Humanities

99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall: Francis Scott Key

In 1814 Francis Scott Key was on board an American ship behind the British fleet as it bombarded Fort McHenry. They viewed the bombardment from about 8 miles away. After the bombardment, the American Flag was still flying. This inspired key to write our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner.
Read about Francis Scott key at http://www.nps.gov/fomc/tguide/Lesson9a.htm. He was born in Maryland to a wealthy family. He was practicing law at the time of the bombardment. The reason he was in the harbor was to gain release from the British Dr. William Beanes, his client and close friend.
A religious man, he once decided to leave the law for the ministry. He was against the war of 1812 but he put aside his concerns and served briefly in the field artillery.
Key had written an earlier poem entitled When the Warrior Returns in 1806. The “Warriors” were those that fought the Barbary Pirates. (See http://www.bcpl.net/~etowner/anacron2.html) He put this to song by using an old English drinking song called To Anacreon in Heaven. When he wrote The Star Spangled Banner he put it to the same tune.
Anacreon was a Greek lyric poet that lived in the Fifth Century B.C. The Anacreontic Society was a popular gentlemen’s club in London. You can see a copy of the song at http://www.bcpl.net/~etowner/anacreon.html.

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com)is a retired R&D engineer and VP of a Fortune 500 company. He is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering), poetry, etc. Former editor of international trade magazine. Jones is Executive Representative of International Wealth Success.
More info: http://www.tjbooks.com
Business web site: http://www.bookfindhelp.com (IWS wealth-success books and kits and business newsletters / TopFlight flagpoles)

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It Only Takes Once

Scoring a terrific find on a hunt is always exhilarating. If this were not the case, only those with commercial interests would be crazy enough to spend hours, days, and years walking with their noses to the ground like we all do. But it is the case, and each new find brings a whole new charge of that funny electricity all of us crave so strongly.
The whole hunting craze, as a matter of fact, is wildly addictive. It only takes one
find, one accidental score, to turn an otherwise normal person into a hard core
rockhounding, treasure hunting addict. There is no cure for the addiction. It
changes lives forever and there is no turning back once you get hit with it.
No matter how long ago it was – my bet is you remember well the moment you
picked up that first find, held it in your hand, and realized what you had found.
Maybe you didn’t know that you had been struck with an addiction at the time,
but looking back – you know it now for what it was. I sure remember my first
strike.
Raised in Michigan, mountains were new to me when I moved to Colorado, but a
love of travel was not. I wanted to explore and see everything. Being a nature
lover and a natural born form of wildlife, the mountains were a real attraction for
days of hiking and drifting into and out of small mountain towns to see what there
was to see.
Cripple Creek was a much talked about town in that state. Of course, this meant
that it had been added to my list of “must sees”. One beautiful summer weekend
about 20 years ago, when the mountain passes were clear and the snow had
melted from most mountain tops, I set out with my dog and to see the town and
do some mountain hiking.
We were on the road to Cripple Creek which runs through the back side of Pike’s
Peak. It was beautiful out and we were getting cramped sitting in the car for so
long so I found a spot near an interesting looking ravine to pull over. We had
been climbing for about twenty minutes when I found a scenic spot to take a
break. Blitz, my canine companion in those years, was contenting himself
playing in a small stream while I sat in the shade of a tree taking in the beauty
and peace of the area. Several times my eye was drawn to something glinting
in the sun in the direction we were heading and I made a mental note to see
what it was on our way up, not thinking too hard on the matter.
Finally, I decided it was time to get up a bit higher and catch some of the great
scenery I knew was waiting to be seen from a small plateau five ore six hundred
feet above me. As I started up, I bent and picked up the glittering item that had
caught my eye. It was a cluster of four fairly nice sized quartz crystals, the
biggest about ½ inch thick and around two inches long.
When I realized what I had picked up, my heart pounded so fast that my head
went light. For all the times I had seen pictures, or crystals for sale in rock shops
and gift stores, it had never occurred to me that real people, people like me,
could just go out and pick something like that up off of a hillside. I was in high
altitude and the excitement of this revelation came very close to knocking me
out. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit to find that my ecstatic scream could be heard
for miles on miles down the canyon.
As you can tell from the existence of RockhoundStation1.com – I am addicted.
Not long after my first strike, I moved to the mountains I loved to wander through
and my collecting interests broadened. The collection today includes agates,
obsidian, quartz crystals, fossils, gem crystals, Indian Artifacts, gold, old coins,
marbles and so on.., If it is out there, I will look for it.
Well, there you have it. The confession of a true addict, a rockhound.

