The Wisdom of the Ancients

© Brian Allan 2004

Word Count: 2,766

*Authors Note* There have been many attempts to explain the intellectual development of the human race in terms outwith the processes of natural evolution. Although some of the explanations are unusual in the extreme, in this article I will present a few of them without any bias, because in common with all religions they are an expression of faith. Due to the unavoidably contentious nature of this article, I wish to state clearly from the outset that I have no intention of slighting or impugning any particular religious beliefs

Thoth the Scribe

It has frequently been suggested that the creation of humankind was not just the result of a random pooling of chemicals which, over millennia, just happened to eventually coalesce into primitive single celled amoeba, which then continued to evolve into the multitude of species that currently inhabit the planet Earth. Rather, the theory goes that for some reason, humanity as we know it now is the result of direct genetic manipulation by races not indigenous to this world.

Although the conventions of Christian and other religious beliefs, continue in a half-hearted manner to maintain that all of humanity descended from the divinely created Adam and Eve, except for fundamentalist and charismatic sects, even they realise that this simply is not and cannot be the case. While none of this information is new and has been widely written about elsewhere, the genesis and evolution of mankind's curiosity, intelligence and inherent ability to absorb knowledge is not so well known.

While much of humankind's intellectual development came about as a natural learning process, there still remains the almost intangible impression that there exists a seminal 'mother lode' of information hidden in various locations dotted around the world. This archive is allegedly concealed in 'libraries' each containing separate elements of the knowledge, esoteric and otherwise, that we need to survive and evolve as a species. Periodically, usually in response to a specific need, some of this knowledge percolates inconspicuously into the public domain and is disseminated into the world at large. Perhaps this reservoir of hidden knowledge has been responsible for every watershed in human evolution from the development of language, writing and the wheel, to the discovery of nuclear fission and every technological and humanitarian advance in between. It has been speculated that only a very select few individuals have access to these storehouses of information and their location. This vital knowledge has been handed down through the lineage of especially selected, genetically modified families whose hidden agenda is the stewardship of civilisation itself. It is likely that for reasons of security, these families are unknown to one another, each only having knowledge of their own particular piece of the whole.

By their very nature the location of these libraries is the most closely guarded secret of all time, they have been known as The Akashic Records that were allegedly made available to Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatski who along with Colonel Olcott and later, Annie Bessant, founded the Theosophy movement. Madame Blavatski went on to produce 'The Secret Doctrine', a seminal work inspired by the Akashic Records that became the cornerstone of Theosophy. Alternately they have been called the 'Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean' and even stranger they are claimed to be contained in certain books of the Torah that were written on tablets of sapphire. One additional linking factor is the material they were inscribe upon; i.e. what we traditionally value as the precious stones set in jewellery.

The use of materials like gemstones is attributable to assumptions about the physical nature of the minerals themselves, which are reputed to operate at specific frequencies that either serve as shields against debilitating, negative energies, or augment existing, beneficial energies. It was thought that by making permanent records on materials like this, then the inherent properties would help preserve the messages and also in some manner 'radiate' their purpose and intent.

This tradition of course finds direct parallels with other modern 'new age' holistic therapies and treatments using crystals and semi-precious stones. However, there may be one additional scientifically based reason for the use of crystalline substances. It is common knowledge that if the photographic plates on which three-dimensional holographic images are stored are broken, each fragment of the plate retains a complete image of the original hologram. Perhaps in this way the information encoded in the emerald tablets received additional protection, should the individual tablet be damaged, the information would still be there complete.

Another alleged source of this hidden wisdom was widely touted during the 1960's in the writings of one T Lobsang Rampa, who in reality was a British journalist named Cyril Henry Hoskins. Hoskins claimed he was the re-incarnation of a deceased Tibetan Lama, Lobsang Rampa, and obtained the inspiration and information for his books from this source. The works he had published, which included 'The Third Eye' and 'The Cave of The Ancients', were full of mystical attributes and supernatural abilities that genuine Tibetan Buddhists rejected and continue to reject as a mixture of wishful thinking and downright nonsense.

