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NEWS MAY 2023
As part of my process of disengagement from Atlantipedia, from June ’23 I shall be posting less frequently, rather than daily as I have done until now. Atlantipedia will remain online for the foreseeable future. I want to thank everyone who has written to me over the past few months with complimentary expressions of support […]Read More »
Joining The Dots
I have now published my new book, Joining The Dots, which offers a fresh look at the Atlantis mystery. I have addressed the critical questions of when, where and who, using Plato’s own words, tempered with some critical thinking and a modicum of common sense.Read More »
Hopi
David, Gary, A.
Gary A. David is an American independent researcher and author dealing with archaeological ruins and rock art of the American Southwest. His focus is on the Hopi tribe of northern Arizona and its archaeo-astronomy. Although he has not written directly about Atlantis, he has contributed a number of interesting papers relating to subjects peripheral to our study here. Most of these are available on the Academia.edu website(a).
David has also written about the Orion Correlation Theory (OCT) of Bauval & Gilbert, which claims that the alignment of the three stars in Orion’s ‘belt’ is reflected in the layout of the three principal pyramids at Giza.
>David has expanded on the OCT of Bauval & Gilbert identifying important sites throughout Egypt that he believes constituted a more extensive reference with other heavenly bodies in what he calls the Egyptian Stellar Template(e).<
He goes further and claims that he “stumbled across an Orion Correlation that the ancestral Hopi Indians constructed in Arizona from about 1050–1300 AD. In this case, every major star in the constellation corresponds to a specific masonry village site. The terrestrial replication of the celestial pattern is simply uncanny.” (b)
David has published an informative paper(c) on the Maltese Cross and its variants as found around the world. He pointed out its use in the Americas by the ancient Olmecs and has laid great emphasis on its place in the inherited culture of the Hopi people.
David has also highlighted the use of the swastika in a more benign way by the Hopi of northern Arizona along with its innocent use in other cultures including the Minoans, as well as in 20th century USA(d).
(a) https://colorado.academia.edu/GaryADavid
(b) (99+) (PDF) Orion’s Global Legacy—A Celestial Plan | Gary David – Academia.edu
(c) https://www.academia.edu/8661701/The_Maltese_Cross_Hopi_Indian_Version_of_a_Knights_Templar_Symbol
(d) https://www.academia.edu/8661508/The_Four_Arms_of_Destiny_Swastikas_in_the_Hopi_World_and_Beyond
(e) https://www.academia.edu/8635347/The_Blazing_Star_of_the_Nile_Egyptian_Stellar_Template*
Swastika
The Swastika is a symbol that is said to have a 12,000-year-old history(I) and is occasionally suggested as having an Atlantean link. This is highly improbable as modern research has suggested that it was more likely to have originally represented an ancient cometary display in the sky(c), 
explaining the ubiquity of the symbol around the world. Fernando Coimbra wrote a paper(h)on this subject in 2011.
In 1896, the Smithsonian Institution published an extensive paper by Thomas Wilson (1832-1902), a curator at the U.S. National Museum, demonstrating the global spread of the swastika symbol[1466].
Another site demonstrates the widespread use of the swastika and its variants in commercial iconography(d). In April 2014, a well-illustrated report(k) revealed that a 7,000-year-old piece of pottery with a swastika on it was discovered in Bulgaria.
I recall that my native Dublin had a firm, founded in 1912 by a Mr. Brittain, called the Swastika Laundry, which had their vans liveried in bright red with a white swastika on a black background. The business lasted into the 1960s. However, the use of the swastika in Ireland goes back much further, perhaps to pre-Christian times. St. Brigid, one of Ireland’s patron saints, is generally thought to be a Christianised version of the Celtic goddess Brighid. St.Brigid’s Cross, a popular symbol of the saint found all over Ireland, is considered to be a variant of the swastika. One Indian gentleman was amazed when he encountered a swastika inside the Catholic church at Ballintubber Abbey in Co. Mayo(s).
James Churchward claimed that the swastika was a symbol of his invented civilisation, Mu, while Robert Stacy-Judd speculated[607.243] that it had originated in Atlantis. Others have attempted(e) to link the swastika and its presentation in red, white and black to be in some way connected with Plato’s reference to the colours of the rocks found in Atlantis. In a 1959 article in Sykes’ Atlantis magazine by Arthur Louis Joquel II declared(o) that the swastika had been the symbol of Atlantis! No evidence was offered.
