My guest blog post is up!

A week or so ago I mentioned that I had done a guest blog post for the author Renee Pawlish. Today when I checked my e-mail I found that she had published my guest post over at her blog. So head on over there and check it out!

http://tobecomeawriter.com/nephilim-anunnaki-nibiru/

Unexpected twists and werewolves

Life it seems is constantly throwing unexpected twists at me recently. Sort of annoying because they were not totally unexpected, but I couldn't really do much about them. First off I was demoted at work, while kind of negative thing in the career world, it's sort of a relief because I'm not as stressed now, plus my pay won't be cut to bad. Most annoying however is that my power supply on my desktop decided to kick the bucket, so I'm writing this from my wife's laptop which I have issues with (likes to trick me with it's keyboard). Worst part is that do to a freak accident with gamma radiation, I turn into frothing werewolf when it pisses me off...

Ok...so I'm not really some Incredible Hulk werewolf, but between seeing Twilight New Moon with my wife recently and also Monsterquest's most recent episode (about werewolves as well), I've formulated an idea about paranormal creatures. It's sort of a play on the idea of thoughtforms (physical manifestations of thoughts), or Tulpas (for those more familiar with that term).

This isn't really an original idea, but the theory that Fortean objects or phenomenon, be it animals or UFOs are physical manifestations of thought is actually quite common (heck some believe the world/universe is basically a gigantic thoughtform). However I found myself wondering how many paranormal creatures exist because of a community belief in them, not just from an individual's. Basically the communities themselves believe these to be real, so they become real.

Sadly this post is almost a repeat of one I wrote around year or more ago about gods existing because of belief. Actually it somewhat makes sense. Both the Bible and Koran make it a point to try and make one's beliefs in other gods (besides Allah/Jehovah) falter or be flat out eliminated. It's almost as if the writers of those ancient texts knew that the existence of these gods depended on the amount of belief in them, sort of like in Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods in a way.

Anyways expect more on this idea the near future. Also if things fall into place expect to hear about a crazy plan of mine soon as well...something involving a road trip and of course...strangeness...

A brief thought: Regarded as insects...

I can not recall how many times I've heard a scientist or skeptic on TV say something along the line of "A highly advanced alien race would probably regard humans as nothing, but insects. (sometimes cattle)" Likewise I can not tell you how much I disagree with that. Wait, I can!

Human history is riddled with "civilized" humans encountering other humans that we often consider "savage" or uncultured. For the most part we also disrespected many of these cultures by forcing our beliefs on them or enslaving them. And while today there are some groups and individuals who would still prefer to do the above, we have more regard for cultures that aren't part of the "modern world". In fact we are more curious about them then anything else, but at the same time hesitant to contact them for their good and ours. (Exposure to our diseases which isolated tribes have no immunity to can wipe them out. Some of these tribes aren't exactly the most friendly to outsiders either.)

I feel that an extra-terrestrial culture would probably react to us in one of the many ways mentioned above. If our history as a civilized species in full of it, an E.T. civilization would probably be as well, both the good and bad elements. That also means that they'd probably recognize us as being intelligent (at least to an extent) and would either try to communicate with us (for good or bad) or leave us alone for reasons they view as being good. However, until we have open and regular communication with an E.T. society, the best way to study how one would behave is to study ourselves.

Some related reading/examples:
Incredible pictures of one of Earth's last uncontacted tribes - Daily Mail Online
Article about the same tribe - BBC News
Wikipedia on slavery
Native American Timeline of Events

Is there an evolutionary advantage to telepathy?

While reading UFO Magazine today, one of the articles was talking about a book about this new agey guy who thinks that "star beings" are going to help us develop telepathy in order for us to move to a new spiritual level. In one sense, it's a cool idea, but then I tried to think about what the advantage would be to telepathy.

We humans prefer to think of ourselves as individuals, albeit social individuals and for the most part it works. Sure we can be selfish, but we value our privacy from time to time, and for the creative types that can be crucial. If we suddenly found ourselves with telepathy however, our minds would be open to anyone (or anything) close enough to us to hear thoughts. Unless there was a means to block people from reading our brains or we started thinking the same, I doubt we'd be able to walk down the street without hearing stuff we don't want to, or don't need to hear. Heck, there is enough of that without the telepathy.

