the pyramids

The pyramids have been the subject of an incredible amount of literature over the years.  Novels, papers, scholarly works, all have centered on the mystery of the monuments of Egypt.  It is into this mystery that we shall now delve.  To plumb its mysteries, to seek its answers, and hopefully to shed light on why this amazing series of artifacts still has such an incredible pull on us thousands of years after their construction.  There is no shortage of theories, from the mundane to the heavily supernatural, but, let us examine them on the basis of the old adage “Form follows function” and using that, perhaps we can come to an acceptable explanation on why the Pyramids do not seem to fit with any theory in academia.

The standard interpretation of the evidence is that the pyramids were constructed as mortuary temples by the pharaohs of old, and then abandoned for more suitable and secure locations.  This seems incredibly wasteful, and even more so to an ancient ruler.  One would puzzle on why the ancient pharaohs would devote an enormous amount of their kingdoms wealth and manpower on the erection of these massive stone buildings, only to change their minds and be buried elsewhere.  The more disturbing fact is that for some reason,  3 different pharaohs made the same choices in investing time, money, and effort into a structure that they would never use.  There must be something more, another reason for constructing them, and why it was worth the time and effort for the ancients to construct them, aside from the vainglorious desires for posterity on the result of a few godlike Kings.

Time is the constraining factor.  It is difficult to calculate the amount of work and energy that was expended in the pyramids construction because scholars keep looking at it as the work of a single King.  If we suspend this for a moment, and allow for a longer time frame, then we can come to a much more easy pursuit for an ancient people.  Instead of being allotted a mere 20 years for the task, perhaps the Egyptians were interested in much longer timeframes to put up their pyramids.  Perhaps the precision that is displayed is the result of slow painstaking work rather than the desperate work of slaves to their God-King.  This seems much more logical, and when the Giza complex is examined, seems much more in fitting with a gradualist explanation than with a  sudden eruption of pyramid builders in one dynasty, whose works were never repeated.

First of all, it is to be established that the Sphinx enclosure and the Pyramids appear to be of different ages.  The Sphinx enclosure appears to show signs of water erosion, indicating it may be thousands of years older than the Pyramids.  If the Sphinx was indeed carved back when the Nile delta received copious rains, enough to cause erosion to the sphinx, then we must consider that the period of time devoted to its construction is far more than we have anticipated.  This means that the complex itself was a building project executed over thousands of to give us the Giza plateau as we see it today.  If the age of the Sphinx holds true (and the geological evidence shows it to be) then we can show that Giza was an evolving structure, taking millennia to assemble, instead of the short period of pyramid building that is generally ascribed to by the Egyptologists and ancient mysteries writers.

The curious thing about the Pyramids is that they are aligned so well to the cardinal points.  This attracts all sorts of interpretations as to the significance of the alignments, from simple architectural convenience, to cosmic alignments with the constellation Orion.  The fundamental truth is, if form follows function, it only makes sense in planning a site to align it as close as possible with the cardinal points, particularly if it is intended to last for a long time.  They encoded their knowledge in the pyramids to show that there were mysteries worth examining, and as a beacon to future generations that the secrets contained within were far beyond what mortals generally imagined.  There is definitely evidence to indicate the Pyramids were meant to be an eternal witness for something, but, that we shall return to at a later date.

The standard interpretation of the Pyramids is that they are tombs, and upon examination, this appears ridiculous.  First of all, tombs are rarely constructed above ground level, tombs (particularly in ancient times) were chthonic in nature, symbolising the dead’s return to the embrace of mother earth.  The Pyramids are quite obviously above ground level.  The subterranean chambers in two of them do not discount this theory in the least, since the glamorous (and erroneously labelled) sarcophagus is located in the “Kings chamber” well above ground level.  The underground chambers are left unfinished, and perhaps they are the only parts of the Pyramids that rest so ungainly without finishing.  They are left crude, and rough, as though they symbolized the fact that being beneath the earth was a crude rough state.  The magnificence of being and beauty is contained in the architecture above.  This is only part of the evidence that the Pyramids were not intended as tombs.

