Watch Worlds in Collision: Immanuel Velikovsky Streaming Free

Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision

Immanuel Velikovsky is largely unknown today, though he rose to fame in the '60s and '70s for his 1950 work, Worlds in Collision.  A resurgence of casual interest in comparative mythology and Catastrophist theory in the 1970s was somewhat derisively termed Velikovskyism (it has also been applied to theories that attempt to rectify ancient tales and legends with scientific evidence).

The popularity of the questions he raised prompted inquiries by major scientific organizations, and became such a spectacle that it was its own scientific event, examined in "The Velikovsky Affair." Velikovsky's work and theories were vociferously mocked throughout the established scientific community well into the mid-1980s, but supporters still exist despite his "debunking."

Immanuel Velikovsky died in 1979, but the theories he proposed so captured the interest of both the public and the scientific community, that they continue to be debated.  Worlds in Collision remains a hot topic in some discussions.

Many of Immanuel Velikovsky's unpublished works are also available online.

© The Weirding, 2016

Hades Discovered?

The cave outside Greece was discovered in 1958 and at least one archaeologist thinks it may have been the source of the Grecian mythological Hades. It even has its own lake, as Hades had the River Styx. The cave has been investigated several times since its discovery though it was first meant to be opened to the public.

Bolstering his theory is the dating of the cave, placing its most active period around the Bronze Age of Mycenaean Greece which was "the beginnings of things that produced the age of heroes in Greece," according to Michael Galaty, the archaeologist making the inference. The interior was used for funereal purposes, where bodies were interred while large amounts of dung were burned. It also appears to have drawn visitors from far and wide.

The underground complex also showed signs of having been settled and inhabited in various areas throughout the years in which it was active. The mouth to the cave collapsed some 5000 years ago, preserving much of what was inside the caverns at the time.

© C Harris Lynn, 2012

Ancient Magic: Singing Spells

A Typical Skald or Bard

Singing was closely related to early wizardry. In many of the earliest legends in which they appear, the wizards and wise-women simply sing their enchantments into being. Some are as simple as love spells, while others move mountains and change the faces of entire worlds, and even raise the dead.

Most of history was passed orally through epic tales, almost always by performers known as skalds or bards. The most treasured bards wove magic through their music, primarily through their lyrics. Homer's Iliad, largely considered the first Western work of literature, was meant to be sung. This tradition continued well into the 14^th-Century, as Merlin -- the wisest and most well-known of all wizards -- employed singing in many of his spellcasting feats.

One of the most well-known of the skalds was the Welsh bard, Taliesin. Taliesin was an actual, historical poet of the 6^th or 7^th -Century, responsible for writing and popularizing many of the earliest-known Welsh myths. In legend, he was the son of a witch named Ceridwen. When Talisein, in another form, spoiled one of Ceridwen's potions meant to give her lame son all the knowledge of the world, Ceridwen pursued him in many forms until she ate him in the form of a seed. The witch then gave birth to the beautiful Taliesin, who eventually carried a magic harp, and cast magic through his songs.

This appears to have been common-thinking, worldwide: Many sorcerous operations involved singing, chanting, or playing instruments. Dancing featured prominently, as well. As late as the 18^th-Century, dancing and singing at different times of the day or year were associated with witchcraft.

By the 16^th-Century though, Magic -- Astrology and Alchemy, in particular -- had become scholastic pursuits, and the wizards of legend were revered more in theory than as actual, and possibly (once) living, beings.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Ancient Magic: Circe

Circe (Oliver Wetter)

Circe is one of the oldest and most powerful of wizards. She was also one of the many evil sorceresses who bedeviled the era's heroes at every turn -- and Circe was particularly vicious. She was a feared sorceress known for her skill with herbs, drugs, and potions, and had a fondness for transforming her victims into animals whom she, in some versions of the legend, then ate.

Circe lived alone on the island Aeaea, which was overpopulated by swine, wolves, and bears -- many of which once were sailors Circe had lured to her island with her singing. In one particularly evil display of power, Circe set upon a beautiful, young nymph named Scylla. Circe desired Scylla's shepherd lover, so she snuck down to the river where the nymph bathed each morning and poisoned the waters there with an emerald-green potion poured from a large, crystal bowl.

When Scylla entered the river, the waters churled! Emerald-green tendrils emerged and pulled her under, where she was transformed into a horrible sea-creature which became the bane of sailors throughout the area. Scylla continued to reign on her wooded isle, later turning many of Odysseus' crew into pigs, but the tale does not mention the coveted shepherd's fate.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Ancient Magic: Lemminkainen's Resurrection

Lemminkainen's Resurrection

In later times, sorcerors and alchemists needed complex formulae, laboratories, libraries, and other scholastic accoutrement.  But in the earliest times, wizards just were. These enchanters were demi-godlike figures whose very essence was imbibed with the Supernatural. Lemminkainen, one of the earliest Finnish wizards, was one of these.

While Lemminkainen would go on to have many adventures, one story tells of his mother, whose name may be lost to antiquity (or was never recorded):  She knew her son was in trouble, but knew neither its nature nor son's location. She scoured the world looking for her son and found Lemminkainen, who had died trying to win the favor of the evil sorceress, Louhi, and the hand of her daughter.