From an evolutionary perspective, I see almost no reason for telepathy to develop. There are some situations where perhaps a species could develop something similar, such pack predators who rely on silence, but still need to communicate, but I feel it is unlikely that it would. Also like this article from Hard SF mentions, if a species already has other means of communication, the development of telepathy is doubtful and having multiple means of communication ourselves (vocal or visual) I find it unlikely we'd develop telepathy to replace any of them.

Overall I feel the idea is fantasy more then anything, at least for Earth based life. I will admit that it could develop elsewhere as a form of communication, maybe even in aliens who might be visiting our planet. And while I do feel that we as people need to evolve more spiritually or philosophically, I don't see how telepathy would help, in fact it would probably do more harm then good.

Gilgamesh Flood Story Part 2: Similarities

There are many obvious similarities between the flood story in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the story of Noah's flood. This of course brings up the question of whether one was inspired by the other, particularly the story of Noah being inspired by Gilgamesh, which is the older flood account.

So to start, let's look at some of the similarities:

1. God (Genesis) and the Anunnaki (Gilgamesh and related stories, i.e: Atra-hasis) decide man must be wiped out by a flood.

2. An individual (Noah and Utnapishtim) deemed worthy to live by God or one of the Anunnaki is given warning of the eminent deluge and ordered to build a boat to save their family and chosen animals.

3. Both Noah and Utnapishtim send out birds to see if the flooding is going away.

4. Each makes sacrifices to God or gods once settled on dry land.

Those are just the most similar connections, however here is a link that gives a bit more in depth similarity studies side by side.

As I said earlier, the question is, was one inspired by the other, and if so what does that mean. Clearly there are many who take the Bible literally and feel that the story of Gilgamesh just lends more truth to the story of Noah's Flood. And while it does indeed do that, it is really a double edged sword. The fact that the Gilgamesh account was recorded before the book of Genesis was written tends to lead many to the assumption that perhaps the story of Noah was inspired by that of Utnapishtim. Unfortunately there is no proof either way, excepting a small bit of evidence that might prove the existence of a couple kings mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic which wouldn't do much to support the Noah believers.

Also if Noah's story was inspired by the tale of Utnapishtim in Gilgamesh, who is to say that perhaps that story wasn't inspired by an earlier tale as well? Most of our knowledge of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia is fragmented at best and much more is probably waiting to be found there. Who knows what the future holds.

Sources and further reading:
The flood story from the epic
Gilgamesh Flood Myth - Wikipedia
Is the Biblical Account of the Flood Modified from the Epic of Gilgamesh?

Gilgamesh Flood Story Part 1: Intro

I've been trying to figure out how to introduce this one because it's not quite the same as paraphrasing something from the Bible. The other problem is the fact it really is so similar to the story of Noah's flood that I swear at times I was reading the same thing with different names. So the best to start I think is to give you all a link to the flood story from the Epic of Gilgamesh: The Great Flood: Gilgamesh (I really suggest reading it because you'll probably be a tad lost later if you don't)

One thing I want to note is that the flood story from this epic is not about Gilgamesh himself, rather it is told to Gilgamesh by the flood survivor named Utnapishtim (I've actually seen TV documentaries get that bit wrong), who is the story's version of Noah. Utnapishtim even builds an equivalent to the Ark which he takes animals on as well (it's not as apparent while reading it, but that is the case), although it is a giant cube apparently with all sides being the same.

Besides the name there are a couple other key differences to this story. For instance there are multiple gods, in particular the Anunnaki whom you should all know from my adventures into the works of Zecharia Sitchin. In fact it is the Anunnaki named Enlil who apparently rashly decides to destroy humanity with a large flood because they have angered him and many of the other Anunnaki.