©2005 Sally Taylor: Sal is an avid gem and treasure hunter, explorer, writer, and is the owner of http://www.rockhoundstation1.com

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Background Performers Still Rely On Vouchers For Guild Membership

In 2003, The Screen Actors Guild officially promised to move forward with a new system that would allow background performers, or extras, to join the union.
For many years, the most common way background performers joined SAG was by getting three union vouchers. When you work on the set as an extra, usually through one of the bigger extra casting agencies, you receive either a non-union, or union voucher. For adult actors, this would be Central Casting for union, and Cenex for non-union, however they are both the same company.
Getting a union voucher on a project instead of a non-union voucher was supposed to be the luck of the draw. Countless books on the subject would say “pay attention to what is happening on the set, and look for opportunities for the ‘bump.’” A bump is a specific action or lines given to an extra that will make them deserve a union voucher.
Unfortunately, since the goal for every actor was first to get into the Screen Actors Guild, the voucher system became corrupt. Friends of the assistant directors and the cast got preferential treatment, people were paying off decision makers with bribes, in short – it got ugly, and guild membership swelled.
SAG decided to revamp the system which would still use the union vouchers to an extent, but would assign points to specific things, other than acting, that would have to be totalled before a new member could join. For instance, you would get X many points if you attend a guild meeting, X amount of points if you helped distribute flyers for an upcoming initiative, etc.
As of today though – the system has not changed.
The official line from the guild is as follows:
The new system will provide two separate routes to Guild membership via background work: 1) Union (Covered) or 2) Non-union (Non-covered) work on SAG Signatory projects. A performer may also achieve points towards membership by participating in other designated activities that raise professional standards and support the basic aims of the Guild.
According to the SAG web site, there is a transition committee working to put the new joining requirements into place. The question on everybody’s mind is – when?
Until that happens – you are eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild after receiving three union vouchers, and paying the initiation fee. Other ways to join the guild are still in place, including having a line in a motion picture or television show.

Troy A. Rutter has been working with young performers for over ten years. His book, Kids in the Biz, provides step-by-step guidance to prospective young performers and their families. For more information about getting children into acting in television and films, visit his web site at http://www.kidsinthebiz.com

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Opinion, Value, & Taste in Art (10) The Lessons of History – Bening, Rossettim, & Kinkade Reconsider

Part 10 of 10. The Lessons of History – Bening, Rossetti and Kinkade reconsidered
What emerges here is the sense that very few works of art or architecture could historically be considered by one hand alone. Does their value, and hence their quality, fall as a result? I think not. We simply recognise the collaborative effort required to produce work on a grand scale. This work, at the very least, is imbued with the spirit and inspiration of its progenitor. This argument certainly prevails when we look at the Flemish illuminated manuscripts. It is entirely possible that pupils of Floris and Bening may have exchanged places in order to widen their repertoire and experience. The Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood, as its name implies, believed in a commonality of interest and, as I mentioned earlier, was happy to coalesce the ideas and imagination of others. One must remember that this confederation of men was formed in 1848, a year in which revolution and uprising fomented throughout Europe. They sought to regenerate culture and society in the interests of what Rousseau referred to as the greater good and their art was one manifestation among many. Whether I like it or not is of secondary importance.
Drawing artistic inspiration from the past and revolutionary fervour from the present, we can observe a symmetry to their efforts, as they alternately kissed and bit the hands that fed them. Viewed in isolation, there are many fine works of art within this genre, as The Royal Academy show testified. It would be quite wrong to deny their innate qualities or the motivation behind them. For every dreamy Rossetti, on which I would pass, there is the punchy social realism of “Work” by Ford Madox Brown, a monumental piece I could certainly linger over, albeit not over my mantelpiece.
There is evidently a common language that binds the Flemish artists, on both canvas and paper, with the brotherhood and innumerable movements in between. They may bicker and argue but they value and understand one another. Conversely, what language does Kinkade speak? His value may be measured in his popularity across those swathes of Middle America who think Art is a diminutive of Arthur. This points to a general lack of discernment and a dumbing down that strangely lies at odds with the creative energy and pursuit of excellence that so characterises the country in other respects. As for my personal view, I love the Flemish manuscripts, selectively appreciate the Pre Raphaelites and look slack jawed at Kinkade. And what of taste? I am sure that the medieval illuminators and the brotherhood received their share of opprobrium when they challenged the conventional boundaries of their time. Each is representative of good taste in that they aspire to intellectually and aesthetically engage with the viewer and, to varying degrees, they succeed in their aims. Kinkade does no more than fill a wall, I’m afraid, and thus exhibits no taste at all. How interesting instead to see the introduction of a Goyaesque element to his oeuvre whereby, peeping out under the trellis, we spy two headless bodies swinging from a branch. That might be deemed very bad taste indeed but his value, in my opinion, would rise inexorably.