For example, in 'The Cave of The Ancients' he claimed that he had seen and actually entered a cave hidden high in the icy wastes of the Himalayas where he discovered a cache of mysterious devices of unknown origin and purpose. The implication was that while not extraterrestrial in origin, they were a legacy from a long dead, technologically advanced civilisation that predated humanity. Even today, there is a hard core of believers who embrace 'Rampaism' as a revealed truth from 'Ascended Masters' in much the same manner as the 'Atherius Society' continues to accept the messages channelled by its founder, the late George King, as originating from spiritual entities including Christ, Buddha and Krishna etc. It is important to understand that in common with Rampaism and other quasi-religious sects, the Atherius Society directly equates benign, iconic religious figures like Christ, et all, with an inextricable amalgam of part spiritual, part extraterrestrial beings who are effectively interchangeable.

Certain books of the Torah on the other hand were supposedly inscribed on star sapphires, which, based on the crystalline structure of these gems greatly enhances the authenticity behind Jewish scriptural lore. For example, when a gem cutter prepares a sapphire for cutting and polishing he cleaves it along weak planes along its axis. When these are rounded off during polishing, some of the stones reflect a six-pointed star the points of which intersect in the centre and extend right around the stone.

Curiously, when a sapphire molecule is viewed in cross-section it forms an equilateral triangle and when two are stacked together they form a perfect Star of David. A recent National Geographic magazine revealed in an article about the nature of lightening, that when a lightening bolt is viewed in cross section it too forms the Star of David and evidently this is also true of a rainbow. These oddities of nature are taken as proof positive that Gods hand is present in the tenets of the Jewish faith and indeed it may be, however it is more likely that it demonstrates the harmony of nature and various disciplines in physics rather than a particular religious belief.

Before leaving this section, it is as well to point out that two Jewish commentaries on the bible, the Talmud and the Midrash, both assert that God created the Torah before He created the world. That being the case, then the Hebrew language was the original language of the planet and each symbol of the language contains the essence of whatever it describes and as such had real power. This may be the reason that many ancient grimoirs and other books of magic were written in Hebrew. Does this also mean that the Tablets of Thoth are written in Hebrew?

Turning now to the wisdom allegedly contained in the Emerald Tablets of Thoth; the entity/God Thoth, was alleged to have been a magician, geometrician and surveyor. In addition, he was also the God of wisdom, writing, medicine art and astronomy and his priests and adherents even claimed that he created the universe using sound. This particular element of the mythology has resonance with the opening words of the bible, that say, 'In the in the beginning was the word', which actually infers that it was the sound of the word that initiated the process of creation. Vibration, resonance and frequency, the three cornerstones of reality that continue to manifest their relevance and truth even today, indeed, perhaps even more so today. So much so, that when the great electrical genius and visionary Nikola Tesla was asked if there was one fundamental secret in the universe, he unhesitatingly said, 'Vibration, resonance and frequency'. The legend surrounding Thoth is not straightforward; according to the Egyptians he was the scribe of their pantheon of Gods, the 'Ennead' consisting of Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. The Ennead enjoy a direct relationship with the Mayan deities referred to as the 'Nine Lords of the Night', and also the unearthly group known as the 'Council of Nine'. It appears that the presence of Thoth and the deities he served has been known to man under different guises throughout history, and if this is the case then they may have been responsible for nurturing humanity as it slowly evolved. Perhaps the Council of Nine, also referred to 'Beings of Light,' still maintains a watchful eye over our continuing development.

Usually depicted as an Ibis headed man, according to Egyptian mystical tradition, Thoth, who was a healer as well as a magician, restored the Eye of Horus that was destroyed when the God Horus fought with his uncle Seth (Set) to avenge the death of his father Osiris. Thoth was also the patron god of Egyptian magicians and occultists and was petitioned in many of the spells encoded in the 'Book of the Dead', such as the opening-of-the-mouth spell designed to reanimate a corpse.

Some corroboration that may link Thoth with both Egypt and a hidden store of knowledge comes from the 'Association for Research and Enlightenment' (ARE), an organisation created in Virginia, USA in 1931, to preserve and circulate the predictions made by Edgar Cayce the so-called sleeping prophet. One of Cayce's prophesies related to the Sphinx or more precisely what was hidden below it. According to Cayce there existed what he called 'The Hall of Records' and in this chamber located deep below the bulk of the Sphinx there was a treasure trove of information detailing the ancient knowledge of mankind that had been transferred from Atlantis at the time of the great flood. While nothing specific is known about the nature of the information, it is surmised that what is contained there covers not only spiritual subjects but technology too. It would be only too easy to start speculating on the nature of the technology, but the few hints still available suggest that amongst other things it contains the reason that Atlantis was destroyed. Is this the same knowledge that Thoth studied, developed and taught to his priests? Did the seed find fertile soil in which to thrive and flourish; is this the seed that one day might even take us to the stars?