The other primary difference is that the flooding process itself lasts only 7 days and 6 nights as opposed to the 40 days of Noah's flood. There is also a really cool description process here telling about gods drawing back gates and releasing water, burning the human settlement, and much more. It's almost like reading about a Viking or pirate raid, only the Vikings and pirates are replaced by gods.

Anyways over the coming days I will get more into detail about these differences, as well the similarities, between this and Noah's flood. Like I said, I swear I was reading the same story at times...truly fascinating.

A new look at an old book: The Bible, Annunaki, and gods, oh my!

I'm currently attempting to read my way through the entirety of that ancient tome known as the Bible (currently in the book Numbers) just for the sake of it. I'm actually finding it quite entertaining, especially after having read The 12th Planet by Zecharia Sitchin, which is causing me to look at it (the Bible) from a slightly different angle. There are also some oddities in the Old Testament, particularly in Genesis and Exodus that lead me to believe God was/is a being with a physical form and no, I don't mean Jesus.

From the start you get the idea that God was literally here on Earth appearing in person to people (which John claims is impossible in the New Testament by the way). You can hear him walking through the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve saw him. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and a few others I haven't mentioned saw him. He also bizarrely appears in a "meeting tent" to Moses in a couple books of the Bible. Whilst God is in the tent, there is a cloud of smoke and fire around it as well.

Now, why if God is omnipotent/omnipresent, does he need to appear in a meeting tent? Also why the smoke and fire around the tent? It would seem to me that while he should be able to just appear/speak to whoever he wants to without need of a tent to hide his presence; simply making himself visible and heard only to the ones he wants his presence known to without having to put on a big show.

There also seems to be many references to the existence of multiple gods in the Old Testament (here's a really interesting post on someones blog, I found about this), ones where God (well technically the Lord as the Christian versions of the OT calls him. I really want to get a copy of the OT in english, but with the Hebrew words for God/gods remaining in their orignal state so I can better understand the possible contexts) recognizes the apparent esistence of these other gods. It's even mentioned that he passes judement on them.

For some reason I can't help, but wonder if these "other gods" are possibly related to the Annunaki/Nefilim of Sumerian myth, even possibly being the aliens Zecharia Sitchin proposes them to be. With them basically pretending to be gods, perhaps the real God (the Annunaki did believe in a creator from what I understand) decided to come into the picture and correct a mess the Annunaki started.

I think there is a bigger picture in all of this that is slowly coming together the more I read. Perhaps I ought to dig more into some of the other religions that were around at the same time Judaism was the big shot monotheistic one. In particular I want to get a hold of some books on Sumerian/Babylonian myth that are not skewed in Zecharia Sitchin's (although I do want some more books of his. I feel some of his research is more credible then many give him credit for) ideas, and also some on Zoroastrianism, which shared many of the same concepts with Judaism.

Oddly, I don't fully know why I'm so interested in this, but I have an urge, almost a need to keep digging into it. Things seem to get more strange the farther I dig to, so I think that puts it right up my alley. Who knows, perhaps I wind up so close to the truth that I go mad in all to Lovecraftian manner, which would be kind of cool. Although I'd feel sorry for my family, since I'm crazy enough as it is.

Some thoughts on God and the Annunaki

Recent image captured by NASA
that resembles a giant hand in space.

I've been pondering what I've learned from reading "The 12th Planet", related items from the web, and my general knowledge of Christianity and related religions a lot recently. Mainly on how it all seems to interconnect, almost confusingly, but does.

It would seem to me that somewhere along the line there was a beginning mythology that led to what the Sumerians believed. This later evolved into the various mythologies of the Mid East, only to be reinterpreted into what would become Judaism, by Abraham, who restructured the multiple Gods into the one God and his angels.

The question however remains as to whether the Gods of old were real beings who created us. If the Annunaki, who if according to Zecharia Sitchin's interpretation of Sumerian myth, came from another planet in our solar system is accurate, then things as pertaining to God, are truly odd. Mainly in the fact that we were created as slaves by beings that for the most part are mere mortals like ourselves, just with longer life spans. Secondly in the fact that, from what I've gathered from various things I've read on the web, it would seem that the Annunaki believed in a creator as well, which means there is indeed some sort of God, or at least both the Annunaki and many of us humans believe there to be.

