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CHAPTER NINE
EPILOGUE |
Too often those who have risked their own freedom, and all
their prospects during popular struggle, are much forgotten, after a while, by the younger generation who do not know,
who do not even care about, what their fathers have gone through...
(Karl Blind at George Julian Harney's 80th birthday) |
|
POETRY.
FROM
information on Massey's early personal development it appears inevitable
that he would take an active interest in the political establishment of
the time, which he regarded as the cause of his childhood deprivation.
Martha Vicinus[1] considered that Massey's politics
were a diffuse form of revolutionary sentiment, unenlightened by any
ideological comprehension. But his early articles and reports of
speeches that he made at Chartist meetings, did show firm understanding
of political radical principles. Certainly he was revolutionary
with an idealist republican stance. However, this very diffusion
moulded his political ideology. Influenced by Chartism,
Internationalism and Christian Socialism, he developed quite solidly
into what might be termed an International Co-operative Republican.
His optimistic idealism, directed specifically to the working-class, was
motivated by convictions of the
People's Charter and, more importantly, the ‘something more’—the
‘social chapter’ of George Julian Harney. However, his arrival on
the divided Chartist scene was too late for him to develop clear-cut
ideological principles or qualities of leadership necessary to obtain a
position of authority within the movement. Using dramatic phrasing
to appeal directly to the working class, he urged them to prepare for
the Chartist advent which was to come and liberate them from their
poverty, using the principles of co-operation as a means of
regeneration. But following the collapse of Harney's Star of
Freedom it had to be recognised that by 1853 Chartism as a specific
force was dead, assisted by its own seeds of internal destruction.
Also, the working class did not have the necessary motivation to
continue their support. In October 1852 the Star of Freedom
had commented on increasing industrial investment which, it considered,
benefited the wealthy, while ‘the poor if not contented are quiescent,
if not happy are apathetic; and by their indifference to politics give
countenance to those who are interested in assuming and proclaiming the
reign of general contentment.’ If Massey was not the author of
those remarks, he was certainly in agreement, blaming the working class
as a group for their lack of endurance and meagre attempts toward
self-help, by which means he had attained his own position. He
appeared not to realise just how effective extreme social deprivation
was in maintaining negative attitudes.
The overall importance of socio-political and religious
reform verse in the first half of the 19th century, particularly when
written by artisans, is only recently being considered.[2]
Radical newspapers and periodicals provided the largest circulation for
this material, with many provincial papers publishing verse which had
political protest or land reform as their theme. Massey's
considerable output during four years of active involvement with
Republicanism and the Christian Socialists' Co-operative ventures,
played an essential role in the dissemination of radicalism to the
working class. Critics of poetry have denounced such verse as
'shouts' without taking into consideration the readership for whom it
was intended or the importance of its social function. Reviewers
of Massey's early lyrical style verse were, however, on firmer ground
when they wrote, often indicating their own individual preferences, of
his affectation of phrasing and over emphasis on imagery. He was
sensuous at times for that period, particularly following his marriage
when:
... Her budding bosom, like Love's fruit,
Peer'd out, a-yearning to be prest ... |
This escaped the notice of Robert Buchanan who, in his
Fleshly School of Poetry, might have classed it with Rossetti's ‘The
House of Life’ as being ‘flooded with sensualism’ and ‘a very hotbed of
nasty phrases’. But Buchanan was not an admirer of the
Pre-Raphaelite's aesthetic realism.
Attempts to define poetry at that time did not have the
advantage of the modern broader-based schools of thought, such as
Formalist, Structualist, New Critic or Psychoanalytic. To which
can be added the latest computer analysis programs. John Stuart Mill had
written earlier that ‘Descriptive poetry consists, no doubt, in the
description, but in description of things as they appear, not as they
are … and arrayed in the colours of the imagination set in action by the
feelings.’[3] To illustrate the functioning of
two types of poet, the ‘born’ and the ‘made’, one author devised a
genealogical style tree.[4] I have adapted this
to construct a general ‘poetic process’ chart that is in accord with
theoretical modes of thought at the time. It remains relevant in
general, albeit simplistic terms today, before deeper aspects of
poetical analysis are applied. T. S. Eliot indicated that the
structure, rhythm, sound and idiom of a language suggests the
personality of people who speak it.[5] Together
with emotion and feeling, aspects of the personality, as Eliot
suggested, may also be perceived individually through the 'poetic
process'. There is more evidence for this when, as in Massey's
case, there is a marked degree of disturbance of the primary emotions.
Emotional disorder influences imagination and representation, with
education acting as a modifier from the thematic stage. In much of
Massey's early poetry there is over frequent use of words such as ‘God’,
‘Christ’, ‘Angels’, ‘Love’ and ‘Heaven’, together with other theistic
expressions, immoderately expressed sentimental imagery and emphasis by
capitalisation. These literary extravagances, together with verse
composed for a specific cause are the main reasons for the small amount
of interest shown in his poetry today. Excessive idealism,
concurrent with a desire for a high profile and attempts to attain
profound forms of expression, indicates his emotional disturbance and
lack of early literary education at that period. Poetry composed
during periods of poverty and stress, however, shows little evidence of
his personal situation at the time, and was created probably as a form
of necessary catharsis. But verse which he produced following
greater experience obtained during prose writing, shows a wider, often
more universal range of idiom.
SPIRITUALISM.
Throughout Massey's works there is a continuing development
of Spiritualistic theories that warrants fuller comment here.
From the earliest Shamans to modern mediumship, he maintained
that demonstration of the survival of the human personality after bodily
death was fundamental to the explanation of the evolution of religion.
However, the development of particular aspects of orthodox doctrines
during the third and fourth centuries such as salvation and a physical
resurrection, with mediation possible only through a priest, made it
necessary that mediumship be suppressed by the church. Mesmerism,
which was practised by Massey and his first wife, Rosina, was reviled by
the clergy as being a fraud attributed to Satan. Many members of
the medical profession considered mesmeric practitioners to be shams and
impostors, whom they accused of bribing patients not to show pain while
being operated upon during hypnosis. The function of Thought
transference, later Telepathy, often used at that time synonymously with
clairvoyance, did not achieve scientific credence (as ESP) until much
experimental work had been undertaken. It was not until 1940 that
‘It appears that the evidence would allow, at present, of no other
explanation than that of the ESP hypothesis as defined.’[6]
Poltergeist activity, such as Massey had experienced at
Ward's Hurst, was another type of phenomenon occurring in many
countries, which received a great deal of publicity. Ascribed
either to discarnate entities by Massey and the Spiritualists, or clever
children's pranks by sceptics, the apparent intelligence exhibited by
some of the phenomena proved puzzling. Today, in cases where
deception is ruled out, opinions are divided between the theory of
discarnate entities, or the physical exteriorisation of repressed
emotional conflicts.[7] Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
was aware of the theory of complex personalities, and warned that 'the
inquirer should exhaust every possible normal explanation to his own
complete satisfaction before he adopts the Spiritualistic view.’[8]
These are words that are often ignored, even today.