Leaving conjecture aside it can be demonstrated that the swastika was an ancient Hindu symbol and also used in the Indus Valley civilisation(b). In fact, the use of the swastika has now been traced back to circa 10,000 BC. This image is included in the incredibly well-illustrated lecture by Robert M. Chapple, which also includes a large section with many images of swastikas used from early Christian times in Ireland until the present(r).
While Heinrich Schliemann was excavating Troy at Hissarlik, he discovered many hundreds of swastikas throughout the site and was responsible for bringing what had been, until then, a benign symbol back to Germany, where it was later hijacked by the Nazis and came to represent oppression(n).
The long honourable history of the swastika should not be erased because of its abuse at the hands of the Nazis. The residents of Swastika in Ontario, have for decades steadfastly refused to change the name of their community, which has been in use since 1907.
In 1925, the people of Panama’s indigenous province of Guna Yala adopted a flag having a black left-facing swastika, said to represent the four directions and the creation of the world(p). Also in the Americas, Gary A. David has highlighted the use of the swastika in a more benign way by the Hopi of northern Arizona along with its innocent use in other cultures including the Minoans, as well as in 20th century USA(q).
Jacques Gossart wrote a book[341] on the history of the swastika and in Denys Eissart’s now inactive website, L’épopée atlante (The Atlantis Epic) he devoted a page to a discussion on the subject(a). More recently Richard Cassaro has published two articles(f)(g) highlighting the extensive use of the swastika. The articles are well illustrated including some fascinating images. He also attempts, unsuccessfully in my view, to suggest a link between the swastika and Atlantis. A Reclaim the Swastika website(j) is campaigning for the promotion of the swastika as a spiritual symbol as it had been in the past.
A number of large swastika-shaped features have been spotted from the air(m). In 2007 it was announced(t) that “The Navy plans to spend $600,000 for ‘camouflage’ landscaping and rooftop adjustments so that 1960s-era barracks at the Naval Base Coronado near San Diego will no longer look like a Nazi swastika from the air.”
(a) Svastikas (L’épopée atlante) (archive.org)
(b) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/IndusValleySeals.JPG
(h) https://www.academia.edu/2951519/The_astronomical_origins_of_the_swastika_motif
(i) https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/symbol-swastika-and-its-12000-year-old-history-001312
(j) https://web.archive.org/web/20201108132629/http://reclaimtheswastika.com/
(k) https://atlanteangardens.blogspot.ie/2014/04/7000-year-old-swastika-pottery.html
(l) https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/symbol-swastika-and-its-12000-year-old-history-001312
(m) https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/04/another-giant-swastika-spotted-this-time-near-roswell/
(o) Atlantis, Vol.12, No.3, March/April 1959.
(p) http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180813-guna-yala-the-islands-where-women-make-the-rules
>(q) https://www.academia.edu/8661508/The_Four_Arms_of_Destiny_Swastikas_in_the_Hopi_World_and_Beyond
(s) https://deshika.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/a-swastika-in-a-catholic-church/
(t) The New York Times, Sept. 27 2007
Atlantis and 2012
Atlantis and 2012. Some years ago there was a widespread rumour that an impending global disaster was about to befall us in December 2012, supposedly based on a particular reading of Mayan inscriptions. However, this interpretation was hotly disputed and of course, nothing happened, apart from the usual assortment of disasters which is the lot of the inhabitants of this cosmic speck that we live on.
A number of commentators attempted to link this ‘promised’ catastrophe with the story of Atlantis. One of the better known is Frank Joseph who has earned a comfortable living over recent years with his output of books on the subject of Atlantis. Not wishing that particular revenue stream dry up added Atlantis and 2012[0694], in which he claimed that the Mayan calendar was developed by Atlanteans and Lemurians. He suggests that we may be nearing the beginning of a new Ice Age invoking Hopi, Inca and Norse mythologies in support of his claims. Joseph’s credibility should now be clear. When the world did not end, Joseph revised his book and republished it as Atlantis and the Coming Ice Age[1074] in 2015!