Well before I get anyone lost, what I'm trying to say is that I think the relationships between ancient myth, modern Abrahamic religions, and the concept of Gods and God in general, may be far more complicated then we can imagine. Plus, if you really want to go hardcore into the whole thing, it's my belief that nothing should exist period.

I feel that the mere fact anything, be it the stars, space, Earth, and life in general exists, is definitive proof that there is some sort of creator. Really there should only be a big black void of well...nothing...and it's down right confusing to me to assume that all that we see around us and in the heavens just appeared one day out of nothingness.

As for the creator, I feel he/she/it would had to have come from somewhere as well, but where and how will probably be way beyond our current understanding of time, space, quantum physics, and what have you...simply put, the whole situation is mind boggling.

Nephilim and Neanderthals

While browsing through my favorite blogs the other day, I came across a post over at The Gralien Report about none other then the Nephilim (who I also posted about just recently). Micah (the mind behind The Gralien Report) draws on some inspiration from a post by his friend Nick Redfern and the novel The Descent by Jeff Long and ponders over the possibility of the Nephilim being a species of proto-human. Basically an unknown or primitive species of human.

While reading his post a memory was sparked something I read in the book The Eaters of the Dead (also known as The 13th Warrior) by Michael Crichton. In A Factual Not on Eaters of the Dead (an essay written in 1992 that follows the story) Michael talks about how the story itself came to be, and about the various fictional and nonfictional aspects put into the story.

Now the most interesting part mentioned in his essay, is a segment where he mentions the Wendol (the villains of the story) are a relict group of Neanderthals that survived until the Vikings in the story wiped them out a thousand years ago. He also mentions, that in the decades since he originally wrote Eaters of the Dead (first published in the mid 1970s) some studies done had suggested that perhaps such relict groups Neanderthals may indeed have existed in remote locations. Could such groups of Neanderthals have been the Nephilim?

Not only could they count as being “proto-humans” (albeit not as tall) as Micah puts it, but this very possibility was also gone over in an episode of The Naked Archaeologist called “The Giants of Genesis”. Simcha Jacobovici, the shows host, concludes that the Nephilim are not giants as so many people believe, but perhaps a form of man believed to have been “soulless” (proposed to be Neanderthals in the episode) by the writer of Genesis, and goes to a cave system that shows that perhaps modern humans and Neanderthals lived together. Later in the episode some even more shocking evidence is presented, hinting at the possibility that humans and Neanderthals even mated and gave rise to what may have become the Nephilim in Genesis.

Sumerian myth, the Bible, and Aliens?

The farther I've gotten into "The 12th Planet" by Zecharia Sitchin, the more I find myself interested in the connections between Sumerian myth and the events of the Old Testament of the Bible. Partly because I've always been fascinated by religion and also because I've wanted to know origins of Judaic beliefs, which as most everyone knows is the source for three of today's major relgions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).

Yesterday while browsing The Debris Field (which is one of the best places to find the latest and greatest esoteric news by the way) I came across a link to an interesting post over at The Book of Thoth, which is one of the many esoteric/paranormal hubs on the web.

In the post, the author, who goes by the name Anuatlantian, has put together the many connections between Sumerian myth and the Old Testament, side by side (more like above and below, well you'll see what I mean.) and really brought out the similarities. Interestingly, if this guy is right, events in both Sumerian myth and the Old Testament and almost exactly the same, other then some name differences (which seem to translate over).

Of course if these connections are correct, it brings up the question of who the Anunnaki (the deities) of Sumerian myth are, because they are the ones who equal out to being God and the angels of the Bible. Well, the connections are between the Anunnaki, God, and angels aren't really the question as much as, what were they. Were/are they merely a product of myth, or are they possibly extra-terrestrial in origin as Zecharia Sitchin proposes the Anunnaki are in "The 12th Planet" and the rest of his books.