Physical mediums were particularly outstanding during that
period, producing phenomena that were investigated in depth and
acknowledged by some prominent scientists such as Professors Richet,
Lombroso, Morselli, Bozzano, De Morgan and Zöllner. At the same
time, many fraudulent persons jumped on the psychic stage who, although
usually detected quite early, provided ammunition for the sceptics and
denigrators of the various phenomena. Accusations of fraudulent
practice were made, and the scientists who asserted that particular
phenomena were genuine, although not necessarily believing post-mortem
survival, were subject to ridicule, and often misrepresentation.
Materialisation of forms and the depiction of faces on ectoplasmic
material were, the critics stated, due to drawings made by the medium on
cheesecloth, swallowed, and then regurgitated at the appropriate time.
Some fraud was undoubtedly achieved using this method. Scientific
researchers circumvented this possible mode of deception in some of
their tests, either by tying a veil over the medium's head, or getting
the medium to swallow a blue dye, which did not affect the genuine
phenomena. Photographs taken simultaneously at different angles
during the phenomena also made the suggestion of deceit less easy to
adduce.[9] Daniel Dunglas Home, with whom Massey
had a number of sittings in the mid 1860s, was undoubtedly the most well
known physical medium of that period. Although extensively
investigated, he was never detected in fraud.
The Spiritualists and anti-Spiritualists appeared at that
time to be evenly divided. Of the more general early writers on
the subject, Joseph McCabe, of the Order of St. Francis before he became
an atheist, was particularly ‘down’ on Spiritualism and mysticism, not
conceding the authenticity of any type of phenomena. For the other
view, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a valued supporter, although later
burning his fingers over the Cottingly Fairies photographs when he
accepted the opinion of a photographer who turned out not to be an
expert.[10] His book, as opposed to McCabe's,
presents a stronger and more detailed case. The phenomenon of
psychic photography through which Massey had obtained a photograph of a
dead daughter, was certainly open to question. Opportunities for
double exposure and retouching were obvious, and in many cases were
confirmed. To try and exclude this type of fraud, stringent tests
were devised, involving stereoscopic cameras, close observation of the
medium and control over the preparing and processing of the photographic
plates, in order to make deception virtually impossible. There
remained finally, a corpus of unexplained results.[11]
Massey, in common with many others of that time, was
optimistic that Spiritualism would develop in ever increasing popularity
to the detriment and exposure of what they termed ‘religious
accretions’. Yet these early high expectations have not been
achieved. Despite Spiritualism's wide following from the mid 1800s
to the early 1900s and an immense amount of recorded paranormal cases
investigated by the Society for Psychical Research that was formed in
1882, the number of active supporters has declined.[12]
At the same time there appears to be an increasing interest in subjects
that come under the broader heading of ‘Paranormal’.
There are several explanations for this. One of these
is the rapid technological advancement following the Second World War
which became integral with a change in social leisure pattern, linked
also with today's desire for quick results. Few persons of
sufficient ability are able now to devote regular time over a number of
years to develop aspects of mediumship, particularly in regard to
physical phenomena. In addition, interest in eastern religions and
their associated mystical structures can satisfy a desire for
non-conformism and give a broader approach to religious philosophy.
More rapid esoteric revelation is hoped by some to be achieved by
psychedelic drug use. But results from this appear only to
illustrate the vast range of material held in an individual's
subconscious mind that is structured by psychological aspects of
personality, personal experiences and systems of belief. The whole
purpose of the early proponents of Spiritualism, that of demonstrating
and promulgating post-mortem survival, has become transferred from
physical to mental phenomena. Research continues, particularly on
the hypothesis of the mind being able to exist apart from the physical
body. For example, the Psychology Division of the University of
Hertfordshire is examining the notion of direct mental interaction
between living systems and the possibility that an unseen observer can
have an effect on the physiology of another person. The Koestler
Parapsychology Unit of the Psychology Dept. University of Edinburgh
conducts courses and research. Additionally, several other
academic societies, such as the American Institute of Noetic Sciences,
are also moving away from restrictive scientific fundamentalism.
It is in that direction rather than in physical mediumship that there
appear to be sound prospects eventually of replacing empiricism with a
scientific basis.[13]
From the stand of science, post-mortem survival is not yet
proven despite strong indications to its probability. Experiences
which may prove evidential to an individual, are not recognised by
critical scientific scrutiny which demands replication of the phenomena,
under strict control; this is particularly inimical to physical
phenomena. Frederic Myers, former president of the Society for
Psychical Research had suggested, prior to his death, that a group
should be formed by some of the so-called ‘dead’ to provide evidence for
survival. Following Myers' death in 1901, some mediums began to
obtain messages by automatic writing purporting to originate from Myers,
as well as from his friends Edmund Gurney and Professor Henry Sidgwick,
who were classical scholars. Words, phrases and sentences were
given via this method to separate mediums which, when compared, gave
references to quite obscure classical sources. Some of these
‘cross-correspondences’ have not been explained by any non-survival
hypothesis.[14] The early concept of a tenuous
'ether' pervading the atmosphere and providing a means through which
paranormal phenomena are transmitted has not been confirmed. Yet
recent research into the ‘string theory’ of particle physics suggests
that the survival of the human personality after bodily death is, in
fact compatible with mechanistic materialism. A development of the
theory proposes a form of matter which can interact gravitationally with
the matter of atoms, molecules and elementary particles. This
matter, termed ‘shadow matter’, consists of free unbound matter of that
type extending throughout the universe. When bonded with ordinary
matter, it becomes a duplicate of all objects, animate and inanimate.
A shadow matter brain could interact with the living brain by means of
gravitational quanta of energy, energising nerve impulses.
Interaction could take place also through distance, thus explaining
telepathy, clairvoyance and out-of-the-body experiences. According
to this theory, there is no reason why the shadow matter brain could not
exist after death, and psychic phenomena are likely to provide the best
means of proving, by modern scientific praxes, the theory of shadow
matter, if it exists.[15]
At a presidential address in 1996 to the Society for
Psychical Research, Professor Archie Roy of Glasgow University suggested
that a greater number of reputable mediums should be investigated.
Modern technological devices and experimentation can be applied at
university level to improve on previous studies, which are already
revealing difficulties in those theories which deny life after death.
A group called PRISM (Psychical Research Involving Selected Mediums) was
established with Professor Archie Roy as President. This would
involve a study covering all aspects of mediumistic and psychic ability,
with Professor David Fontana analysing the information (Psychic News,
17 Feb. 1996, 1).
This first became functional through an experimental group in
Norfolk, when three members of the Society for Psychical
Research—Montague Keen, Prof. Arthur Ellison and Prof. David Fontana
attended. Later in 1996 prominent researchers, mainly those on the
Council of the Society were invited to attend. Those who
subsequently attended included Prof. Robert Morris, Prof. Donald West,
Prof. Archie Roy, Prof. Bernard Carr, Dr. Alan Gauld and Dr John Beloff.
