The Oppenheimers of archaeology?

"And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night."
E.A. Poe, Masque of The Red Death.


The news is filled with stories about archaeological digs.
All over the world researchers and scientists examine the remains of old settlements, fortresses, dwellings, and even graves for answers to questions about our past. By piecing this centuries long study together we get a better picture of our history. Combined with the narratives of the period - the stories told by people at the time and recorded for us to read - the archaeology fills out the picture. Often adding details thought unimportant or not understood by the people of the time. Sometimes these researchers are left with more questions than answers, and at others mysteries are solved.
Archaeology has given us much insight into the human condition.
Archaeology, like history, is a passion of mine.
Archaeology, like all forms of inquiry, can be hijacked and abused.
There are many ways the physical evidence of our history can be manipulated in order to benefit some group or ideology.
Perhaps the most nefarious is one we see at play right now, under the streets of London.

In London, currently, there is a team of specialists working with a dig team to unearth a plague pit. It is thought victims of the back death were buried in this pit, and the 'mystery' of what exactly that pathogen was and how it worked, along with questions about immunity, are all said to be the reasons for exhuming these human remains. These remains are, after all, graves - even if very old ones. As in all archaeological digs, the act of opening a potential (or literal) grave is weighed. The justification in this case is the 'black death'.

If we, my humble readers, were to assume that all men where good, and that all efforts where honest, and that a pathogen like the 'black death' would be off no use to anyone but the people who fight diseases and design medicines to save us from them.... well then we can stop reading here, and head back to our daily tasks without so much as another thought. We are in safe hands.

If, on the other hand, we are to be even the slightest bit sceptical of the motives of the people with the influence to arrange the opening of a plague pit in London then  we must consider some darker possibilities. Possibilities of a decidedly more Faustian order. What if some of the people funding this dig are not interested in cures, but in something else entirely?

The black death was a brutal killer. It destroyed entire nations, cause religious panic, and lefts entire settlements empty.
It killed hundreds of millions in Europe alone.
A huge fraction of mankind was killed by this plague like disease.
The dead piled up so high, they were buried in lime pits or burned in pyres.
It was a hellish pandemic. Literally the stuff of mediaeval nightmares.
The exact nature of the pandemic is still unknown.
The disease itself remains somewhat of a mystery and a controversy.
Could modern science cope with the black death? This is the question we are told is at hand. But is there another one?
Yes. Indeed, there is.
Could the black death be improved upon and weaponized? Now this question is a scary one.
Let's honestly hope and pray the answer is a resounding 'Hell, no'.
But, if there is any chance the black death can be weaponized,  the people digging this pit have considered this.
That like some modern day Oppenheimer they knowingly open Pandora's box. They hope what they find is used for good, and to prevent death - but at the same time they  must understand what could happen if this kind of discovery was to fall into the wrong hands. They know that what they find could possibly be (mis)used to kill millions, maybe even billions.
If this is the potential price for the answers they seek to the questions they find most interesting, we must ask ourselves: Is that a gamble we are all willing to take?
If I were in there shoes, I would like to think I would not do it. But, I would refuse knowing someone else would, and perhaps that is worse.
Well, willing or not - the dice have been thrown. We must now hope the 'black death' proves to be useless to the bioweapons industry.
Let's hope the madmen are disappointed.

FULL STORY HERE

The History of Evil: A Series.

One of the reasons for publishing this blog has been to convey some ideas that are not too popular, sometimes a little scary, and often occupy what is known as the 'fringe' of modern science, sociology, philosophy, and mainstream historical or political works.

I have not always been a soldier, or worked in the security apparatus.
I have, however, always been a lover of history. I suspect I always will be.
In fact, I hold several degrees in that field.
Even when I am immersed in duties such as the above, I find release or escape in my studies.
I love my histories. My history therapy.

During the (now) years of academic and private research into various fields of study ranging from  philosophy, to occultism, to anthropological studies of aboriginal island cultures, to medieval military orders, to mesoamerican migrations I have often found myself wondering at the moral nature of man.
The age old question of evil was one of the most intriguing and horrifying at once.
Theodicy, the question of how a good universe or a God could allow for evil to occur became an interest.
Notes were made.
Conversations recorded.
Ideas began to form.

