Created in Man’s Image: God’s Virtual Reality: Part Three

Reality isn’t all that complicated. It resides 100% within that brain-thingy of yours. The Big Question is, is that (your brain) the sum total of reality or are their other realities outside of your own that reside as both an outside reality and in other brain-thingies? And where does the reality of a god (or any supernatural deity) fit into that Big Mental Picture? Perhaps God was created in man’s image.

Continued from yesterday’s blog…

NO TWO GODS ARE THE SAME BECAUSE NO TWO BRAINS ARE IDENTICAL

I read recently that “… nothing precise can be said about God, because God is that which is beyond the scope of human thought or experience”. That’s wrong. At least I was under the impression that a whole potful of Biblical characters experienced God, like Moses. Anyway, God is totally within the scope of human thought since God’s our mental creation (recall all those human traits God has), and even if by chance God has some sort of independent existence, as per all else in life, the universe and everything, that existence is shovelled into and contemplated within something that’s human, the human mind. The human mind absorbs and reduces God down to understandably human terms. How many zillions upon zillions of words have been written and spoken about the concept of God (or Allah or whoever). 100% of those words have been generated via the human mind, so we’ve certainly spared no mental expense in dealing with the Almighty! Even if God is the sound of one hand clapping, well we can contemplate that. That contemplation might be wrong, and again every person will have his or her own personal contemplations that will all be different, but everyone comes to terms with the concept, so God (or the lack of a god if you’re an atheist) is not beyond the scope of the human mind.

Even if there is an external reality (your brain isn’t the sum total of all things), no two individuals, or rather their brains, will perceive that external reality down to the last and infinite decimal place. I believe in a god; you believe in a god, but when we compare notes, subtle shades of grey appear. How can there be such a thing as absolute reality when no two people will ever agree on what that reality is, even if it takes going down to the quantum level to find the split in the perception of that reality.

So there are as many versions of God’s (or equivalent) existence and nature as there are human minds. Quite apart from the formal definitions and distinctions between the thousands of formal religions that have been in the past and that are now in the present as to ‘who and what is god’ (all formally presented by the human mind), or even restricting things to God-of-the-Bible (the Bible by the way is the product of the human mind, as is the Koran, as are all religious texts), each individual human member of each religious sect or cult (like Christianity) has his or her own variation on the God theme, courtesy of their unique brain chemistry. So considering God apart from the thousands upon thousands of polytheistic deities (and who’s to deny their validity), there isn’t one God, but billions of Gods, each a unique God in the mind of that beholder. No two insides (minds) are identical.

GOD ON THE BRAIN

To illustrate all of the above with a specific concept near and dear to the hearts and minds of many a human, we shall further consider the lone ranger we call “God” or in more general terms the concept of a supernatural god or deity.

That God exists in one form or another is in no dispute since there are zillions of references to Him in all manner of formats, from the printed word like the Bible to what resides inside your wetware. That existence however can be akin to that of say Allan Quatermain, the creation of H. Rider Haggard. That Allan Quatermain exists is in no dispute either since there are millions of references to his existence too. But, Allan Quatermain is virtual reality – perhaps God is too.

That God is near and dear to the hearts and minds of humans is also because that’s probably what’s been taught or otherwise rammed down our collective throats by parents, teachers, church and sometimes state. Or, perhaps you have self learned about this godly concept off your own bat. Or you may have had what you perceive as having had a direct experience – a eureka moment – when God talked to you, or the angels paid you a visit, or you had some sort of defining rapturous moment that you identified with the supernatural, like your prayers were answered or you experienced a miracle.

Why would the human mind, the human imagination invent a god, or the human mind accept as given the concept of a god? Well probably because the human mind, of all the animal kingdom’s minds, is the one unique mind to have foreknowledge about personal death. Humans, like all animals who battle for survival, don’t want to die. Humans know that they will die and that they are powerless to prevent their death. But what if (a variation of the phrase let’s ‘make believe’), there was someone or something that could rescue one from this pending unfortunate state of affairs of kicking the bucket and give one a second (after) life? To do so, the imagination has to go beyond the natural to the supernatural (why not) and to a local inhabitant of that supernatural world, a god or a deity, who can make it so. 

The key word here seems to me to be ‘supernatural’ not God, since God is a small subset of alleged deities inhabiting the realm of the supernatural. It doesn’t really matter if you substitute Odin or Zeus or even the Rainbow Serpent for God – same general concept.