Other investigators who attended various experimental sessions included
Dr. Ernst Senkowski, Dr. Hans Schaer, Dr. Kurt Hoffman, Dr. Russell Targ,
Dr. Marilyn Schlitz and Dr. Bernard Haisch. The sessions continued
until the end of 1998 when the experiments had to be curtailed.
Phenomena that were produced during that period included the production
of apports, colour photography under controlled conditions, synchronised
sound and colour images on video tape, and speech on tape recorders.
Images and writing on photographic film combined with mediumistic
communication were of a format similar to some of the earlier SPR Cross
Correspondences and required separate research. These experiments
were written up and published as The Scole Experiment: Scientific
Evidence for Life after Death by Grant & Jane Solomon (London,
Piatkus, 1999). The whole of the phenomena was also examined and
reported at length by the Society for Psychical Research in their
Proceedings, vol. 58, part 220, November 1999. Personal and mostly
positive opinions of the investigators are given, together with the more
negative response of some others. In sum, the conclusion was that
the evidence pointing to survival was inconclusive. This was in
the main due to disagreement over certain aspects of the scientific
protocol employed and varying interpretations of the data collected.
Unfortunately, the cessation of that particular group prevented further
experiments that were being planned by the SPR that may have produced
more positive official results. However, some members of the group
are continuing to develop other aspects of the phenomena that may well
be published at a later date.[16]
EVOLUTIONISM.
The evolutionistic concepts that inspired Massey's final
years of study and which quickly became a subject of debate (The Two
Worlds, April 2; May 7; May 28; June 18 1909), can be divided today,
with some overlapping, into population dispersions from Africa,
philology, genetics, and astro-mythology. This latter would
include some aspects of more general mythology and development of
religious doctrines.
Recently, two main theories of man's African genesis have
evolved. One postulates gradual and independent multi-regional
evolution from an early migration of Homo erectus some million years
ago, while the other—now generally accepted—considers a second exodus of
Cro-Magnon type around 100,000 years ago, appearing in France and Spain
40,000 years ago. This second migration replaced the previous
migration, including the Neanderthals, about 30,000 years ago. Of
the religious concepts of the Neanderthals there is little evidence,
apart from burial with some ritual which indicates a belief in a future
life. Following the second migration it is believed that New Guinea and
Australia were colonised 40-50,000 years ago, followed by Eurasia, the
Pacific Islands, and America via the Bering Strait some 20,000 years
ago.[17]
There are still some anthropologists who consider that a
group of the earliest hominins may have left Africa and undergone
evolutionary transitions in Eurasia. That would place a movement of the
original African Australopithecus (4 – 1.2 million years ago) to Eurasia
between 2.3 – 1.4 million years ago (New Scientist, 11 May 2013,
41 -43).
When commenting on the development of a religious Matriarchal
to a Pariarchal state, Massey maintained a number of times that the
individualised fatherhood was comparatively late as a human institution,
and that the father could not be recognised in heaven before he had been
also discovered on earth. In early creation myths therefore, the mother
preceded the father in mythology, and the god or child born of her was
self-begotten. Natural Genesis 1, 4; Ancient Egypt 1, 76 - 88 ff.
Recently, Peter Watson in The Great Divide. History and Human Nature in
the Old World and the New (2012), 120ff. brings to attention some
modern anthropologists whose ideas follow a similar line. They realise
there must have been a time when no link had yet been made between human
sexual intercourse and birth some considerable 280 days later. It
appears very likely that awareness of the link was made during
domestication of the dog, which has the more readily observed gestation
period of some 63 days. This would bring the link to around 11,000
years ago – also about the same period when the overemphasised female
Venus figurines became fewer in number. Watson mentions also the
account in Genesis where Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge
following which they knew they were naked (Genesis 3:7; Watson,
134-5.). Elaine Pagels in Adam & Eve and the Serpent (1988), 27-28,
comments that Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD) rejected the claim by Tatian (120-180 AD) that eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge
made Adam and Eve sexually aware. However, she with some other
commentators added that the Hebrew verb ‘to know’ connotes sexual
intercourse, as when ‘Adam knew his wife, and she conceived...’ (Genesis
4:1). All these accounts may lead to a belief that Genesis is a
primeval cultural legend based on original perceived facts in nature.
Comparative philology was receiving an increase of interest
in the mid-nineteenth century following the studies of Bunsen, Humboldt,
Max Müller and Grimm. Ethnologists such as J. C. Pritchard could
envisage the possibility of using it to trace man's prehistory, to show
cultural and religious links between tribes and nations, and even
demonstrate a form of corrupt primeval monotheistic revelation.
However, words taken from countries as diverse as Britain, Egypt and
Israel, were ridiculed when Massey proposed a considerable number of
similarities grouped by sound and meaning to add weight to his migration
theory. When he continued to use word roots and then apply them to
illustrate examples of Egyptian myths being used during the formation of
early Christianity, he received much stronger censure. But despite
recent developments in philological classification which have produced
some surprising—and controversial—results, much of Massey's philological
derivations remain uncertain. Nevertheless, although ancient
Egyptian is classified as part of the Afro-asiatic branch, and English
as Indo-european, there appears to be some relationship between these
and some other branches. It has been shown for example that the
African Bantu language is related to Spanish, French, Portuguese and
Italian. Language probably commenced its earliest proto
development in Africa some 100,000 years ago, and there is some
linguistic and archaeological evidence to show that there were three
migrations from Asia to the New World, at 14,000 years, 11,000 years and
most recently at 4,000 years. Previous migrations from Africa to
Asia have left linguistic traces, and there is now sufficient
information available to suggest that all the world's language families,
and therefore all the world's languages, could share a common origin.
Due to divergence and diversification it is impossible scientifically to
reconstruct protolanguages further back than about 10,000 years.
But as a hypothetical exercise in tracing word origins, a 2,000
Proto-world vocabulary of core words has been constructed, which could
date back to 50,000 years.[18] More recently
Professors Mark Pagel of Reading University and Russell Gray, University
of Auckland have been working on similar lines to Merrit Ruhlen.
Languages (European, Middle East and India) have been compared, all
having derived from the same root and have many linguistic similarities.
The divergence of the languages can be compared and the evolutionary
history of individual words can be traced. Pagel states there are
sounds or words that predate Indo-European. Giving the words
'thou', 'I', and 'who', as examples that could be at least 15,000 to
20,000 years old, he considers that the sounds and meanings were similar
to those used today. (The Times, 28 February, 2009.)
Continuing research by Mark Pagel et al. using
quantitive modeling has shown that Ice Age people living in Europe
15,000 years ago might have used forms of some common words including
I,
you, we, man, mother, fire, and bark, that in some cases
could still be recognised today. The words would not sound exactly the
same e.g. mother would sound like mama, or something
similar, but a basic conversation could be possible. For the full
article see: ‘Ultraconserved words point to deep language ancestry
across Eurasia’ at:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/05/01/1218726110.full.pdf+html
See also http://www.evolution.reading.ac.uk/WordChanges/
and Russell
Gray’s ‘Pushing the Time Barrier in the Quest for Language Roots’.
