summaries and seasonal sky maps. Her stick figures of these constellations are a delight and I copy their details onto the daily sky charts from the internet.

Both the Greeks and our First Peoples filled their skies with peoples and animals. Only a few identities, such as bear and dog, straddle both hemispheres. Greek heroes and heroines may be banished forever to the sky by the action of the gods as punishment, or placed by a friendly god to protect them from the angered one. Animals and humans are often antagonists. I can't think of a creation myth. The dead didn't go there.

Our First Peoples connection with the sky seems ongoing and personal- get lost and you may wander into it. Die and you may walk up the Milky Way, past guides and obstacles. Suffer and you may find an opening to the sky or a rescuer who will take you into it; you may be homesick, come and go, but finally choose the sky. If you navigate by the stars, why not? It may be a refuge. The myths feel contemporary, the characters often ordinary, and creation feels recent. The animals may be small and hungry, brave or lazy.

Miller provides the myth texts as she finds them, supplementing with discussion and drawings- maps of their known or probable stars and historic diagrams such as rock art that may be relevant. The bibliography is broad. This book will be a good anchor for collecting other North American books coming into print or reprint. `

a well-rounded presentation of North American star lore.......2005-02-18

Curious about the stories that different Native American peoples told about the stars? Dorcas Miller's "Stars of the First People" will go a long way towards satisfying your curiosity. Focusing on the peoples of North America, she has pulled together a robust collection of tales and star lore and grouped them by region. Plentiful sketches, star maps, and charts accompany the text to provide a visual reinforcement of the material contained in the stories.

In addition to the star lore, Dorcas has also included a decent amount of background information on the individual tribes to help the reader better understand the context of the star stories. In the back of the book you'll find an extensive set of notes and bibliographic references for those interested in further reading on this subject.

Don Childrey, author of "STAR TRAILS - Navajo"

Well-written book with information hard to find elsewhere.......2000-05-14

This is one of the most complete set of Native American star legends that I have seen. The author first reviews the standard Greek and Roman myths that have given us our constellation names. For each region of North America, he devotes an entire chapter to star legends from indigenous people that live in that region. At the end of each chapter he lists standard constellations and groups and the Native American legends behind each, and at the end of the book he provides an overall listing. Some interesting similarities come out - for example, the Big Dipper is a bear in standard Greek and Roman and in many Native American myths, and Sirius is a dog or wolf star in standard and in Native American myths. The stories are well written and can be used anywhere where storytelling is called for - for example, to groups of children. For a good summary of Native American myths, look to this volume. I just wish there was a similar compendium of ALL the world's indigenous star myths.

The Stars We Know: Crow Indian Astronomy and Lifeways

Average customer rating:

Down to earth view of indigenous astronomy

The Stars We Know: Crow Indian Astronomy and Lifeways
Timothy P. McCleary
Manufacturer: Waveland Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Native American | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0881339245

Book Description

This fascinating ethnography explores how the Crow Indians have blended scientific observation with religious symbolism to develop traditions that are a cornerstone of their culture. For centuries, the Crow people have kept a careful watch on the heavens above them--particularly the cycles and movements of the stars, the sun, the moon, and certain planets. Their interpretations of these cosmic phenomena have shaped the principles by which the Crow live, providing a sense of right and wrong and an attendant set of values and ethics. The Crow speak of this celestial wisdom as "the stars we know." In this illustrated volume, McCleary provides description and background but lets the Crow star knowledge unfold through the words of contemporary tribal elders, whose narratives describe the origins and organization of the universe and the history of constellations that have special religious interpretation and history. A valuable contribution to the study of Native American theology as well as an important record of Crow oral traditions.

Customer Reviews:

Down to earth view of indigenous astronomy .......2005-06-01

In the New Age, hanging out with the 'star people' is one of the favorite activities of the cotton-candy fluff crowd. Instead of the superficial 'sweetness and light' one finds in that type of approach, Tim McCleary documents the words of the Crow people themselves. An anthropologist, he speaks the Crow language, and he was also adopted into a Crow family, where knowledge of the stars is usually passed on only through family membership ties. He also teaches at the Crow college, Little Big Horn College http://www.lbhc.cc.mt.us/.

The foreword by Claire Farrer is an education in itself, being a survey of many of the major works on native peoples, their astronomical systems, and what those systems tell us about the native cultures. Many explore quite in depth how those cultures not only viewed life, but used the stars and constellations in a way that had an impact on their daily lives, particularly when it came to planting and harvesting crops. She does however leave out Anthony Aveni, the father of archaeoastronomy.

Talking to many Crow elders, Dr. McCleary recorded their words of what is known about the meaning, use, and purpose of the Crow (Absaroke) constellations. Many are used to keep track of the seasons and weather. Not only when the changes were coming, but even how severe the entire winter season might be, for instance. Sadly, some of this knowledge has vanished. Two constellations are named but the actual stars they refer to and the stories for them are no longer known.

A chart with the 14 Crow stars and constellations and their correlation to those more commonly taught in contemporary Western European astronomy will be referred back to quite often. While occasional mention is made of medicine men showing someone how to connect with stars and constellations, no details of how to do that are given. In a personal communication, the author told me that about a third of the elders he had talked to have passed on, making the oral history found in this book that much more valuable.

Only 127 pages, the ten chapter book includes one chapter on the stars and the sweatlodge. The section on further readings is a `best of the best' of works about the Crow people only; it's not a comprehensive `Native American astronomy list'. The foreword more than adequately provides that list.