If the E.T. connection is real, then we were all placed here by aliens, but seeing as Zecharia's interpretation of Sumerian language, and translations of other languages have been questioned (although I think he may be at least partly right), I'm really not sure what to think. Doesn't help that I know squat about foreign languages, and that I'm no mythology scholar, but by the time I'm done reading into this stuff, I might be...well depending on how much I read into it.

Anywho, I intend on picking up the books listed as sources by Anuatlantian, excluding the Bible (I already own a couple variants of said tome) and exploring the subject for myself, which I think will prove to be in the word of the great Spock "Fascinating".

A Thought on Reptoids

Using my mighty cognitive abilities I was able to deduce something today while watching some random bit of reptoid/dinosauroid (in case you forgot who they are here's a link to a previous post) info on youtube.

One of the many origin ideas toted around about the rumored race of reptilian overlords, is that they evolved from dinosaurs. A theory that was given more credence by the fact that a paleontologist actually thought that perhaps a certain species of dinosaur known as Troodon, would have evolved into a humanoid form if it had survived extinction.

Troodon you see was a member of the Maniraptora clade of dinosaurs, which were birdlike and even possesed feathers. Actually I believe birds are classfied as Maniraptora as well, however that may be wrong since I found that bit on wikipedia.

Anyways as I said, my cognitive powers gave me a bit of insight into the whole reptoid dinosaur origin idea; reptoids did not evolve from dinosaurs. Have you ever heard of a reptoid with feathers? I haven't. I've heard of them having wings, but dragon like ones as opposed to feathery bird like ones. Anyways lack of reptoid feathers means they're probably not dinosaurs.

Doing a Google search for reptoids with feathers I only come up with references to Quetzalcoatl who was some sort of Aztec God (As far as mythical Gods go, Odin is so much better. Sorry...a bit of Scandinavian/Germanic ancestry expressing itself...) serpent thing with feathers that apparently created man.

Now being the kind loving guy that I am, I figure I'll give the Earthly origins of reptoids another possibility. Maybe they are a type of evolved Maniraptora that somewhere along their evolutionary life lost their feathers, like humans got rid of their fur except that which is on our heads. Or perhaps they came from some even more primitive reptilian being from before the dinosaurs. After all many creatures before the dinosaurs were mammal like reptiles who were just as amazing as the dinosaurs and even modern day lifeforms.

Eh...who knows...although here's a video to make you all paranoid of the hidden reptilian presence...

Aliens and God

Aliens and God, according to some people, don't mix. In fact one of the main reasons some people think the government would cover up the existence of E.T. is because it would make for a lot of pissed off religious folk, particularly amongst those of the Judeo-Christian persuasions. All this talk about aliens not mixing well with traditional religion is actually rather unfounded however.

Sure there are many traditional Christians that do not believe in such things, but it never states in the Bible, or as far as I know any other religious text, that aliens would not exist. In fact approaching if from a Judeo-Christian perspective, Genesis 1:1 almost supports the existence of aliens, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth." See? God created the heavens, meaning the sky, space, and whatever lies beyond space, so therefore any aliens that exist were created by God (last I knew Satan could not create life, being as I don't follow organized religion though, I could be wrong.)if you accept Christianity.

Keep in mind that's just an interpretation, but logical none the less. I wish I had knowledge of other religions so I could build this up a bit stronger, but alas I was raised as nothing more then a mere simple Christian, who has jumped all through it's many denominations only to come out believing in God, but not any particular religion, sect, branch, cult, or whatever.

Seeing as this is a topic about God and aliens, I could go into the weird mixtures of Christianity, UFOlogy, and UFO cults and stuff out there, but that's a completely different ball game. Not to mention confusing, strange, and rather funny at times. So that's a topic for another time...and I think I'll touch upon this one again and get into more detail (I'm also doing this right before I go to bed, so I'm rather tired and only putting half the effort into this. What can I say, I'm an honest blogger.) after doing some more research. Maybe I'll even get around to reading some of that Bible thing and throw some more verses in here to back up what I've already said. Alright, I'm spent...g'night folks.