This theme is continued in an article ‘Language‘s missing link’
(New Scientist, 16 July 2011). Investigation of earlier ideas
that word sounds could be linked to an inherent meaning was undertaken
by Christine Cuskley, Univ. of Edinburgh, Benjamin Bergen, Univ. of
California, Sota Kita, Univ. of Birmingham et. al. Implications
suggest that sound symbolism provided the stepping stone from gesture to
the simple word and that the sound symbolic relations in today's
languages may be remnants of those very first words.
These researchers add some initial limited support to
Massey’s evolutionistic theory of the development of primaeval
onomatopœa. However, modern linguistic research has moved on from
Massey's too wide ranging conclusions, to results by computer based
research. This does not confirm Massey's refutation of Grimm’s
Law.
Perhaps even
earlier were the ‘click’ consonant languages the remnants of which are
still spoken by a number of South and East African tribes.
Linguistic and genetic studies of the San and Hadzabe indicated that
these people have inherited this part of vocabulary from a common
ancestor who spoke one of the earliest proto languages. This would
date to a time prior to out of Africa migrations (Independent, 18
March 2003; see also Massey, Natural Genesis, I, 257-259, where
he considers that clicks were part of the development of pre-human
sounds into verbal language).
About the same time that certain philologists were making
these advances, new biochemical techniques in the application of
mitochondrial DNA were being designed. This form of DNA, which is
inherited only from the mother, was applied to genetic studies to
discover how quickly genetic mutations took place. Mitochondria
from different races was traced to one common African source group who
lived about 200,000 years ago, and approximate dates of migrational
settlement were determined for a number of countries.[19]
In an ongoing research extensive analysis of men's Y chromosome suggests
that the “father” of humankind is far younger than our mother.
Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences has revealed that all
modern mitochondria are derived from between one and seven maternal
ancestors—“mitochondrial Eves”—who were part of a group of perhaps 200
individuals living around 140,000 years ago. The descendants of
other women with different mitochondria have died out. The Y
chromosome of over a thousand men from 21 different regions of the world
showed that “Y-chromosome Adam” lived around 50,000 to 70,000 years ago
… These findings support the “Out of Africa” theory, suggesting modern
humans began migrating from Africa to Asia and beyond 44,000 years ago.
(New Scientist, 4 November 2000, page 16). This has
received further confirmation when the DNA of more than 12,000 men
across modern Asia was tested. It was found that in all the men
three markers in their Y chromosomes revealed that their ancestors came
from Africa between 35,000 and 89,000 years ago.[20]
Furthermore, despite the uniqueness of Australia's ancient Aborigines
and archaeological finds on that continent, which threatened to
undermine the “Out of Africa” hypothesis, research undertaken by
geneticists at Cambridge University into the DNA of Aboriginal
Australians and New Guinea's Melanesians supports the single migration
theory by demonstrating “that both populations share genetic features
linking them and other Eurasians to the exodus from Africa more than
five millennia earlier.”[21]
These independent subject discoveries, when compared,
indicate the possibility of a relationship between historical
linguistics, prehistoric archaeology, molecular genetics, and the
migration of myths.
MYTHOLOGY.
The idea that early man was able to recognise the precession
of the equinoxes is central to the development of astro-mythology.
Athanasius Kircher and Charles Dupuis illustrated this opinion with
mythological zodaical planispheres.[22]
Observation of precession of the pole stars through a complete cycle of
some 26,800 years was considered by Massey as necessary for man to
develop a complete cataclysmic ‘deluge’ myth. A minor ‘deluge’
would occur as each pole star or the group of seven constellation star
markers was replaced by the following one. Constellations that
have been identified are Draco, Hercules, Lyra, Cygnus and Cepheus, with
this era's Pole Star being Polaris, in Ursa Minor. At the time of
the great pyramid, the pole star was Thuban, in the constellation Draco.
According to Massey, the myths that developed during that early period
would be stellar based, and traceable in their religious eschatology.
In the migrations of these people, their temples would be orientated
north/south. When the stellar cult was replaced by the solar, it
marked the commencement in Egypt of the Osirian religion, and the
eschatology of the nocturnal sun through the darkness of Amenta.
This was representational of the resurrection and continuity of the
human spirit in the after life. The groups of polar stars were
replaced by the seven stars of Ursa Minor, who were the divine watchers,
the stars that never set; while during their migrations, these Solar
cult people orientated their temples east/west.
During the past twenty-five years there has been some
reconsideration of the development of astro-mythology with particular
reference to Egyptian religious ritual and its continuance through
Babylonia, Sumeria, India and Europe. Two authors, de Santillana
and von Dechend, consider that precession was the only majestic secular
motion that our ancestors could keep in mind, and that the cosmological
information contained in ancient myths are attempts to portray the
forces which seem to have taken part in the shaping of the cosmos.[23]
Thomas D. Worthen’s Myth of Replacement. Stars, Gods and Order in the
Universe (see
bibliography), complements and enhances the earlier Hamlet’s Mill by
Santillana and von Dechend (1969). Taking a heuristic
approach, Worthen considers that myths occur in typological series.
Those myths that are particularly associated with time cycles and cosmic
precession are examined, and he introduces also relevant philological
and etymological elements to his study.
A recent discovery can be cited that also adds weight to
Massey's original hypothesis of the great importance early civilizations
placed on celestial phenomena and the development of their myths. (See
Massey, Natural Genesis, I, 292-370). A ceremonial platform at
Takalik Abaj, western Guatemala (Olmec, c. 1,200-400 BC) is considered
to have alignment to the constellation Draco. This was adapted
later by the Maya to focus on the star Eta Draconis in that
constellation. The alignment was investigated archaeologically,
and led to the discovery of an unlooted royal burial (National
Geographic, May 2004, 70-79).
Following on this brief general essay an Egyptologist, Jane
Sellers, has more recently investigated in greater detail the
cosmological references contained in the pyramid and coffin texts, and
the later Book of the Dead.[24] Checking
precession and astronomical references by computer program, the evidence
for her conclusion that the ancient Egyptians' religion was indeed
founded on astro-mythology is impressive. This provides sound
vindication of many of Massey's theories made some ninety years earlier.
During a practical investigation of the Great Pyramid, Bauval and
Gilbert confirmed, also through computer programs, that shafts and
chambers had an astro-geometry and were aligned to Orion's (as Osiris)
belt, to the pole star alpha Draconis (Thuban), and to beta Ursa Minor.[25-1]
These alignments were connected ritually to the soul's rebirth, using
stellar imagery in the development of solar eschatology, and it is
possible that stellar observations were made from Heliopolis as early as
10,000 BC. Should this prove to be correct it provides some
further vindication of Massey's opinion of a longer time scale than
orthodox opinions presently allow. It was found also that
architecturally, the pyramid complexes of Giza and Dashour could have
been built as a representation on earth of the astro-mythological
rebirth rituals founded in the cosmological heaven of eternity.