We were then told to forget 2012, in fact, we had only days left. Harold Camping a then ninety-year-old American fundamentalist Christian decreed that May 21st 2011 was the date of the ‘Rapture’ and the end of the world as we know it and when that passed uneventfully, he then declared October 21st as the date. He had previously suggested May 21st 1988, then Sept. 6th 1994 as the date of the Second Coming of Christ. Understandably, Camping’s biblical interpretation has been heavily criticised by scriptural authorities and lay people alike(a). Camping died in December 2013.
Camping had spent large amounts of money publicising his daft ideas. As usual, there were fools prepared to believe all this 2011 or 2012 nonsense. For my part, I planned a special holiday in 2013 to celebrate my 70th birthday. Which did occur.
Chris McCann
Nevertheless, the spirit of Camping lived on in the person of Chris McCann (left) who announced that October 7th 2015 would be the Earth’s last day. It seems that this silliness is unending(h).
In 2010 a British service entitled Post Rapture Pet Care, run by atheists, offered to look after the pets of fundamentalist Christians when they are taken up to Heaven in the Rapture, for a fee of £69.99. A similar service is on offer in the US named Eternal Earth-Bound Pets.
National Geographic offers a rational explanation(d) of the reality behind this whole 2012 cynical scaremongering exercise. However, a somewhat less restrained view of the 2012 con job is provided by a ‘must read’ website(e)that highlights the harm being done to young and vulnerable people by this nonsense.
A recent discovery in Guatemala, reported in June 2012(f), has provided further evidence that the 2012 alarmist claims are unfounded and no more credible than the prognostications of Harold Camping. Let me spell it out, the latest find simply records that December 2012 will bring a Mayan time cycle (a baktun) to an end while another one will begin, in the same way, that we make a fuss at the end of a year, century or millennium.
However, for those that might be disappointed when 2013 arrives uneventfully, I can now reveal that in 2016 we shall, at last, have our catastrophe or so says Sylwester Kornowski(g). In a 94-page stew of religion and ‘science’, we are assured that April 2nd 2016 will bring on the cataclysm!
But don’t despair if 2016 fails to destroy us, because a newer prognostication is certain that 2027 will finally finish us off. Nevertheless, before getting too excited, it may be no harm to recall the words of Albert Einstein……“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
(a) https://www.cogwriter.com/harold-camping-may-21-2011.htm
(b) See: Archive 2739
(e) See: https://web.archive.org/web/20140811054919/https://2012hoax.wikidot.com/oldstart
(f) https://phys.org/news/2012-06-maya-archaeologists-unearth-monument.html
(g) https://www.cosmology-particles.pl/files/GtoG.pdf (Mercifully now offline)
Blumrich, Josef F. *
Josef F. Blumrich (1913-2002) was an Austrian space engineer with NASA (1959-1974)(f). He is best known for his 1973 book[692], The Spaceship of Ezekiel, originally published in German. In my
opinion, this single underrated book did more to scientifically underpin the ‘ancient astronaut’ theory than all the rather questionable output of Erich von Däniken. In 1974, Blumrich contributed(c) a synopsis of his ideas to the UNESCO publication, Impact of Science on Society.
Nevertheless, there are aspects of Blumrich’s book that have been criticised(b).
His lesser known volume, Kásskara und die sieben Welten[693] (Kasskara and the Seven Worlds), was written in 1979. This book recounts the history of the Hopi Indians as told to Blumrich by Hopi chief White Bear Fredericks who tells of a war between Kásskara and Talawaitichqua, which White Bear identified as Mu and Atlantis respectively. He also dates the existence of ‘Atlantis’ to at least 80,000 years ago. While this may dismay or delight depending on one’s preconceptions, I would suggest that the introduction of Atlantis and Mu into White Bear’s narrative was a device to make the story more accessible to outsiders.
More can be read about White Bear and Hopi beliefs in an extensive article by Shawn Hamilton(d), a committed student of native American culture, who has recently published more on Graham Hancock’s website.
Martin Freksa has published[691] excerpts from the book, while elsewhere a forum(a) discusses Blumrich’s credibility.