More curious is the underground chamber within the Giza complex, which lies underneath the Great Pyramid.  It is completely unfinished, and is in stark contrast to the wonderfully engineered galleries and rooms above.  No self respecting ruler would allow himself to be interned in such odious circumstances when offered the splendors of the grand pyramid above.  Think of pouring the huge amount of resources into building the various structures in the pyramids, waiting a decade or more, and then just leaving the room in the base unfinished.  It would make sense if it were somehow not meant to be seen, but, the entrance leads both down and up – the unfinished basement was clearly part of the design and of the project.  This room was obviously not intended for a burial, but, perhaps it served another function instead.  We will return to this mystery in due course.

The most direct evidence disproving the Pyramids’ function of a tomb is that no Pharaoh was ever buried there.  It makes very little sense to go through the effort of building a massive edifice to commemorate your passing to the other world, and then abandon it to be buried elsewhere, much less to do it three times.  Perhaps one mad King might decide to engage in such insanity, but, it would not be repeated.  Pharaohs wishing to rest undisturbed would not advertise their whereabouts so openly.   These are monuments meant to attest to the grandeur of the Nile civilization, instead of vanity pieces for deceased incarnations of Horus.  Thus, the Pharaohs were not attempting to build memorials to themselves, but, rather, they were finishing a master plan, begun thousands of years in the past, to bring us the Giza plateau as we know and see it today.

Another problem that we face is that the Egyptian burials (including the later pyramids) are covered in hieroglyphs.  The Egyptians loved to tell stories, and leave written (carved) records behind, and the Pyramids (if they were meant to be tombs) should be no different.  No ruler left his cartouche behind on the structure to commemorate his achievement, there is little graffiti from the workers, and surprisingly there are no inscriptions or statues to the Gods.  This lack of ornamentation is something very un-Egyptian, and probably originates in a culture that predates the first dynasty as we know it.  The original architects had a plan, and their designs were divinely inspired, and not to be sullied by human hands with graffiti and inscriptions.

If we can accept the fact that the Pyramids were not built over a single Pharaohs lifetime, and instead were the result of a generations long building project, then suddenly the engineering challenges become dramatically simpler.  There is no longer a need to drop a multi ton building block in place every few seconds, nor an inexplicable mystery of why the ancient Egyptian rulers went to the trouble of building a colossal tomb only to abandon it after waiting years to be completed.   Instead, we should see the Giza complex for what it is – a societal project taking hundreds, if not thousands of years. You are looking at the monument of a civilization, and not of a single human being.

It was built slowly – there are many structures besides the pyramids and the sphinx on the plateau, and once we allow for the extra time, the engineering (while still magnificent) becomes more of a technical problem than a timing issue.  The stone blocks could be carefully finished.  The time frame becomes much more manageable, and the labour costs and time devoted become far easier for a bronze age kingdom to bear.   Beyond the pyramids, there are additional problems, the Giza plateau itself, for instance.  Who was the one who flattened the plateau out, and cleared it for building such magnificent monuments?   This is very telling.  If it was a single Pharaoh out for an immortal monument, he would be very unlikely to waste his time clearing the whole place out.  He would just clear his own space and not worry about the others, but ,the entire plateau has been smoothed down for the erection of Pyramids and monuments.  It would be far more plausible if we are witnessing a massive project to assign workers to projects every year for decades or even centuries to bring the project to fruition.

There is the troubling evidence of Khufu’s signature on a stele outside of the Great Pyramid.  However, if again, we accept that the Pyramids were built over generations, this is very easily explained.  The key point is that the stele is outside of the pyramid, and not inside.  It was added at a later date than the construction of the pyramids.  It has been suggested by other authors that Khufu added his name later, to claim the pyramid as his own, however, this seems a leap of hubris that exists even beyond the considerable pride even of the Pharaohs.  It becomes much more tolerable if we see his cartouche as present there commemorating a great event.  Yes, he may have been the Pharaoh during who’s reign the pyramids were completed, perhaps he was commemorating an anniversary of their construction, it is even possible he was responsible for rebuilding them after time or seismic activities had damaged the original structures.  Khufu did have a hand in the pyramids, but, likely it was not by his hand they were conceived and built, but, rather, he was celebrating their completion.