In spite of the unsurprising reservations of some
Egyptologists regarding a statement by theorists that all pyramids had
an astronomical alignment, recent and ongoing archaeo-astronomical
research is tending to confirm this.
Since 2003 an Egyptian-Spanish mission under the auspices of
the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities have studied over 500
pyramids, sanctuaries, temples etc. across the Nile Valley and beyond.
The results so far have almost convinced them that certain places
throughout Egypt, such as Karnak and Denderah, had an especially sacred
character because they presented both topographic (the Nile) and
astronomical alignments. They would consider solstitial alignments
to be universal within ancient Egyptian culture. Other alignments
included equinoctial, seasonal sun orientations, Sirius (as the Egyptian
Sepdet), the meridian, and quarter cardinal directions. In
summary, the authors show the importance of three customs of
astronomical orientations throughout ancient Egypt history: cardinal,
solar and stellar. [25-2]
During Massey's researches he had cause to consider that the
Egyptian Sphinx, being representative of the mount of earth as the place
of burial, passage, and rebirth for the solar god was considerably
earlier in date than the nearby Great Pyramid.[26]
In the Egyptian texts the two-headed sphinx, named Aker, guards the
western gate of sunset with one head, and the eastern gate of sunrise
with the other. Its body contains a succession of caves through
which the sun, representing Horus or the later Osiris, travels during
its nocturnal journey.[27] In the mythology the
two gates of earth are for the sun, but they become the two gates of
Aker for the soul, in the eschatology. The sphinx on the Giza
plateau, being a single sphinx facing east, represents the exit between
the sphinx's paws of the sun god's boat from the tunnel of night, at the
dawn of day.
A recent independent researcher, John West, has also queried
the generally accepted dating of the Sphinx.[28]
West based his assumption (expressed earlier by Schwaller de Lubicz) on
patterns of erosion on the body of the Sphinx that, he asserted, could
have been made only by water, and not wind-blown sand. That put
the age of the Sphinx between 10,000 BC to 8,000 BC when the climate in
that area was very much wetter. West considered his theory to have
increased validity as, during that period, the sun would appear to rise
exactly between the paws of the Sphinx—a further likely approximate date
of construction.[29] Further detailed on site
investigation by geologist Dr Robert Schoch added much support to this
theory (Voices of the Rocks by Robert M. Schoch (Harmony, NY.
1999). In his later work Voyages of the Pyramid Builders (Tarcher/Putnam,
New York, 2003), he responds to criticism, refuting arguments that the
Sphinx was constructed no earlier than c. 2500 BC. He considered
that the base was original, but the body and face were repaired probably
in the early dynastic or Old Kingdom period. Colin Reader, a
geological engineer who also made a close study of the Sphinx, concluded
that it was built earlier than the Old Kingdom, but only by some 300
years. (Colin Reader, Khufu knew the Sphinx. Self-published,
revised 1999). Another geologist, David Coxill, agreed that the
Sphinx ‘is clearly older than the traditional date.’ But there
was—and still is, considerable opposition to these opinions by more
orthodox scholars.[30]
The development of myths from their source has never been
completely investigated according to theories of early migrations from
Africa. Massey's theory that myths, being particularly fundamental
to the formation of early religious doctrine should retain their basic
elements, has not been studied in depth. Classification of myths
is particularly complex, especially when considering developmental
changes over long periods of time, though more basic material is
becoming increasingly available.[31] The
synthesis of myth, philology and anthropology to a common core is also
not yet adequately demonstrated in terms of Massey's evolutionary
beliefs. However, following the recent theories of African genesis
and greater evidence and dating of migrations from Africa, this seems a
fertile line to follow. There are strong indications that astro-mythology
and many aspects of Egyptian eschatology could have greater links with
the Mediterranean religions than has been previously realised.
The burial of the Egyptian mummy in the earth (tomb) is
coincident with the resurrection of the soul in Amenta, followed by its
purifications and refinings into a spirit finally made perfect.
Resurrection elements of the Egyptian religion were conveyed, in
Massey's opinion, via the mystery teachings of Isis and Osiris to the
Roman Mithraic religion and early Christianity. The seventh and
eighth stages of the souls ascent corresponds to the seven Pole-lords of
heaven, and the great god ‘who is the Bear which moves and turns heaven
around …’ As the Egyptian Isis and Horus had been taken over by
the Christian mysteries as types in Mary and Jesus, it was only natural
that the apologists Justyn Martyr and Tertullian would accuse the
earlier mysteries of being demonically inspired precursors of
Christianity.[32] A number of the apocryphal
gospels and testaments not written by Christian apologists and therefore
judged to be heretical, contain matter that developed in Syria and Asia
Minor, that can only have been transmitted via Egyptian Gnosticism.
The weighing of souls, references to the Pole stars and the dragon with
seven heads can be cited.[33] An echo of the
Egyptian judgement, should the soul be weighed and found lacking in
moral integrity, is present in the Christian committal service when it
is prayed to ‘deliver us from the bitter pains of eternal death’.
That second (eternal) death in Revelation 20:6, or the spiritual death
following physical death in Matthew 10:28, is the annihilation of the
spirit in the lake of fire in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The
‘lake of fire’ was developed later in Hebrew and Christian theology as
being part of the doctrine of purgatory, thus debasing the original
meaning. The spirit of the deceased prays to ‘let me live and be
saved after death’, i.e. not to die the second death. (Book of the
Dead, ch. XLI, in Thatcher, O, Library of Original Sources, I, 48.
Minerva, 2004). Faulkner (1994) translates as: 'May I live, may I
be saved after sleeping.' The Gnostic Pistis Sophia which,
like the Egyptian Book of the Dead is mainly post-resurrectional
and to which it has many similarities, has had parts of its teaching
carried into Christian theology.[34] Being
post-resurrectional, the Egyptian Horus, coming from Amenta as the word,
or teacher, takes his seat on the horizon, or mount. Similarly,
the Egypto-gnostic Jesus emerges from Amenta and takes his seat as
teacher of the twelve disciples on the heavenly Mount of Olives.
In the Christian form the event, though similar, was staged on this
earth. That induced the Gnostics to ridicule ignorant Christians
who took the resurrection literally instead of as a spiritual truth.
Massey's list of nearly three hundred similarities in comparing
pre-Christian data with the Canonical gospels and Book of Revelation, is
impressive.[35]
PARALLELS WITH CHRISTIANITY.
Translation and publication of the first century AD scrolls
found between 1947 and 1952 in caves at Khirbet Qumran near the Dead Sea
have added further questions on the development of early Christianity.
Although not all scholars agree on the dating of the scrolls and some of
the conclusions reached during their study, it appears that the communal
group using the scrolls was strongly militant and messianic.