(a) https://www.cosmophobia.artelis.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=60 (offline April 2016)
(b) https://www.spaceshipsofezekiel.com/index.html
(e) https://grahamhancock.com/hamiltons4/
(f) https://www.eisenwurzen.info/ing-josef-franz-blumrich-konstrukteur-und-schriftsteller/ (German) *
Freksa, Martin
Martin Freksa (1945- ) is a German historian and the author of Das Verlorene Atlantis, a volume [303] that covers familiar ground but interestingly includes a comparison between characters in the Atlantis story and those of eastern mythologies, for example similarities between Zeus and Krishna. This book has now been translated into English and published under the title of Traces of the Atlantic Civilisation[691].
Freksa suggests that the apparent references to atomic warfare in the Mahabharata could be an allusion to a war involving Atlantis. He also suggests that this use of atomic weapons caused a rupturing of the earth, which led to the Biblical Deluge and the destruction of Atlantis. He dates this event to 3100 BC. The Atlantisforschung.de website has published excerpts from Freksa’s book relating to the war in the Marhabharata(a).
>Freksa also assumes that an earlier world catastrophe, caused by an impact in the western Atlantic, took place about 11,000 years ago. Atlantisforschung also includes a review of a book(b) by Lutz Gentes who recounts the instances of high technology that existed in ancient India.<
Freksa refers to the work of the Austrian writer, Josef F. Blumrich, who is best known for The Spaceships of Ezekiel. Blumrich, a NASA engineer also investigated the traditions of the Hopi Indians which retained a memory of flying machines and also a recollection of Atlantis going back at least 80,000 years.
For me, Freksa’s credibility as a historian was undermined by his acceptance of the hoax perpetrated by Paul Schliemann nearly a century ago.
(a) https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.atlantisforschung.de/&prev=search
Hopi Indians
The Hopi Indians, currently settled in northeast Arizona, are the descendants of the Anasazi who in turn are believed to have had links to the Aztecs.
Another site associates them with the Maya(b)(c). Several writers have tried to suggest that the Hopi had an early connection with Atlantis employing a highly subjective interpretation of their traditions and flood myths.
Thomas O. Mills, author of The Book Of Truth: A New Perspective on the Hopi Creation Story [1844], offers the intriguing suggestion that there is a link between the Hopi and Egypt’s Valley of the Kings(e). For good measure, Mills has also claimed a Hopi connection with Stonehenge(f). and produced another short book, Stonehenge – If This Was East [1845].
When Robert Bauval & Adrian Gilbert published The Orion Mystery [1707] in 1994, we were happy to follow the ensuing debate on the reality of what became known as the ‘Orion Correlation Theory’ (OCT) and the large pyramids at Giza. Now, the proposed matching of the alignment of the stars in Orion’s ‘belt’ with the pyramids at Giza has been extended to include other structures around the world. Apart from Giza, one site(h) lists the Chinese Xi’an Pyramids, the Teotihuacan Pyramids in Mexico and, unexpectedly three Hopi Mesas!
Gary A. David has endorsed the Hopi alignment, incurring an accusation of dishonesty by Jason Colavito(g).
Others have associated the Hopi with UFOs and the supposed disasters that were due in 2012.
One of the traditional Hopi tales points to a sunken land in the Pacific, Kássara, as their original homeland, which they had to flee as it began to slowly sink(i).
There is now a website(a) dedicated to the Hopi and their petroglyphs as well as a number of other related papers from Gary A. David. In one(j) of which he proposed that the Hopi had their own Orion Correlation tradition displayed over 200 miles on the Colorado Plateau where according to David “either an ancestral Hopi ruin or an inhabited Hopi village directly corresponds to each major star in Orion.” David also returns to Egypt where apart from the Giza OCT, advocated by Bauval and Gilbert, he claims that some of the stones of Nabta Playa also seem to Correlate with Orion citing the work of Thomas Brophy [1510]. Also See: Josef F. Blumrich
(a) https://web.archive.org/web/20180322212308/https://archive.cyark.org/hopi-petroglyph-sites-intro
(d) https://colorado.academia.edu/GaryADavid
(g) https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/an-orion-correlation-on-the-hopi-reservation
(h) Archive 6472 | (atlantipedia.ie)*
(i) https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-folklore/k-sskara-sunken-land-hopi-ancestors-009331
(j) https://www.academia.edu/36510961/Orions_Global_Legacy_A_Celestial_Plan