Perhaps because of that concept of impending finality, death, our brains seem to be hardwired or conditioned to accept the general nature of the supernatural – things which are ‘above and beyond’ the natural or normal bits and pieces we associate with the concept of a Mother Nature. For comparison, it would be interesting to have conservations with, or read the mind of, your cat or dog or an elephant or chimpanzee (our ultimate primate ancestral species) and find out what beliefs or worldviews they have in all things supernatural, like in a deity or life after death. My guess is that only humans ponder over the possibilities of deities which maybe extra evidence that someone or something impersonating a deity (i.e. - ‘ancient astronauts’) has mucked about with our wetware to ensure this.

So somehow or other, the human mind, brain, and all associated electromagnetic energy and biochemical bits that collective make up our brain’s neural networks, are quasi-hardwired to invent and contemplate and in general put faith in the reality of the supernatural and a supernatural deity, albeit, if I’m right, it’s really just virtual reality since it all stems from within the mind contemplated by the mind and not from an external outside to the mind via the five senses.  

THE END

When your wetware dries out; when your neurons cease firing; when the microbes attack and the rot sets in and the chemistry stops, then your inner reality ceases too. Whether you take life, the universe and everything with you or not is irrelevant. Your reality is just as kaput as kaput can be. 

CONCLUSION

Assuming a really real reality, an external reality (and that’s probably the way to bet) coming to terms with life, the universe and everything is a job performed by your brain chemistry. The concept of God (or equivalent) is part of life, the universe and everything, so coming to terms with the nature of God is also a function of and a task performed by your wetware. I suggest that ‘coming to terms’ with God is entirely an internal mental affair; God was created in our image.

Created in Man’s Image: God’s Virtual Reality: Part Two

Reality isn’t all that complicated. It resides 100% within that brain-thingy of yours. The Big Question is, is that (your brain) the sum total of reality or are their other realities outside of your own that reside as both an outside reality and in other brain-thingies? And where does the reality of a god (or any supernatural deity) fit into that Big Mental Picture? Perhaps God was created in man’s image.

Continued from yesterday’s blog…

GOD AND THE INSIDE LOOKING OUTSIDE: IS THERE AN OUTSIDE AT ALL?

In theory there are two forms of existence – reality and virtual reality. You, or at least your brain, have reality. If someone, even yourself, dreams about you or writes a story about you, that particular version of you is a virtual reality you.

For all you know there is no external outside reality. All that is ‘outside’ is a figment of your imagination, of your mind, of your brain chemistry in the exact same way as your dreams (inside looking inside) are imaginary and not literally a part of external reality. Your dreams (while asleep) might be a dream within a daydream (your so-called external reality – life is but a dream), which is a variation on the standard simulated universe (virtual reality) scenario only substituting wetware for software. The only thing that is really real is your wetware, but that is subject to various outside forces, as noted above, assuming of course there are outside forces.

Even the body to which the brain is attached might be illusionary. There’s the famous tale of the two philosophers, one of whom said that a large rock was but an illusion and had no reality (Philosopher-I) and the other (Philosopher-R) who refuted that theory by giving the rock a really swift and violent kick, and in intense pain noted that he had indeed refuted the claim of Philosopher-I. But did he? Philosopher-I could argue that Philosopher-R was as imaginary as the rock; his kick was an illusion, and the pain therefore nonexistent. Philosopher-I could further argue that since he hadn’t kicked the rock not a thing about the reality of the rock was proved to his satisfaction. Even if Philosopher-I had kicked the rock and ended up with a black-and-blue big toe for his trouble, he could still argue that the pain was just his imagination, it resided only within his brain, and existed independently of his unreal illusory bruised big toe. All that was apparently outside of Philosopher-I’s brain, Philosopher-I’s body, Philosopher-R, the rock, the kick, etc., was just all make believe done via Philosopher-I’s brain chemistry.

So there may not be an ‘outside’ at all – your brain is the universe. But if there is an outside it could be drastically different than what you perceive it to be, as in the case of someone seeing sounds. Your brain chemistry has taken an outside reality and turned it into an alternative and inner reality, a personal reality, a reality unique to you and only you because your brain and brain chemistry is uniquely yours.

