TALISMANS OF PRIMITIVE RACES

AMONGST primitive races the Axe was the symbol for Chief, God, or Divine Being, and had its origin in the Neolithic or later Stone Age, which ended in Europe about 2000 B.C.

It was doubtless the earliest weapon of prehistoric man, and in addition to its uses as a weapon would have been in constant service in clearing the way when moving from place to place, and in cutting and shaping the wood used in forming his shelters. This being so, it is easy to conceive of its association with strength, power, and utility ; and its symbolic use to express these virtues is a logical conclusion, whilst from remains found in various parts of the world it is evident that its use for this purpose was universal, and amongst primitive races the Axe became the recognized hieroglyphic for God, Chief, or Ruler ; moreover, as a symbol of power, its place is taken by the State Sword which is carried before the King at important ceremonies even to the present day.

Amongst the remains of the Stone Age, Talismans formed in the shape of Axe-heads have been found pierced with holes for suspension, and Illustration No.13 (Plate I) is an example in Slate of the Neolithic period found in Portugal, and its ornament is the Divine in its feminine aspect as represented by prehistoric man, who placed the feminine first in his beliefs, tracing his own descent and his position in the tribe through the Mother.

Illustration No.16 (Plate I) is of a blue flint Talisman from Egypt ; and No.15 (Plate I) is in Haematite, and comes from the Upper Congo, where the natives of the present day regard it as an effective Talisman against disease.

THE ARROW-HEAD in its symbolism had a similar significance to that of the Axe, and in Japan flint Arrow-heads were thought to have been rained from Heaven, or dropped by flying spirits. They were very popular in the early days of the present civilisation as Amulets to protect the wearer from disease and to avert the Evil Eye ; whilst throughout Europe they were regarded as the product of Elves (Elf-shots, or fairy weapons), water in which they had been dropped or dipped, being considered very efficacious in curing feminine ailments (see Illustration No.17, Plate I).

THE SWASTIKA, one of the oldest and certainly the most universal Talisman known, can be traced back to the Neolithic Age, and it has been found engraved on stone implements of this period. It is to be met with in all parts of the Old and New Worlds and on the most ancient ruins and remains, it thus living through the Ages in active use down to the present time. In spite of its antiquity and the fact that some writers quote it as being in use among the Egyptians, we have not been able to find it, as a symbol used by them, amongst their remains in the British Museum, and authorities whom we have consulted are also unaware of its existence in Egyptian records.

It was used long before its present name was given it, and extensive discussion has been carried on as to whether its correct form is with its arms turned to the left, or to the right, without, as far as we have been able to ascertain, any definite conclusion being arrived at. Both forms seem equally popular, and are so found in all countries ; whilst on the rock walls of the Buddhist caves of India they are used in great numbers, with their arms turned both ways often in the course of the same inscription.

In Sanskrit its name means Happiness, Pleasure, Good Luck, Su good, or well ; Asti being, making it = "Good Being" ; and it is still used in India, China, and Japan as an Amulet for long life, good fortune, and good luck.

The illustration shown on Plate I, No.14 is from a shield of the Bronze Age, the background being of dull red enamel, and the arms turned to the left ; whilst No.18, which turns to the right, is taken from between the feet of a statue of Buddha from Ceylon, and is also commonly found in the footprints of this Deity, sometimes both forms being used in the same impression. In China the Swastika sign is pronounced Wan, meaning a great number, a multitude, great happiness, longevity; both forms are used, but most commonly that which is turned to the left. The Jains of India regard it as a symbol of human progress, the right arm A (Illustration No.18) representing the lowest stage of life, as protoplasm ; the lower arm B indicating the soul's evolution, and through plant and animal life C representing human evolution, and D the spiritual life, the plane on which the soul is entirely freed from matter by the practice of the three jewels, right belief, right knowledge, and right conduct. In their temples at their service of baptism or its equivalent rite, this symbol is traced on the forehead of the candidate as a benediction for protection from evil influences. It is used as an emblem of the highest of all, the Almighty maker of the heavens and earth, indicating the Divine Force radiating through the Universe; it is also regarded as a sign of Benediction and good augury amongst Buddhists and all Eastern nations, and as a symbol of the Sun, when represented turned to the left, the Autumnal period, and when turned to the right the Vernal.

It has been identified as the Hammer of Thor, the Lord of Thunder and Lightning, the God of the Air ; and amongst the Scandinavians was believed to have dominion over the Demons of the Air, and the coat-of-arms of the Isle of Man a Swastika formed of three human legs, is a legacy from the early settlers of their race. It may occasionally be met with, having five or six limbs, and is then probably intended to represent the Wheel of the law, or Buddha's Wheel ; whilst a three-limbed figure is much used in the Punjab and other parts of India by the Mohajin Log (the banking, or moneyed class) as a charm which was not only worn, but used as an ornament in their houses, generally over the door.

It is also the symbol indicated by the silent ascetic sitting with arms folded over the breast, the legs crossed, and each foot placed on theopposite thigh, which accounts for this pose, so familiar amongst the images of the Indian gods.

Dr. Eitel says this symbol was frequently cast on bells during the Middle Ages, and he instances as being still in existence those of Appleby, Scotheim, Waldingham, Bishop's Norton, and Barkwith in Lincolnshire, Hathersage in Derbyshire, Maxborough in Yorkshire and many others.