Whether they were termed Essenes, Nazarenes or Zealots, the names were
used generically, and they were probably an extreme Jewish sect who had
the aim of bringing about religious and governmental reform. There
were many messianic disturbances between 4 BC and 62 AD, with a number
of crucifixions of pretenders on the grounds of blasphemy and sedition,
the Roman government being in continual fear of uprisings.[36]
A number of parallels between the scrolls and parts of the
New Testament suggest the gospels to be, in part at least, Hellenistic
fiction. The gospel stories of Jesus, therefore, fit into a
pre-written pattern, with messianic expectations being adopted as
Christian beliefs.[37] There is also on-going
research into a basic 'sayings' gospel obtained by comparing the
synoptic texts, referred to as ‘Q’, that challenges again the narrative
texts depiction of the historical Jesus which appear to be embellished
with mythologies. Finkelstein and Silberman in their more recent
The Bible Unearthed, assert that archaeological evidence is the
only source of information on the biblical period that was not
considerably emended, edited or censored by generations of biblical
scribes. The first five books of the Bible are a patchwork written
under different historical circumstances to express different religious
and political opinions. The authors consider, with some others for
example, that the Exodus did not occur in the time or manner described,
being an unauthentic chronology. Semitic immigrants arriving from
Canaan to the eastern border of the Delta region of Egypt and settling,
forced the Egyptians to expel them at intervals. Geographical
details of the Exodus story come from the 7th century BCE that equates
with the rulers of the Egyptian 26th Dynasty, and the authors of the
Exodus story integrated contemporary details into it. The Hyksos
invasion of Egypt in 1570 BCE was a gradual process of immigration from
Canaan to Egypt, and not a rapid military campaign. The Pharaoh
Ahmose in the 18th Dynasty then destroyed the city of Avaris in the
Delta, the Hyksos centre, and chased the survivors back to southern
Canaan. Following this episode, a number of garrison forts were
established along the eastern boundary of the Delta to monitor the
movement of foreigners. That would make any mass exodus
impossible.[38]
The results of these modern studies correspond broadly with
Massey's contention that myth, as well as Egyptian astromythology, the
basis of Egyptian eschatology, was developed and to some extent
transformed incorrectly, via Gnosticism and the Hellenic diaspora to
influence considerably the formation of Jewish and Christian doctrines.
MASSEY'S BOOKS.
Massey's books failed in popularity due mainly to the
contentious subject matter. Some of his theories were poorly
defined and so supported with detail that readers found them difficult
to understand. Again, he was not in the academic circle. Albert
Churchward in his preface to the first edition of Signs and Symbols
of Primordial Man, a book equally unappreciated at the time, wrote
that Massey ‘… was never tired of discussing the subject and assisting
me. No one ever understood the mythology and Ritual of Ancient
Egypt so well as Gerald Massey since the time of the Ancient
Philosophers of Egypt. He has left a written record in Ancient
Egypt of the facts which will be an everlasting light on the subject.’
Alvin Boyd Kuhn in The Lost Light: An Interpretation of
Ancient Scriptures (1940) although moulding Massey's theories to a
theosophical viewpoint, said of Massey that ‘He is the only scholar in
whose hands the recondite Egyptian material begins to take on rational
significance. All others leave it resembling unintelligible
nonsense.’
Numerous reprints of Massey's works from the 1970s with their
introductions, indicate the revival of interest being generated in the
subject matter, since recent opinions appear to vindicate a great deal
of his hypotheses. Dr. Charles Finch noted the systems of belief,
particularly astro-mythological, that Massey used to connect levels of
meaning to systems of religious and scientific thought. His book
Echoes of the Old Darkland (Khenti Inc. Decatur, 1991) owes its
title and most of its evolutionary theme to Massey's trilogy, especially
his Ancient Egypt.[39] John G. Jackson
Man, God, and Civilization (Carol Publishing, NY, 1993) dedicated
his book to the memory of Gerald Massey adding the comment on page 308
that ‘… the conclusions reached by Gerald Massey many years ago are
being confirmed by later research. It is high time that this great
Egyptologist should get the recognition that he should have received in
his own lifetime.’
Increasingly discerning approaches are being made to recent
concepts of evolutionary origins, especially from black American
scholars. Many of these consider that black children should now
have an historical past based on African-centred curriculum and, in
recommending Massey's books, appreciate his contribution towards their
aim.[40] Recognition has now found a firmer
base. Currently he is being remembered principally for several
phases of his work:
a) His early descriptive but less overtly emotive poetry. Samples
of these are currently used by some universities as discussion topics
for students of English/English literature.
b) Poems that can be viewed mainly within the narrow critique of social
and political reform agitation of the 1840s and 1850s.
c) His active support of Chartism and co-operation reported in radical
newspapers and later literature of the time.
d) As the author of two important investigative works on Shakespeare's
Sonnets. These are more highly rated today than at the time of
authorship.
e) Aspects of the more controversial evolutionistic theories that he
considered to be the pinnacle of his life's work and which were
denigrated at the time are, more recently in a number of aspects,
receiving confirmation.
It is probably in this area of his work that due recognition
will in part be finally achieved and, with continuing research, this may
not be too long in the future.
A willing slave for years,
I strove to set men free;
Mine were the labours, hopes and fears,
Be theirs the victory. |
I have been asked by a number of readers for the relevance of
Massey's works today as a particular branch of curricula study or
personal research.
There is continuing study into human origins by way of
mitochondrial genetics and haplogroups that group people together.
It is now reasonable to assume that the ‘Out of Africa’ theory rather
than the 'Multiregional' hypothesis regarding the origin of human
migrations is basically correct. This of course vindicates
Massey's opinions that he obtained by using a system of typologies.
However, it still remains to investigate further his—and also Dr Albert
Churchward's—belief that human migrations can be followed by means of
the development of myths that were originally formed prior to these
migrations. This is an interesting theory that would deserve
further research.
Note:
It must be particularly noted that Massey's works are 100 years old and
by today's standards can not be trusted as correct in detail.
Validation would have to be confirmed by using the latest discoveries
and the results of modern research.
...
O! we would fain not to say to thee 'Farewell,'
It may be that beyond this universe
We yet shall look, dear Poet, on thy face,
And hear the sweetness of thy voice again.
A.R. Speke (1907) |
Since
completing the above work, I have noted the following that have
relevance to sections of the biographic subject matter:
Inside the Neolithic Mind. Consciousness, Cosmos and the Realm of the
Gods. David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce. Thames & Hudson,
2009. The authors investigate in detail the development of Neolithic
art, buildings and their relationship to a religion of the cosmos. The
intensity of mental experiences by shamans induced by rhythmic dancing,
flickering light, sensory deprivation and psychotropic substances form
part of altered states of consciousness providing a basis of early
religious belief systems and social cohesion. Depictions of animals and
other figures on the walls of inner chambers of passages indicate the
ritual spiritual entrance of the shaman to another world, the wall
providing an interface between this world and the other. The passages
themselves were routes between dimensions of the cosmos. Various motifs
carved on the entrance of tombs and within passages such as
interconnected spirals, were associated with mental travel between
realms.