Contrast that when I’m asleep and dreaming ‘reality’ with your wide awake ‘reality’. Both can seem equally real, as anyone who has had nightmares can testify to.

Contrast your wide awake ‘reality’ to that when you are ill or exhausted or under the influence or after taking LSD or marijuana. Your ‘reality’ changes as circumstances change. Further, someone who is ill or tired or under the influence, etc. or is otherwise hallucinating, isn’t witnessing the same reality that you are.

Reality is a rather nebulous concept!

But either there is an external reality, or there is not. If there is not and you accept the validity of a god or a deity then that god or deity is a creation of your imagination and part of your fantasy world. If there is an external reality, then either a god (or gods) exists within that external life, the universe and everything or does not exist. In other words, either there is, or is not, a real supernatural deity who creates, controls and destroys, a deity that has an existence independent from your own. Regardless, let’s call this ‘is’ or ‘is not’ supernatural entity “God”. There can be no wriggle room between the two possibilities*.

Even in an external reality, Superman has no reality, only virtual reality. Superman was conceived in the human mind. In contrast, does God have reality, or just a virtual reality? If it’s the latter, then God was conceived and born in the human mind, where God resides to this very day. God is a figment of our imagination. In short, God didn’t make us in His image; we made God in our image since God was our creation. Of course if God was created in our image then it’s not surprising that what we like God likes and what we don’t like, well there’s God’s wrath we conjured up to deal with that. God’s virtual reality actions and reactions, as related in the Bible at least, are totally comprehensible to us. God is depicted as often violent, prone to temper tantrums, authoritarian, cruel, demanding, jealous, vindictive, vain, in sort, God’s human. But God’s not unique in that capacity. Zeus ain’t any better – he’s a downright sex maniac, even rapist. In fact if you examine any deity from any mythology you’ll find very, very human qualities exhibited. Hera (Mrs. Zeus) is a jealous scheming bitch; Zeus’s brother Poseidon is vindictive and bad tempered; his other brother Hades was a kidnapper. I’d better stop there; otherwise an essay turns into a full-length book!

How do we know for absolute certain that God didn’t create mankind in His image and not the other way around, as I believe? We don’t! But if God really wanted to make His humans a unique creation, really separate and apart from all else, He would not have moulded us with the same basic body plan and biochemistry as the rest of the animal kingdom. We might have been created instead with a silicon-based biochemistry and we certainly wouldn’t share any DNA with anything else, since that just confuses the creation picture. Further, the dust-and-rib scenario of Genesis is pretty ludicrous even to the relatively uneducated. Even Frankenstein’s monster is a more plausible account or act of creation than Genesis.

To be continued…

*There might be a third possibility. Something or someone masquerading as a deity, say ‘ancient astronauts’, who by artificial selection, starting with primitive primates through to the hominids and eventually to us, genetically engineered our wetware such that the concept of ‘god’ was hardwired into our brains, such that we would accept the external reality of a god(s) (with themselves in the starring role), all the better with which to control the great unwashed masses. ‘God’ carries a bigger more awe-inspiring stick than mere flesh-and-blood aliens.

Created in Man’s Image: God’s Virtual Reality: Part One

Reality isn’t all that complicated. It resides 100% within that brain-thingy of yours. The Big Question is, is that (your brain) the sum total of reality or are their other realities outside of your own that reside as both an outside reality and in other brain-thingies? And where does the reality of a god (or any supernatural deity) fit into that Big Mental Picture? Perhaps God was created in man’s image.

INTRODUCTION

God (or any supernatural equivalent deity) is a figment of your imagination and a creation of that same imagination, probably aided, abetted and reinforced by your peers, your culture and your society. God therefore has a virtual reality but not a really real reality not that of necessity there even has to be a really real reality of anything, apart from your very own mind and mind’s imagination, imagination that has its ultimate foundations and is rooted in brain chemistry.

INSIDE: THE BRAIN RULES THE ROOST

You are defined by your brain. You are not defined by your big toe or your set of lungs or your good looking facial features or how much you weigh or how old you are. What makes you, you is all that which is contained within those cubic centimetres of grey matter, wetware, the brain, the mind (a subpart of the anatomical organ), whatever you wish to call it.

