Turns out my post on Thomas R. Horn’s new book, did make me want to read it. The library has Nephilim Stargates listed in 303.4909, which is a Dewey number reserved for books that deal with possible future outcomes of things, specifically “end-is-nigh” and other predictions. So, let’s get scrolling…
Chapter 1 of the book refers to the stories of the Titans and then segues into 1 Samuel, 28 and a vague reference to a possible witch witnessing a god rising from the earth. I think for Horn, this is proof the Titans were real. Or if not proof, at least probable cause.
Chapter two discusses Aleister Crowley whose “visitations” with the being Lam eerily resemble the conceptual notion people have of the little grey men now. And, by no surprise at all, Horn believes everything Erich von Daniken ever wrote about Ancient Astronauts parading around the old world and being treated like gods by superstitious goat-herders. Horn’s proof? More bible verses, specifically Genesis 6, where the sons of god take the daughters of men and through their kinky supernatural sexual orgy, created a new race, the Nephilim. For Daniken, and thus Horn, all gods of ancient times were really alien visitors.
I admit with some embarrassment that I like this theory. I also like this quote from Star Trek:
McCoy: Once, just once, I’d like to be able to land someplace and say “Behold, I am the Archangel Gabriel.”
Spock: I fail to see the humor in that situation, Doctor.
McCoy: Naturally. You could hardly claim to be an angel with those pointed ears, Mr. Spock. But say you landed someplace with a pitchfork…
That’s from the episode entitled, “Bread and Circuses“. Good ep. I suppose the idea isn’t completely within the realm of fiction. Go read up on the cargo cults in the South Pacific. I’ll entice you with yet another quote:
Typical of cargo dogma is a belief adopted by three groups in Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides). They worship a god named John Frum, king of America, who is said to have arrived in the islands before the appearance there of Christian missionaries in the mid-1800s. John Frum also is expected to return.
The cultists embrace the deity of Frum because he promised them a life untroubled by economic strife and the demanding ways of foreigners, especially Europeans. Although Frum hasn’t shown up, Frum followers saw great significance in the arrival of cargo-rich foreign troops on the island Tana in the New Hebrides during World War II. Cargo cult believers on other islands of Melanesia were likewise convinced that the cargoes they saw being unloaded were heaven-sent and that a god or messiah would soon follow.
Overall, the believers were out to lunch on this, but it just goes to prove that, as Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law states, “any technology, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic.” Or indistinguishable from god-power, whichever is more influential. In some cases, they tried to duplicate ship building in the hopes that the gods would send them goods to fill them. It didn’t work, and the ships didn’t either. The islanders didn’t know how the goods were made, or even where in the world they came from, or even how complex and huge the world actually was, so they had to build their religions based on their limited understanding, with zany beliefs that persisted for years, unchallenged.
Back to aliens, Horn suggests, through interpretations of one kind or another that many references to these Nephilim and Watchers in ancient texts are proof of alien visitation, aliens as gods. Mind you, interpretations vary depending on the researcher, especially when looking at ancient languages. Even translators responsible for making the Greek edition of the Hebrew O.T. likely screwed up some of the meanings, and there are Hebrew words that have no real English meaning either. Translators sometimes wind up plugging in whatever they hope fits best. That’s why there are so many versions of the flipping bible. You’d think the unalterable word of god wouldn’t take a hundred versions in order to get the stories right. Even Horn is just picking and choosing versions of the Bible to quote, sometimes King James, sometimes Today’s English Version, depending on which version proves his argument better. It’s like the ones who claim the dragon and behemoth references in King James are proof that there were dinosaurs wandering around back then. King James also has unicorns but people claim that’s just a mistranslation. But the dragons are really dinosaurs. Right.
Geez, when I get going, I keep going, don’t I? There are 14 chapters in the book and I’ve only touched on two of them. Maybe I can plug away at this over the next couple weeks. Book isn’t due back to the library until the 16th.