The fact that this symbol is found universally throughout India, Africa, North and South America, Asia and Europe forms a very strong argument for a common origin lost in the far distant past, and is considered by some writers as evidence of a connection between these continents and the lost continent of Atlantis.

THE SERPENT throughout all ages has appealed to the imagination of man, to whom its various characteristics afforded opportunities for symbolic expression ; from its length of life it has been used as the symbol of Eternity, and as a Talisman for Longevity, Health, and Vitality, and when depicted with its tail in its mouth (this form being particularly noticeable in ancient rings) it indicates perpetual union, whilst to the Aztecs, who used it in this way as a symbol of the Sun, it signified unending Time, ever beginning, ever creating, and ever destroying, and was considered to have great protective and enduring virtues.

When shown coiled, its folds signify succession of ages, and if the tail is hidden, unfathomable antiquity (see Illustration No.22, Plate I, which is taken from an ancient Japanese example in the British Museum).

In primeval days, serpents of the Python family attained huge dimensions, and would naturally be held in dread and awe by early man ; and in all primitive religions we find the belief held that the soul of man passed at death into a serpent to undergo regeneration and renewal, so symbolised because the serpent casts its skin once a year and becomes a new serpent.

To the Eastern mind the Sun in its passage through the heavens formed a curve similar to that of the Snake, and by its progression spirally, with great quickness at will, though without feet and hands or organs by which other animals perform their movements, it was supposed to symbolise lightning or fire, the vitalising principle of life in its good aspect, and, when antagonistic, it became typical of evil and misfortune.

Uraeus

In Egypt the Serpent in the form of the Uraeus was worn round the head as a mark of Royalty, and to symbolise Divine Power, Wisdom, and Energy, every tomb of the Kings yet opened has the Serpent sculptured erect on each side of the doorway to guard and protect the body within.

It first became a type of the Evil One when this form was assumed by Sut (after killing Osiris) in his endeavour to escape from the vengeance of Horus.

In Indian religions the Serpent is known as Ananta, or endless, a symbol of infinite duration and Eternity; Vishnu, the Creator, is represented sleeping on this serpent whose numerous heads form a canopy over the God, each giving constant attention to his expected awakening, when new creations and a new order of things will be established, and was valued as a talisman for Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding.

Serpents were sacred to the Great God of Medicine because of the idea that they have the power of renewing their youth by casting their skins, hence the wand of Esculapius is represented as entwined by two serpents, the emblem of Medical Science, and in the temple of Epidaurus, the most important sanatorium of the Metropolis, a large serpent was kept, typical of Health and Vitality. As a symbol, it was used in connection with Ceres, Mercury, and Diana in their most beneficent qualities ; whilst Python in monstrous form represented all that was evil.

SOLOMON'S SEAL, also known as the Interlaced Triangle, is another ancient Talisman that has been universally used in every religion ; but thoughit is said to have been the symbol by which the wise King ruled the Genii, it could not have originated with him as its use dates back much further than the Jewish Dispensation. 

As a Talisman it was considered all-powerful, being the perfect sign of the Absolute, and was worn for protection against all casualties, dangers, and mischief, and to preserve its wearer from all evil.

In its composition the Triangle with its apex upwards symbolises Good, and with the inverted Triangle, Evil: the Triangle with its apex up being typical of the Trinity that exists in all religions ; in India, China, and Japan its three angles represent Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer or Regenerator; in Egypt it represented Osiris, Isis, and Horus, and in the Christian Church the Holy Trinity. As a whole it stood for the elements of fire and spirit, composed of the three virtues, Love, Truth, and Wisdom. The Triangle with its apex downward represented the element of water, and typified the material world, or the three enemies of the soul, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, and the cardinal sins, Envy, Hatred, and Malice.

Therefore, the meaning of the two Triangles interlaced, is the triumph of spirit over matter, and at the commencement of our present civilisation was considered an all-powerful Talisman, particularly when used with either a Tau Cross, the Hebrew Yod, or the Crux Ansata in the centre. The Illustration No.23, Plate I, is from an Indian form of the Talisman, and has the Sun's symbol in the centre.

Source:

THE BOOK OF
TALISMANS, AMULETS
AND ZODIACAL GEMS, 1922

Researched by: E.M.

Copyright :: All Rights Reserved
Registered :: 2012-04-29 12:08:14 UTC
Title :: TALISMANS OF PRIMITIVE RACES
Category :: Blog
Fingerprint :: 7e9c5cd4b19c9e3b4f3cc72c6cd8e6

6caa18fbab566dd91f94e4d796390dc9a9
MCN :: EAB4L-KJ3MK-4HX6W

CHARMS AND CONJURATIONS TO CURE THE DISORDERS OF GROWN PEOPLE - HUNGARIAN GYPSY MAGIC, Part 1

Though not liable to many disorders, the gypsies in Eastern Europe, from their wandering, out-of-doors life, and camping by marshes and pools where there is malaria, suffer a great deal from fevers, which in their simple system of medicine are divided into the shilale--i.e., chills or cold--and the tate shilalyi, "hotcold," or fever and ague. For the former, the following remedy is applied: Three lungs and three livers, of frogs are dried and powdered and drunk in spirits, after which the sick man or woman says

"Cuckerdya pal m're per
Cáven save miseçe!
Cuckerdya pal m're per
Den miseçeske drom odry prejiál!"