My personal opinions and beliefs began to take shape only after some considerable time in which I tried to stay as 'open' as possible to new ideas and concepts. I wanted truth, not consolation. I wanted to understand, not fall back into the intellectual malaise of apathy.

Sometimes I found myself altering my 'inherited' or traditional forms, sometime reinforcing them.
I was sanely and logically able to rationalize and reconcile evil with just the slightest faith in purpose or meaning.
As long as there was a purpose, evil could safely be .
This was a pretty easy first step.
Without purpose there could be no evil (or good)- just random chance and the lens of perspective.
But purpose is clearly found in many things. Purpose is not only logical, and demonstrable - it is also experiential. And thus with purpose accepted, evil is defined.
We know we have a reason, or purpose for being and it is equally clear to all functional minds that evil is apparently contemptuous of that purpose.
Even, it could be said, counter to purpose.
So in it's opposition to purpose, evil finds itself locked in the paradox : It too is enthralled to purpose. It immediately undermines itself, almost as if in spite of itself.
In seeking to defeat the ultimate purpose, it becomes the arch purpose and the paradox is born.
Here and many times more we seem to encounter a personality(s) associated with evil.
Is this a mirage or projection, or as our traditions suggest is there a Devil?
A tragic court of demonic minds?
This too, will be a common thread in this series of posts.
The nature of evil. The various ideas and ideals associated with it, and some of my own experiences and how they made me view these spooky aspects of a dark subject.
We will see time and again how evil never wastes a chance to diminish and even destroy itself.


Always this evil, this force majeure  or  devil  remained there.
Ever potent, or perhaps more properly 'anti-potent'.
Waiting to rob potential.
To destroy any choice and chance it may destroy.
It stands as a contrast to the purpose.
Like a shadow cast on a bright ridge in the snow.
Even in the blinding light, the shadow defines the ridge.   Despite the dune field of white snow, the deep blue sky and searing sun - we only  see the shadow. It grabs us with it's darkness.

I began to wonder what parameters drove evil.
Why it's shadows are cast? Why are so many of us drawn into them?
Could it be predicted? To what ends it works....

As I had in my more mainstream studies, and indeed in much of my 'security' work, I began to see patterns. To locate outcomes and reverse the flow of events.
To follow the current of evil to the river, and then to it's sources.
To do a sort of 'history of evil'.
A kind of play book for the work of darkness.
By studying it's specifics, I mean to come to understand it's anti-purpose and it's methods.


What I found was a thread of events, personalities, conflicts, and barbarous 'traditions' and 'movements' that permeated the history and mythology of mankind.
Evil seemed a kind of arrogant 'grand work' that seems to flourish and culminate in the destruction of potential, hope, and happiness. It seems to be guided. Intelligent, and incredibly envious.
A kind of project in fear, despair, futility, greed, rage, lust, and sadism.
A projects designed to undermine some other, greater, work.

Follow me then - if you dare- deep into the river of evil.
Find it's source and discover why it winds the way it does.
In understanding it, you may better come to understand what 'work' it seeks to undermine and who it seeks to destroy - including itself and all those that support it.

In understanding learn how to detect, avoid, and reduce evil when it's inky shadow enters your world.
In seeing the shadow, learn the direction of the light.

Ancient Climates and the Modern Cult of Climate Change

How I became interested in the climate change debate:

In the year 2000, I was for a while in Newfoundland and Labrador. I had a couple of weeks free, and decided to take my son to see the 1000 year anniversary of the settlement at L'anse Aux Meadows, at the very tip of the Island of Newfoundland, Canada's Eastern most Province.
Today the park, archaeological zone, and reconstructions of the settlement are very remote, but easy enough to reach for a determined North American traveller. I say that because my European friends think a 30 minute drive or bus ride is a vast distance - and this takes several hours from the ferry port in the south, or 14+ hours from the Provincial capital of St John's. But it a beautiful scenic drive past Fjords and mountain lined coasts on a modern Highway called 'the Viking Route' or 'Sea to Sky Highway'. Eventually you end up in St Anthony's, a small , but full service, town on the top of the Island on the coast known as 'Iceberg Alley', which as the name implies is a great place to view Icebergs in the summer, as they drift by and break up off the coastline.
The adventure would have been wonderful if it had just been about the natural beauty of the place, but being a life-long student of medieval history, I found it to be a wonderful experience to visit the ONLY confirmed site dating to the middle ages in Canada.
Once there I immersed myself in the 'Sagas', or Norse tales of the first landings, colonization, and eventual abandonment/dissolution of the settlements in Newfoundland and Greenland. These are fantastic sounding stories, but backed up by real data. The data consists not just of archaeological finds, but of genetic traces in the native populations of these regions.
One of the aspects that struck me the hardest about these Sagas is the way the land is described in them in contrast to what it is like now. These tales tell of wild fruits growing, including grapes (one region was known a 'Vinland' for exactly that reason), abundant woodlands, and very different types of sea life. These too have left traces. But today, and for hundreds of years, this land is much different. In is a grassy plain, spotted here and there with small forests of stunted pines. Only the moose and the squirrels remain - along with a very hearty bread of fishermen.
So, what happened prior to the year 1000 AD that created a warmer climate in the Northern Hemisphere? I have heard all sorts of stuff, most of it based on pseudo science and conjecture.
What we actually have is an enigma. A cycle presents itself that is evident throughout the historical record. The world warms and it cools. Sometimes the changes seem to be global. In other cases it seems to be regional.
What is evident about the changes we see today is not the causes or end results. We are almost as much in the dark on these important questions as the Norse were.
What is truly apparent is the modern astrologers, known as climate scientists, know the shift is coming. Like some ancient skryer or star-priest who knows an eclipse is approaching, they USE that change to their advantage by pretending to know the reason WHY and how to appease the angry Sun god. Just as the ancient seer was a tool for the people in power, so is our modern scientific community. Just as the ancients required, they seek the blood of infants and innocents and heavy taxes on the common man. We must 'sacrifice' in order to save 'the earth'. Only today they call the sacrifice 'abortion', 'euthanasia', 'eugenics', 'population control' or the ever popular 'bioethics'.

I will sum it up with a verse that says it all, from the good Book:

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."
Ecclesiastes 1:9

The 'educated' elite

Education.
Not many words inspire so much controversy.
It is a descriptive word that means accrued knowledge.
One may be self educated, schooled, home educated, have a field education, be considered under educated, semi educated, or over-educated.
It is often meant as a compliment.
But, it is also a subjective word and often used to insult or demean those it is used for.
'That uneducated, ignorant, fool' or 'get an education' is the modern 'polite' way of saying: You're an ignoramus.
In our self obsessed society, education is seen as a pathway to greatness.
We all want our children to get 'the best possible education', without any thought as to what type or what they will gain from it other than material wealth and social connections.  Students see education as a means to an ends: It will get them a 'dream job' or a 'career they will love'. This, obviously, can be true - but it can also lead to a very real disillusionment. How many grad students change their Major study, for example, only to have to restart or change schools?
How many people really love that 'dream job' they finally land?
Then there is the elitism that our modern concept of education brings with it.
In our largely positivist academies of today, education equates to  understanding the truth of a matter. This is, of course, nonsense. A catalogue of presumptions does not lead one any closer to truth than say a box of comic books, or a decent record/cd collection. It is nice to know, and fun to listen to - but truth?
Nope, sorry Prof, that is objective. It is not something we learn, it is something we experience because it just IS the truth.  I cannot relate how many times I have heard, personally, very educated men make presumptions about the reality we live in - especially war - that are just so unrealistic that they HAD to come from a book and not any real experience.
What's worse is that this educated elite - who's influence is felt in every aspect of our lives from sham economics, to shitty foreign policy - are able to silence the 'under educated' masses like some medieval Pontiff. A wave of the hand and a sneer silences the conditioned peoples of our advanced culture from objecting to obvious violations of common sense and truth. The silence is self imposed (most of the time) by a fear, like some character in the children's story 'The Emperors New Clothes', of seeming 'uneducated'. Like sheep they agree! 'He must be right, look at how educated he is' etc.
These elites take an idea (again a presumption) and run experiments with our lives, as if we were animals in a lab.
Social engineering, for example, from eugenics to communism are direct products of an over educated elite.
OVER educated? 'Cannot be done' you may say. You would be wrong.
There are many people today who think that the answers to all the mysteries and wonders of life can be explained in terms of formulas and chemical acts. These poor souls have been indoctrinated by the elite. They actually believe it is just a matter of looking it up, or doing some research and paradise on earth can be made real. The cost? No matter. The uneducated (the rest of us) don't know what is good for us, in their minds. They will 'free' us of our ideas by EDUCATING us.
Re-education (prison, brian washing) camps are the mainstay of totalitarian regimes historically, and are becoming increasingly accepted by 'free' societies.
Don't feel comfortable around certain people? You need to be re-educated.
Say something in anger? Get in a fight? You need to be educated.
Think 2+2=4? Time for a re-education!