Lemminkainen's mother had another wizard fashion her a rake made of copper with which she descended into the Underworld and painstakingly collected her son's remains. Once she had them all, she carefully pieced Lemminkainen's torn body back together and sang sorcerous chants and melodies into the day and night. Some tales say her magic alone brought the fallen wizard back to life, while others say Lemminkainen's mother had to steal honey from the hall of the gods to provide him true "life."

Many early stories feature similarly fantastic impossibilities, but this is among the first to feature resurrection -- a feat generally thought of as reserved for the gods. In fact, the tale credits the gods in one version, but I do not know which version came first.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

New Series: Ancient Magic

Odin One-Eye

Today's headlines too often center on claims of witchcraft, sorcery, and injustices in the name of various religions which prohibit a belief in or practice of actual "magic." But ancient societies the world over believed in magic as an everyday element, and those who practiced it were considered wise and learned. True, some used their magic for selfish -- and often ruinous -- reasons, but it wasn't until the advent of Christianity and Islam that what was once considered magic became known as "witchcraft," and its practitioners -- both old and new -- came to be slandered as evil.

Ancient society's earnest research into such magical fields as astronomy and alchemy laid the groundwork for the scientific work which followed. Even today, archaeologists and researchers routinely uncover new pieces to ancient history which suggest our ancestors knew far more than modern scholars credit them. Much of this knowledge was considered magic, or sorcery, until about 300 years ago when Western Thought underwent an Age of Enlightenment.
In this series, we will examine some of the stories which comprise the rich mythology of magic in the ancient world, along with lists of spell ingredients and their reputed effects, and more. At various times throughout history, Man has believed we live alongside alternate dimensions, such as Faerun, and men and women possessed of supernatural powers walked between them. 

Ancient Magic will recount some of these tales, and examine these concepts.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

TX Schools Required to Teach the Bible

Texas' Teachin'

A controversial and confusing law passed in 2007 is being enacted in schools across the state of Texas this year: All public schools must teach some kind of information pertaining to the Holy Bible.

The law -- intentionally confusingly-worded (there's a Tower named for that) -- has been hotly-contested in some arenas, even by educators, but sources say they are not necessarily required to indoctrinate unwitting and impressionable minds into a religion which is increasingly centered around hatred, and is historically corrupt.  Apparently, the course(s) are to inform students of the Bible's impact on history and culture.

Then they're gonna rape them.  Praise G.O.D.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Nessie's French Connection

The Jura River may lay nearly two miles beneath the city of Paris. It got its name from the fact that it is fed by nine parallel spurs of the Jura Mountains. Its volume of water is greater than that of the Seine. It empties into the ocean near the Sound of Jura between northern Ireland and Scotland, which separates the island of Jura from the Kintyre Peninsula. But before it does so, it passes a little lake called Ness.

Some have suggested this river may connect with the loch, which is the deepest lake in the world. If this is the case, it makes the possibility of a "monster" that much more credible. Assuming the creature is territorial, this may be why it returns; this may also explain the spate of non-appearances (the stretches of time when Nessie is not reported).

However, many say the Jura River's passing beneath the city of Paris is only a myth. Unfortunately, I was unable to verify this at the time of this writing.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Oldest Bible Comes Online

The oldest surviving copy of the New Testament known so far, also called The Codex Sinaiticus, is coming online by July, 2009.

First discovered in the 19^th-Century, the Codex was written in the 4^th-Century and organized into quires, which were numbered in sequence. Portions of it exist in various parts of the world, including Germany and Russia, though scholars will not explain how this happened. The digital effort combines all of these disparate sections into the whole text which will be available for download.

"Lingering sensitivity" over how portions found their way to Russia were cited to explain why further explanation is not forthcoming. The Codex was first discovered in Germany by a Biblical scholar and monks later discovered 12 more pages and 40 fragments hidden in a monastery in 1975. It is handwritten in Greek, though no one knows where.

Some interesting differences in the Codex and modern Biblical text includes the absence of the Resurrection, and the inclusion of books unknown to the Catholic and Protestant canon. It also contains some elements of the Old Testament, though scholars note this may be because it was simply cheaper to bind the elements together.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Heart of Rome Unearthed - The Lupercal

Some are saying they may have found the heart of Rome -- literally.

An integral part of Roman mythology, the Lupercal is where the she-wolf is said to have suckled the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, after they were found on the banks of the River Tiber. The cave was uncovered by workers near the ruins of Emperor Augustus' palace on the Palatine hill.

The 26'-high cave is decorated with shells, mosaics, and marble. In Roman times, young nobles called Luperci participated in a popular fertility festival called the Lupercalia every February 15^th. Naked but for the skins of goats sacrificed that day, the young men would run around Palatine hill, striking women's hands with strips of the goatskin.

The Italian Culture Minister, Francesco Rutelli said archaeologists were "reasonably certain" the cave is, indeed, the Lupercal. Lupa is Roman for "wolf."

The cave was found about 15' underground, and has only been explored by technological means due to fears of collapse. After a near $20 million restoration, parts of the famous Hill will re-open to the public in February. I do not know if it will coincide with the famous festival, nor what fanfare will accompany the event.