Howard Lewis,
Chairman, Invaluable group of companies

http://www.invaluable.com

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Money For Actors Waiting To Be Claimed

Whether they are in the Screen Actors Guild or not, people have a tendancy to move. While SAG members always remember to forward their postal mail, oftentimes they neglect to notify their union of their new address. After six months to a year, the mail is no longer forwarded by the post office, and the dues letters and correspondence stop.
Including their residual checks.
What are residuals? Basically residuals are further compensation paid to performers for the re-use of a motion picture or television program they have appeared in. Performers are entitled to residuals if they are classified as a principal performer, which includes singers, stunt coordinators, pilots, dancers under Schedule J and other performers designed under the principal agreement.
Residuals are paid to those performers ever 30 days after an airdate for television non-syndicated airings, four months for syndicated airdates and shows that are under basic cable agreements are paid quarrtlery. A full list of residual due dates can be found at www.sag.com.
If you think you are due residuals, but have let your membership in the guild expire, or have not kept up your contact information, you can search the SAG Unclaimed Residuals Database for your name. If your name is found, it will give you precise instructions on how to fill out the paperwork to claim your due residuals.
The number one lesson is:
Keep your contact information with your unions current!

Troy A. Rutter has been working with young performers for over ten years. His book, Kids in the Biz, provides step-by-step guidance to prospective young performers and their families. For more information about getting children into acting in television and films, visit his web site at http://www.kidsinthebiz.com

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Thinking Games

Classic thinking games are a great way to tune up your brain. You can use these mind games to help you increase your brain power and to get you out of your thinking “ruts.” Play them enough, and they’ll habituate you to using creative problem solving as a normal part of thinking about things.
Thinking Games For Groups
Group thinking games are especially good for long trips in a car. Have someone look out the window, for example, and randomly choose an object. Everyone in the car then tries to imagine a new way to make money with it. Common street signs become places to advertise, trees are sold with names, and a truck becomes a traveling grocery store.
Use the “change of perspective” technique as a problem-solving game. Just pick any topic, and see who can come up with the most unique new perspective. Could there be a world where jobs weren’t necessary? How would a virus define morality if it was conscious?
One creative thinking game uses a technique called “concept combination.” You simply combine random concepts or things in interesting ways, and see who has the best idea. A chair and a microwave? Maybe an easy-chair with a built-in cooler, microwave and television, or microwavable “couch potatoes” – a potato snack in the shape of a couch.
More Thinking Games
A lateral thinking puzzle you can try right now involves nine dots, layed out three by three. Connect them all with four straight lines, without lifting the pen or pencil from the paper. When you figure this one out you’ll appreciate the expression “thinking outside of the box.”
Many lateral-thinking puzzles use a scenario, real or imagined, with a selection of things you have to use to accomplish something. Imagine a ping-pong ball in an iron pipe that’s set in cement. The pipe sticks up three-feet high, and has almost the same diameter as the ball. Using only a box of frosted-flakes, and a t-shirt, and your body and mind, how many ways can you find to get the ball out of the pipe? You could also set this up for real, to know if a proposed solution will really work.
Many riddles are just mind games or lateral-thinking puzzles. You move laterally in your mind, away from your usual line of thought, to solve a riddle. For example, what did his friends do when the canibal was late for dinner? They gave him the cold shoulder, of course! Keeping your brain in shape doesn’t have to be a matter of serious study. Why not play some thinking games?

Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on How To Increase Brain Power, and to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, visit: http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com

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Opinion, Value, & Taste in Art (5) Distinguishing between Value and Valuation (kinkade)

Part 5. Distinguishing between Value and Valuation or How Some Things Never Change
Leaving aside my personal preferences for a moment, the most alarming element here is the way popular opinion can be manipulated and mobilised. It reminded me – and not for the first time – of the seminal book by Charles Mackay, entitled “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”. Written in 1841, it is, by common consent, a classic of its kind, examining how various mania develop. Although it is nominally about stock market investments, it is really a study of human behaviour. What provokes people to blindly follow each other? Is there some collective wisdom here that I’m missing? Perhaps, ultimately, the herd instinct holds sway. Another fine example that can be applied to the art market was expertly elucidated by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “The Tipping Point”. Gladwell identified a range of circumstances that caused a trend to become self perpetuating. The opinion of the cognoscenti becomes subsumed by the phenomenon of reflexivity whereby perceptions of that opinion by the populace start to affect the fundamentals and then create a bubble mentality. Religious hysteria, Tulipmania, alchemy, Kinkade limited edition prints, they’re all peas out of the same pod. Stripped down to the bare fundamentals, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the works of Thomas Kinkade except that they are the artistic equivalent of lift music – inoffensive, undemanding and easy on the eye. And all the passion of a wet blanket.
If you think I’m a little harsh on Kinkade, reflect for a moment on the disparity in value between his work and that of a true craftsman. It is important to distinguish here between value and valuation. One should not necessarily judge the merit of a given picture or artefact in financial terms. The price of goods, whether commoditised or not, is a simple function of supply and demand. That ascribes a valuation – what someone considers a fair price to pay – but not a value which is as much a reflection of how much an item is appreciated or enjoyed. The valuation will fluctuate according to prevailing fashion and we do see today some savage swings in sentiment, governed both by influencers and the newness of ideas. The ephemeral and somewhat transient nature of modern society is both a blessing and a curse.