The question then becomes, what function do the Pyramids serve if not as tombs?  The most obvious function is the function they still serve today.  They are awe inspiring to look at, and they are a distinctive feature that marks the Egyptian civilization as distinct and unique.  No one would pass them and brush them off as insignificant.  Anyone who has witnessed them has treated them with fascination and veneration, and this is the exact role that the designers intended. The whole complex is a masterpiece of design, execution, and engineering.  But, it is with the 3 pyramids themselves that we are most concerned.  The internal schematics do reveal an interesting tale.  One that we will consider in more detail.

Only 2 of the pyramids are known to contain inner chambers.  Of those, the more famous great Pyramid is far more intricate than the others.  The obvious connection with ancient times is in the mystery rituals which we know extended back deep into the past.  People were summoned to the area to explore the mysteries of their Gods, and to learn the revealed wisdom of the priests.  Plato alludes to this fact when he discusses Solon in Timeas and Critias, who apparently was allowed a small glimpse of the incredible stories that the Egyptian mystics held onto as part of their lore.   While the veracity of Plato’s account is still open to debate, the fact he acknowledged Egyptian civilization as older, and the sharing of tales with his ancestor is significant.  The Greeks too saw Egyptians as mighty builders, and in possession of great wisdom and knowledge.  The Egyptians were very proud of their long history, and there was no better way to commemorate and celebrate that long history than to display it for the entire world to see on the Giza plateau.

The Pyramids are massive ritual centers, intended to impress initiates with their majesty and power.  Imagine standing in the fields below the Pyramids, being addressed by a priest, possibly with music, and a full blown festival.  Later in the day, you are led into one of the chambers of the pyramid, perhaps one of the subterranean ones if you are an initiate, to show you the mystery of death, while the chambers unfinished secrets are then explained to you.  As you advance in knowledge and power, you are conducted to the higher levels, and eventually to the Kings chamber.  This would also explain the need for two pyramids to have lower chambers, to accommodate the higher number of initiates rather than those seeking ascension to priestly ranks.  After all, not everyone had the luxury, the time, or the ability to continue their education.

The Nile is a harsh mistress, and she demands attention.  Farmers have been able to tap its fertile waters for years, and many rulers of Egypt bragged about their efforts to improve the irrigation and the lives of their people.  However, rulers, priests, and ceremonies can only exist when there is a surplus of food to support them, and this is why the Pharaohs had a vested interest in keeping the harvests high.  It was job security for them, and more importantly, it invested them with the symbolic and ceremonial power to continue to inspire their people to greater heights.  The Egyptians would have wanted to be part of the royal experience, and perhaps were told that every farmers contribution was invaluable to society.  Perhaps the rituals performed at the Pyramids were intended to reinforce a sense of community between upper and lower Egypt.  Most certainly they took place on regular occasions, and were treated with great solemnity.

The Egyptians were a highly ceremonial people, although they perhaps were moulded over time to be this way.  A ceremony of such grandeur would impress anyone who had taken part in it, and surely the priests had ways of communicating the sacred nature of the ground they were on, and the subtle mysteries that were contained in each and every one of the inner chambers, as well as why each pyramid lay where it did.  The great Pyramid is the tallest, so it is natural that it was selected for the most ornamentation inside, with its grand galleries, and multiple chambers, while the other stand as monuments to the outstanding culture that created them.

Being a mystery religion, it is no wonder that no written record has survived to this day.  If we can take the age of the Sphinx as roughly the beginning of the work on the plateau, that means it is over 7,000 years old, older than written language, older than the measure of time itself (outside of primitive monthly calendars)  The priests were entrusted with the job of predicting the optimum times for harvest and planting, and they needed to maintain the wisdom that they passed on.  By initiating their citizens into the lower echelons, they gained a common language with which they could share their teachings, as well as reinforcing the division between the mundane lives of the ordinary farmer, and the somewhat more glamorous lives of the priests and Pharaohs.