Hermes/Thoth

The Greeks associated Thoth with Hermes to the point where the two were virtually indistinguishable and eventually they morphed into Hermes Trismegistus, the supposed author of books on occult, philosophical and religious subjects, and also the progenitor of the word Hermetic meaning hidden or sealed. Ultimately, the dual entity Thoth/Hermes gave his wisdom to his successors as The Book of Thoth or 'The Key of Immortality' which contained secret information capable of allowing the regeneration of humanity and expansion of consciousness to allow humans the ability to commune with their gods.

Perhaps surprisingly, this concept is neither new nor unique and has been the goal of shamans, mystics and psychics for millennia and up to a point it is effective, although since much is attributable interpretation the message is neither constant nor clear.

While this information, although unusual, is just about within the realms of possibility there are rather more extreme views on both Thoth and his emerald tablets. Perhaps predictably, the story also eventually embraces the pyramids and legend of Atlantis, and the claim that no less a luminary than Noah brought the Emerald Tablets to Egypt aboard his Ark. This particular and extreme take on the Thoth mythos suggests that Thoth was an Atlantean who did not actually write the Tablets, but took information that was already there and developed it. The information concerned the history of humanities development and knowledge reaching back into the mists of antiquity and was first given to initiates and adepts who set about spreading the knowledge to all mankind. Evidently Thoth created a mystery school and selected individual priests to whom he taught the mysteries inscribed on the tablets. The priests then divided the tablets and for safekeeping, took them to sites all over the world and this may be the origin of the unique families who even yet preserve elements of the knowledge of mankind. By way of corroboration, according to esoteric Masonic tradition Thoth played a part in preserving their arcane knowledge and returning it to mankind after the flood. In addition to Hermes, Thoth also has been known to a number of civilisations by the following names; The Romans called him Mercury, the Mayans as Quetazcoatl, the Incas as Viracocha, the Atlanteans as Chiquitet, the Persians as Zarathustra/Zoroaster and the Gauls as Theutates. However, a word of warning here, there is still an undercurrent of disagreement amongst Freemasons concerning their origins. While some consider that the roots of their organisation to at least predate the time of Christ, some insist that it goes back no further than the 13th century and their spiritual fathers were the Knights Templar. The official line, in England at least, is that the Masonic Order began in the 18th century with the founding of the English Grand Lodge.

Perhaps the strangest part of all is where the encoded knowledge came from in the first place, biblical tradition tells us that it came from the 'watchers' or fallen angels who were cast out of heaven along with Satan. According to scripture:

1. Armaros: Taught men the resolving of enchantments

2. Araquiel: Taught men the signs of the earth

3. Azazyel: Taught men to make knives, swords, and shields, and to devise ornaments and cosmetics.

4. Baraqijal: Taught men astrology

5. Ezequeel: Taught men the knowledge of the clouds.

6. Gadreel: Introduced weapons of war

7. Kokabel: Taught the science of constellations

8. Penemue: Instructed mankind in writing and taught children the bitter and sweet, and the secrets of wisdom.

9. Sariel: Taught men the course of the moon.

10. Semjaza: Taught men enchantments, root-cutting etc.

11. Shamshiel: Taught men the signs of the sun.

Assuming that this is the case then it may be reasonable to assume that there was indeed some form of 'priming' involved in the dawn of man to ensure that the race developed intellectually in a way that increased the odds in favour of its survival. There was little point in creating an advanced, adaptable, non-specialised, bipedal race if it had minimal intelligence. It is also likely that rather than the 'fallen angels' of scripture; these may well have been a particular race of extraterrestrials with their own agenda. Since these 'fallen angels' were apparently intent of assisting in the development mankind then what purpose did it serve to prevent this happening? It may have been to our ultimate disadvantage that the angels of God fought with and finally banished the fallen angels from the face of the earth.

Rather than spiritual secrets, was this the information given to man, the language of technology designed to free us from the yoke of drudgery? Are these the real secrets inscribed on the Tablets of Thoth, do these scattered mineral fragments contain a form of practical back up to help restart the human race should some cataclysm befall it? If so then where are they and who are the families that stand sentinel over them? If their purpose is to convey concepts of advanced technology to allow contact with the entities that created us, then perhaps the information on these tablets might act rather like the monolith in Arthur C Clarke's masterwork '2001 A Space Odyssey' and signal our readiness to meet races and civilisations immeasurably more advanced and cultured that we are.