Forged. Writing in the Name of God – Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who
We Think They Are. Bart D.
Ehrman. HarperCollins, 2011. The author discusses the opinions of
scholars relating to deceptions and forgeries both in the New Testament
and pseudonymous Christian writings from outside the New Testament. Many
instances of these are discussed, and the justification for such
deceptions are considered.
Forgery and Counterforgery. The use of Literary Deceit in Early
Christian Polemics. Bart D. Ehrman. OUP, 2013. This is a scholarly and comprehensive
monograph on the subject of Christian writings, whereas the previous
book was written as an introduction for the more general reader. The
author considers the general term ‘forgery’ to be a literary work
referring to any writing that appears – or is assumed to be - under a
name other than that of the author. This includes for example,
authorship under a fictitious pen name, and a work – for various reasons
- appearing under the well known name of a person who did not write it
where there may, or may not have been an intention to deceive. Examples
are given both from the Graeco-Roman world, and in depth, from early
Christian Polemics.
First Migrants. Ancient Migration in Global Perspective.
Peter Bellwood. Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. Following on previous books on
the subject, this is an up to date summary of the researches that have
been carried out to date. The author covers assumptions regarding the
earliest possible prehistoric migrations, and links them with later
migrations that can be established through language families, genetics
and biological anthropology. The migrations to and colonisations of
areas within a global perspective are analysed.
Most
recently, the discovery of fossils and teeth from a cave in China and
another in Israel suggest that an early Homo sapiens may have
left Africa some 130,000 years ago before a later wave of migration
around the currently accepted date of approximately 60,000 years ago.
‘Humanity’s forgotten pioneers’, New Scientist, 9 August 2014, p.
10.
[Appendices]
NOTES |
1. |
Vicinus, Martha, The Industrial Muse (London, Croom Helm,
1974), 98. |
2. |
Scheckner, P., (ed.) An Anthology of Chartist Poetry
(Rutherford, Fairleigh Dickinson, 1989) 15-56. See also the
introduction to Brian Maidment's The Poorhouse Fugitives (London,
Carcanet, 1987). |
3. |
‘Thoughts on Poetry and its Varieties’ in the Monthly Repository,
Jan. 1833, 60-70. |
4. |
Judius,
‘Poetry, Poets and Poetical Powers’ in the Westminster Review,
149, (Jun. 1898), 675. The author has not been identified in the
Wellesley Index. |
5. |
‘The
Social Function of Poetry.’ In Eliot, T.S., On Poetry and Poets
(London, Faber, 1957). |
6. |
Pratt,
J., Rhine, J. Smith, B. et al. Extra-sensory Perception after
Sixty Years (Boston, Humphries, 1966), 243. A summary of
continuing research with a broader basis is given in Broughton, R.,
Parapsychology (London, Rider, 1992. |
|
7. |
For a
modern assessment of the phenomena see Gauld, A., Cornell, A.,
Poltergeists (London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979), Rogo, D.
Scott, The Poltergeist Experience (London, Aquarian Press,
1990) and Braude, S., The Gold Leaf Lady and other
parapsychological investigations. (Univ. Chicago Press, 2007). |
8. |
History of Spiritualism, op. cit., 1, 185. |
9. |
Schrenck-Notzing, Baron von, Phenomena of Materialisation
(London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1923). See also Harry
Boddington's The University of Spiritualism (London,
Spiritualist Press, 1946). |
10. |
McCabe,
Joseph, Spiritualism (London, Fisher Unwin, 1920). Another,
though slightly less negative book is Ronald Pearsall's The Table
Rappers (London, Michael Joseph, 1972). History of
Spiritualism, op. cit. Cooper, Joe, The Case of the
Cottingley Fairies (London, Hale, 1990). |
11. |
Permutt, Cyril, Photographing the Spirit World (London,
Aquarian Press, 1988 ed.). Willin, Malvyn, Ghosts caught on film.
Photographs of the paranormal (Newton Abbot, David & Charles,
2007), and other recent books on the subject. |
12. |
Haynes,
Renee, The Society for Psychical Research. 1882-1982. A History.
(London, Macdonald, 1982). |
13. |
A
recent scientific overview of psychic phenomena with emphasis on
mind/matter interaction is The Conscious Universe. The
scientific truth of Psychic Phenomena by Dean Radin (Harper San
Francisco), 1997; also Radin's Entangled Minds. Extrasensory
experiences in a Quantum reality. (Paraview, N.Y., 2006).
Results of numerous replicated studies are correlated and examined
by meta-analysis. These show what appears to be considerable
evidence in favour of many aspects of psi which remain unrecognised
by most of the scientific establishment. The author considers this
is due principally to institutionalised prejudices that dismiss psi
as impossible and therefore not worthy of research. However,
research is ongoing at various establishments, including the
Consciousness Research Laboratory, University of Nevada, the
Department of Psychology Princeton University, Contel Technology
Centre, the University of Edinburgh etc. Most recently (Focus
magazine, March 2007, pages 38-43, 'Mind to Mind'), notes that
Edinburgh University have experimented using electroencephalograms
in tests involving telepathic communication between people in
relationships. Random flashes of light beamed at senders triggered,
as expected, EEG activity in the visual cortex. However, at the same
time, EEG's of isolated receivers also showed an activity in the
same parts of the brain despite not seeing any flashes at all.
Experiments at the University of Washington using fMRI—functional
magnetic resonance imaging—produced similar results. The experiments
are ongoing, and it was considered that the findings could be
classified as an 'anomalous phenomenon.' |
14. |
Saltmarsh, H.F., Evidence of Personal Survival from Cross
Correspondences (London, Bell, 1938), and in vols 20-26 of the
Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research. Some lines
recognisable from Massey's ‘Ballad of Babe Christabel’ were given as
part of a Cross- correspondence alluding to the death of Professor
F. W. Maitland in 1906. See Proc. vol. 24, p. 217. |
15. |
Kolb,
E., Seckel, D., Turner, M., ‘The shadow world of superstring
theories’ in Nature, 314, (April 1985), 415-19. The theory is
developed by Wassermann, Dr. Gerhard, in Shadow Matter and
Psychic Phenomena (Oxford, Mandrake, 1993). However,
Wassermann's theory has not found favour amongst scientists and, in
common with other theories on the subject has not been validated by
experimentation. The most recent overview of the subject Dean
Radin's Entangled Minds: extrasensory experiences in a quantum
reality (New York, Paraview, 2006) gives a broader perspective.
