| 
			
			
 
 
  
  by Joseph W. Schultz
 
			from
			
			KarenLyster Website
 
			 
 
			(1)
 The following segments will be my impressions of  
			
			The Earth 
			Chronicles, written by Zecharia Sitchin, a set of books 
			concerning the writings of the ancient Sumerians and their 
			ideas with regard to our solar system’s beginnings and Earth’s 
			subsequent history. This history was reportedly given to the 
			Sumerians by the Gods themselves, the Lofty ones, who "from 
			the heavens down to Earth came."
 
 I’ve been reading Sitchin’s books since his first one, 
			
			
			The 12th Planet, was written in 1976, and I have the 
			utmost respect for his scholarship, integrity, and writing ability. 
			I must say I’ve read thousands of books in my life but none have 
			held my interest as Sitchin’s has. After almost twenty years 
			of reading The Earth Chronicles, and re-reading them, they 
			are just as exciting as when I first began! Now, on with the saga...
 
			  
			  
 
				
				About four billion 
				years ago, when our solar system was very young, the Earth, as 
				we know it, did not exist. If we were to name the planets, 
				starting from the Sun, we would have Mercury (Mummu),
				Venus (Lahamu), Mars (Lahmu),
				Tiamat, Kingu, Jupiter (Kishar),
				Saturn (Anshar), Uranus (Anu),
				Neptune (Ea), and Pluto (Gaga). 
				Yes, the Sumerians knew, and had names for, all of the planets 
				in our solar system as recent (or long ago) as six thousand 
				years ago! It was written in one of their early "books" 
				known as The Creation Epic, which predates the 
				Hebrew Genesis by more than a thousand years. The first 
				words of The Creation Epic, given to Gilgamesh, 
				were, 
				Enuma Elish, "When 
				in the heights," just as in the opening of Genesis we 
				read, Berashith, "In the beginning..." Scholars 
				now know that the first few chapters of Genesis are 
				really a condensed version of Enuma Elish. This is important 
				to remember, because the key to understanding pre-historical 
				events (as recorded by the Sumerians) and subsequent historical 
				events, resides with the very personage of Abraham, the
				Father of the Hebrews. 
			The story continues...
			 
				
				At about this time 
				(four billion years ago) a planet, about four times the size of 
				our planet Earth, broke away from another star 
				system in deep space and started a long journey which finally 
				brought it close to our solar system. The name of this planet 
				was Nibiru. It brought with it four moons known as 
				"Winds," the North Wind, the East Wind, the South Wind, 
				and the West Wind. (Later, in extant writings, the 
				Babylonians renamed the planet Nibiru, 
				Marduk, which I will use for the remainder of this 
				narrative.) Our solar system drew Marduk closer 
				and closer because of gravitational forces, until it was 
				trapped, forever to make the long journey to deep space and then 
				back again around our Sun, coming clockwise into our solar 
				system in proximity between Mars and Jupiter. The 
				problem being there was already a planet (about twice the 
				size of our Earth) orbiting between Mars and
				Jupiter! This planet was called Tiamat 
				by the Sumerians (Teom, by the later 
				Hebrews).
 Tiamat had many small moons and one large 
				moon named Kingu. Kingu was in the process of 
				becoming a full planet in its own right, when Marduk 
				and its moons entered the scene. And quite a scene it was! It 
				was the start of a tremendous celestial battle, to be fought out 
				on a titanic scale. As mighty Marduk swung in on 
				an arc that put it on a collision course with Tiamat,
				Kingu (Tiamat’s large moon) came between 
				Marduk and Tiamat. One of the Winds 
				(moons) of Marduk swung into position in 
				front of Marduk to do battle with Kingu.
				Kingu took the first hit as Marduk’s moon 
				struck, and glanced off of Kingu, and now 
				Marduk’s moon was heading straight for 
				Tiamat! Tiamat sent out terrible weapons of destruction 
				toward Marduk’s Moon, but to no 
				avail...The Moon of Marduk struck Tiamat... 
				cracked the mighty dragon Tiamat like a 
				hard-boiled egg... left her there to languish... to wither in 
				pain and humility: its life all but extinguished. Tiamat 
				awaited her fate... Marduk was now ready (next in 
				line) to strike her... but no! It was a near miss. Would 
				Tiamat be spared?
 
 Yes and no! The Wind (moon) of Marduk 
				had taken the life out of Kingu and all but left
				Tiamat lifeless. Tiamat now hung, 
				mortally wounded, in space, awaiting her fate.
 
 The God Marduk observed the Dragon Tiamat as He 
				passed by on his first orbit of our Solar System. Then He moved 
				around our Sun and out into deep space whence He came. Thirty 
				six hundred years later He returned... to finish the Titanic 
				battle He had started with Tiamat. Closer and 
				closer He came, sending out lightning and gravitational nets and 
				awesome weapons toward Tiamat. Tiamat 
				responded with the little life She had left in her... but the 
				Fates had decreed Her destiny. Nothing could be done. 
				Marduk would have His will and His way with Her! Nothing 
				short of celestial rape would take place on that awesome day, 
				four billion years ago. Marduk struck Tiamat!  
				Half of Tiamat was pulverized immediately. 
				The Winds (moons) of Marduk fought 
				with the remaining moons of Tiamat, sending them 
				off into space, to return periodically as meteors. Half of 
				Tiamat was shunted into a new orbit (along 
				with the dead Kingu) between Venus 
				and Mars. Yes, we live on a planet that was once 
				twice its size and was once called Tiamat! 
				Earth is the other half of Tiamat. The pulverized part 
				of Tiamat is now the Hammered out Bracelet of 
				biblical nomenclature... in astronomical terms it is called "the 
				asteroid belt." The dead Kingu is now our
				Moon.
 
 In the awful battle between Marduk and 
				Tiamat, Tiamat was "seeded" with much of the 
				proto-life forms of Marduk. This is also important 
				to remember, as we shall discover during the remainder of this 
				ancient account of the history and cosmology of our Solar 
				System.
 
			(2)   
			To the Sumerians, 
			all of the planets in our solar system were considered Gods. 
			This wasn’t a superstition to them. They had good reason for 
			attributing this appellation to the planets as we shall see 
			momentarily.
 Marduk’s orbit stabilized after its battle with 
			Tiamat/Earth. Every thirty six hundred years it makes 
			its long journey (in a clockwise direction) around our Sun. 
			Astronomers even today are trying to locate "planet X." 
			It is also interesting that some astronomers agree with Zecharia 
			Sitchin’s estimate of Marduk’s size, based on his 
			interpretation of Sumerian and Babylonian texts. If it were just a 
			matter of discovering another planet in our solar system, there 
			would probably be no more excitement generated by the general public 
			than say, when Neptune and Pluto were 
			discovered. But there will be much more to be excited about, 
			concerning the day when our astronomers discover Marduk. 
			Because, if the ancient Sumerians were correct about the existence 
			of Marduk, they were also probably correct about one 
			other "fact" concerning Marduk: it is populated 
			with intelligent beings! Back to our story...
 
				
				About four hundred 
				fifty thousand years ago Marduk made one of its 
				countless orbits around our Sun. But this time was special. This 
				time something happened that would forever change the history 
				of planet Earth. This time a shuttle craft 
				departed from Marduk, with a number of 
				intelligent beings and a scientific payload on 
				board...destined for Earth! 
 No, they were not human beings, as we think of human beings. 
				They had all the attributes of what we would still consider 
				Gods to be today. Even though they lived phenomenal 
				life-spans, they looked just as we humans do. These beings, from 
				their home planet Marduk, had scientific skills 
				that would still seem magical to us today. They had knowledge of 
				genetics, biology, psychology, anthropology, astronomy and 
				countless other disciplines that we are just now reaching for 
				(but not quite mastering). In short, these beings who dropped 
				down from the heavens, four hundred and fifty thousand 
				years ago, might just as well have been the deities
				from out of all of the world’s religious scriptures. As a 
				matter of fact, they were! But I am far ahead of my 
				chronological rendition of Zecharia Sitchin’s Earth 
				Chronicles. Let me continue...
 
 They needed precious metals. Their planet was dying. Their 
				planet’s atmosphere was dying, just as our planet’s atmosphere 
				is beginning to die. They needed gold and other 
				precious metals to "seed" their planet’s atmosphere. Earth had 
				an abundance of gold and other precious metals. The beings from
				Marduk shuttled to Earth from Marduk, four 
				hundred and fifth thousand years ago, in order to mine our gold 
				and other precious metals! And this is exactly what they did. 
				For one hundred and fifty thousand years, they 
				mined the Earth’s gold and other precious metals without 
				the aid of human beings... for there were, as yet, no human 
				beings on Planet Earth.
 
 Yes, they did other things as well. They built settlements (many 
				of them), starting with Eridu (their first space 
				port) in the Mesopotamian Valley area, in the Middle 
				East. Then they built a mission control center called 
				Nippur. They also completed the other settlements 
				necessary for their enormous projects: Larsa and
				Bad-Tibira, as well as Larak, Sippur, Shurupak
				and Lagash. All of these settlements were constructed 
				in the Mesopotamian Valley in such a manner as to 
				form a flight corridor for subsequent shuttle-craft. They also 
				had orbiting space stations for use as holding places for 
				the precious metals that would be ferried to Marduk 
				each time Marduk would return from its long 
				journey around our Sun.
 
 Who were these beings who first came from the 
				heavens to mine Earth’s precious metals? Did they have names and 
				faces? Can we identify them? Yes.
 