Your brain, or more to the point your brain chemistry, defines you. Everything that you are resides in your brain under the control of wetware chemistry. Consider the following list of things that are you and that are part and parcel of holding residence in your wetware: Awe, wonder and a sense of mystery; spirituality; a sense of purpose; all learning; all memory; all your emotions; all your likes and dislikes; all that you see, hear, taste, touch and smell; all of your thoughts; all pleasure and pain; all of your creativity; all your questions (but not always the answers); art appreciation; your sense of right and wrong or of morality and ethics; your values, beliefs or faiths; your all encompassing worldviews; all of your behaviour; your sense of self; your ego; your intelligence; your choice of spouse or partner or for that matter, choice or decision making – full stop; your ability or affinity to learn languages; your degree of numeracy; and of course and finally your perception and acceptance or rejection of the supernatural, including supernatural beings like deities, like God (for example). All this and more in such a limited space, but it’s true.

All this and more comes to the fore via your five senses, perhaps starting even before birth (a sense of warmth, wetness, body sounds like a mother’s heartbeat) but certainly the moment you pop out of the womb. Throughout your life, all of this input via your five senses, brought to you courtesy of life, the universe and everything, all of this data, is filtered and refiltered and mixed and matched and contemplated and broken down and constructed and deconstructed and reconstructed again and manipulated into one you, one personality, one mind, one unique worldview albeit forever changing, until the day you are finally declared brain dead.

But all of the above traits and abilities of the human brain says bugger-all about the reality of a deity, which is a bit of an abstract concept in its own right.

Brain chemistry ensures that humans (probably uniquely so) can try, but not succeed, in coming to terms with other abstract questions like what’s the maximum number of leprechauns that can hold a picnic using a dime for a blanket; what is the sound of one hand clapping; what’s south of the South Pole; what’s the nature and extent of infinity; and what transpired before the Big Bang?

One has to be careful of not reading too much into abstractions. We often see messages or meanings where there is none to be found, like seeing ‘pictures’ in clouds or the face of Jesus on a piece of toast or, for example, people who listened to Aaron Copland’s musical composition “Appalachian Spring” would comment to the composer how that music so perfectly described an Appalachian spring day. But Copland said the composition had nothing to do with the Appalachians or with spring and the title was chosen to please his benefactor or sponsor. It was all wishful thinking on the part of the listener.

Images are all in the mind, perhaps aided by the power of suggestion as in the case of the title “Appalachian Spring”. Now not every listener in the audience would have had identical mental images when hearing the music. Even the same listener could have had a slightly differing mental image upon a later hearing. Does the “Grand Canyon Suite” really conjure up a picture of the Grand Canyon (if say you heard the piece without knowing the title) or might it suggest a different place or a lot of different places or maybe it’s just a nice piece of music full-stop, just as a god or God can be a nice abstract concept, full-stop.

Humans can mentally conjure up an image of the Appalachians or the Grand Canyon from a piece of music (with a suggestive title) just like they can conjure up and contemplate the existence of a god or a deity (from something equally suggestive like the Bible or from a sermon), but that doesn’t mean any god or deity actually exists in any shape manner or form, any more so than “Appalachian Spring” or the “Grand Canyon Suite” of necessity requires the actual existence of a mountain range or a time of year or a hole in the ground in Arizona. 

More to the point of the imaginary, and musical compositions stem from the imagination, actual objects like Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon exists in our culture, like God, though there’s way more evidence for those space heroes vis-à-vis God, as kids who routinely attended the Saturday matinees in the pre-Sputnik era would (if still alive) testify to. 

And that’s another concept we have that animals probably don’t; the ability to conjure up the imaginary. Animals probably don’t have a world of make believe or fiction. There are human fans, even fanatics, of all manner of make believe human characters like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, James Bond, Batman, Captain Kirk, to Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes, even down to those who follow Greek mythology, the life and times of the Olympians, demigoddesses like Helen (of Troy), and demigods like Hercules. Even aliens like those in Star Trek or say Superman are still human otherwise we couldn’t easily relate to them. All of these and a whole lot more besides were created in man’s (and woman’s) image as the product of the human imagination. So let’s just add God to the list of imaginary beings created in the image of God’s collective creator. Why? Because it is not surprising or beyond the realm of possibility that God et al. also fits into that category of make believe, especially since there’s not any trace of any evidence that any supernatural deity, God included, has ever existed.