"Frogs in my belly
Devour what is bad
Frogs in my belly
Show the evil the way out!"

By "the evil" is understood evil spirits. According to the old Shamanic belief, which was the primæval religion of all mankind, every disease is caused by an evil spirit which enters the body and can only be driven out by magic. We have abundant traces of this left in our highest civilization and religion among people who gravely attribute every evil to the devil instead of the unavoidable antagonisms of nature. Nothing is more apparent in the New Testament than that all diseases were anciently regarded as coming from devils, or evil occult, spiritual influences, their negative or cure being holiness in some form. This the Jews, if they did not learn it from the Assyrians in the first place, had certainly studied deeply in Babylon, where it formed the great national cult. "It was the devil put it into my head," says the criminal; and there is not a point of this old sorcery which is not earnestly and seriously advocated by the Roman Catholic Church and the preachers of the Salvation Army. Among the American Red Indians the idea of evil spirits is carried to logical extremes. If a pen drops from our fingers, or a penny rolls from our grasp, the former of course falls on our new white dress, while the latter nine times out of ten goes directly to the nearest grating, or crack or rat-hole. I aver that it is literally true, if I ever search for a letter or paper it is almost always at the bottom of the rest, while ink-wipers and pens seem to be endowed with more than mere instinct or reason--they manifest genius in concealing themselves. The Indians having observed this have come to the conclusion that it is all the work of certain busy little mischievous goblins, in which I, to a certain extent, agree with them, holding, however, that the dwelling-place of these devilkins, is in our own brain. What are our dreams but the action of our other mind, or a second Me in my brain? Certainly it is with no will or effort, or act of mine, that I go through a diabolical torturing nightmare, or a dreadful dream, whose elaborate and subtle construction betrays very often more ingenuity than I in my waking hours possess. I have had philosophical and literary dreams, the outlines of which I have often remembered waking, which far transcended anything of the kind which I could ever hope to write. The maker of all this is not I or my will, and he is never about, or on hand, when I am self-conscious. But in the inadvertent moments of oblivion, while writing, or while performing any act, this other I, or I's, (for there may be a multitude of them for aught I know) step in and tease--even as they do in dreams. Now the distinction between this of subjective demons acting objectively, and objective or outside spirits, is really too fine to be seen even by a Darwinian-Carpenterian-Häeckelite, and therefore one need not be amazed that PIEL SABADIS or TOMAQUAH, of the Passamaquoddy tribe, or OBEAH GUMBO of New Orleans, should, with these experiences, jump at ghosts and "gobblers," is not to be wondered at; still less that they should do something to conciliate or compel these haunting terrors, or "buggs," as they were once called--whence bogeys. It is a fact that if one's ink-wipers  get into the habit of hiding all we have to do is to deliberately destroy them and get others, or at  least watch them carefully, and they will soon be cured of wandering. On the other hand, sacrifices to conciliate and please naturally occur, and the more expensive these are the better are they supposed to be. And as human beings were of old the most valuable property, they were as naturally supposed to be most acceptable to the gods, or, by the monotheists, to God. A West Indian voodoo on being reproached for human sacrifices to the serpent, and for eating the bodies slain, replied, "Do you believe that the Son of God was sacrificed to save man, and do you not eat what your priests say is His very body?" So difficult is it to draw distinctions between that which is spiritual and the mockeries which appear to be such!

The scape-goat, or sufferer, who is martyred that many may escape--or in other words, the unfortunate minority--is a natural result of sacrifice. There is a curious trace of it in Hungarian Gypsy Shamanism. On Easter Monday they make a wooden box or receptacle which is called the bìcáben, pronounced like the English gypsy word bitchapen and meaning the same, that is--a sending, a thing sent or gift. In this, at the bottom, are two sticks across, "as in a cradle," and on these are laid herbs and other fetish stuff which every one touches with the finger; then the whole is enveloped in a winding of white and red wool, and carried by the oldest person of the tribe from tent to tent; after which it is borne to the next running stream and left there, after every one has spat upon it. By doing this they think that all the diseases and disorders which would have befallen them during the coming year are conjured into the box. But woe to him who shall find the box and open it, instead of throwing it at once into the stream! All the diseases exorcised by the gypsy band will fall upon him and his in full measure.

It would be an interesting question to know how many good people there are, let us say in London, who, if they had all opportunity to work off all their colds, gouts, scarlet-fevers, tooth- head- and stomach-aches, with the consequent doctors' bills, or all suffering and expenses, on some other family by means of secret sorcery, would or would not "try it on"? It is curious to observe the resemblance of the gypsy ceremony., with its box full of mischief, and the Jewish goat; not forgetting the red wool handed down from heathen sacrifice and sorcery of old. In the Bible white wool is the symbol of purification (Isaiah i. 18). The feet of the statues of the gods were enveloped in wool--Dü laneos habent pedes--to signify that they are slow to avenge, if sure. It is altogether an interesting object, this gypsy casket, and one would like to knowwhat all the channels were through which the magic ran ere it carne to them.