 Those beings from Marduk had a Monarchical 
				system of government on their home planet. Their present 
				king was named Anu. His rank was "60" and he was the head 
				of a pantheon of twelve. The members of the pantheon of twelve 
				were all related to each other and were ranked downward from 
				"60". Anu had two sons: Enki, the oldest (by 
				Anu’s wife Antu) and Enlil (by Anu’s 
				half-sister). Succession to the throne went to the son by the 
				half-sister, therefore Enlil had the rank of "50," 
				whereas the oldest son, Enki, had the rank of "40." Each 
				of the wives were ranked "5" under their spouses, therefore 
				Anu’s wife had the rank of "55"; Enlil’s wife had the 
				rank of "45"; Enki’s wife was ranked "35," and so on 
				until the 12 were completed. Never more than twelve and 
				never less than twelve. Each of the members of the 
				pantheon were identified with one of the twelve "planets" in our 
				solar system. (The ancients counted the Sun and Moon as planets,
				Marduk/Nibiru being the 12th planet.)
 
 For those who like full lists the following will suffice:
 
				 
			(3)
 I stated that Anu was the king and head of a pantheon of 
			twelve "gods" on his home planet Marduk/Nibiru. Now might be a good 
			time to sketch in a few more terms. The "beings" from
			Marduk are 
			known by several appellations. The rank and file are known by the 
			term Anunnaki. The twelve "gods," or, more properly, 
			"lofty ones," 
			were known as the Nefilim -- the biblical 
			Elohim. The ones who 
			stayed (for the most part) in the shuttle-craft and orbiting space 
			stations were known as the Igigi.
 
 The rank and file Anunnaki worked in the gold mines of South Africa 
			for one hundred and fifty thousand years. They literally breathed 
			and ate dust from morning till night mining the precious metal 
			needed so desperately by their home planet, Marduk. In the 
			beginning, Enki (expert in many fields) thought the oceans could be 
			mined for gold but the effort was too time consuming and difficult 
			for the relatively small amount of yield. It wasn’t long before the 
			oceans were given up, in lieu of land mining. But after eating and 
			breathing dust for so long, even the "gods" had enough of it and 
			they rebelled big time! No more would they bend their backs and toil 
			endlessly in the ancient mines!
 
 (Because of the animosity and hostility generated between the two 
			sons of Anu, Enlil and Enki (Ea Enki), 
			Anu gave each of them 
			dominion over different areas of the Earth. Enlil would be in charge 
			of the total mining operation but his headquarters would remain in 
			the Mesopotamian Valley area. Enki was put in charge of the 
			mining 
			operations in South Africa. For a time, this worked out rather well 
			-- until the rank and file Anunnaki mutinied -- they refused to work 
			in the mines any longer.)
 
 Enlil, on one of his rare visits to South Africa, had his own 
			mansion and body guards and was sleeping soundly (the ancient 
			writings reveal) when he was abruptly awakened and told that a large 
			party of gold miners were at the gates of his mansion and were 
			threatening bodily harm to all inside. "What is their complaint,"
			Enlil wanted to know.
 
				
				"Why were they at the gates and threatening 
			the great lofty one with bodily harm?" 
 "They refuse to work in the mines any longer...the toil is too 
			much," he was told.
 
 What to do?! This was unheard of. "Find the leader of this rebellion 
			and bring him to me so that I might kill him," Enlil shouted to his 
			body guards.
 
 "But," the body guards replied, "the great god 
				Enki is the leader of 
			these rebels! How can we subdue Enki?"
 
 Enlil thought for a moment and said, "We shall convene the 
				Counsel 
			of Twelve. Summon the Great Anu. He shall settle this dispute and 
			put all of the guilty parties to death!"
 
			Things, however, did not go quite as 
			Enlil thought they would. Yes, 
			the Counsel of Twelve was convened. Yes, the Great Anu sat in 
			chambers, and after Enlil had finished his tirade against the 
			rebellious miners (and of course their leader -- especially their 
			leader) Enki got up to speak. 
				
				"For one hundred and fifty thousand years our brothers have worked, 
			endlessly, in the dirty, dusty mines, constantly bending and 
			bruising themselves so that our home planet’s atmosphere might be 
			spared. They have, day in and day out, slaved in those mines. They 
			have a right to be heard!"
 The Great Anu agreed! 
				Enlil became still. Enki smiled to himself.
 
 "But what is the solution," Anu demands of 
				Enki.
 
 "There is a way," Enki answered. A hush fell over the conference 
			hall as Enki began to speak.
 
 "My half sister, Ninhursag (chief scientist and genetic engineer), 
			has been experimenting with bio-genetics in her 'house of breath,’"
				Enki began...
 
 "She has been experimenting for quite some time and is near to a 
			solution to our problem. She is attempting to "create," through 
			genetic engineering, a lulu -- a mutation of existing animal life on 
			this planet, intelligent enough to take orders, but subdued enough 
			not to rebel! -- a slave- worker is what she is attempting to 
			"create!"
 
 "So be it!," Anu declared. "Do this so that our own people might 
			have respite from the extraordinary toil the mines have exacted."
 
 It wasn’t very long after this historic meeting of the 
				Counsel of 
			Twelve that Ninhursag exclaimed, "I have done it! I have created a 
				Lulu! I have created a slave worker!"
 
			(I shall not go into specifics in this part of my narration 
			concerning just how Ninhursag "created" a slave-worker. For the time 
			being, suffice to say this Lulu was "manufactured" for the 
			sole 
			purpose of working in the gold mines and serving his "gods." This 
			Lulu was a proto-type of what would subsequently be full-fledged 
			human beings. In the beginning, these human proto-types could not 
			procreate.) 
 In the next segment I will tell of the avarice of Enlil and his 
			friends in the Mesopotamian Valley area. They wanted some of
			Enki’s Lulus for themselves -- to serve them -- to pamper them... I shall 
			also speak of the Garden of Eden and how full-fledged humans came 
			into being with the ability to procreate. All this and more as we 
			continue this saga, straight out of the records left by the ancient 
			Sumerians as translated by Zecharia Sitchin in his Earth Chronicles.
 
 
 (4)
 
 It might be profitable to pause, for a moment, and reflect on 
			"Sumerian myth."
 
 Other than the fact that Sumer is the oldest civilization known to 
			man -- a full blown civilization at that, why do many scholars still 
			refer to much of their ancient writings as "myth?" In my opinion 
			there are only two major reasons:
 
				
				1)  Some of their writings tell us that it was the "Gods who came 
			down from the planet Marduk (Nibiru) who started 
				Sumerian 
			civilization long before human beings were "created," and 
			subsequently gave to newly created humans all of the information for 
			their historical writings, and
 2)  the fabulous life-spans of the "Gods" themselves, which, by my 
			calculations, had to cover time-spans of at least a half million 
			Earth years! (That’s a long time for any one "person" to live.) But, 
			what are human beings involved with now? Are we not trying, through 
			science and medicine, to lengthen the life-span of human beings? Are 
			we not involved with the idea of venturing out into space? Certainly 
			we have not as yet accomplished (to any great degree) either one of 
			these human goals, but the important thing is, we would not be 
			trying if we thought these goals were unattainable! Are we merely 
			participating in our own modern myth? I think not.
 
			The difference between most scholars and 
			Zecharia Sitchin is that 
			Zecharia Sitchin proposes that the ancient Sumerian "myths" are not 
			just fabulous stories, told for religious or political reasons, but 
			are, indeed, factual accounts of actual events in our hoary past! 
			Think about this for a moment: would a cave man (brought back to 
			life for a moment) not look at modern man’s inventions as nothing 
			short of implements of the "Gods?" If a cave man came into your 
			living room at about the same time you turned the switch on to your 
			television set, would he not think this was the ultimate in magic? 
			And if he were to write down just that experience for future 
			readers, would not those future readers think of his efforts as 
			nothing more than a "fabulous" story, with no basis in truth? This 
			is the problem scholars have to deal with at the present time -- 
			what is fact? What is fiction? Is there any way to figure out the 
			difference? Sitchin believes there is a way to figure out the 
			difference. He conjectures, for example, that if future events can 
			be predicted, accurately, simply from reading what the ancient 
			scribes of Sumer wrote down, and there would not have been other 
			ways for them to have known of those events, with regard to 
			celestial (and terrestrial) phenomena, then a proper conclusion 
			would be to take what they said as the actual truth rather than mere 
			myth. Later, I will explain the reasoning Sitchin uses in terms of 
			why it is possible for "people" of one planet to live phenomenal 
			life-spans in comparison to our planet’s human life cycle.
 The story continues...
 
				
				The biblical account of the creation story takes over about where 
			the Sumerian account ends, with special reference to the Garden of 
			Eden.
 After many arguments between Enlil and his brother 
				Enki, over the 
			ownership of the newly "created" Lulus, Enlil finally travels from 
			his base in Mesopotamia, with a couple of weapons (one of which was 
			a huge earth drill), and forcefully captures some of the Lulus, and 
			brings them back to the Sumerian E-Din (Eden). They become the 
			servants to the other Nefilim (Gods). (The later Hebrew scriptures 
			condense the many Sumerian "gods" into one "God"... for nationalistic 
			reasons.)
 
				[It is my contention that
				Enlil (El) becomes JHVH 
			(Jehovah)]
 For thousands of years, the naked Lulus labor in the gold mines of 
			South Africa, as well as "tending the garden" in Mesopotamia. Then 
			one day Enki said to himself: "It is not right for my 'creation’ to 
			be burdened with all of the toil without the benefit of 'help 
			mates.’ These Lulus look much like we do, but they are not happy. 
			They do not have most of the things we (the Nefilim) take for 
			granted. I will change this. I will give them the ability to 
			procreate!" And Enki did this thing!
 