Howard Lewis,
Chairman, Invaluable group of companies

http://www.invaluable.com

Only Invaluable gives you unrivalled access to pre-sale and post-sale information for auction houses and salerooms across the globe.
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Cold New World

Looking through the glass apothecary jars at Peterson’s grocery store, was a swirling dream of every kind of candy a kid could want. A small cardboard sign read “3 cents for 5 pieces.”
It took us all day of bottle hunting to get enough money to get our fill of candy. Glass bottles gave you a 2 cent refund for bringing them back to the store. Not much litter back then, someone was always looking for a way to make money, even a pittance.
Hand-me-down clothes was the way of life for most of us. I never really knew the difference until I was bit older. I was a fat kid so I always ended up with Sears Husky’s jeans and a previously owned shirt. It only served to enhance my level of appreciation later in life. I didn’t care about showing off for girls when I was that young anyway.
Men, like my father, worked hard at their jobs. They may not have liked working in the conditions which some had to endure, but, I think they were glad to have a job.
My father and mother worked all the time to provide for us. We will never know their struggles, for in those days, parents never told their problems to their kids. They were always afraid we would blab it all over the neighborhood. How wise they were indeed.
Most of my friend’s parents worked at the same jobs for what seemed, forever. It was not uncommon for a man to work the same job for 45 or even 50 years. They were the prime definition of people in a rut. I remember listening to them talking about their lives, I could not even fathom the thought of doing the same kind of work over and over again for that long. Oh My God NO!
I have frequently watched the people who grew older with me. They had the same experiences as I. They vowed the same vows as I, yet, when they grew up they became the exact persons that they vowed not to become. They worked for many years at the same jobs, complaining in the same fashion in which we had heard our pedecessors. I have not followed that unholy path.
One day, it dawned on me, that even if I had wished to travel the path of the old ways, it was not to be. It could not be. I realized as the people before me had, that the old ways had vanished. I was trapped in the New World.
I heard a wonderful grey haired old person say “the reason that we repeat the same old stories, is because we will never have anymore new stories to talk about” I thought,”how strong and true is that statement”?
As I write this story new ideas and new stories, flow into my mind. Wishing I had the time and energy to tell all of them to you, so you could see what an exciting and wonderful life I have had. Gosh, my body is getting wrinkly, and my joints hurt, but my mind is so very young. Your mind can keep your body going even when it wants to quit. I am convinced of that.
Comfort and warmth are good words to an old person. We want that so much. Maybe it is because when we were young, we gave that up in so many instances.
Our elders made us feel wimpy when we complained. We did not want to be wimpy, but really, we were. And guess what? Our parents were wimpy compared to their parents. It goes like that from generation to generation. We put that out of our minds because who wants that tag on them? I am laughing as I write this. I know many of you know exactly what I am talking about and that is comforting to me.
You know, I am typing this on a computer. New stuff, new days, new ways and thoughts. I always promised myself that when I grew older I would not complain about the new music. Our parents did that to us. Jimmie Hendrix, the Stones, Janice, Humble Pie. Sometimes, you can not help yourself.
Man, I really can not stand this rap crap. I don’t like gangsters making kids think that it is powerful to be a gangster. I am an old time cop from Chicago, and gangsters are bad news. Our kids feel powerless so these gangsters seem like they are a source of power. They are not powerful, they are weak and pathetic.
Contributing to society is strong and powerful. Helping people rise up is strong. Teaching young people about forgiveness, love, and family care is magnificent. Sacrifice for others is being really tough just like the old people I remember.
Many people who are trying to do just that are vexed with the new ways of society. There is not loyalty in the workplace anymore. Doing a great job for the company does not earn you longjevity, people who can still do the right thing in spite of all they face today are the real powerhouses, we should all be looking up to. Real heros in a cold world.
Greed fuels many of the social climbers and watching the families of this country struggle means nothing to them. They will gladly step on the heads of families to fill their pockets with money. No matter to them, they see themselves as the real power houses and those they step on as weak.
Now I say my little prayer,”God, please don’t let me be behind one of these people on judgement day, because I have enough to worry about without You being in a bad mood because of one of those knuckle heads” Amen.
Change is good. Look at these words and see if you can identify yourself. Good guy or bad guy? Stepping on people for greed or building people up for the sake of humanity. Gangster and proud of it, or, the person putting your arm around someone who needs it, showing them real strength?
So many voices calling for help out here today, so many who can not help themselves because somehow the world has changed into the Cold New World. It won’t be long before I will be checking out. I have been fortunate to make my changes and asked for help and forgiveness. Too few will read this small body of ideas, passing this on to those who really need it.
I am always hopeful that the flames which heated this world for so many years can be rekindled where love, kindness, and giving will prevail once again. I wish you strength, love, happiness, and good health.