Source:

GYPSY, SORCERY & FORTUNE TELLING

The Queen of Sheba

THE MYSTICAL FIGURE known as the Queen of Sheba is recorded in the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament. It states that around the tenth century BC a queen of the rich trading nation known as Sheba decided to meet the great King Solomon in person. She did not believe the stories she had been told of Solomon’s wisdom, and brought many hard questions to test him. When his replies met with her approval she gave him plentiful gifts of gold, spices and precious stones. In return, Solomon gave the queen ‘all her desire’,  and after their meeting she returned to her own country. The story is repeated in the second Book of Chronicles, and even Christ himself spoke of a queen of the south who came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Other than this, precious few pieces of historical evidence have survived, but that has not stopped the growth of countless myths and stories. So who was the real Queen of Sheba?

Perhaps the most famous and important extension of her story is that connected with Ethiopia. In 1320 an Ethiopian monk named Yetshak wrote a compendium of legends called Kebra Negast or ‘Glory of the Kings’.

In it, he said that when the Queen of Sheba, referred to in Ethiopian as Makeda, visited Solomon, she was seduced by the great king. Solomon had said that the queen was welcome to his hospitality, but must not take anything without asking. During the night, the Queen suffered a terrible thirst caused by a spicy meal Solomon fed her and she drank the water placed by her bed. The king said she had broken the rules, and must sleep with him as repayment. Nine months later she gave birth to a boy called Menelik.

Ethiopians believe that the Queen and her son both accepted the Jewish faith, and that Menelik founded the Solomon Jewish, and then Christian, dynasty in Aksum, Ethiopia.

At around the same time as Yetshak was compiling his tome, other legends were forming in Europe. A thirteenth century story told in the Legenda Aurea stated that the queen was a prophetess connected to the crucifixion of Christ. Over time, she also became an integral part of religious decorations and art. She was often seen as a sorceress, and then a seductress. Strangely, she is also featured as having a secret deformity – French Gothic sculpture often shows her having a webbed foot. In the same way, the Temptation of Saint Anthony by French novelist Gustave Flaubert depicts the queen as a lustful temptress with a withered limb.

This imperfection perhaps arises from earlier Jewish and Islamic references to her. In both the Koran and the Jewish Book called the Targum Sheni, the queen meets Solomon and reveals that she has hairy feet. The Jewish tradition later features her as a demon or seductress, whereas Islamic legend states that Solomon used his magicians’ power to remove her excess hair and married her. Muslims call the Queen of Sheba Balkis, and believe her great nation was based in the Yemen. The Koran describes Sheba as being two gardens, irrigated by a great dam. An advanced level of farming, and good access to Red Sea shipping channels and Arabian camel trains, meant the nation prospered.

Archaeological proof of this occurring in Southern Arabia has been uncovered. The remains of a great dam can be viewed in the Mareb region of the Yemen, now considered to be the capital of the ancient Sheba nation. This dam collapsed in AD 543, but scientists have been able to deduce that it would have been used to irrigate over 500 acres of farm land. In recent years, archaeologists have finished restoring an ancient temple known as the ‘Throne of Balkis’ in the Mareb region. The structure dates from the tenth century BC, so is from the right era to link with what we do know about the queen. Two miles to the east of the Marab region, another ancient building, known as the ‘Temple of the Moon God’, is also being studied. Scientists using radar equipment believe this is an extremely large and elaborate structure, and could yield the answers to many Sheba mysteries. Unfortunately such investigations have been plagued over the years by political indifference and, until these areas become more secure for researchers to study, the true history of Sheba may continue to be obscured by myth and legend.

NOSTRADAMUS - Michel de Notredame

IN THE MODERN AGE, Michel de Nostradamus is associated with one simple notion – prophecies of doom. This has been derived from his great work The Centuries, a collection of around 1,000 four-line verses or quatrains. Nostradamus believed that through his study of astrology, combined with divine guidance, he was able to see the future. He used meditation, mild hallucinogens and extreme focus to heighten his images. The first part of The Centuries was published in 1555 – the verses contained a strange and vague language, which Nostradamus claimed he had used purposefully to refute charges of witchcraft. Written in a mixture of French with occasional inclusions of Latin, Greek and Italian, many people now believe they can decipher these verses, and Nostradamus has been hailed as an accurate foreteller of things to come. However, these enthusiasts have had the privilege of hindsight and the luxury of fitting real events to suit his text. Few of predictions made at the end of the 20th century about the start of the new millennium, which cited his work as reference, have come to pass. So how good a seer was Nostradamus?

Probably the most famous example of Nostradamus’ work is that which many enthusiasts say predicted the Second World War. The text itself, taken from Century 2, Quatrain 24, in translation reads:

Beasts ferocious from hunger will swim
across rivers:

The greater part of the region will be
against the Hister,

The great one will cause it to be dragged
in an iron cage,

When the Germany child will observe
nothing.