Secrecy was paramount.  A mystery becomes less intriguing when it is revealed to the public.  Quite probably only the males were involved in these ceremonies (although it is not possible to rule out female initiation rituals as well)  Perhaps this is a place where warriors came to prepare for combat, perhaps it was a celebration of fertility for the whole land.  At any rate, to cling to the belief that the site was merely a massive mortuary complex is very insulting to the people who worked hard to build these monuments, and to keep them fed.  The fact is, this was an enormous investment of the resources of the land of Egypt, and to invest it in anything that would not be seen as benefiting people from the past and future would be ludicrous.  The ancient people were not fools when it came to accounting, they knew what was within their limits and what was not.  So it makes more sense to construct a ritual center, on the line of the pyramids of South America, rather than massive mortuary temples for dead Kings on a financial basis alone.

Most importantly, to see ancient wisdom coded in the site, we see that there are 3 pyramids there.  3, of course, is a sacred number in virtually all societies.  Pyramids are triangles, with 3 sides, so you see in front of you a symbolic representation of 3×3, bringing us to 9, another number much esteemed by numerologists.  Now, admittedly, numerology is somewhat dubious, and certainly our interpretations of it would be different than how the ancients saw their world, but, the fact is people have taken great pains over thousands of years to represent numbers and meanings within the symbols that they choose.  There is no greater monument to these symbols than the great pyramids.

So, given the time, expense, and symbolism wrapped up in the 3 greatest megaliths in the world, we can see that the Egyptologists tendency to dismiss them as just toms is insulting to their majesty to say the least.  Perhaps there were those who were buried there, but, they were not the focus of the tombs, they were incidental burials.  The overall focus of the pyramids was to provide Egypt with a world class ritual center, unrivaled by any kingdom before or since.  There is no way to engineer and erect such a structure during the (uncertain) lifetime of a single ruler, it only makes sense to re-define the work as a project lasting a century or longer.  Form follows function, and a tomb can be made just as easily in a valley, which is what the Pharoughs ultimately elected to do.  Instead, the Pyramids serve as a witness to events long past, mysteries long forgotten, and a people’s desire to have a sacred space never before conceived.

prophecy

this is a personal anecdote, and thus it will not be long.  I generally do not like to publish things like this, because of the personal nature of their content.

for years I have heard, in one form or another, about ‘the night of the weeping stars’ in my subconscious.  obviously a reference to some sort of cometary or meteor shower.  the night itself is not particularly dangerous, but, it will be a final sign, the one that shows that it is time for humanity to redeem himself to his fellow man, for it is our last change with the creator before far more devastating catastrophes are unleashed.

why i bring this up is that last night, in a dream, i got the specific date of june 20-21.  i didn’t get the year (it might be soon, it might not be, I felt a sense of urgency in this dream, but, nothing else)

Since this is my only public forum, I decided to share it here.  Maybe something is coming, maybe not, but, the night of the weeping stars has appeared over and over in my dreams, in my thoughts, etc.

I’m also fairly certain there was a relatively well known First nations medicine man who also spoke of the night of the weeping stars, but, cannot find the prophecy presently – if anyone remembers it, or can find an online document, I would greatly appreciate some feedback in the comments section below.

(update;  there is a minor meteor shower associated with this, about 5-10 meteors per hour – perhaps the July Gamma Draconids may figure into this, although they generally seem to be a minor event, and the timing is not perfect, but, it is a place to start)

