Mysteries

What was the Star of Bethlehem?

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Darrick Dean

Planets, stars, novas or even UFOs, all have been presented as the source of the account in the Gospel of Matthew. He was the only gospel writer who felt it necessary to include the star, which make many wonder if it really happened. Like many of these topics, one can choose to be quickly dismissive or delve deeper.

The latter is what Michael R. Molnar does in his book The Star of Bethlehem. It’s one of the most complete studies of the topic I have run across and draws out many overlooked details in the biblical account and from history. Some additional studies from a science-faith think tank can be found here, but Molnar’s book would be a great study for this Christmas season.

If you want more Christmas lore, try Revelation of the Magi by Brent Landau. This is a translation of a once popular, now largely forgotten, apocryphal Christian story. It’s a fascinating account for students of early Christian history and Christmas traditions. Does it add any truth to the gospel account? Maybe, maybe not. It has the style of fiction rather than historical reporting.

Now Landau’s speculations about the story and the biblical account are, at times, poor theology. He thinks the infancy accounts have no value and supposedly the “majority” of scholars agree. It didn’t take me long to find many who disagree with that. He also seems to be promoting some sort of pluralistic variety of Christianity by somehow concluding this Magi text points to all religious beliefs coming from Christ. It’s sad that some “scholars” seem to ignore scholars who don’t agree with them and try to dumb down Christianity (I’m not saying other religions don’t have any truths in them, but pluralists like to pretend everyone is the same). So don’t buy Landau’s book for the theology. If ancient texts interest you, his translation of the Magi text is a good read.

Instead of non-stop rushing around this month, take some time, sit by the Christmas tree, and learn about the history and traditions that surround us this time of year.

Categories: Ancient Documents, Bible, Mysteries, Traditions | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Easter Island Still Unsolved

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Darrick Dean

The Navel of the World it is called. A speck on a map in the endless Pacific. Yet ancient people found it and erected some of the most iconic statues of the ancient world. Mysterious and solemn, the Moai stare, not out over the ocean, but inward. How the people of Easter Island – the Rapa Nui – built them and what happened to their culture has been debated for decades. The current issue of National Geographic details the current state of theorizing over this lost past.

In Jared Diamond’s Collapse, he championed the theory that Easter Island’s civilization collapsed largely due to their destruction of the island’s environment. Once forested, it is nearly empty of trees to this day. Other researchers, as chronicled in The Statues That Walked, lay out evidence that the environmental destruction wasn’t intentional, nor as widespread and not the final nail in their coffin.

As in the end of any culture, many factors were at work. It can be hard to pin the blame on any one as primary, as they often work in tandem.

Of course, the real question is will we learn from the past or suffer the same fate caused by the blindness of hubris?

Categories: Ancient Sites, Mysteries | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Who Exactly Were the Neanderthals?

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Darrick Dean

The status and sophistication of the hominid species Neanderthal has been a matter of debate for decades. Once thought to be an ancestor man, genetic studies show it to be unrelated, though some studies have shown possible limited interbreeding. But how advanced were they? They existed for over a 100 millenia and went extinct about the same time man was making his big push across the globe. One recent study concludes they were building boats. They are the only other known hominid to ever approach man’s abilities.

Like all other hominids and primates, they pose a bit of problem for evolution in that they appear suddenly in history. The “family tree” of man is technically made up of assumed connections between bone fragments. Even though largely not considered man’s ancestor, they are often still referred as a “cousin” or such to fit into the evolutionary paradigm. This why some creationists still pretend they are humans in spite of the evidence. Taking this track instead of focusing on the more obvious problems doesn’t make a lot sense. I suspect this is just to fit this mysterious species into their own flawed interpretation of Earth’s history.

So where do neanderthals fit into the picture? How advanced did they get? Were they simply the latest in a long line of increasingly advanced primates, as some have suggested, designed to prepare the world for man? No evidence of religion or similar levels of sentience is known among them. Their use of simple tools is not unheard of in the animal world. But boats?

We pretend we have explained man’s past and the other beings we share the planet with. It takes only a quick glance to find that each new discovery has only proven we know very little.

It was religion that first said we all originated from the same ancestors, in one location and that intelligence and religion existed from the beginning. Science and history have caught up and verified these claims. Yet many still close one eye to the flaws and holes in evolution and young-earth creationism.

Perhaps someday people will allow facts lead to where they may without trying to bend them around a preconceived conclusion.

[For more on man’s past, see Who was Adam?.]

Categories: Mysteries, Origins of Man, Prehistory | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Pyramids in Wisconsin?

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Darrick Dean

For decades there have been reports of geometric structures on the floor of Rock Lake in Wisconsin. And after decades of discussion, we still have a lot of fuzzy photos and disregard by most archaeologists.

Nearby, however, is the Aztalan State Park with remnants of mounds built by a Mississippian mound builder culture. Extensive earthworks were built. Did they build something in the lake when it was low? Why would they? Divers claim they found remains of stone pyramids — stone not being a prime material of mound builders. An Aztec outpost?

This is one of those tantalizing mysteries some people keep talking about, yet no convincing proof seems to come forward.

If there were claims of pryamids in any lake nearby me, I would like to know one way or the other if it were true.

Categories: Ancient America, Ancient Sites, Mysteries | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Looking for the Empire of Atlantis

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Darrick Dean

Early this year, we learned of a possible location of Atlantis in Spain. For centuries, the elusive legend told to us by Plato has been studied, researched and ridiculed by countless people. Does Atlantis have any roots in history? It has become almost a taboo subject because so many people have incorporated it into their wild theories — everything from aliens to some super-advanced civilization flying planes and spaceships.