Just a man

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Opinion, Value, & Taste in Art (4) Thomas Kinkade

Part four – Thomas Kinkade – The Most Popular Artist in America and the Epitome of Poor Taste
Divine inspiration can take many forms but few artists have taken the celestial dollar quite as shamelessly as Thomas Kinkade. Since the dawn of time, God has loomed large in the artistic imagination but his representation tended to reflect a degree of reverence and awe. Not so with Kinkade, probably the richest and most famous artist you’ve never heard of and perhaps the ultimate exponent of kitsch. This term best describes works with popular appeal that have a deeply simplistic and idealised theme. A good example from an earlier era would be those pictures produced by Norman Rockwell, as empathetic a chronicler of the American ideal as any writer of his time, but an artist who glorified its homely charms to an extreme. At least Rockwell applied a little humour to the proceedings. Kinkade, by contrast, has applied his skills to benefit a merchandising empire, replete with collectors clubs, franchisees and a commitment to God. I didn’t know He was a buyer but clearly, when Kinkade’s agent told him to reach for the skies, he took it all too literally.
However, it’s one thing to create a production line of twee, romanticised images with about as much soul as the dentist’s waiting rooms that house them but quite another to proclaim Christian devotion as your guiding light. This is a deeply disturbing revelation and the kind of scenario that cries out for the MAD scriptwriters to be parachuted in to the rescue. There are some wider concerns, however. How can such a sycophantic and self important approach assume such influence? What parallels can be drawn with the religious convictions of the conservative right and their manifestations? And to what extent do we see a desire to cling to a whimsical view of America completely at odds with the world beyond? Most troublingly of all, Kinkade’s works appeal to relatively prosperous households with an above average income of $80,000, suggesting that high earnings frequently sit comfortably alongside low taste.

Howard Lewis,
Chairman, Invaluable group of companies

http://www.invaluable.com

Only Invaluable gives you unrivalled access to pre-sale and post-sale information for auction houses and salerooms across the globe.
Find art, antiques and collectables. Try our Keyword search, register at http://www.invaluable.com for a free 14 day trial.

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The Magi – Ancient Magicians