				(It was probably not for purely 
			altruistic reasons that Enki gave the gift of procreation to the 
				Lulus, which, by the way, made of them full-fledge human beings, 
			identical in all ways (but one) with the "Gods." That "one" 
			difference was in a shortened life-span for the humans.)
 What a gift procreation was for these naked slaves! It was as if the 
			ultimate blessing was bestowed upon them by the "gods!" One can only 
			imagine the ecstasy the new humans felt at receiving this gift from
				Enki. And for a long time all was well.
 
 But all good things seem to come to an end all to soon!
 
 They became noisy. They became bothersome. They interrupted 
				Enlil’s 
			sleep with their bothersome, noisy, procreating ways! Something had 
			to be done! Enlil was fed up!
 
 "Enough!" exclaimed 
				Enlil. "I shall drive these sex fiends out of 
			this 'garden’ and away from my sight, lest they also gain the 
			knowledge of longevity and the knowledge of our rocketry systems!" 
			And so the new Adamu/Lulus (humans) were driven out of the 
				Garden of 
			Eden to the east -- to the east, in the Zagros mountains -- to fend 
			for themselves, possibly to perish.
 
			(And they would have perished 
			had it not been for the fact that Enki took pity on his "creation" 
			and protected the exiled humans, against the wishes of his brother
			Enlil.)
 Here we should take note of something of great importance. Because 
			the biblical account of the story of Adam and Eve was terribly 
			obliterated with the condensing of many gods into one "God," it 
			became almost impossible to reconcile the fact that one minute "God" 
			was condemning his "creation" and the next minute He was protecting 
			his creation. This anomaly becomes quite clear when we realize that 
			there were two major gods involved here -- Enlil/El/Jehovah and 
			Ea-Enki/The 
			Serpent!
 
 
 (5)
 
 It may be a good time to review what was said in previous posts, 
			with regard to the Earth Chronicles:
 
				
				The Deluge sweeps over the Earth, abruptly 
				ending the ice age.
 Zecharia Sitchin wrote; "The Deluge, a traumatic experience for 
			Mankind, was no less so for the 'gods’ -- the Nefilim."
 
			Let me explain the last three items on the above time-line chart... 
				
				1)  Ziusudra and 
				Noah are one and the same person.
 2)  As I stated earlier,
				Enlil expelled the new Homo-Sapiens 
			(full-fledged humans) from his presence in E-din (Eden). His wrath 
			was kindled for several reasons, a few of which I already 
			enumerated. In the biblical account, of the 10 generations from Adam 
			to Noah, the life-spans of the patriarchs ranged from a few hundred 
			years to close to a thousand years each. The truth, according to the 
				
				Sumerian King List texts, was that these men (and their families)
				lived thousands of years, not just hundreds!
 
 3)  Each time
				Marduk/Nibiru came close to Earth (in its orbit between 
				Jupiter and Mars) it played havoc with everything terrestrial. In 
			circa 11,000 BCE, Enlil knew that the passing of Marduk would 
				cause 
			a great tidal wave. The Anunnaki scientists knew that a large piece 
			of Antarctica would break off, causing a tidal wave, and raging 
			storms that would inundate the inhabited world. Enlil did not want 
			the humans to know of this impending disaster. He invoked the 
			Counsel of Twelve and convinced all of the "gods" but
				Enki to keep 
			this knowledge from the humans. Enlil caused all of the "gods" 
			including Enki to swear an oath they would not inform Mankind of the 
			impending deluge...
 
			(6)
 
				
				"And it came to pass, When the 
				Earthlings began to increase in 
			number upon the face of the Earth, and daughters were born unto 
			them, that the sons of the deities saw the daughters of the 
			Earthlings that they were compatible, and they took unto themselves 
			wives of whichever they chose." 
			Thus begins the biblical account that led to the "end of all flesh."
			
 The Sons of the gods were shortening the lifespans of their progeny 
			by taking to themselves the daughters of mere human beings! This is 
			something Enlil could not -- would not -- tolerate. He would find a 
			way to destroy all flesh. But it would not be through some 
			supernatural miracle. No, even the "gods" were limited to the realms 
			of "possibilities."
 
 While much is packed into the biblical account, it does not come 
			close to the thoroughness of the Sumerian version -- of which the 
			Hebrews condensed and used as part of their history.
 
 Since it was under 
			Enki’s leadership that Ninhursag altered existing 
			humanoid Earthlings by adding genetic properties from the Anunnaki 
			themselves, thus making them true Homo- Sapiens, it was natural that
			Enki would be protective of his "creations." But
			Enki was under a 
			constraint not to tell the Humans that a flood was soon to overtake 
			and destroy all of them. Enki felt terrible. He thought about his 
			dilemma. He formulated a plan. He said he would not tell the humans 
			-- but he did not say he would not talk to a "wall" about the 
			impending deluge.
 
 He summoned Ziusudra (Noah).
 
				
				"Stand behind this reed wall, 
				Ziusudra, commanded Enki, "remain 
			still and I will converse with the wall..." 
 With these words 
				Enki began to instruct the reed wall.
 
 "Mr. Reed Wall, 
				there will be a terrible flood soon. It will destroy all living 
				things on Earth. The water will cover the Earth for many months. 
				Go, therefore, sell all of your belongings, build a boat, I will 
				give you the plans for the boat, build it to my specifications. 
				Gather your family, gather the seed of all living things, put 
				food on the boat. When you see a commotion in the East*, 
				get on the boat with your family and the seed of all living 
				things, shut up the door and do not open it until the flood has 
				subsided..."
 
			These were the words that 
			Enki spoke to the reed wall. And Ziusudra 
			did as he was instructed, and Enki felt justified - - at least a 
			small token of his "creation" would survive.
 *
			The "commotion in the east" was the sign that the flood and awesome 
			storms would start. But the Sumerian writings did not stop here. The 
			"commotion" turned out to be many Shuttle- Craft taking off, with 
			all of the Anunnaki/Nefilim aboard! They would be saving their own 
			lives -- they would be deserting a sinking Earth! They would remain 
			in orbit until Earth could once again be inhabited. They would have 
			to begin again. This time they would have no servants, they would 
			have no slaves, they would have to toil for themselves once more. 
			When the deluge began, and all life on Earth turned back to clay, 
			they (those in the Shuttle Craft) wept!
 
 This, and much more, was recorded in the cuneiform texts, concerning 
			the story of the Deluge.
 
 
			The aftermath of the flood
 
				
				When Ziusudra and his family disembarked from the boat, he built a 
			huge bon-fire and killed lambs and gave a burnt offering to "the 
			gods." It was especially in honor of his lord Enki. It is recorded 
			that the "gods" smelled the cooking meat and gathered around
				Ziusudra like flies!
 At first, when Enlil heard that some of the 
				Earthlings had survived, 
			he was livid! "Who disobeyed my command? Who told them about the 
			impending flood? Why was I disobeyed?"
 
 But it didn’t take 
				Enki long to persuade Enlil of the tremendous 
			benefits that would be derived by Ziusudra and his family surviving. 
				Enlil relented. "Bring them to me, I shall give them my blessing!"
 
 Thus, the Earth, through Ziusudra and his family, would once again 
			be populated with new human beings -- thus, would all flesh trace 
			its roots to a time when, but for the disobeyed order of one "god," 
				Mankind’s demise would have been a foregone conclusion.
 
			Next, the aftermath of the Flood and the beginning of "Kingship on 
			Earth."
 
 (7)
 
 Kingship on Earth
 
				
				"The Deluge, a traumatic experience for Mankind, was no less so for 
			the 'gods’-- the Nefilim"
 "In the words of the Sumerian king lists, "the Deluge had swept over 
			and an effort of 120 shar’s was wiped away overnight. The south 
			African mines, the cities in Mesopotamia, the control center at 
			Nippur, the spaceport at Sippar -- all lay buried under water and 
			mud. Hovering in their shuttle craft above devastated Earth, the 
			Nefilim impatiently awaited the abatement of the waters so that they 
			could set foot again on solid ground.
 
 "How were they going to survive henceforth on Earth when these 
			cities and facilities were gone, and even their manpower -- Mankind 
			-- were totally destroyed?
 
 "When the frightened, exhausted, and hungry groups of 
				Nefilim 
			finally landed on the peaks of the "Mount of Salvation,’’ they were 
			clearly relieved to discover that Man and beast alike had not 
			perished completely. Even Enlil, at first enraged to discover that 
			his aim had been partly frustrated, soon changed his mind.
 
 "The deity’s decision was a practical one. Faced with their own dire 
			conditions, the Nefilim cast aside their inhibitions about Man, roll 
			up their sleeves, and lost no time in imparting to Man the arts of 
			growing and cattle. Since survival, no doubt, depended on the speed 
			with which agriculture and animal domestication could be developed 
			to sustain the Nefilim and a rapidly multiplying Mankind,
				the Nefilim applied their advanced scientific knowledge to the task.
 
 "Unaware of the information that could be culled from the biblical 
			and Sumerian texts, many scientists who have studied the origins of 
			agriculture have arrived at the conclusion that its "discovery" by 
				Mankind some 13,000 years ago was related to the
				neothermal ("newly 
			warm" ) climate that followed the end of the last ice age. Long 
			before modern scholars, however, the Bible also related the 
			beginnings of agriculture to the aftermath of the Deluge.
 
 "Ancient Artifact", the similarities are obviously close to today’s 
			aircraft technology"
 
 "Sowing and Harvesting’’ were described in 
				Genesis as divine gifts 
			granted to Noah and his offspring as part of the post-Diluvial 
			covenant between the Deity and Mankind:
 
					
					For as long as the Earth’s days shall be, There shall not cease 
			Sowing and Harvesting, Cold and Warmth, Summer and Winter, Day and 
			Night. 
 "Having been granted the knowledge of agriculture, "Noah as a 
			husbandman was first, and he planted a vineyard’’: He became the 
			first post-Diluvial farmer engaged in the deliberate, complicated 
			task of planting..."
 