Gavin Menzies has now entered the fray with his new book, The Lost Empire of Atlantis. His main theory – Atlantis was based on the destroyed Minoan civilization – is not new. What is new is his detailed effort of showing the scope of this lost empire and why its destruction could very well be the basis for Atlantis.

It’s an intriguing idea. The destruction of the Minoans was part of a series of catastrophes that ended the bronze age. To some extent the turmoil of the times erased much of the past into myth. We know the ancients weren’t primitives and disasters did change the course of history more than once. And was it the Minoans that mined the “missing” copper in Michigan? Another age-old mystery.

We may never know the answers for sure, but history may surprise us yet and teach us a thing or two (like nature can reach out and nuke us anytime it wants).

Categories: Legend, Mysteries, Prehistory | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Easter Island, End of the World or Gateway to America?

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Darrick Dean

For decades, the study of the settlement of the Americas has focused on entry through Alaska or, to a lesser extent, across the Atlantic. To look at the Pacific and its distant islands, it would seem ancient travel was “impossible.”

Yet we have known for decades that it is possible and did happen.

Most famously, the remote Easter Island is covered in hundreds of statues from a lost culture. Many other islands across the Pacific have ruins of structures, megaliths and statuary. Cultures who arrived in dugouts created all of this?

The diversity in American native cultures (especially South America) have led people to start re-examining the Pacific routes. We already know that certain foods and animals were introduced to the Americas this way. Now the attempt to discover who and how many of these people were there. Where did they come from? And how much of the legends of ancient America of travelers and light-skinned people are rooted in truth?

There are many studies of this out there, to start: Axis of the World traces peoples who crossed the Pacific, some possibly from India. The Statues that Walked zeros in on Easter Island, the possible remote last outpost of a dead civilization.

Are the Pacific ruins markers of a lost oceanic trail? Or are they remains of a destroyed Pacific civilization? Perhaps we will never know, but we do know something happened out there.

Categories: Ancient America, Ancient Sites, Forgotten Places, Mysteries, Native Americans, Prehistory | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Scrolls, Yetis & Lost Islands

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Darrick Dean

Not as interesting as the scrolls themselves, but the identity of the Dead Sea Scroll authors is “possibly solved.”

Then there are supposedly Yeti nests in Siberia. Of course, these are the same people who claimed to have found “‘indisputable proof’ of the Yeti” last month which some have suggested was hoaxed.

Lost islands off Australia. Nice to see there is still “lost” stuff out there to be found. There’s a lot of mystery out there in the Pacific, home of the legandary Lemuria (the Pacific version of Atlantis). Maybe we’ll look into this a little more later.

Categories: Bible, Forgotten Places, Legend, Mysteries | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Mythology: Fact and Fiction

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Darrick Dean

If you have ever read the mythologies of past cultures, they are full of wondrous and unbelievable tales of long-lost races, battling gods and supernatural conflicts.

It is often said, however, that myth and legend have tidbits of truth. The problem is that many people will mine myth looking for something they supports their preconceived notion. Often those notions are reinterpreting the past through the glasses of the present.

There is a popular image of an Egyptian hieroglyph bandied about that supposedly depicts electricity in the ancient world. The images are often poor reproductions of the real thing. Close-up photos of the actual panels quickly shows the Egyptians aren’t holding light-bulbs connected to a power system. There are many mysteries in the past, but when researchers do such poor presentation in their “evidence,” scholars are quickly turned off even if there are other valid theories presented.

Uncovering the lost technologies and knowledge of the ancients is a popular, and valid, field of research, but it is pockmarked by the strange. Sure, even in the mainstream, theories come and go and acceptance of new ideas often goes through an inordinate level of scrutiny. But when people see spaceships and aliens in ancient carvings, is that what is really there, or are we seeing what we want to see?

Sometimes our skepticism makes us miss the trees in the forest. The Viking sagas and their tales of journeys to the new world were once thought myth. Not anymore. That doesn’t mean cyclops or ogres once existed, but the Troy of Homer’s Odyssey certainly did. How can we tell the difference? Compare an account of Columbus’ voyage next to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Most anyone will see the difference. Is it always that clear? Usually it is or you will at least be able to pull out the fantastical from the potentially real.

We shouldn’t accept every theory without reservation. By the same token, it would be a mistake to exclude all fantastic happenings from history simply because we don’t understand them.

Studying history, afterall, is a thinking enterprise.

Categories: Critical Thinking, Legend, Mysteries | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Atlantis Found?

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Darrick Dean

Researchers announced today a possible location for the fabled Atlantis in Spain. This region, either off the coast or on land, has long been a frontrunner in Atlantis locations. Among others, E.M. Whishaw’s Atlantis in Spain argued for it in 1928. I haven’t read it, but I bet it will be selling out soon. As with any ancient legend, there’s probably bits of truth in it. Since so many fringe and mystical folks have co-opted Atlantis, many scholars won’t touch it with a ten foot pole. Perhaps in Spain the truth will finally be uncovered.

Categories: Ancient Sites, Legend, Mysteries | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Where was Jesus?

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Darrick Dean

The Bible is silent on most of Jesus’ years before he began his ministry. Many theories, including more than a few strange ones, have been floated about the “missing years.” These include travels to just about everywhere in the world. Some apocryphal accounts claim to have details of his childhood, though they date long after his time (Anne Rice did conjure up an interesting novel that was in part based on these stories). One of the more plausible legends has Jesus visiting Britain with his “uncle” Joseph of Arimathea. Local legends claim Jesus was there, but the debate centers around how old those legends are and if they were created to attract pilgrims. Nevertheless, it is an interesting possibility. See Glyn S. Lewis’ book for more (even he wanders into some strange speculations at times).

Categories: Bible, Legend, Mysteries | Tags: , | Leave a comment

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