Long before the ruthless Roman Empire walked the shores of what is now known as Great Britain, an ancient form of wisdom existed amongst the people who populated those ancient forests and mountains and its echo is still felt today.
180,000 years before the present, the planet was at the end of the last interglacial period and traces of our ancient seafaring ancestors can be found today in caves along the coast of South Africa using red ochre and selecting specialist stone to make spears and other hand tools from small quarries along the coastlines.
The use of these caves disappeared after 70,000 BP showing no further signs of occupation until around 12500 BP.
The reason for this was the forming of ice on the cooling poles as the new Ice Age drew the water from the oceans, globally lowering sea levels and leaving the caves stranded and out of reach.
It is now known that Homo sapiens spread along the coastlines of the world and populated nearly every continent.
What is not considered by modern science is how they crossed the great rivers and jumped from island to island or even the oceans that separated the great landmasses.
There were other forms of men in those times, some of a much more robust kind such as Neanderthal.
Homo sapiens were less robust and more susceptible to injury from the mighty creatures that roamed the land beside the shores.
But our ancestors had a secret weapon that allowed them to survive the terrible cataclysms that struck the planet ending the last ice age and that was their ability to sail lightweight sea going craft made from animal skins.
They were shamanic and animistic in the same way as our more modern indigenous cousins the Amerindians who held this way of thinking until only a few hundred years ago when it was almost wiped out under the onslaught of the colonisers from the west.
Before Christianity these ancient tribes held a deep reverence for the planet and its inhabitants.
What had brought them to this world view was their ancient background as nomadic mariners as they followed coastlines and crossed estuaries in search of the seasonal bounties of nature’s providence.
Their affinity with caves such as Lascaux as long ago as 36,000 BP is well documented revealing their annual meeting places up rivers in France and include the wide distribution of the famous Venus Figurines and carefully crafted beads made from mammoth tusk throughout the whole of Europe.
They lived well hunting the migrating herds as they travelled toward the summer grazing and breeding areas in the north and laid in wait for them as they crossed shallow places in rivers and swum the short distances from bank to bank.
The evidence of the use of caves in Britain in the summer months as part of their annual hunt can be found at such places as Creswell Crags in the middle of Britain where a drawing of an Ibex which is indigenous to the French Pyrenees has been found thus proving the annual hunter gatherer migration and the lack of the English Channel to block the herds.
The sailing craft of this ancient sea going people only drew around 18 inches and so could easily hide in ambush amongst the tall reeds at the shallow inlets and river mouths.
Some of the descendants of these vessels were reported by Julius Caesar in 64 BC and were estimated to be as long as 60 feet and were so swift under sail that they appeared to fly like birds over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The system of construction using a light wooden frame and stretched animal hides can still be found on the west coast of Ireland in the form of the Currach or Curragh which is still built and used to catch salmon and is extremely seaworthy and stable on ocean swells as was proved by Tim Severin in his Atlantic crossing to prove the possibility of Voyage of St Brendan the Navigator to the Americas.
It was the buoyancy of these craft that probably saved Homo sapiens when all the mammoths, Giant Elk, Sabre toothed tigers and Neanderthal man met their end in the sudden melting of the ice sheets 12500 years ago.
It is only now, with the advent of modern documentaries that the public begins to glimpse the awesome forces unleashed by tsunamis and flooding.
Great ice cliffs, as much as 1 mile high, broke sending tidal waves southward across the oceans at speeds in excess of 400 miles per hour and as they reached the coasts they attained heights of 60 feet or more utterly destroying all life as the roared across the plains and estuaries of the Ice Age world raising sea levels by 300 feet world wide and destroying any evidence of the works of Ice Age Man.
As we witnessed in the Asian Tsunami of 2004, small boats and yachts a few hundred feet offshore were unharmed as they rose and fell to the inundation, yet on the shore everything was crushed and drowned in an appalling mêlée similar to world wide evidence of trees and animals torn apart and mixed together like some great invisible hand had perpetrated the awesome forces that killed them.
We who descended from these ancient people were originally sailors and as such were navigators, nomads and star watchers.
What no researcher has thought about in modern times is that these ancient people had to have a keen sense of time and season so as to know when to lie in ambush or to collect hazel nuts in vast quantities on the shores of the west of Scotland and then transport them great distances to the outer islands of the Hebrides to crush and mill them on an industrial scale and make the staple delicacy of hazel bread for hundreds of nomadic families.
It is from this keen sense of time that most of the ancient mysteries are answered and a different world view becomes clear, because when one knows time for what it really is, and then real magic can be the result.
How many in the world practise astrology using out of date charts from the Greeks 2300 years ago?
How many researchers, academics and practitioners of the occult arts can answer the question, “How did the Ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians who practised astrology know what star sign the sun was in at the equinox or solstice?”
The constellations were named after animism to remind the observers generation after generation of the shape of a group of stars by using animism.
For instance, the name Zodiac literally means “Wheel of Animals”
Astrology means logic of the stars, therefore the answer is logical and modern explanations are not, since science dismisses astrology as a pseudo science and astrologers rely on intuition at a higher lever and sheer deceit at a lower one.
The problem is that we cannot see the constellations behind the sun in daylight and modern researchers ignore this problem or dismiss it without explanation or make up a weak argument about judging the position by the stars that cross the horizon just before sunrise.