			(The above quotes came from pages 365 - 366, of 
			Zecharia Sitchin’s The 12th Planet.)
 And Kingship was next.
 
				
				The Great Anunnaki were too lofty for Mankind. A deliberate plan was 
			put into action to separate the "gods" and his "creation."
 "The Nefilim, we are told, reached the conclusion that 
				they needed 
			an intermediary between themselves and the masses of humans. They 
			were, they decided, to be gods -- elu in Akkadian, meaning "lofty 
			ones." As a bridge between themselves as lords and Mankind, they 
			introduced "Kingship" on Earth: appointing a human ruler who would 
				assure Mankind’s service to the gods and channel the teachings and 
			laws of the gods to the people.
 
 "A text dealing with the subject describes the situation before 
			either tiara or crown had been placed on a human head, or
				Scepter 
			handed down; all these symbols of Kingship -- plus the 
				shepherd's 
			crook; symbol of righteousness and justice -- ’’lay deposited before
				Anu in Heaven." After the gods had reached their decision, however, 
				"Kingship descended from Heaven" to Earth.
 
 "Both Sumerian and Akkadian texts state that the
				Nefilim retained 
			the "lordship" over the lands, and had Mankind first rebuild the 
			pre-Diluvial cities exactly where they had originally been and as 
			they had been planned:
 
					
					"Let the bricks of all the cities be laid on 
			the dedicated places, let all the [bricks] rest on holy places." 
				Eridu, then, was first to be rebuilt.
				
 "The Nefilim then helped the people plan and build the first royal 
			city, and they blessed it. "May the city be the nest, the place 
			where Mankind shall repose. May the King be a Shepherd."
 
 "The first royal city of Man, the Sumerian texts tell us, was
				Kish.
 
					
					"When Kingship was lowered again from Heaven, the
					Kingship was in 
			Kish."  
				The Sumerian king lists, unfortunately are mutilated just 
			where the name of the very first human king was inscribed. We do 
			know, however, that he started a long line of dynasties whose royal 
			abode changed from Kish to Uruk, Ur, Awan, Hamazi, Aksak, Akkad, and 
			then to Ashur and Babylon and more recent capitals.
 "The biblical "Table of Nations" likewise listed
				Nimrud -- the 
			patriarch of the kingdoms at Uruk, Akkad, Babylon, and 
				Assyria -- as 
			descended from Kish. It records the spread of Mankind, its lands and 
			Kingships, as an outgrowth of the division of Mankind into three 
			branches following the deluge. Descended from and named after the 
			three sons of Noah, these were the peoples and lands of 
				Shem, who 
			inhabited Africa and parts of Arabia; and
				Japheth, the Indo- 
			Europeans in Asia Minor, Iran, India, and Europe.
 
 "These three broad groupings were undoubtedly three of the "regions" whose settlement was discussed by the great 
				Anunnaki. Each of the 
			three was assigned to one of the leading deities. One of these was, 
			of course, Sumer itself, the region of the Semitic peoples, the 
			place where Man’s first great civilization arose.
 
 "The other two also became sites of flourishing civilizations. Circa 
			3200 BC -- about half a millennium after the blooming of the 
			Sumerian civilization -- statehood, Kingship and civilization made 
			their first appearance in the Nile valley, leading in time to the 
			great civilization of Egypt.
 
 "Nothing was known until some fifty years ago about the first major 
			Indo-European civilization. But by now it is well established that 
			an advanced civilization, encompassing large cities, a developed 
			agriculture, a flourishing trade, existed in the Indus valley in 
			ancient times. It came into being, scholars believe, come 1,000 
			years after the Sumerian civilization began."
 
 
			
			(8)
 The age of Paganism began
 
				
				Following the Deluge, the Sumerian texts inform us, 
				the Nefilim held 
			lengthy counsels regarding the future of gods and Man on Earth. As a 
			result of these deliberations, they "created the four regions.’’ 
			Three of them -- Mesopotamia, the Nile valley, and the 
				Indus valley 
			-- were settled by Man. 
 "The fourth region was "holy" -- a term whose original literal 
			meaning was ’’dedicated, restricted." Dedicated to the gods alone, 
			it was a "pure land,"’ an area that could be approached only with 
			authorization; trespassing could lead to quick death by ’’awesome 
			weapons" wielded by fierce guards. This land or region was named
				TIL.MUN (literally, "the place of the missiles"). It was the 
			restricted area where the Nefilim had reestablished their space base 
			after the one at Sippar had been wiped out by the 
				Deluge.
 
 "Once again the area was put under the command of 
				Utu/Shamash, the 
			god in charge of the fiery rockets. Ancient heroes like Gilgamesh 
			strove to reach this Land of Living, to be carried by a 
				shem or an 
			Eagle to the Heavenly Abode of the Gods. We recall the plea of 
				Gilgamesh to Shamash.
 
					
					Let me enter the Land, let me raise my 
			Shem.... By the life of my goddess mother whobore me, of the pure 
			faithful king, my father -- my step direct to the Land! 
				"Ancient tales -- even recorded history -- recall the ceaseless 
			efforts of men to ’’reach the land," find the "Plant of Life,’’ gain 
			eternal bliss among the Gods of Heaven and Earth. This yearning is 
			central to all of the religions whose roots lie deep in Sumer: the 
			hope that justice and righteousness pursued on Earth will be 
			followed by an ’’afterlife in some Heavenly Divine Abode.
 But where was this elusive land of the divine connection?
 
 "The question can be answered. The clues are there. But beyond it 
			loom other questions. Have the Nefilim been encountered since? What 
			will happen when they are encountered again?
 
 "And if the 
				Nefilim were the "gods" who "created" Man on Earth, did 
			evolution alone, on the Twelfth Planet, create the Nefilim?"
 
 
			(9)
 There are fourteen chapter headings in book two,The 
	Stairway to Heaven, of The Earth Chronicles, by Zecharia Sitchin. I’ll list 
			those headings and then touch lightly on them in the order they are 
			recorded.
 
				
					
						
						I.      In Search of Paradise 1
						II.     The Immortal Ancestors 18 III. The Pharaoh’s Journey To The 
			Afterlife 35
 IV.    The Stairway To Heaven 47
 V.    The Gods Who Came To Planet Earth 68
 VI.    In The Days Before The Deluge 97
 VII.   Gilgamesh: The King Who Refused To Die 118
 VIII.  Riders Of The Clouds 144
 IX.    The Landing Place 168
 X.     Tilmun: Land Of The Rocketships 189
 XI.    The Elusive Mount 208
 XII.   The Pyramids Of Gods And Kings 228
 XIII.  Forging The Pharaoh’s Name 253
 XIV. The Gaze Of The Sphinx 283
 
			  
			In Search of Paradise
 Was there ever a "Golden Age?" Was there ever a time when human 
			beings shared, amongst themselves, a sort of Heaven on Earth?" Was 
			there ever a time when there was an atmosphere of peace, and love, 
			and good will, among humanity? Was there a time when the Earth gave 
			up its fruits without the effort and toil of Man -- when the rivers 
			of life gave up its "milk and honey" without as much as one drop of 
			sweat from Mankind’s brow? Or was this "race memory" implanted in 
			the minds of our ancestors, by the ancient "gods" of
			Sumer, in order 
			to instill in the minds of Man, the desire to once more return to 
			that Golden Age? More importantly, perhaps, did Man, at one time in 
			our hoary past, have it within his grasp the attainment of Eternal 
			Life?
 
 Then did the Lord 
			
			Yahweh (Jehovah) say:
 
				
				"Behold; the Adam has become 
			as one of us to know good and evil; And now might he not put forth 
			his hand and partake also of the 
				
				Tree of Life, and eat, and live 
			forever?"  
			Let us pause here, for a moment, and contemplate what this "Tree of 
			Life" means... There are several interpretations of this enigmatic 
			phrase, "Tree of Life," that needs to be explored. First, there is 
			the obvious interpretation -- the tree of life was just that, i.e., 
			it was all of those things that make up the sustenance for the 
			comfortable continuation of life -- the necessities of life -- food, 
			water, shelter - - the luxuries of life -- mental stimulus, internal 
			worth and meaning, etc. Then there is the esoteric interpretation -- 
			the Tree of Life was a method of attaining Knowledge, 
			Wisdom, and 
			Understanding, so that nothing would be left wanting, for the life 
			and joy of human beings. And then there is another interpretation, 
			obvious only to the humans who were actually in that "Garden of 
			Eden," in the Mesopotamian valley. Before we can discern what this 
			final interpretation is, we must first understand just what the 
			"Garden of Eden" was, according to Sumerian texts.
 We know, for example, that the "gods" inhabited this garden. This 
			was Enlil’s headquarters. This was Enlil’s home away from home. 
			Eden 
			(E-din), among other things, was where Enlil kept his "Shem." We’ve 
			been taught that "Shem" means "name." Remember when it was said:
 
				
				"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the 
			earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw 
			the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives, 
			whomsoever they chose. And the Lord said: 'My spirit shall not abide 
			in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days 
			be a hundred and twenty years.’  
			
			
			The  Nephilim (Nefilim) were in the 
			earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came 
			in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the 
			same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of reknown. 
			(Emphasis mine.) 
 We know that the Nefilim were the
			Elohim (most of which were the 
			rank and file Anunnaki. But what does it mean, the men of reknown?
 
 In the original Hebrew, the phrase was, "The men of the "Shem." 
			Scholars have translated "Shem" to mean "Name." But that is not what 
			Shem means in Hebrew. In Hebrew, "Shem" means "Fiery Rocket Ship." 
			In other words, the mighty men of old were the men of the fiery 
			rocket ships!
 