But is brain chemistry, the ultimate cause of all things mental, really all that important? We’ve all seen the unfortunate results of what can happen when brain chemistry malfunctions or misfires due to disease, genetics, physical damage or injury, drug use and abuse, so there is no doubting the importance of brain chemistry and the relationship between it and what makes you, you. It can produce all kinds of oddities as well like mathematical wizards who can do mentally in seconds what it would take you minutes to do using pen and paper. Then too there are the strange cases of people who can hear colours or taste sounds, etc. 

GOD AND THE INSIDE LOOKING INSIDE: OUR FANTASY WORLDS

Your mind can examine the intricacies of your mind. Your wetware has an existence independent of anything else. Your brain could be the be-all-and-end-all of life, the universe and everything. If nothing else, you can only come to terms with life, the universe and everything after it has been tucked away into one of those recesses within your mind. In other words, you exist inside the universe, but the universe in all its entirety has to exist inside of you, or your mind. Life, the universe and everything can only be dealt with after it has found a home within your brain and can thus be contemplated via your brain chemistry.

“I think, therefore I am” is a widely bandied about quote, but it’s a case of your inside wetware contemplating itself. Even if you are removed from external stimuli, say in an isolation tank, you can still think, imagine, compose, invent, daydream, and if you fall asleep, dream. I think of things, therefore they are too. Your mind creates internal fantasy worlds full of things. For example, children often have imaginary friends and playmates. As an adult, we sort-of outgrow that, but we still create every day in every way internal fantasy worlds as part of our worldviews.

As such, your creative mind is akin to being a god, an inventive mind which creates and controls and perhaps destroys all sorts of mental fantasy worlds. Haven’t you often pictured the sorts of things you’d really like to do to Person X or Country Y if only you could get away with it?

While ‘day-dreaming’, you will often hold imaginary conversations with others in imaginary scenarios as rehearsals for dealing with all those possible scenarios that the real outside reality of life, the universe and everything could throw at you: which leads itself to the next section…

To be continued…

Polytheism, Monotheism, Extraterrestrial Theism or No Theism?

Is there one God, many gods, extraterrestrial ‘gods’, or no gods? Nothing is set in concrete and everything is grist for the speculative mill.

For the majority of mankind, for the majority of time, polytheism has been the be-all-and-and-all of explaining life, the universe and everything. Lots of phenomena; lots of things to explain; lots of divisions of labour resulting in lots of gods required to explain all.

Then some bright spark comes along and suggests that all these different roles can be in fact rolled into one. So because one God, is easier to come to terms with than dozens of gods, well, make it so, or so be it.

But, does than shift ultimately mean that one God is better than many gods? Are there in fact other gods and God, or other gods but not God?

Well, according to all things Biblical, God’s Commandments verify the existence of other gods

My quick summation goes as follows:

“I am the Lord your God” [Translated, ‘I’m top dog’.]

“Do not have any other gods before me” [Translated: ‘that’s because I am top dog’.]

“You shall not make for yourself an idol [presumably of other gods], whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [The latter might be the Greek Poseidon, or Roman Neptune, for example.]

“You shall not bow down to them or worship them [presumably those other gods]; for I the Lord your God [He repeats Himself here] am a jealous God [top dogs tend to be wary and even envious of lesser dogs least they gang up on Him] … punishing … those who reject me”.

An analogy strikes me as if there were a group of school kids (gods) all playing relatively nicely among themselves, when the school bully (God) enters, chases them away and spoils everything for everybody!

Or, it’s as if the General (God) is rather miffed – not all that pleased – if the adoring public idolise the Private, the Sergeant, or the Lieutenant – rank has it’s privileges, or at least some rather serious expectations.

Okay, the Bible, being God’s word and all, verifies God has rivals!

Ancient Romans, Greeks, Norse, Egyptians, Celts, Maya, Aztecs, Incas, Polynesians, etc., etc. all had many gods – these ancient peoples weren’t dummies in their belief, so why should they be rubbished for polytheism when you’re not rubbished for monotheism?