Try it for your self; you cannot see the stars on a clear morning as the sun rises.
I can assure you that our ancestors could tell time to within seconds by the stars and measure the earth by the same method and furthermore, hid the instrument with which they achieved it in full view of the public for over a thousand years.
Mankind has become blind to the obvious and therefore guarantees its own demise unless changes come about at a personal and social level.
Our species has become unbalanced and Nature, a word derived from the Egyptian Neteru meaning Nature Spirits, will redress the problem, swiftly and ruthlessly as is being witnessed now with increased solar activity creating terrible storms, earthquakes and volcanism that is broadcast on the news every day.
The indigenous people of the Americas such as the Maya and the Hopi have been warning about this for years as the Mayan Calendar grinds remorselessly on toward the end of this age of the sun in 2012.
The ancients mostly communicated through symbolism and there are many symbols left in glyphs to baffle the modern minds of researchers.
Symbolism operates at many levels and can reveal many things to the observer depending on how conscious he or she is of the messages being imparted.
Most ancient symbolism was recorded in stone so that it would last for generations, perhaps the most famous of these was the Giza Pyramids which operate at many levels of the esoteric as well as on a more practical level such as surveying, mathematics and geometry and engineering.
It was Newton’s studies at the pyramids that revealed to him the true rate of precession of the equinoxes, a phenomena that creates the seasons and all life on earth.
The slow wobble of the earth around its die pole causing a tilt of 23.4 degrees off the vertical, is the controller of life and death and the method by which our ancient mariner ancestors could judge the seasons, sail hundreds of miles and intercept the herds as they crossed estuaries for only one or two days out of the year at a particular time.
Our ancient seafaring ancestors knew this nearly 5,000 years ago and we forgot it after the Greeks rediscovered it from the Egyptians 2300 years ago.
Even today, archaeologists fail to take the wheel of precession into account as do modern astrologers.
Yet to those who do not understand the main method of transportation of our ancestors, sailing, then the deep connections with navigation and time keeping used by mariners do not become obvious in the same way that references to ships are not apparent to the uninitiated when reading the ancient Holy books.
The destruction of Man has been working for many thousands of years after the advent of agriculture. When the herds were destroyed by the Flood the hunter gatherer way of life changed and keeping animals and growing crops to feed the clans or tribes became important in certain areas of the world as the weather dramatically changed.
The result of this changed way of life was that land ownership became paramount and defence against other tribes eventually created armies. As areas became farmed out or the population grew then these armies went on the march to seize the land of their neighbours. The natural evolution was that countries and then super states would be the end result and perfectly predictable.
Even then, man would not overpopulate the planet since the ebb and flow of Nature maintained a balance in a slowly waxing and waning population.
The real population growth came when Mankind discovered fossil fuel and its uses in combination with fire.
Coal and Oil are extra reserves of solar energy which if used release power in vast quantities.
Since agriculture only preserves the energy of the sun for a short time and if there is excess energy in the form of tradable crops and livestock, populations grow, then the discovery of fossil fuels caused an explosion creating even more strains on the borders of those who did not posses it in sufficient quantities.
The result is the increasing arms race and threat of war.
Everything is about the sun, since the sun is the source of life and controls the actions of the planets and the moons.
This is what the ancients measured as mariners long ago, since if you can find the position of the sun daily, weekly, monthly, annually and throughout the great cycles of time you can predict all things and find your position on the earth night and day.
Modern Christianity reveres the Sun since they worship on a Sunday and this form of monotheism has remained unchanged since Akhenaton.
The ancients saw the essence of God in all things and separated these forces each to their own nature.
Each of the signs of the zodiac was elevated to Gods, since the essence of creation and destruction is based in becoming and not becoming.
There were ages each reminiscent of the animal or creature which was represented as 30 degrees of a 360 degree stellar wheel and measured from when the sun was in the spring equinox or vernal point, The age of 2160 years as a 12th part of the Great Year of 25,920 years that commenced with the building of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.
This age was the Age of Amen or Amun whose image was a ram after the astrological age of Aries and the Priests of Amun saw the divine as that creative force of Time itself.
Christianity still calls on this dead age at the end of the Lords Prayer.
But the Lord of the Dance of Time was the Serpent in all cultures and that serpent that was astrologically held in awe was Draconis in the northern wheel of constellations known as the Imperishable ones in ancient Egypt because they never set below the horizon.
An observer with the patience to look and find this constellation that is located between the constellations of the Little and Great Bears and realises that the north pole of the sun is always located in the first coil behind its horned head, might notice that it turns slowly anti clock wise creating one revolution in 24 hours, half the speed of the big hand on a clock face.
In fact if we slowed the hands on that watch down to half speed, the big hand would always show the position of the sun in relation to the earth.
Everywhere that the hour hand pointed would show the position of the sun at noon geographically and geometrically.
Most people don’t think about time reflecting the speed and distance of the spinning world and take their timepiece for granted, rarely realising that the word hours is an anagram of Horus, the Egyptian God of Time and that watch is named after the Watchers and Followers of Horus. Or that the watch is also the word for watch keeping or time keeping at sea.
Further more, they might notice that the constellation of Draconis also moves anti clock wise around one degree every day representing the orbit of the earth around the sun.