 The "Tree of Life" 
			was a launch-pad and rocket that belonged to Enlil/Jehovah. What
			Enlil/Jehovah was fearful of was that "now might 
			he (man, with his newly found knowledge) not put forth his hand and 
			partake also of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live forever?"
 
 And the Lord Yahweh expelled the Adam from the 
			Garden of Eden... And 
			He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the 
			Flaming Sword which revolveth, to guard the way to the TREE OF LIFE.
 
   
			(10) 
 Among the many historical figures who went on a search for the 
			Tree 
			of Life, Gilgamesh was the first. Of course, by this time 
			The Tree 
			of Life had taken on "other" meanings -- added meanings. The 
			Tree of 
			Life had taken on the meaning of "The Elixir of Life," the "Fountain 
			of Youth," a means by which a person could live forever. But, in 
			Gilgamesh’s day, the "gods" were still in charge -- the "gods" were 
			still in the area that was considered off-limits to humans. But 
			Gilgamesh was not only "human," he was two-thirds divine, since his 
			mother was a goddess herself. Gilgamesh (a king in his own right) 
			did not want to live the comparatively short life, allotted to mere 
			men -- not by a long shot! Gilgamesh would settle for nothing less 
			than eternal life.
 
 So, he set out, with his trusted servant (and friend), 
			Enkidu, a 
			rugged mountain man. The tale, or, 
			
			Epic of Gilgamesh, is one of 
			excitement, danger, and intrigue, if one were to take the time to 
			actually read it. It tells of Gilgamesh’s travels, through 
			predetermined terrain -- his mother helped him procure a map to his 
			final destination. I’ll pick up on this fabulous "tale" later in my 
			narrative, suffice to say, even the later Egyptian Pharaohs traced 
			this same "path" to the "after-life" -- to the 
			Eternal Life that 
			Gilgamesh was seeking at a specific place. This place was called,
			Til-mun, and I shall also return to this part of my narrative, later 
			on.
 
 But first, I want to go back and speak about "longevity." I said 
			earlier I would compare the life-spans of the "gods" who came from 
			Nibiru/Marduk, and mere mortals, who were "genetically created" 
			right here on planet Earth.
 
 Every biological creature, it seems, has an 
			inborn biological clock. 
			It would appear we all know when to "age," and we all know 
			when to 
			"die." From the lowly fruit fly to a mouse, to an elephant, to man 
			himself, it appears there is a predestined allotment of years to 
			fulfill before we shed our "Earthly" bodies. It would seem that even 
			the unseen atom, as well as the total universe, has an appointed 
			"life-span."
 
 The life-span for humans seems to be tied to the number of 
			revolutions our Earth makes around our central star. Many of our 
			biological functions seem to be governed by the phases of the moon, 
			as well as the proximity and functions of our Sun. We even "tell" 
			time by the twenty-four hour rotation of Earth around its axis, and 
			its three hundred sixty five and a quarter day journey around our 
			Sun. Is it possible that these rotations and journeys around our Sun 
			actually govern our biological life-spans? The ancients thought so.
 
 But what about the planet Marduk? Would the same "rules" of 
			longevity apply to a planet that takes thirty-six hundred years to 
			make one orbit around our Sun? Again, the ancients thought so. Do 
			you remember the statement, "One day, to the Lord, is as a thousand 
			days to mere mortals?" Remember, also, I mentioned that 
			the Anunnaki 
			lived phenomenal life-spans -- at least a half of million of our 
			Earth years each, and this is one of the major reasons that scholars 
			declared those ancient writings "must" be considered as myth!  Well, 
			take a look at what many of today’s scientists are saying:
 
				
				"The 
			"aging" process is a disease, and is NOT necessary!" 
				 
				"There in no 
			reason man cannot live indefinitely, if we but knew how to cure the 
			disease of "aging!"  
			It is the contention of
			Zecharia Sitchin that it 
			is for the same reason the Anunnaki lived phenomenal life-spans -- 
			they too had biological clocks, but they were "set" to the orbits of 
			their own planet, Marduk!  It was when "the sons" of the gods took 
			human wives that the biological clocks of their offspring were 
			drastically "altered." The number "120 shars" had two distinct 
			meanings, to the original authors of the "holy scriptures."
			
 The first meaning was that the Anunnaki themselves were beginning to 
			have a limited life-span, due to their prolonged stay on planet 
			Earth. Since a "shar" represents one complete orbit of 
			Marduk, 
			around our Sun (and one orbit took thirty-six hundred of our 
			Earth-years). We know that one hundred and twenty "shars" had been 
			completed, from the time the Anunnaki first set foot on Earth, and 
			it was one hundred thirty-two thousand years (120 X 3600) that each 
			of the "gods" had already lived!
   
			The other meaning, for the 
			statement, "One hundred twenty years," was that, through the 
			cross-breeding, with the sons of the gods themselves, the humans’ 
			life-spans (the half-human patriarchs lived thousands of Earth 
			years) would be reduced to "one hundred twenty years!" We, today, 
			are reaching for that 120 year "promise," that the "gods" spoke of, 
			on that day so long ago, before the great flood! Will we, too, 
			surpass, as the gods have, that one hundred and twenty years? Will 
			we, one day, again live thousands of years each? Will we, one day, 
			find the Fountain of Youth -- the Elixir of Life, the negation of 
			death, just as Gilgamesh tried to do, in his search for 
			Til-mun, the 
			Land of the Gods?
 
 (11)
   
			Actually, much of "The Stairway to Heaven" deals with the many 
			religious, mythical, and historical people who had gone in search of 
			the elusive Land of the Living, the place where the 
			Elixir of Life 
			could be found -- the "Land of The Tree of Life!": People such as 
			Moses (as written in the eighteenth Sura, in the Koran); 
			Alexander 
			the Macedonian; the demi-gods (pharaohs of Egypt ), as well as 
			Gilgamesh, et al. While these accounts are well worth the reading -- 
			for pleasure, as well as information -- I think I will concentrate 
			my impressions on "where" this elusive place was. It occurs to me 
			that if I have piqued any interest at all in Sitchin’s works, the 
			reader of these "impressions" will want to read his books, in their 
			original form. After all, my impressions will never be as accurate 
			as Sitchin’s works themselves. Nor are they intended to be, as such. 
			My wish is merely to acquaint those of you (who have not heard of 
			The Earth Chronicles) to the wealth of informative, well written 
			and, IMO, exciting insights and scholarship of Zecharia Sitchin.
 
 Til-mun: The Restricted Area
 
				
				Many scholars, down through history, have known about a place called 
				Til-mun. Many have speculated, given the evidence found in the 
			ancient writings, as to where this "Place of the Olden Gods," this 
				Restricted (holy) Area, might be. Naturally, many scholars, in the 
			past, considered Til-mun to be a mythical place, just as the 
				Place 
			of the After- Life of the Pharaohs must be mythical. After all, most 
			people thought those ancient writings must be nothing but "fabulous" 
				figments of imagination, for religious or political consumption. But 
			then, there have always been those scholars who thought, "Maybe, 
			just maybe, there’s some basis in fact for these fantastic stories." 
				   
				(Is it not odd that the more we learn about our ancient past, the 
			less mythical it becomes? Think of what we might know to be true, if 
			the library at Alexandria hadn’t been destroyed -- about all of the 
			ancient civilizations that were considered myth - - mere "stories" 
			to entertain (instruct?) the minds of the peasants of yesteryear!)
 If one were to trace the route of Alexander, as he began his 
			conquest of the known world, it would be apparent that he was 
			closest to the olden "Restricted Area," at the very beginning of his 
			march! Isn’t it ironic, that the thing we desire most in life turns 
			out to be that which is closest to us, both in time and in space! 
			Almost as if we had "missed" something, in our haste to "conquer" 
			our own world.
 
 After exploring all of the theories put forth by very intelligent 
			scholars, Sitchin proves (tests) beyond a shadow of a doubt that 
				Til-mun was actually in the Sinai Peninsula -- that little triangle 
			of land that was the bridge between the Middle East and the 
			continent of Africa! Even the ancient writings made it plain where
				Til-mun was. It was right next to Magan: read the old text...
 
					
						
						The lands of 
						Magan and Tilmun looked up at me. I, 
						Enki, moored the 
			Tilmun-boat at the coast, Loaded the Magan-boat sky high. The Joyous 
			boat of Meluhha transports gold and silver. 
 [Magan, of course, is 
						ancient Egypt.]
 
				And, after a simple, but convincing, argument, 
				Sitchin goes on to 
			test the truth of his assertions. In the words of Gilgamesh... At 
			the mountain of Mashu he arrived, Where by day the 
				Shems he watched 
			as they depart and come in... Rocket-men guard its gate... they 
			watch over Shamash as he ascends and descends. 
					
					"That, indeed was the place whereto 
					Ziuudra [Noah] had been taken": 
 In the 
					Land of the Crossing in mountainous Tilmun -- the place where 
					Shamash ascends -- they caused him to dwell. This was the place that 
					Alexander was looking for, so that he also might find the 
					Fountain 
			of Youth -- the Elixir of Life -- Life Eternal!
   
					(BTW, Alexander was 
			told that he, like so many other Demi-gods, also had a Divine 
			parent. Alexander’s quest was exactly the same as was Gilgamesh’s.)
					   
					And, this was the place where 
					Gilgamesh ended his search -- this is 
			where he found what he was looking for -- this is where he almost 
			attained eternal life...and this is the place where he also lost his 
			chance to live the fabulous life-spans of the Gods! 
 "And we have no more doubt that the target of the ancient 
					Search for 
			Immortality was a spaceport -- somewhere in the Sinai peninsula."
 