One problem with God or gods is with respect to creation. God (or the gods) created the Universe which contains therefore God’s (or god’s) creation, Planet Earth. God (or the gods) created on Planet Earth human beings in His image. Humans are the pinnacle of His (their) creation. We are the jewel in His (their) crown. Humanity is the be-all-and-end-all of all Godly (godly) things. We’re extra special in the eyes of God or the gods. 1) That being the case what fraction of the volume of the observable universe is devoted to providing His (their) supreme creation with a home? A grain of sand is far larger when compared to the size of the Earth it rests upon, than the size of the Earth compared to the observable universe. Translated, God (or the gods) created a heck of a lot of space for no apparent reason since it has no relevance to His (their) special creation – Planet Earth and its human inhabitants. 2) That being the case, what fraction of the age of the Universe has been occupied by – give us a Supreme Creation pat on the back to – humanity? Well, what fraction of 13.7 billion years is the reign of Homo sapiens? Homo sapiens have been making their mark on Terra Firma for some 100,000 years. Do you begin to see something odd here? The Apex of God’s (gods) creation, the creation that gives ultimate meaning to God Himself (gods themselves), humanity, has existed for as close to no time at all as makes no odds. If we’re not special at all in space and time, then we’re not special in the mind of God (or the gods). Or, perhaps what this suggests is that there is no creator God or gods at all.

If you accept the general verdict of history, there has been a transition from polytheism to monotheism; if both God and gods have, or had, reality, how is this explained?  Assimilation or conquest by a monotheistic culture over a more primitive or weaker polytheistic culture is one way – missionaries rule! Still, it’s difficult to overturn the establishment, especially an establishment that’s held sway for thousands of years. Most people, cultures, societies don’t like to have new ideas rammed down their collective throats.

Okay, time to abandon that suggestion and have a bit of fun, speculate, and jump into the deep end of the pool. The basic idea is that the old gods just pack up and leave. If that’s the case, God replaces the religious vacuum left behind. Where did the ancient gods go, assuming they existed in the first place? Back home presumably, wherever home is – probably somewhere out there.

So one other viable alternative to the existence of bona-fide supernatural gods or God is to suggest their bona-fides, while real, isn’t within the realm of the supernatural. That is, presumably, the gods, and God, were flesh-and-blood aliens from space, or in ancient times and human perceptions, a being(s) from a Heaven or from the sky – as in sky beings. One could object that the gods (or God) are visualised or depicted as very human or humanoid (some of those ancient Egyptian gods are a bit suss) and thus the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) is O U T – out. However, human-like alien beings are not unknown from within the modern day UFO era’s literature. So, appearances might be deceiving. 

One could further postulate that all of the mythological beasties part and parcel of the realms of the gods actually are extraterrestrial creatures – ET’s pets, like say Pegasus! And some of the more humanoid beasties, Medusa, the Cyclops, the Minotaur, well let’s just say they wouldn’t be out of place as aliens you might have to deal with on another planetary abode!

Back to the deep end of the pool and boldly going where angels fear to tread: I’ll start by speculating that it’s relatively easy to envision two separate and rival extraterrestrial civilizations – the gods on the one hand vs. God plus associated crew and underlings (angels, etc.) on the other. Perhaps there was a ‘Star Wars’ of sorts with God sending the gods packing! That’s the most likely scenario since there’s no love lost between God and company, and the gods. Or, perhaps, if you like the Zoo Hypothesis (we’re property – the zoo ‘animals’; ET is the zoo keeper), there was a changing of the guard – the old shift (the gods) clocked off; the new shift (God, etc.) clocks on (except of course God nearly destroys our terrestrial zoo in a fit of temper! Then again, Zeus nearly did the same!) Or, maybe God is a cosmic sheriff with local jurisdiction within our stellar neighbourhood. Sheriff God had to chase the bad guys (the gods) out of Dodge (Planet Earth) for violations of their version of the Prime Directive. But, once a lawman, always a lawman, and so our cosmic sheriff rides into Dodge and imposes His version of the law (‘Thou shall not…’) on us. 

But, maybe the ancient gods haven’t left the building at all since if they had, God wouldn’t be so worried about them and about you cuddling up to, and worshiping them. If the gods had gone walkabout and left, wouldn’t it be a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’?

Back now into the shallow end of the pool: In the final analysis however, one has to ask whether it is really believable that Planet Earth should have hosted thousands of supernatural gods over the last several thousand years. I mean, if you were to add up all the various major and minor deities that have formed the ‘religious’ bedrocks for society after society after society, it starts to get a bit like a novel that has a few more characters to keep track of as is really necessary to the overall plot.