Since we rarely understand the truth about Time and confuse it with illusions made in our own minds about the past and other peoples views of the past coupled with personal fear or hope for the future, we fail to appreciate that time does not exist in a linear form and is rather an invention of Man to describe changes in his environment and perception.
Positive change is brought about by the warring forces of Nature through the creation of a new system such as a tree, a bird a baby or a nation and this is the force of order out of chaos.
Negative change is brought about by the forces of nature imposing the destruction of a system such as an old tree, a weak bird, a sick person or a nation built on lies and deceit.
Each positive or negative force has its servants who knowingly or unknowingly carry out their function for the continuity of change and diversity.
Like the eastern ying and yang symbol, the seed of the opposite is in each part and the force for order sows these seeds every cycle of season or age to preserve consciousness in mortal life.
The prime force of creation and destruction was eventually seen as the Serpent at many levels and evidence of serpent culture pervades pre history in symbolism.
The serpents of order and chaos are seen entwined in eternal battle as is the serpent seen in many ancient cultures and more modern esoteric societies as eating its own tail to represent the endless wheels of stars that govern the creation and destruction of changes.
At a navigation level and astrological level, the serpent was the main method of divining time.
These cycles are used even today by modern Magi who try to obtain solar energy in the form of money and the power that it brings.
In property or stocks and shares they employ cyclical mathematics to buy on the fall and sell on the rise, pocketing the difference called profit which is really solar energy.
First we must remember what coinage represents. Since a coin is a wheel symbol of solar energy and has a value in exchange for goods we may ask why it has nearly always had dots around the wheel since the time of the Mesopotamians.
It is because the dots represent the astronomical position of the sun as it passes through the 360 degree wheel of the Zodiac and on the obverse is the image of the Sun’s representative on earth in human form, the Sovereign.
The King or Pharaoh was supposed to be the lawmaker in charge of valuation, weight and measurement acting as a mediator and preserver of the flow of solar power and life for the sake of his or her people while administering justice in accord with Natural law.
It was Constantine who hid the instrument that the ancient mariners used to tell the time by observing the Serpent Draconis when he absorbed Christianity into the violently changing Roman Empire.
As a Gaul whose people were conquered 300 years earlier, he took power from the divided Roman Empire and raised Christianity to the State religion removing their sign of the Piscean Age, the fish, with his ancient tribal symbol of wisdom and knowledge descended from the seafaring peoples of the western coasts of France, Britain and Denmark.
It was Constantine who built Sophia (Wisdom) in Constantinople with its great Dome reflecting the wheel of the stars and constellations, “Heaven on Earth” you might consider in the light of this knowledge.
Christianity expanded across Europe and eventually the Americas bringing war and destruction every where it went while absorbing all the ancient traditions and knowledge that had been passed down over thousands of generations.
Any one in the Dark Ages found holding this instrument in any other position than upright would be burned as a witch by the Inquisition and millions were, for even lesser “crimes” such as caring women curing the ailments of others with herbs.
So what is this instrument of such awesome power and why did the forces at the time try to remove it from the mind of men?
It all began long ago when our ancestors discovered that in the dynamic changing cosmos there were only two things that never changed and that were constant.
One was a plumb line and the other was the ecliptic pole in the coil of Draconis.
If a cross piece was assembled and a wheel placed in its centre to represent the axis of the earths spin and marks placed around its edge then a plumb line hung from the centre would always find 0.
Should the cross with the wheel often named as the Celtic cross or Woden’s cross or the wheel cross tilt from the horizontal left or right, then the number on the wheel would change from 0 to +1 or -1.
In this way they invented 360 degrees of geometry to measure the stars and the daily rotation of the earth and the calendars of the years.
With this knowledge they could measure the angle of the moon against an almanac of its position against fixed stars and constellations and work out their position anywhere on the planet.
With a thorough working knowledge of Time and cause and effect, a Magi would have absolute power over the people and be able to predict events based on cycles far in advance.
These are the laws of nature brought into a practical working instrument that can measure distance, speed and time while constructing mighty enigmatic buildings to celebrate the powers of the Sun and Time in harmony.
Those who used it long ago located the point in the Solar Logos that all energy and materials fall into the sun from the Cosmos and attempted to use the instrument to return to a place where change (Time) did not exist and constant reincarnation to over come the forces of chaos was no longer a burden to the soul.
It is for this reason that the wheel crosses were placed by the Monumental Masons on Gnostic graves to assist the soul to celestially navigate past the Serpent to Heaven.
This Golden Thread of Knowledge goes back to the construction of the greatest Spiritual and practical buildings known to Mankind.
In 1997 I discovered one of these instruments that can measure the powers of Nature to an accuracy of 3 arc minutes in the north shaft of the Queens Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza finally explaining how it was designed long ago and why.
In conclusion and whilst placing this twice patented and proven ancient instrument of measurement before academics and theologians on a world wide basis over the last seven years, I have found that they are in so much conflict and opposition in their passionate war that they are unable to perceive truth when it is placed clearly before them.
But ordinary people understand it instantly and over 100,000 have read my work in over 84 countries world wide, proving that no matter how “authorities” try to hide truth, it will always out in the end.

Expert navigator, sailer and historian. His website is http://www.crichtonmiller.com

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