Depression

Depression
In the modern world, we find that there are a number of people who feel fatigued, irritable, and overwhelmed. They feel unable to cope with the world around them, or to function in regular society. There is a medical term for this, and it is called depression. Technically, for it to qualify as a medical condition, you must be suffering from it for two weeks or longer. Yet, casual observation will inform us that there are a number of people who suffer from this who are left undiagnosed; from the grumpy next door neighbour to the co worker who snaps at the slightest stress, our living space is inhabited by people who are, for the most part, depressed in one way or another.
Technically, depression is caused by an imbalance of chemicals in the brain. Small wonder then, that the brain is so directly affected by it. Unlike what most people imagine, it is not like seeing the world through a hallucinogenic pharmaceutical, it is just an overwhelming, soul penetrating feeling of unease, and distress. Unfortunately, with all of us being human, we are all subject to this feeling once in a while – no one can see the rainbow every day. The problem is, in society, we are actively encouraging people to become depressed.
Two of the major causes of depression are diet and stress. With little elaboration, it has been well documented that in our present day society, diets are at an all time low as far as nutrition goes. Sure, there are a few individuals or families who take the time to ensure every meal is as wholesome and natural as it can be. However, for the vast majority of us, a quick stop at a burger joint and a coffee is as close to a regular meal as we get. This means that our brain doesn’t have the materials it needs to synthesize the hormones and chemicals to maintain healthy functioning.
Exacerbating this poor diet is the overall state of processed food and unnatural ingredients that have been introduced. If you look at most recipe books, you won’t see any ingredient list requiring MSG or high fructose corn syrup. However, these are increasingly being packaged in the food that we eat, and studies on them are somewhat controversial, both for and against. Perhaps the most damning factor in these processed ingredients is the fact that as they have become more commonplace, mental distress has also increased its presence. They are approved for use in the food industry, but, lets be honest, the food industry has made mistakes before, as has every science. This is not condemning the food giants for using these ingredients, it is merely meant to point out that they do, and long term exposure to them apparently does have some sort of negative effect on our psychology.
Essentially what we are seeing is a significant population of undernourished brains. This in part explains why we are unable to replicate some of the engineering achievements of the previous century. Instead of engineers who are well nourished, and versatile, we have stress ridden machinists who are trying to make things work. No one went to the moon for 40 years, and we lost the engineering core that had all the basic knowledge. This is why even though that generation worked with slide rules and times tables while we employ supercomputers, we are not necessarily more inventive or productive. The simple fact is that the computers are merely taking over the job of the number crunching accountants that once laboured to produce hundreds of tables for the senior scientist to use. While the senior scientists still have these tables, now they are struggling to interpret them with their brains working at less than peak efficiency. This is how the old cigarette smoking liquor swilling entrepreneurs were able to maintain their lifestyles: because their bodies had adequate nutrition to keep regenerating their cells. In our new “santitized” environment, there is simply not enough real value in our food to keep our bodies going, and this is directly responsible for the relative stagnation in technology (computers and the internet notwithstanding)
Coffee and soft drinks are other culprits. Again, in our fast paced environment, the temptation to reach for that soothing jolt of caffeine to help us power through another day where our brains are at less than full power is far too tempting. But, while coffee alone might have health benefits, the sugar and syrups in soft drinks are not. Our brains are tired and undernourished, so these caffeine laced super drinks are employed with reckless abandon by most people, never considering the consequences. It may just be a cup of coffee to you, but, to your body, it is a chemical dependence employed to make up for the deficiencies in your brain chemistry. Consequently most people self medicate through mochachinos and energy drinks to temporarily supercharge the brain, instead of addressing the root problem: Diet. Without amino acids to build from, our bodies are nothing, and like a car without oil, they will eventually grind down and die. While studies are still ongoing to determine which diet is the most beneficial, the fact is that we must take responsibility for providing our bodies with enough nutrients to power through our problems, instead of reaching for a burger and a coffee whenever we feel tired because of stress.
The prime motivator of depression in our modern world is still stress. No one would be tempted to overdose on caffeine in their days if they didn’t feel pressure to perform. However, the past 30 years of downsizing and offshoring has forced people to push their endurance to the limit. Companies are always looking at employees, and trying to “increase productivity” (read: make them do more work) and in fact, studies show that the average worker today is far more productive than their counterparts were 30 years ago. However, this increase in productivity was achieved with a cost, more and more responsibilities and stress for the employee. This, however, is just the start of the problem.