			We shall return to this theme more extensively when we review 
			Sitchin’s third book, in his Earth Chronicles, entitled, 
			 
			
			The Wars of 
			Gods and Men. 
 The remainder of "The Stairway to Heaven" deals with 
			Egypt, the 
			Great Pyramid, and Sitchin’s convincing thesis (based on Sumerian 
			writings) of same. I could not begin to do justice to this portion 
			of Sitchin’s works, so I will end my "impressions" of this book, and 
			progress to his third, "The Wars of Gods and Men" in my next 
			segment.
 
 
 (12)
 
 Book III  
				
			"The Wars of Gods and Men"
 
				
				"Long before man warred with man, the 
				gods battled among themselves. 
			Indeed, it was as the Wars of the Gods that the Wars of Man began. 
			And the Wars of the Gods, for control of this Earth, had begun on 
			their own planet. It was thus that mankind’s first civilization 
			succumbed to a nuclear holocaust.
 This is fact, not fiction; it has all been written down long ago -- 
			in the Earth Chronicles."
 
 (The above is from the 
				Forward of Zecharia Sitchin’s book.)
 
			Why is man such a warlike creature? Why is it so necessary to claim 
			territorial prerogatives? Why is it that man, with the least bit of 
			provocation, flexes his muscles, bares his teeth and fights, to the 
			bloody death, just so he can plant a "flag" on top of some "god" 
			forsaken hill? Is it because he is basically an educated beast? Is 
			it because he has had to survive the devastating elements, in his 
			climb from infancy (erectus), against a hostile environment, to 
			maturity (Sapiens) and, therefore, knows no other mode of behavior? 
			Or, is it because the very "gods" who created Man, created him with 
			their own predisposition for violence -- their own genetic imprint, 
			that commands even the "gods" themselves to battle?
			
 Have you ever asked yourself: why, if God created everything (out of 
			nothing), He had to punctuate all of human endeavor with the 
			shedding of blood? Or, are you, like so many, afraid to question the 
			motives of the very God who created you? I know this question verges 
			on my very "questioning" of one’s faith, and I have no right to do 
			this terrible thing, but... how many people secretly do "test" their 
			own faith with this question? I, for one, did this very thing, many 
			years ago, and for me, it was the best thing I had ever done in my 
			life! It freed my very soul -- it freed my mind so that I might look 
			at "life" with at least a fraction of objectivity. But, then, if 
			"losing an eye" is the punishment for "sinning with the eye," I’ll 
			bet there are plenty of one eyed preachers in this world -- and I 
			mean within all of the world’s religions.
 
 
			THE WARS OF MAN
 
				
				"In the spring of 1947, a shepherd boy searching for a lost sheep in 
			the barren cliffs overlooking the Dead Sea, discovered a cave that 
			contained Hebrew scrolls hidden inside earthenware jars. Those and 
			other scrolls found in the area in subsequent years -- collectively 
			spoken of as the Dead Sea Scrolls -- had lain undisturbed for nearly 
			two thousand years, carefully wrapped and hidden away during the 
			turbulent years when Judea challenged the might of the Roman empire.
				
 "Was this part of the official library of Jerusalem, carted away to 
			safety before the city and its temple fell in A.D. 70, or -- as most 
			scholars assume -- a library of the Essenes, a sect of hermits with 
			messianic preoccupations? The opinions are divided, for the library 
			contained both traditional biblical texts as well as writings 
			dealing with the sect’s customs, organization, and beliefs.
   
				"One of 
			the longest and most complete scrolls, and perhaps the most 
			dramatic, deals with a future war, a kind of Final War. Titled by 
			scholars The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, 
			it envisages spreading warfare -- local battles that will first 
			involve Judea’s immediate neighbors, which shall increase in 
			ferocity and scope until the whole ancient world would be engulfed:
				 
					
					"The first engagement of the 
					Sons of Light against the Sons of 
			Darkness, that is against the army of Belial, shall be an attack 
			upon the troops of Edom, Moab, the Ammonites and 
					the Philistine 
			area; then upon that of the Kittians of Assyria; and upon those 
			violators of the Covenant who give them aid..." 
					 
				And after those 
			battles, "they shall advance upon the Kittians of Egypt" and "in due 
			time...against the kings of the north."    
				"In this War of Men, the 
			scroll prophesied, the God of Israel shall take an active role:
				 
					
					On the day 
					the Kittians fall, there shall be mighty combat and 
			carnage, in the presence of the God of Israel: For that is the day 
			which He appointed of old for the final battle against the Sons of 
			Darkness." 
			Wars on other planets? Nuclear holocaust in ancient 
			times? Gods wanting control of certain territories on planet Earth? 
			Sons of Light and Darkness? What s this? Someone’s idea of a joke? 
			Were there ancient Sumerian comic books -- science fiction and pulp 
			fiction writers? Is someone, in the ancient past, trying to pull our 
			collective, modern, legs? 
 Not on your life! All of these things, we shall explore, as my 
			impressions of Zecharia Sitchin’s third book... "The Wars of Gods 
			and Men," continues...
 
 
 (13)
 
 The Earth Chronicles
 
				
				Tiamat (Earth) is seeded with all of the proto-life forms of 
				Nibiru 
			(Marduk) when the collision of these two titans takes place, circa 
			four billion years ago. Tiamat (Earth) is shunted into a new orbit, 
				between Mars and Venus, and Marduk makes its thirty-six hundred 
			(Earth years) year orbit around its new star (our Sun). Many of the 
			planets in our solar system are affected by the presence of its 
			newly gained planet, Marduk. Asteroids are created by the crushed 
			half of Tiamat/Earth (an extremely watery planet). Comets are formed 
			by the collision of the majority of Tiamat’s moons
				with the moons of Marduk. 
 Kingu (Tiamat’s primary moon) becomes (remains) 
				Earth’s moon after 
			Earth finds its new orbit between Mars and Venus.
 
 Life evolves on 
				Marduk (probably millions of Earth years sooner than 
			it does so on Earth) and, time moves forward to the relative present 
			(450,000 Earth years ago).
 
 Intelligent life emerges on 
				Marduk. Civilization begins on Marduk...
 
 Let me say a few things, at this juncture, concerning what the 
			Sumerians were told, with reference to the civilization on 
				Marduk:
 
					
					
					We know that a monarchy was the primary form of government on
					Marduk. 
			(I mentioned this before.) 
					
					What I didn’t mention was that the king 
			who reigned, on Marduk, before Anu, was known as Alalu. 
					
					
					The 
			interesting thing about Alalu, is that Anu was Alalu’s Cup Bearer! 
					
					
					Herein lies a story that I think has great significance, both to the 
			reasons why there were wars among the "Gods" on 
					Marduk and, on 
			Earth, as well. 
					
					Some of what I will say now is 
					conjecture on my 
			part, but all of what I will say is based on the "facts" of 
					Sumerian 
			cosmology, as recorded in the ancient cuneiform tablets. 
					 
				There is a story told, in the "records," of a god called 
				Zu (Enzu). 
			This "god" became Enlil’s Cup Bearer on Earth. One day, as
				Enlil was 
			bathing, Zu did a terrible thing. He sneaked into Enlil’s private 
			chambers and took the "Tablets of Destiny" out of their sacred 
			(restricted) place and immediately he (Zu) had the power to dictate 
			(in absolute terms all of the commands of "Enlilship" to all of the 
			"gods" on Earth! (I will not go into the detail of the story 
			concerning Zu at this point.)    
				What I will say, based on my 
			understanding of Sitchin’s works, is that Anu did this exact same 
			thing with respect to the "Tablets of Destiny," on his home planet, 
				Nibiru/Marduk, when he usurped Alalu’s
				royal prerogatives! I believe 
			that Enzu (Zu) was a direct offspring of Alalu, and that he was 
			acting in his father’s behalf, when he stole the "Tablets of 
			Destiny" from Enlil! No one knows just exactly what the "Tablets of 
			Destiny" are, however, whatever they are, they must bestow 
			"absolute" power and authority on whomever is in possession of them. 
				   
				It is my contention that the struggle for power that started on
				Marduk, continued on Earth, among the "gods," and subsequently was 
			infused into the very psyches of man -- and now, Mankind carries on 
			this senseless warfare (for the attainment of absolute power) 
			amongst and against its own! It is my contention that this warlike 
			desire is one of the universal archetypes, alluded to in modern 
			psychology (race memories), that drives human beings (unconsciously) 
			to these abominable acts against themselves.    
				In effect, we have been 
			given the race memories, and the violent acts that go with them, by 
			the "gods" themselves! It is, (because of these genetically 
			instilled memories), the primary reason that man acts in irrational 
			ways! (The humorous statement: "The Devil made me do it," is 
				partially correct, in my opinion; IT IS THE RACE MEMORIES OF THE 
			WARLIKE ACTS OF THE GODS THEMSELVES that "makes" us prone to do the 
			senseless acts of barbarism that we find ourselves doing, from time 
			to time. In other words, we have inherited this propensity for 
			insanity from our creators!  
					
					
					The "gods" come to 
					Earth (on one of their planet’s near passes) on 
			their shuttlecraft and set up bases of operations in the middle 
			east. 
					
					Man is "created" to carry the burden of the "gods." 
					
					
					Man is given the 
			gift of procreation. 
					
					Man multiplies. 
					
					
					The flood destroys most of 
			Mankind. 
					
					The "gods" and Man work together to rebuild civilization.
					
					
					Kingship is given to man so that the "gods" and man will remain 
			separate. 
					
					Kings and priests shall be the intermediary between the 
			"gods" and man. 
					
					A restricted area is set up in
					Tilmun (somewhere in 
			the Sinai peninsula) where the "gods" can carry on with their 
			agenda, without the scrutiny (the prying eyes) of mere mortals.
					
					Marduk (Enki’s son) usurps authority in 
					Babylon (Enlil’s territory) 
			and the Pyramid Wars, amongst the Gods and men, begin!
					