If you want a book on indigenous peoples and their philosophies and practices regarding the stars, that emphasizes practice rather than academic documentation and sometimes speculation, this is one I would suggest.

The Year the Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian

Average customer rating:

The Year the Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian

Manufacturer: University of Nebraska Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0803222114

Book Description

Winter counts—pictorial calendars by which Plains Indians kept track of their past—marked each year with a picture of a memorable event. The Lakota, or Western Sioux, recorded many different events in their winter counts, but all include “the year the stars fell,” the spectacular Leonid meteor shower of 1833–34. This volume is an unprecedented assemblage of information on the important collection of Lakota winter counts at the Smithsonian, a core resource for the study of Lakota history and culture. Fourteen winter counts are presented in detail, with a chapter devoted to the newly discovered Rosebud Winter Count. Together these counts constitute a visual chronicle of over two hundred years of Lakota experience as recorded by Native historians.

A visually stunning book, The Year the Stars Fell features full-color illustrations of the fourteen winter counts plus more than 900 detailed images of individual pictographs. Explanations, provided by their nineteenth-century Lakota recorders, are arranged chronologically to facilitate comparison among counts. The book provides ready access to primary source material, and serves as an essential reference work for scholars as well as an invaluable historical resource for Native communities.

Roads to Center Place: A Cultural Atlas of Chaco Canyon and the Anasazi

Average customer rating:

Very Informative and Very Dry

Roads to Center Place: A Cultural Atlas of Chaco Canyon and the Anasazi
Kathryn Gabriel
Manufacturer: Johnson Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Traffic & Safety | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1555660797

Book Description

Within the canyon country of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, the Anasazi built an elaborate system of carefully engineered roadways. Many of the roads connect to sites in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, and required an enormous amount of human labor to create. Nearly 200 miles of roads have been documented inthe past fifteen years by a handful of investigators, but the function and significance of these roads remain a mystery. Kathryn Gabriel, a journalist and researcher with a lifelong interest in Chaco Canyon and the Anasazi, examines Chacoan road systems, using analogies drawn from such diverse phenomena as the use of road metaphors in Pueblo Indian traditions and astronomical alignments of southwestern sites. "Roads to Center Place" is more than a guide to road corridors and archaeological features; it is a map to a lifeway.

Customer Reviews:

Very Informative and Very Dry.......2001-09-19

I have always been fascinated by Chaco Canyon. I picked this book up one time when I was visiting there. I was looking forward to reading about the roads the Chacoans built.

There are these massive roads that have been cleared away leading to/from Chaco canyon. They connect pueblo to pueblo. They go for miles and miles in straight lines. Although many of these are covered by weeds, these roads can be seen from the air and if you know where to look, they can be seen on the ground. No one is really sure what these roads were for- ceremonial? travel?

This book is very interesting. However, I found it to be very dry reading. It really seemed to be directed towards a college class level rather than someone like myself who just wanted to learn more in laymen terms.

Customer Reviews:

North American Indians as Astronomers and Cosmologists.......2005-11-21

Ray A .Williamson, now of the Space Policy Institute at the George Washington University, has written an important narrative and analysis of the astronomy and cosmology of Native America. Concentrating on the American Southwest and the Great Plains, especially the Pueblo, Navajo, and Pawnee, Williamson carefully reconstructs the astronomy of these native peoples and how those understandings related to the manner in which they lived their lives. He emphasizes the role of archeoastronomy in this process, harnessing history, science, sociology, and anthropology to uncover a long distant and poorly understood past in North America.

Williamson finds that "To live in harmony with the world and its cycles is the goal of traditional Native Americans. Their patterns for living derive from a deeply held attention to the rhythms of the sky and earth" (p. 319). The result is an important study illuminating the Native American view of existence.

Average customer rating:

all about the moon
For Moon Lovers Everywhere.....

When the Moon is Full: A Lunar Year
Penny Pollock
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0316713171

Book Description

This lunar guide describes the folkloric names of twelve moons according to Native American tradition and showcases their defining characteristics in short verse and beautifully detailed hand-colored woodcuts.A question-and-answer section includes information about the moon's surface, an explanation of a lunar eclipse, and the true meaning of a blue moon.

Customer Reviews:

all about the moon.......2006-12-26

Each two page spread has a picture, the moon's name (Native American), a short poem and a short fact about the moon. At the end of the 12 months, there is a Q and A section about blue moons and why the moon changes shapes. A very kid friendly book about the different times of year.

For Moon Lovers Everywhere............2002-04-22

"Full moons come,/full moons go,/softening nights/with their silver glow./They pass in silence,/all untamed,/but as they travel,/they are named." Native Americans named each full moon after a special characteristic that the month brought. For instance, January was the Wolf Moon, because they believed wolves became restless in January, May was the Flower Moon, because that is when many flowers bloom, and October was the Hunter's Moon, because the moon rises early adding to the light of the setting sun and giving hunters extra time to hunt. Penny Pollack and Mary Azarian have authored a beautiful yearful of poetry, detailing the wonders and glories of the moon. Ms Pollacks gentle, quiet, original verses are eloquent and lyrical, and include the name of the month, the unique Native American moon name, and a simple explanation of the moon name. Ms Azarian's hand-painted woodcut illustrations of gorgeous nature scenes bathed in moonlight are evocative and offer a feast for the eyes. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, When The Moon Is Full includes an informative and entertaining two page spread of questions and answers about the moon, and is a lovely bedtime book the entire family can share and enjoy together.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books