Recent developments are published in the Journal of
Parapsychology (Parapsychological Association.) |
16. |
Psychic News, 9 Jul. 1994, 1. |
17. |
Leakey,
R., Lewin, R., Origins Reconsidered (London, Little, Brown,
1992). 'Dead Men Talk', (London, Channel 4 T.V., 1991). Focus
magazine for October 2003 gives a map showing the likely route of
migrations from Africa. According to this, Homo erectus left Africa
around 2 million years ago, spreading into Asia some 1.8 million
years ago. Homo Sapiens who also developed in Africa and spread
through the Middle East and into Neanderthal territory 50,000 to
100,000 years ago followed this first wave. These Homo Sapiens
replaced Homo erectus and its descendents in Europe and Asia. Even
more recently, samples of mtDNA were taken from a small isolated
population in Malaysia—the Orang Asli—whose ancestors were the
original inhabitants of the Malay peninsula. Having compared their
mtDNA with people in Eurasia and Australasia it is considered that a
founder population crossed from Africa and the Red Sea, spreading
via India and south-east Asia to Australia. It is calculated that
the first humans arrived in Malaysia around 65,000 years ago. The
group then split, with one eventually settling in Europe, but the
main dispersal group moved to Australia, reaching it a few thousand
years later. The oldest human remains in Australia date from 46,000
to 50,000 years ago, fitting the new genetic data. (New Scientist,
21 May 2005, p.14; The Times, 8 May 2007, p.32). In this
context and the theories of Massey and Churchward (Signs and
Symbols of Primordial Man, 119-200, 218-224, 413-417) on the
dating of migrations, it would be worth comparing the myths of the
early Australians with those of the Orang Asli people. |
18. |
Ruhlen,
Merritt, A Guide to the World's Languages. Vol. l: Classification
(London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1987). Before Babel (London, BBC
Horizon transcript, 1992). The Origin of Language: Tracing the
Evolution of the Mother Tongue (John Wiley, New York, 1994). |
19. |
Fagan,
Brian, The Journey from Eden (London, Thames & Hudson, 1990).
Compare the map on pages 234-5 with Churchward in his Signs and
Symbols of Primordial Man, op. cit., insert, 436-7. An
illustrated article on the subject, ‘Genes, Peoples and Languages’
by Luigi Cavalli-Sforza was published in Scientific American,
265 (Nov. 1991), 104-110. |
20. |
New
Scientist, 19 May 2001 p.25, quoted from Science, vol.
292, p. 115. Note also ‘Last of the great migrations’ (colonisation
of New Zealand), New Scientist, 24 April 2004, 38-41. |
21. |
The
Times, p.32, May 8, 2007. |
|
22. |
Gleadow, Rupert, The Origin of the Zodiac (London, Cape,
1968). |
|
23. |
Santillana, Giorgio de, and Dechend, Hertha von, Hamlet's Mill.
An essay on myth and the frame of time (Boston, Gambit, 1969). |
24. |
Sellers, Jane B., The Death of Gods in Ancient Egypt (London,
Penguin, 1992.). Since first publication I have noted Prof. Thomas
Worthen's book The Myth of Replacement. Stars, Gods, and Order in
the Universe (Univ. Arizona Press, 1991). This book gives a
survey of myths and cyclic phenomena that provides additional
support for the cosmological theory. There are eleven diagrams
illustrating precession from the present date to 13,810 BC and the
Spring Equinox to 5,800 BC. Jane Sellers has also published an
updated version of The Death of Gods in Ancient Egypt (2007,
lulu.com). |
25-1. |
Bauval,
Robert; Gilbert, Adrian, The Orion Mystery (London,
Heinemann, 1994). |
25-2. |
In 'Keeping Ma'at: an astronomical
approach to the orientation of the temples in ancient Egypt.'
Journal of Advances in Space Research, 2009, 03, 033.
Article with diagrams. Noted briefly also in New Scientist,
5 Sept. 2009. |
26. |
In
Massey's Ancient
Egypt, 1, 334-39. |
27. |
R.T.
Rundle Clark's Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt (London, Thames &
Hudson, 1959), 148-55, 169. |
28. |
Serpent
in the Sky, by John Anthony West (Wheaton, I11., Quest, T.P.H.). In
a foreward to the revised edition, Robert Masters considered that
Massey's trilogy should be compared with the theories of Schwaller
de Lubicz in his Le Temple de l'Homme (trans. 1997). |
29. |
In the
BBC Timewatch transcript Age of the Sphinx (London, 1994). |
30. |
K.M.T.
A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, 5, (Fall 1994), 2-5, 40-48.
The
Times, 1 December 1994, 21. A more recent theory considers the
possibility that the Sphinx was carved by Khufu's son, Djedefre, in
his father's likeness. There is no evidence so far that this was the
first carving, or a re-working. Djedefre's pyramid at Abu Rawash was
probably dismantled by the Romans for building material. |
31. |
See
Thompson Stith's Motif-Index of Folk Literature 6 vols (Copenhagen,
Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1955-57). |
32. |
Meyer,
Marvin, (ed.) The Ancient Mysteries. A Sourcebook (San Francisco,
Harper, 1987). |
33. |
James,
Montague, The Testament of Abraham, (Cambridge U.P., 1892). See also
The Book of Enoch, and Bentley Layton's The Gnostic Scriptures
(London, SCM, 1987). |
34. |
Mead,
G.R.S., Pistis Sophia (London, TPH, 1896. Rev. ed. Watkins,
1921). The Gospel of Philip, cited in Elaine Pagel's The Gnostic
Gospels (London, Penguin, 1979) and Tobias Churton's The Gnostics
(London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1990). S.G.F. Brandon gives an
excellent account of post-mortem judgement beliefs in The Judgement
of the Dead (London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1967). |
35. |
Ancient
Egypt, 2, 907-14. |
36. |
‘The
Last days of Jesus’ by Jeffery Sheler, in U.S. News & World Report,
108 (16 Apr. 1990), 46-53. |
37. |
Eisenman R., Wise, M., The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered (Shaftesbury,
Element, 1992). Resurrecting the Dead Sea Scrolls (London, BBC,
1993). See also Eisenman's Maccabees, Zadokites, Christians and
Qumran (Leiden, Brill, 1983) which has also extensive notes, and
Bartlett, John, The Bible: Faith and Evidence (London, British
Museum Press 1990). |
38. |
Mack,
Burton L., The Lost Gospel. The Book of 'Q' and Christian Origins
(Shaftesbury, Element, 1993). Finkelstein, Israel and Silberman,
Neil Asher, The Bible Unearthed. Archaeology's new vision of ancient
Israel and the origin of its sacred texts (The Free Press, New York,
2001). |
39. |
Introduction to Massey's Ancient Egypt (Baltimore, Black Classic
Press ed., 1992). Dr Charles Finch has also contributed
introductions to Massey's trilogy for the Black Classic Press
reprints (1992, 1998) |
40. |
‘Putting Africa on the Map. Racist history assailed.’ Washington
Times, 13 Nov. 1990. ‘Who are we?: A Black History Secret Unveiled.’
Hyde Park Citizen, The Ethnic NewsWatch, 18 Feb. 1993, 3. Note also
the section on ‘Linguistic Affinity’ (Cheik Anta Diop) in Great
African Thinkers (Transaction Books, Rutgers, 1986) vol. I, 49-54.
Also other more recent items on the same theme. |
|