					
					Abram (Abraham, a warrior-priest from Ur, in Sumer) is "activated" 
			by the Enlil faction, and is sent on a special assignment: one that 
			will culminate in a nuclear holocaust! 
			(14)
 
				
				"The Prophet Ezekiel had already 
				Prophesied the Last Battle, "in the 
			latter days," involving Gog and Magog, in which the 
				Lord himself 
			shall "smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine 
			arrows to fall out of thine right hand." But the Dead Sea Scrolls 
			went further, foreseeing the actual participation of many gods in the 
			battles, engaged in combat side by side with mortal men: 
 On that day, the 
				Company of the Divine and the Congregation of the 
			Mortals shall engage side by side in combat and carnage. The 
				Sons of 
			Light shall battle against the Sons of Darkness with a show of 
			godlike might, and amid uproarious tumult, amid the war cries of 
			gods and men.
 
			Sitchin writes about the 
			Crusaders, Saracens, and others in 
			historical times, who had gone to war "in the name of God." He also 
			speaks about the 'War of Troy,’ between the Achaean Greeks and the 
			Trojans -- launched by the Greeks to force the Trojans to return 
			Helen to her lawful spouse. But the Greek tale, the Kypria, 
			represented the war as a premeditated scheme by the God, Zeus!
			
 There was a time when thousands upon thousands of men encumbered the 
			broad bosom of the Earth. And having pity on them, Zeus in his great 
			wisdom resolved to lighten Earth’s burden So he caused the strife at 
			Ilion (Troy) to that end; that through death he might make a void in 
			the race of men.
 
 Homer, the Greek story teller, blamed the "gods" for instigating the 
			war. It was the "Gods" who acted directly and indirectly, sometimes 
			seen and sometimes unseen, prodding the main participants (men) to 
			their fates. And behind it all was Jove (Jupiter/Zeus).
 
				
				"So long as the gods held themselves aloof from the mortal 
			warriors," wrote Homer, "the Achaeans were triumphant, for 
				Achilles 
			who has long refused to fight was now with them." But in view of the 
			mounting anger among the gods, and the help the Achaeans were now 
			getting from the demigod Achilles, Jove changed his mind:
				
 "For my own part, I shall stay here, seated on Mount Olympus, and 
			look on in peace. But you others, do go among the Trojans and 
			Achaeans, and help either side as you might be disposed." Thus spoke 
				Jove, and gave the word for war; Whereon the gods took their several 
			sides and went into battle.
 
			The Battle of Troy was thought to be nothing but a 
			fabulous legend 
			-- a Greek myth -- until a man named Charles McLaren suggested, in 
			1822, that a certain mountain in eastern Turkey, called
			Hissarlik, 
			was the site of the Homeric Troy. A businessman named Heinrich 
			Schliemann came up with spectacular discoveries as he dug up the 
			mound in 1870, and scholars began to acknowledge it as the existence 
			of Troy. It is now accepted that the Battle of Troy had actually 
			taken place in the thirteenth century B.C. It was then, according to 
			the Greek sources, that gods and men had fought side by side; in 
			such beliefs the Greeks were not alone! For, so too, in earlier 
			times -- it was for the pleasure of the gods that men bled and died 
			in those holy wars! 
 If all this is so, one might ask, then why isn’t it in our history 
			books? In a sense, it is! Think, for a moment -- if you were a 
			"god," with phenomenal longevity, and you were in control of how 
			history would be written, would you not record "certain things" as 
			purely "myth?" Would you not "protect" certain knowledge -- 
			knowledge that would prove detrimental to a Great Agenda if it were 
			to be propagated to the general public, as actual history?
 
 
 (15)
 
 Questions:
 
				
					
						
						
						Where do I come from? 
						
						
						What am I doing here? 
						
						
						Why do I exist? 
						
						
						Where do 
			my ideas come from? 
						
						Why does it seem as if everyone else’s life is 
			like a continuing "story," but my life is totally unclear to me? 
						
						
						Have you ever asked yourself, "Gee, I wonder if everyone in the 
			world knows what’s going on, but ME?" 
						
						And, "I wonder if everyone is 
			patiently waiting for me to "catch on" to the plot -- so we can all 
			have a big laugh and get on with what’s really real in the world?"
						 
			Tell the truth now, you’ve asked these questions, haven’t you? These, and hundreds of other questions, fill the minds of countless 
			human beings every day of their lives. Another question many people 
			ask is,  
				
					
						
						"Why am I me and no one else in this particular time in 
			history?"  
			Have you ever heard the story of the man who woke up with amnesia 
			and discovered that he was the only human being in the whole world 
			WITHOUT A HEAD?! In essence, everyone else (it was plain to see) had 
			a head -- it was also plain to see that he (himself) had no head! 
			Yes, all he could see was his shoulders and everything down from his 
			shoulders, but he couldn’t see his head. What was more unnerving was 
			the fact that no one else seemed to notice that he was headless! 
 This seems to be the dilemma we all face, in a sense: oh sure, we 
			look into the mirror each morning and see this half- asleep creature 
			staring back at us, and we brush the creature’s teeth and wash the
			creature’s face and comb the creature’s hair (if the
			creature 
			happens to have hair), BUT -- as soon as we turn away from the 
			reflection of that creature, we suddenly -- inexplicably -- become 
			headless once more; to face the whole day interacting with people 
			who seem to pretend that they don’t notice we are headless!
 
 Then it dawns on us! Everyone feels the same way! Everyone thinks 
			that they are the only ones without a head! How wonderful! We 
			finally realize we are all in the same boat! We are all the same 
			body -- but we are wearing different heads! Enlightenment! Samadhi! 
			And then... the questions return... Where do I come from? What am I 
			doing here? Why do I exist?" Endless questions... no answers... 
			until now.
 
 Lets start with archetypes. What are they? Where did they come from? 
			Why do we call them archetypes? And, most importantly -- why do I 
			have them within my psyche?
 
				
				Archetypes, in their simplest forms, are memories that we all have 
			in common. For example, we all FEAR one thing or another. Fear is an 
			archetype. LOVE, HATE, COMPASSION, TENDERNESS etc., are things we 
			all have in common. The main reason we cannot describe accurately 
			what each of these archetypes are is because all of them need an 
			object of identification in order for us to "realize" each 
			particular archetype. That is, we fear a particular thing -- an 
				OBJECT. We love someone -- an OBJECT. We hate, or have compassion or 
			tenderness for someone; something; an idea; an OBJECT. 
				   
				But, where 
			did the idea of FEAR (that we all have), come from? What could 
			possibly be so traumatic, so devastating, that all people (of all 
			time) feel it so acutely, from time to time? And I am talking about 
			the type (archetype) of fear that precedes PANIC! And, by the way, 
			it is my contention that if just one archetype, FEAR, is explained, 
			then all the rest of the archetypes will be explained automatically 
			-- all the rest of them will fall into place, within our "psyches" ( 
			Greek word for "souls"), and we will be on our way to understanding 
			all the rest of the questions at the beginning of this monograph.
 All of us have a Great Aunt. Without exception, all of us in this 
			world have a Great Aunt. This Great Aunt is one and the same 
			"person" for all of us. The word "Tia," means "aunt," in the Spanish 
			language. The Spanish language makes extensive use of an older 
			language -- Latin. Latin has an older language that it draws from. 
			Ultimately, it finds its roots in the Babylonian, back further to 
			the Akkadian, and finally, back to the Sumerian language. And it was 
			the Sumerian scribes who told us about a planet, in our solar 
			system, long ago, named Tia-mat!
 
 But, in the final analysis, 
				who is our mother? Do we not come from 
			the elements of the Earth? Are we not made up (each of us) of the 
				primordial "substance" of Mother Earth? Yes, we all have an Earthly 
			mother -- but in a much more profound sense, we are the children of 
			Mother Earth!  Not in any religious sense -- but in a 
				scientific 
			sense!
 
 Where did our Earth come from? The ancient scribes wrote down the 
			answer many thousands of years ago. The ancient scribes recorded 
			what their masters (the gods), told them to write. And what they 
			told them to write was:
 
					
					once, long ago,
					Tiamat (a planet, twice the 
			size of Earth) was split in two by an invading planet from deep 
			space. The name of that planet was Marduk. After the enormous 
			"battle" half of Tiamat (our Mother, Earth) was pushed into a new 
			orbit (between Venus and Mars), where we find Her today.  
				Can one only imagine the celestial trauma that 
				Tiamat felt when that 
			ancient collision took place? Can one actually comprehend the 
			enormity of that historic event? Literally trillions and trillions 
			of pieces of our Great Aunt were obliterated -- decimated -- ground 
			and pummeled into dust, into asteroids, (which, by the way, the 
			ancients call Heaven), and then that part of our Great Aunt Tiamat 
			(along with the noble Kingu -- our moon) which wasn’t destroyed, was 
			cast into a new orbit -- and became our Earth -- our Mother Earth!
				
 Can one imagine the trauma --the FEAR -- the PANIC, that was created 
			that day, so long ago in the very elements of Tiamat?  But, it was 
			the "physical elements" that were traumatized in that battle, not 
			human beings. How, then, can we say that the archetype we call
				FEAR, 
			that we all feel, originated during that titanic battle, between two 
			planets, so long ago?
 
 The answer to that question is: We 
				humans, along with every physical 
			thing upon this planet, are made up of the elements of Earth!  Herein 
			is the key to unlocking every hidden emotion we have, in our very 
			souls -- and, all of the other questions dissolve.
 