Companies have increased stress on their workers, but, this is also because of the demands of the marketplace. 20 years ago, you would write away to a TV or radio station, and include your $20 for a transcript of the show, or a copy of it on tape. Those days are gone, and consumers expect instant gratification when they demand something. Instant gratification holds true in all fields now, from customer service, to medical exams. This culture of instant response has generated a two way street. The employees feel overwhelmed trying to keep up with the demand of customers, while when they are customers, feel it is their right to have that same instant demand gratified. On whole, society has sped up, and even though we have been provided with wonderful tools like the internet, the fact is, at some point, someone has to enter that data so that we can check our credit cards and know how much to pay.
The stress carries over into life outside of work. People are still rushing as soon as they get home, to get dinner on the table, if they have children, they might need to get them ready for whatever events the children have planned, and overall, the stress level keeps increasing. No wonder social clubs and even knowing your neighbours is on the decline. After a long day of rushing around after whatever crisis brewed at work, and then coming home to find out that your 6 year old needs a working model of a volcano for a science fair project tomorrow, and neglected to tell you this before 8pm, plus there are still all your emails to check, and you haven’t taken the trash out, its no wonder our undernourished brains are increasingly unable to cope with the overall pressure.
Now the fact is, in nature, stress is a good thing. An animal would not know when to eat and not to if their body didn’t expose them to the stress of hunger. The average prey animal like a deer is under stress every time it hears the wind blow – could that be a wolf waiting in ambush, or could it be one of their herd disappearing? This is the natural state of stress, natures alarm call, waking us up to the fact that something is not right, and something must be done about it. Attention must be paid, resources spent, and the cause of the alarm must be investigated in order to ensure of the survival of the species.
In modern life, quite removed from the predators of the jungle, and the beasts that might hunt us (except in a few cases) our society has hijacked the stress motivator, so that instead of simply looking out for our physical survival, now, as a symbolic species, we are looking out for the survival of our house, our mortgage, our retirement, or our childs school fundraiser. Stress is no longer the natural instinct it once was, it has changed and mutated into an unrecognizable monster that threatens to consume each and everyone in its path. Again, the only response that an undernourished brain can develop to the stress is to reach for more caffeine, and trash food, and try to power through until it is time to rest.
Except studies show we don’t get enough rest. 100 years ago, most people in the world got a solid 8 hours sleep nightly. Now 5 to 6 hours is more the norm for peoples resting time. So, the brain doesn’t get a chance to recharge, to rebuild, and it is forced into another pool of stress the next day. This is why we get irritable, cranky, and don’t want to deal with society – because we are on a never ending treadmill of stress, snacks, and increased expectations.
No wonder that neighbour is always complaining about the state of the fence between your properties, or your coworker sighs whenever you come into the office. Maybe its nothing personal, maybe it has nothing to do with the fence, or you presence, but, the symbol of what they represent. For your neighbour, the fence reminds them of all the other obstacles in their lives. For your coworker, they like you, but, know that when you walk in, the pace of their workplace is going to pick up, and they are not prepared for it. Again, when your brain is chronically starved and stressed, its only recourse is to be able to make predictions based on past experience, and the mind lacks the focus to separate the phenomenon (the stress inducing item) from the person in front of them (who has their own feelings, stress, and depression too)
The only way to resolve this is to figure out a way to prevent people from becoming stressed, without turning the world into some sort of idealized 1960s socialist commune. That, unfortunately is beyond the purpose of this column. Here, the three warning factors for stress in the modern world can only be documented, and hopefully a clever mind will read this and come up with the winning formula for defeating all three. Depression unfortunately requires a holistic solution, you can’t just pop a magic pill and be better forever. Any good therapist will tell you that the pill can only relieve your symptoms, but, to stop the disease, other steps must be taken. There are a variety of programs, and a variety of treatments, and different ones work for different people. There is no magic bullet, only a toolbox of possible strategies to choose from. Your own experience is the only way to find out which is best for you.
The brain is a remarkably complex organism, but, as a group, humans tend to push theirs to far. It seems easier for people to make decisions from behind a desk than it is to lay bricks, but, as a wise man once said, “its better to be a happy bricklayer than a miserable CEO” and this is very true. While we can’t have a world of artists, the fact is, as a world, we need to embrace art within ourselves, and find our own inner muse who will help us discover a world beyond stress, where we can truly be ourselves. So the next time you are caught in the crossfires of someone who is agitated, angry, and confused, remember, they are probably trying to work through problems, with a tired, overworked brain. There is no direct way to help them, but, perhaps if you were just to give them some space, they might be able to figure it out for themselves. Because, at that moment, the last thing they want to do is deal with whatever problem you are posing to them, and confronting them will only make it worse. They must come to these conclusions for themselves, and there is no way outside of professional help to make it work.