Nostradamus believers suggest ‘Hister’ is Hitler; the ‘ferocious beasts’ are invading Nazis ‘hungry’ for power; but the German nation, who blindly follow, without fully realising or grasping events, will be imprisoned. There is a ring of truth about that interpretation. But sceptics point out that there are no dates involved; terms like ‘ferocious beasts’, and ‘the great one’ are particularly ambiguous and imprecise, and the Hister is actually a region near the River Danube, not Hitler. However, other quatrains nearby in the text do seem to mention other important details about the war, and Hitler’s personal history shows that he was born near the Danube. So perhaps, taken as a whole, there is something there.

In recent years, the new millennium and World Trade Center attack have caused a major re-examination and interest in Nostradamus’ work. Perhaps the most memorable figure mentioned in verses said to relate to our own time is that of ‘Mabus’ or ‘Maddas’. This person is said to be – if I can be similarly non-committal – the next ‘great evil’. In the 1990s, many Nostradamus readers claimed he was definitely called ‘Maddas’, which just happens to be ‘Saddam’ spelt backwards, so it was clear where the finger was pointing. However, after 11th September 2001, the spelling became something closer to Mabus which is an anagram of Usam B. As I write this, enthusiasts interpreting his works are in something of a state of flux, and are not  quite sure which Middle Eastern villain is the one predicted.  

After the World Trade Center attack, a great flood of false Nostradamus verses appeared throughout the information networks. This confused many people, and increased scepticism about his work among the notso–credulous. That is something of a shame, particularly as there are good arguments to suggest he predicted the death of John F. Kennedy, the fall of Communism, the French Revolution and the Challenger  Space Shuttle disaster. But the unconvinced will always refer to the vague language, absence of definite dates, and benefit of back cataloguing events as areas of doubt. If anybody is interested, he predicts the end of the world in 3797.

Certainly, people of his own period believed in his powers, medical and otherwise. The Queen of France, Catherine de Medici asked him to plot the horoscope of her husband King Henry II, and in 1564 he was appointed court physician to King Charles IX of France. His final prediction came true on 2nd July 1556. The day before, as he left a meeting with his priest, the clergyman is believed to have said ‘Until tomorrow,’ to which Nostradamus replied, ‘You will not find me alive at sunrise.’ Sure enough, by the morning he was dead. It is said that his body is buried with a script which translates his prophecies into more defined predictions. Perhaps this could finally put to rest the debate about just how good a seer Nostradamus really was.

MAITREYA

ALL THE WORLD’S major religions expect another visit by a supremely holy man. Hindus await the arrival of Krishna; Jews expect the appearance of a Messiah; Muslims believe in an Imam Mahdi; Christians expect the Second Coming of Christ and Buddhists imagine Him as a Buddha. There is a large organisation operating across the world which believes these various figures all refer to the same, single being, that He is a teacher sent to direct Mankind towards a future of peace and love, and that this being already walks amongst us – in fact, he lives in a suburb of London.

The Share International Magazine company operates as the mouthpiece for this great leader whom they call Maitreya. The organisation’s leading light is Benjamin Creme, a former artist from Glasgow born in 1922. Creme is a follower of Theosophy, the movement created by Madame Helena Blavatsky, whose members believe that Earth and Humanity is controlled by a select council of inter-dimensional super-beings.

Creme believes these super-beings or ‘Masters’ told him in 1975 of Maitreya’s impending appearance, and gave him the task of preparing for his arrival. Many people think that Creme sees himself as a modern day John the Baptist, and uses Share International to promote the Maitreya cause. He writes books and articles and appears on television shows and in lecture halls discussing the upcoming Maitreya unveiling. Creme says Maitreya emerged from a spiritual centre in the Himalayas on 19th July 1977, and flew to Europe by aeroplane. He then disappeared into an ethnic community in a suburb of London, and has lived quite anonymously ever since. However, the Tara Centre, another organisation close to Creme, has run a series of full page adverts in major newspapers across the world announcing the presence of the ‘Lord Maitreya’. It is even said that a major American television network has asked to interview Maitreya at any time of his choosing.

Maitreya has also made some personal appearances. One of the most celebrated happened on 11th June 1988 in Nairobi, when 6000 worshippers in the village of Kawangware saw him appear in the form of Jesus Christ. The white-robed, bearded figure walked among them and declared that the world was ‘nearing the time for the reign of heaven’. Maitreya then left in a car. Share International also claims that Maitreya has performed many miracles. The phenomenon is spreading throughout Africa, and many villages are being visited by the man in white.

In 1996 there was the biggest outbreak of strange ‘crosses of light’ reports in recent years. CBS television news broadcast a story about 40-feet-high glowing crosses which had appeared in the windows of a Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. The local priest said 30,000 people came to view the bizarre sight and miraculous happenings have since occurred there. Similar crosses of light have appeared throughout the world, and Share International claims this is a sign of Maitreya being in our world.

Share International claims that before his public appearances, Maitreya likes to energise local water sources. Magic water in the little town of Tlacote in Mexico is said to heal everything from AIDS and cancer to obesity and high cholesterol. Other miraculous water is said to have sprung up at a disused slate mine at Nordenau, 100km east of Dusseldorf in Germany. In August 1994 a strange image of the Madonna and Child appeared on a church wall in the small South Australia town of Yankalilla. A dowser came to the site and said there was water running underneath the church. Benjamin Creme informed them that this was the work of Maitreya and said the water would have healing powers. Creme told the Yankalilla people where to  dig, and sure enough, a miraculous spring was discovered.