 
			(16) 
				 
				
				"For, in spite of all of the efforts of 
				Ninurta to dissuade Nergal 
			from harming mankind, a great suffering did ensue. Though the two 
			had not intended it, the nuclear explosion gave rise to an immense 
			wind, a radioactive wind, which began as a whirlwind; A storm, the 
				Evil Wind, went around in the skies. Modern day nuclear accident? A 
			plot for an adventure novel? A "what if" scenario in some military 
			war-games room? No! 
 Causing cities to be desolated, [causing] houses to become desolate; 
			Causing stalls to be desolate, the sheepfolds to be emptied; That 
			Sumer’s oxen no longer stand in their stalls, that its sheep no 
			longer roam in its sheepfolds; That its rivers flow with water that 
			is bitter, that its cultivated fields grow weeds, that its steppes 
			grow withering plants.
 
 Abraham was ordered, by the "god"
				Enlil to take a contingent of the 
			best men he could find southwest to the Sinai peninsula, to the 
			restricted space port and to guard it with his life, from Marduk’s 
			saboteurs. The spaceport was at El-Paran, a fortified oasis of
				Nakhl, in Sinai’s central plain. Marduk had already been subdued and 
			was in exile to the north, but he was fighting mad and needed to 
			take control of the spaceport in the Sinai -- he who controlled the 
			spaceport controlled the entire Middle East. Abraham’s mission was 
			to keep this from happening. He succeeded in doing this.
 
 But other things were brewing in the north east: 
				Ninurta (first son 
			of Enlil) and Nergal (son of Marduk, and quisling to the 
				Enlil 
			clan), convinced Anu and Enlil that things had escalated too much -- 
			that drastic measures were needed to bring a semblance of control 
			back to the area. The "Olden Weapons" were to be unleashed... 
				weapons that had never been used before... weapons of such 
				mass 
			destruction that no one knew how much damage would be done. But now
				Ninurta and Nergal had permission to use them.
 
			There are two things I want to emphasize before I continue with this 
			phase of my impressions of Zecharia Sitchin’s third book, The Wars 
			of Gods and Men:  
				
				There is a physical anomaly in the central plains area of the Sinai 
			peninsula -- something that is out of place -- something that does 
			not belong there. There are literally millions upon millions of its 
			and pieces of blackened rock, strewn as if by a giant hand, over the 
			whole area! Black is not a natural hue in the Sinai peninsula, 
			"where the whiteness of the limestone and the redness of the 
			sandstone combine to dazzle the eye with hues ranging from bright 
			yellow to light gray and dark brown but nowhere the black which 
			comes in nature from basalt stones." There is no explanation for 
			this, unless one reads the verses of the ancient texts, and accepts 
			the conclusion that in the days of Abraham, Nergal and 
				Ninurta wiped 
			out the Spaceport that was there, with nuclear weapons. 
				 
					
					"That which 
			was raised towards Anu to launch they caused to wither, its face 
			they made fade away, its place they made desolate."  
				The second thing I want to emphasize deals with the 
				Dead Sea (The 
			Salt Sea). If one were to look at a map of that area, one would see 
				another anomaly -- something that just doesn’t look right. The 
				Dead Sea appears to be separated by a narrow "tongue," right about where 
				El Lisan meets the shoreline. Then below, to the south, it widens 
			out and again looks like a normal body of water. It is the 
			contention of Zecharia Sitchin that this "secondary" body of water 
			was not part of the Dead Sea before something awesome happened that 
			literally created that "second" body of water! 
 Listen to the olden text...
 
					
					On the Land [Sumer] fell a calamity, one unknown to man: One that 
			had never been seen before, one that could not be withstood. 
 The death was not by the hand of the enemy; it was an unseen death, 
			"which roams the street, is let loose in the road; it stands beside 
			a man -- yet none can see it; when it enters a house, its appearance 
			is unknown."
   
					There was no defense against this "evil which has 
			assailed the land like a ghost: The highest wall, the thickest 
			walls, it passes as a flood; no door can shut it out, no bolt can 
			turn it back; through the door like a snake it glides, through the 
			hinge like a wind it blows in.  
					
					"Those who hid behind doors were 
			felled inside; those who ran to the rooftops died on the rooftops; 
			those who fled to the streets were stricken in the streets: "Cough 
			and phlegm weakened the chest, the mouth was filled with spittle and 
			foam... dumbness and daze have come upon them, an unwholesome 
			numbness...an evil curse, a headache...their spirit abandoned their 
			bodies."    
					As they died, it was a most gruesome death: The people, terrified, could hardly breathe; the 
					Evil Wind clutched 
			them, does not grant them another day... Mouths were drenched in 
			blood... heads wallowed in blood... The face was made pale by the 
			Evil Wind. 
			(I was trained in chemical, biological, and radioactive warfare, on 
			a little island off the coast of Japan, during the Korean war 
			(police action): I know what the aftermath looks like after a 
			nuclear explosion. JWS)
 In the year 2023 BCE, a series of 
			nuclear explosions were 
			deliberately set off, by Nergal and Ninurta, both in the 
			Sinai 
			peninsula and, over the southern end of the Dead Sea. There is 
			absolutely no doubt about this! The evidence is STILL there -- 
			including traces of radiation!
 
 
 (17)
 
 The interpretation of 
			archaeology has yet to catch up with Sumerian 
			historic fact. When it does there will be little doubt that what we 
			now consider myth will be proven fact. There are just too many 
			cultures throughout the world which have so many things in common 
			that it almost becomes comical when some of the die-hard 
			practitioners of the earth- sciences still cling to the old theories 
			concerning human history. In the meantime, such serious 
			investigators as Sitchin, Bramley, Kramer, Freer, et al, will 
			continue to amass more and more evidence for the proposition that 
			Earth’s human history extends much further into our ancient past.
 
 Naturally, there will be felt some discomfort by certain groups of 
			people with certain types of mind sets. This is unfortunate as well 
			as inevitable. There is so much of current history that is based on 
			wishful thinking -- so much of our history that is predicated on a 
			religious viewpoint. It is understandable that religion played so 
			important a roll in forming our world-view. Since man is still quite 
			ignorant of his actual historical past, it is no wonder that 
			religion seemed to be a necessary institution, for controlling, 
			pacifying, and shaping the minds of human beings.
 
 It may take another thousand years for all of that ignorance to be 
			purged from the psyches of humanity. There is much of which humanity 
			can be proud though. Not so much that we have accomplished great 
			advances in technology -- we certainly have. Not so much that we 
			have populated the world with a multitude of various cultural 
			attitudes -- we certainly have. Not so much that we have a much 
			greater understanding of this universe in which we live -- we 
			certainly do. But mostly, we can look at ourselves with at least a 
			little pride in the fact that we haven’t destroyed ourselves -- yet! 
			It might seem like a small thing, that we haven’t destroyed 
			ourselves but, when one thinks of the fact that being violent and 
			warlike creatures from the very first moment we became sentient -- 
			genetically predisposed for violence from the very progenitors who 
			created us, it is no small achievement!
 
 Just as the Constitution of the United States of America was not an 
			established fact, but an ideal -- a goal to be attained, we in the 
			western world, can consider it an achievement and a testimony to 
			posterity that we are still here! We have not only survived in the 
			face of adversity -- much of it self caused -- we have grown in 
			every way imaginable -- in numbers -- in education -- in spiritual 
			values (yes, believe it or not, we are still a magnificently 
			spiritual people) -- and most importantly, we can now see a dim 
			light at the end of the tunnel!
 
 A social science teacher (back in the 1940s) once said to the class 
			I was attending,
 
				
					
					"With an increase in education there will be a 
			proportionate decline in religion"   
			At the time, I did not really 
			understand what she was implying. After all, wasn’t religion a form 
			of education? The thing I had to learn, many years later, was that 
			there was a profound difference between religious training and 
			spiritual understanding. Believe it or not there is an exponential 
			increase in the number of people who know the difference even at the 
			present time in history; even at a time when there are more types of 
			crime and inhumanity perpetrated against ourselves. The fact that 
			there are so many more churches and so many more denominations in 
			today’s world, is not contrary to the fact that there is less 
			religion.
 The very fact that we are such an unsatisfied people, is proof that 
			we are not as religious, but more spiritual than ever before! It is 
			a Great Storm that humanity is experiencing at the present moment. 
			This Great Storm is in its final throes -- the tempest is at its 
			height -- and we are all caught up in it, one way or another.
 
 And we are becoming stronger in every way. Most of all, we are 
			becoming stronger, spiritually!
 
 Strife -- wars -- unrest -- animosity -- enmity -- dissatisfaction 
			-- may be a part of our genetic make-up. But so too is compassion -- 
			concern -- the ability and desire to help our fellow humans -- and 
			yes, even love -- a part of our spiritual make-up. The race of men 
			who genetically created us (for whatever reason) did not realize 
			what a good job they were doing. We humans are now reaching out for 
			the stars -- there certainly is,
 
				
				"nothing that will stay our hand -- 
			and anything we now set our minds to will not be thwarted." 
				 
			We have 
			eaten of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. We have also 
			returned to the garden to do battle with the cherubim, and the 
			flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way to the tree of 
			life.
 The "gods" knew we would eat of the "fruit." They also knew we would 
			one day return to do battle with that "cherubim and the flaming 
			sword." We humans are a tough race and an awesome force. We shall 
			overcome the cherubim guarding the 
			
			tree of life; we shall climb the 
			tree of life, just as the "gods" knew we would; just as the "gods" 
			wanted us to do -- because the flaming sword was a code-word for 
			"spiritual knowledge," and the tree of life was a Gateway to the 
			Stars!
 
 And most importantly, we shall gain those spiritual prerogatives 
			that have always been our rightful heritage! We have come too far -- 
			we have paid too great a price not to have earned the absolute right 
			to that heritage -- we shall take our place among the highest 
			intelligence in this universe -- after all -- we’re worth it!
 
			  
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