Education is important, it is essential for a advanced and pluralistic society; but it is only a tool.
Tools may be misused, abused, and even weaponized. Education is just such a tool. When held in the right 'hands' it can perform wonders. When misused it creates an elite of Theocratic proportions.
Further education does not equate with intelligence or truth, and certainly does not mean 'good'.

So? Use your (open) mind. Question all you see and hear.  Try your best to be good.
And...if you have time and the inclination, get an education of the type that suites YOU best. Maybe that is a trade skill, maybe agricultural work, maybe academic studies... but, for goodness sake, don't buy into the rubbish of over educated elitists.

I will sum up (har har) this little rant with an all time favourite song by an all time favourite band that has pinned this issue down. Enjoy!

The Beast of the Golden Dawn

In the history of Heresy, anti-religious sentiment, and outright paganism there are a few modern names that jump out at the reader. None could be more infamous than Aleister Crowley.
Self described as 'The Beast 666' and a practiser of sorcery and ritual bestiality he would become known to his contemporaries as 'The Wickedest Man in the World'.

Crowley was born the son of a preacher, and raised in a religiously devout home. He seemed, in his childhood, bound for the same path.
Upon the death of his father, whom he worshipped, Crowley felt utterly betrayed by religion and God, and decided to embark on a path that would lead him to eventual ruin in every way conceivable.
Crowley was not an atheist, nor a nihilist - he believed in 'Magik'. He joined an exclusive society known as the Golden Dawn, and practised his 'art' to such an extent he was elevated to the highest ranks, until he decided it was not enough.
Crowley wanted to pursue the darkest of arts, 'free' of the flimsy moral constraints such organizations seemed to adhere to.   In order to do this he broke with the 'Dawn', and eventually formed his own cult of acolytes and followers called the Temple of Thelema.
His story is as infamous as it is otherworldly.
I will be writing a piece on his ideas soon, and in my research I found this excellent documentary which is freely available on YOUTUBE (at least in my region).

Check it out if you dare!

A dish of Black Death

An article in the UK's Daily Mail outlines a new 'discovery' or find that seems to indicate that researchers have discovered the pathogen responsible for the dreaded black death..and apparently it is still about today!


"DNA taken from the skeletons of plague victims in medieval London has unearthed a shocking revelation – the Black Death is still present today.
Bodies of victims, who were buried in a mass ‘plague graves’ in the capital, show that part of the same sequence of genes still exists, hundreds of years later.
The Black Death claimed the lives of one-third of Europe's population in just five years from 1348 to 1353."


In a rather cocky, and typically Brit-o-scientistic fashion the articles author delcares:
"Scientists have now confirmed that Yersinia pestis which is known to cause cases of the plague today was also responsible for the brutally damaging bubonic plague which almost wiped out Europe."

Not to worry though, because "the modern day bug spreads much more slowly and is far less deadly."

So, while no news is good news....it also means no grants. The question is what becomes of this pathogen now it has been isolated and these scientists have their curiosity satiated (for now).  Sure some history books will be updated and there will be much talk about how the pathogen arrived etc (delivery);But what happens to the nasty little killer bug in a dish when all the rich guys send all the nerds home and close / change the lab?  Should we 'trust' them to eliminate this stuff. Is yet another genie now out of the bottle? Another Pandora's box opened by reckless curiosity?
What happens to the Dish of Black Death?
The soldier and the historian in me say 'weapon'.
The father and uncle say 'not again'.