Share International has performed some miracles of its own. It is now an official non governmental organisation recognised by the United Nations, and has published articles written by some very respected figures – Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Kofi Annan, Mary Robinson, the Dalai Lama and Prince Charles amongst others. The future of Maitreya is uncertain depending on your belief. If you are a follower, his appearances will only increase until he becomes a global voice. If not, he will quietly disappear just as the dozens of self-proclaiming Messiahs over the centuries always have.

DRACULA - Vlad the Impaler

EASTERN EUROPE OF THE Middle Ages was a turbulent place. The great Hungarian nation was its first line of defence against Ottoman forces, and the individual states that happened to be placed in ‘No-man’s land’ between the two suffered terrible unrest. It was enough to inspire Bram Stoker to write his most famous novel, although people now question which figure during this unstable period was the greatest influence on the writer.  Only one name truly stands out – the real, terrible man known as Dracula.

Walachia, now part of Romania, was a Hungarian province ruled by Prince Mircea the Old until 1418. In around 1390, Mircea had an illegitimate son named Vlad who was given away to be brought up in the court of Hungary’s King Sigismund. When Mircea died, Vlad was not given control of Walachia, but he was made a Knight of the Order of the Dragon, a group set up to defend the Christian world from Turkish rule. Vlad was soon given the name ‘Dracul’, meaning ‘dragon’, and was made governor of Transylvania.

Dracul had three sons. The first, named after his father Mircea, was born in 1443, with the next two called Vlad and Radu. Dracul gathered an army and took back his family’s traditional seat of power in Walachia, although only with the help of old enemy Turkey. As a sign of his loyalty, Dracul sent Vlad and Radu to live in Adrianople, the seat of the Ottoman Empire. In 1447 Dracul and Mircea were killed, and a Hungarian government again ruled Walachia. This situation made Turkey uncomfortable, so in 1448 they decided to arm the seventeen-year-old Vlad who was known as the ‘Son of Dragon’, or Dracula. 

Over the years and battles the protagonists continued to swap sides, but by 1456 Dracula had reclaimed his throne in Walachia. He built a capital city at Tirgoviste and was pronounced Prince Vlad III. From the beginning, he realised that to survive he would have to be shown as utterly ruthless. Shortly after he was crowned prince, he invited destitute souls from the streets of his kingdom to a great feast at his castle. After the meal, he asked the assembled poor, frail and aged if they would ‘like to be without cares, lacking nothing in the world?’ When they all cried ‘yes’ he promptly boarded up the castle and set fire to it. He said there was little place in his society for people who would be a burden, and anybody who did not contribute to the community received scant sympathy.

If killing the infirm was a sign to the public, Dracula committed a similar action with Walachia’s dignitaries. He had the older ones impaled, and sent the others to build a castle at Poenari, a mountainous area 50 miles away. In their place, Dracula organised his own set of nobles to confirm his power. His evil knew no bounds, and he particularly enjoyed watching people die after being hoisted on a sharpened pole. His people called him Vlad Tepes meaning ‘Vlad the Impaler’ and the Turkish knew him as Kaziglu Bey or the ‘Impaler Prince’. He murdered cheating wives, fraudulent merchants, anybody who committed any crime. Often he would have many victims impaled at the same time, but he also enjoyed skinning and boiling people alive. He killed children and the old, and put their bodies on public display to warn would-be miscreants. It is said that 20,000 dead  bodies hung from the walls of Tirgoviste, and by the end of his reign he had killed around 50,000 people.

In 1462 when Walachia was attacked by the Turks, led by Dracula’s younger brother Radu, Dracula went into exile in Hungary. In 1476, with Radu dead of syphilis and another prince on Walachia’s throne, Dracula attempted to regain his rightful home. He succeeded, but in December 1476 was killed during another Turkish attack. The Ottoman sultan impaled Dracula’s head and had it displayed in Constantinople as evidence of his death. His body was said to have been buried as an island monastery called Snagov, although investigative digs in 1931 were unable to find the coffin. It is one final mystery to the Dracula story.  

Some proof of his reign does remain though. His fortress in the hills of Poenari stands today as a popular tourist destination,  there are also ruins of his palace at Tirgoviste. More important than any physical heritage is his memory in the mind of the Romanian people. But whether his life is the sole inspiration behind Bram Stoker’s story or not, we shall never know.

Source:

100 Strangest Mysteries

The Comte de Saint-Germain

THE MYSTERIOUS FIGURE we now know as the Comte de Saint-Germain was first witnessed in 1710 under the name the Marquis de Montferrat. Seen in Venice by a musician named Rameau and a Parisian socialite called Madam de Gergy, he had the appearance of a man between 40 and 50 years of age. It was an appearance he would hold all his life, and he would only officially die in 1784. However, many people believe he never actually passed away. To them, this enigmatic character has become known as ‘Saint-Germain the Deathless’.

Saint-Germain’s provenance was never revealed, not even by those he had taken into his confidence. For his entire life he looked like a middle-aged, strongly built man of average height. He was an amazing raconteur with incredible stories, and had some impressive talents. He could create fantastic jewels, had a complete understanding of music and art, and was able to provide people with potions which he claimed were the elixir of youth. He was never seen to eat or drink, but he enjoyed the company of women and mixed with the aristocracy. He never seemed to age.

His great period of celebrity was in Paris between 1750 and 1760. His main role was that of spy for King Louis XV. However, his friendship with the king created many enemies within the French government and he was forced to flee to England. He resurfaced in Russia under the name General Soltikov and played a major role in the 1762 revolution. At the start of Louis XVI’s reign he reappeared in Paris and, through an old friend, the Countesse d’Adhemar, he issued a warning to Queen Marie Antoinette of the dangers that were building for the French monarchy. Saint-Germain tried to see the king personally, but the police were ordered to capture the Comte by the king’s minister. Again, Saint-Germain simply disappeared.

He apparently sought refuge at the castle of Count Charles of Hesse Cassel in the Duchy of Schlesing, Austria. It was said that he revealed many of his secrets to the count, but by 1784 Saint-Germain had simply grown bored of life and died. However, there is no official record of his death, and no tombstone bearing his name. He left all his papers, many of which concerned freemasonry, to the count, but like Louis XV, Charles never revealed anything about Saint-Germain’s real history. Indeed, even though he claimed to be sad that Saint-Germain had died, many commentators have suggested he did not appear so upset, and there is a theory that he may have been privy to a staged death.

Certainly, further reports of Saint-Germain have been recorded. In 1786 he met the Empress of Russia, and in 1788 he was apparently the official French representative at the World Convention of Freemasons. The Countess of d’Adhemar said she had met her old friend in 1789, 1815 and 1821, and that each time he looked no older than her memory of him. It is said that he continued to have an influence on secret societies and may even have been a guiding light of the Rosicrucians.

So who was the strange character? Parisians who disliked him said he was the son of a Portuguese Jew named Aymar, or an Alsatian Jew called Wolff. However, the general feeling at the time was that he was the natural son of Spain’s Charles II’s widow, Marie de Neubourg. A more recent study has suggested that he may actually have been one of the sons of Prince Francis Racoczi II of Transylvania. The prince gave his children to the Emperor of Austria to bring up, but one of them was said to have died at a young age. It is now considered that this child may have, in fact, been raised by a family in the little village of San Germano in Italy. This would account for how he assumed the name the Comte de Saint-Germain.

However, some people, particularly those involved with the Theosophy movement, believe Saint-Germain may have been one of the ‘great masters’, sent to show developed men the errors of their ways. They believe he may be still wandering the Earth, waiting for the right time to reappear and counsel Man through troubled waters. Until then, however, the enigmatic figure known as the Comte de Saint-Germain will remain a mystery.

Source:

100 Strangest Mysteries

REINCARNATION, from 100 Strangest Mysteries

HOW DO SOME children have the ability to speak in dialects and remember details of events that happened years before their birth? Reincarnation is the belief that the soul of a person returns to Earth after death and takes residency in a new body. It is a belief borne in the philosophies of Eastern religions and the Karmic laws of nature. Such is the level of complete conviction that some Buddhist holy men even believe it is a crime to kill  any living creature for fear that it is a loved one returned. These ways of the mystical East are increasingly finding favour in our normally sceptical societies, and many people now purposely search for details of their past lives through hypnotic regression.

Christianity, and particularly the Roman Catholic Church, see reincarnation as heresy, although many branches of religion are open to the possibility. The central theme of the Buddhist religion, for example, relies on reincarnation. Buddha himself taught that the point of reincarnation depends on the quality of the preceding life. This is the idea of Karma, and the belief that one’s actions are repaid in equal kind. Buddhists believe that reincarnation is needed to understand the world and achieve enlightenment. Once this is achieved, the soul will break the chain of reincarnation, attaining a state of nirvana or spiritual heaven.

The current trends for therapy and counselling in the Western world have also increased interest in the phenomenon of reincarnation. Problems such as irrational fears, recurring nightmares and inexplicable health problems are said to be caused by shadow memories of former lives. To solve these difficulties, people often undergo hypnosis to experience regression to find details of past lives. Experts believe that, in the wrong therapist’s hands, these processes can be unhelpful, and a combination of latent imagination and leading questions can produce quite fanciful results.

Details of past lives can appear completely unsolicited. Experiences such as spontaneous recall, where the person suddenly see an ultra real ‘daydream’, or triggered recall, where an external factor in the physical world acts as a catalyst for the memory, are both common examples of this. It is suggested that anybody interested in discovering their own past memories actually undertake a long course of meditation or yoga. Although the process does not yield immediate results, and may take years to develop, the individual retains self-control and also achieves a higher state of mystical and spiritual well-being.

As the subject of reincarnation gains more and more acceptance, an increasing amount of verified cases are being reported. One of the most famous was that of the movie star Glenn Ford. Under hypnosis, Ford claimed to remember five previous lives, the most impressive of which was as a French cavalryman during the reign of Louis XIV. Despite the fact that Ford only knew a few rudimentary phrases in French, under hypnosis he was able to speak fluently in a language that was later discovered to be a particular Parisian dialect from the seventeenth century. This is quite astounding evidence, but many sceptics still claim that these sort of ‘memories’ can be created by sub-conscious dreaming.

Children’s recounts of past lives often provide the most amazing and most reliable proof of reincarnation, as they are not corrupted with the notion of reincarnation or false histories. Dr Ian Stevenson, a leading researcher in this field, has written about many fascinating cases. One such incident involved an Indiana girl called Swarnlata Mishra.

Swarnlata Mishra

In 1951, when Swarnlata was three, she started giving details about a woman called Biya Pathak who had lived in the Katni, over a hundred miles away from Swarnlata’s family home in Pradesh. The young girl revealed that Pathak had two sons and had died in 1939 of a ‘pain in her throat’. She described and positioned Biya’s home and seemed to remember more and more as time passed by. Eventually, Biya’s family were tracked down and came to visit Swarnlata to test her knowledge. She immediately recognised all the correct relations of Biya, calling them by their nicknames and treating them just as Biya would have. Over the years she developed a close relationship with the Pathak’s, and both families now accept that Swarnlata is Biya returned. When Swarnlata’s father, Sri Mishra decided to chose a husband for her, he even consulted the Pathak family. Stories like this that affect people so personally suggest reincarnation really is a REALITY.

BIGFOOT

IN THE WILDS OF NORTH AMERICA a mystical ape-like creature hides in the shadows. Standing over seven feet tall and having an immense, muscled body, it should be hard to stay concealed. Many that see him say he just disappears into the background. Like a man, he walks upright, but the short black hair covering his entire body indicates he is no homo-sapien. No bodies, bones or remains have ever been found despite more than two centuries of searching. The only evidence we have of this mythical beast is its huge tracks. That is why the creature is named ‘Bigfoot’.

Like many legendary Native American monsters, Bigfoot is a central part of indigenous traditional tales. They call him ‘Sasquatch’, the ‘hairy giant of the woods’. But it was his early personal introduction to European settlers that sparked off real interest. In 1811, David Thompson, a white trader, was in the north Rocky Mountains when he spotted a set of massive 14 by 8-inch footprints. Over many years, the tales of Sasquatch spread and on 4th July 1884, the Daily Colonist newspaper in British Columbia was proud to announce that a train crew had caught a strange beast. In reality, the stocky, black-haired primate that they trapped was probably just a chimpanzee.

The American and Canadian mountains gradually grew awash with stories of Sasquatch appearances; there were even reports of gangs of strange creatures attacking people in the forests. The Sasquatch phenomenon was never solely focused on the idea of a single creature, and people have always considered there might be a breeding colony. At that time, the mystical beasts were primarily of interest to lumberjacks, miners and those  who lived or worked in areas where it had been sighted.

That changed in 1958 when Jerry Crew, a bulldozer operator working in Humboldt County, California, made casts of the bizarre footprints he had found. A local newspaper photographed Crew, and his picture was syndicated across the United States. The sight of a man holding a plaster cast record of the tracks of a mysterious beast started the modern Bigfoot legend. But if Crew’s discovery helped to launch the myth, it was an episode nine years later that sealed Bigfoot’s place in the American consciousness.

In October 1967, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin were riding on horseback through Bluff Creek, north California. They were in the area specifically looking for Bigfoot. Suddenly one appeared in their path, and Patterson was thrown from his horse. Whilst Gimlin kept a rifle trained on the beast, Patterson quickly regained his footing and ran towards the creature, filming all the time with a cine camera they had taken with them. The result is perhaps the most enigmatic evidence yet. The footage shows a large hairy biped slowly strolling into the undergrowth. Experts who have closely studied the film suggest it is a female Bigfoot, as two mammary glands are just discernible on its front.

Although the evidence is startling, many have questioned its authenticity. Some experts believe, if the film is played at a slightly faster speed, it could easily be a human in a costume. However, aspects of the footage are quite amazing. For example, biotechnology scientists have said that for a creature like Bigfoot to walk upright it would need an extended heel. The creature on the film has an extended heel.

Experts in the industry initially expected the film merely to be special effects, but they have been unable to find any tell-tale signs that it is a hoax. Similarly, a group of Russian scientists who attempted to determine the correct speed of the film came to the conclusion that the creature really did have a long, lumbering gait. However, Gimlin himself has entertained the possibility that he might have been an unwitting participant in a hoax orchestrated by his friend. This we shall never know as Patterson died of cancer in 1972.

More recent sightings of the ape-man have taken on a new and bizarre twist. People have reported seeing UFOs in the regions of Bigfoot appearances. Also, the creatures are now said to have bright red eyes and be carrying glowing orbs. This may seem a strange development, but Sasquatches were always reported as having a quality beyond the physical, and it has always been suggested that when they die, Bigfoot bodies vanish into the ether. This is a shame, because to really accept Bigfoot’s presence, the world needs to see some hard, physical evidence.

Commentary:

At first I was ignored and not so much interested about BIGFOOT, but when I encountered a story about a one family of Giant's somewhere in Quezon Province, Philippines and much bigger compared to BIGFOOT of North America, I've got interested to research about those Giants. There is also an encounter in Quang Tri, Thua Thien and Quang Nam Provinces, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia they called it 'Rock Apes' but much smaller to BIGFOOT of North America.