So, one can easily imagine that there really are no supernatural gods at all, and by implication no God (I mean why should the one exist when the many don’t?). Or, one can pick and choose from the supernatural multitudes and come up with a reasonable handful – except that 1000 people will come up with 1000 different lists. Or, maybe all (or at least most or some) of the gods and perhaps including a God (as one of the many) exist, or did exist, but weren’t really supernatural, only seen through primitive human eyes as supernatural – back to the ETH again.

“What if” there is no God or gods, supernatural or otherwise? Not now, not ever. If one were to sample the world’s population, the majority will confess to a believing in some sort of Supreme Being. [Since the era of polytheism is pretty much gone, I’ll stick to the singular, usually translated as ‘God’.] However, in factual matters, majority doesn’t always rule. If a billion people believe in a foolish idea, it’s still a foolish idea. Anyway, if there is no God of any kind, then you’re on your own. There’s no one to blame for the bad; no one to thank for the good. Trillions of dollars and man-hours; millions of needless sufferings, have been all for naught.

So what if there is no God? While there’s lots of examples one could cite that suggest that the concept of God is illogical and often self-contradictory, that there isn’t one, or at least a logical one, could be a conclusion reached summed up by examining the logic behind the example of what’s commonly called the ‘end of days’ or Armageddon. The point, regarding the whole Biblical end of days, Armageddon, etc. bit, is that the resolution of the whole Biblical end of day’s event or scenario has already been laid out and the exact ending foretold. So, what’s the point in going through the whole exercise? I mean if you know, absolutely know, in advance that you’re doomed to failure – it’s a futile exercise – if you are to flap your arms and try to fly, why bother going through the process?

So if we conclude that there is no God…

Then billions of people, over thousands of years, have spent trillions of ultimately wasted hours in prayer, attending church, observing/attending various religious rituals, spent in religious/Biblical study, door-knocking, preaching, discussing, arguing, going on pilgrimages, etc.

Then all those religious rituals, the do and do not rules that govern things regarding food, dress codes, ceremonies, relationships, sex, and etc. ultimately have been meaningless. 

Then millions of people have been tortured, murdered or executed, imprisoned, ridiculed, humiliated, exiled, and hated for no reason.

Then billions of dollars have been spent on cathedrals instead of say hospitals; Bibles instead of textbooks; educating priests instead of medical doctors, nurses and scientists.

Then for those formally educated and qualified in religious studies, spending entire careers preaching, etc. they have wasted their lives in devotion to an invisible friend that has all the reality of Casper, the Friendly Ghost.

Then multi-millions of animals have been sacrificed and offered up to a supernatural being that doesn’t exist.

Then you can’t blame all your aches and pains, your bad back and creaky joints, on some all knowing great intelligent designer, who apparently bioengineered you (from dust or a rib) while simultaneously failing Bioengineering 101. I mean placing the food tube right next to the breathing tube was a disaster waiting to happen, as evidenced by all those people who choke to death every year. And how many women have died giving birth because the compatibility between the birth canal and the size of the baby, well just wasn’t! A divinely created human wouldn’t be flawed and have need of eyeglasses or a hearing aid. God wouldn’t create a human with jaws to small to allow for wisdom teeth. As to the appendix organ, that’s just another oops.

But “what if” there is a God (or gods). Well, I guess that depends on which one or which version. It all seems to boil down to any one of a multitude to pick and choose from, from monotheism to polytheism to extraterrestrial theism. Go shopping! Polytheism perhaps survives after all. Personally, I find something about the Norse gods quite appealing! They get my vote!

Polytheism Confirmed - By the Bible Itself: Part Two

There are way over 600 of God’s commandments regarding ‘thou shall’ and ‘thou shall not’ or ‘do this’ and ‘don’t do that’ or just plain ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ in the Bible. The top ten are of course the Ten Commandments. And what’s numero uno – number one – “Thou shall have no other gods before me”. That’s God first and foremost concern – “other gods”. In fact to reinforce commandment number one, commandments number two and three are variations on the exact same theme! Wow! As Sherlock Holmes might say, “The game is afoot”.

For a large part of the civilized world, monotheism rules because the Bible says so. Fortunately there are still cultures around with more commonsense and polytheism still rules. I say “more sense” because far from refuting polytheism the Bible confirms it. It’s monotheism that’s a myth.

Continued from yesterday’s blog…

NEW TESTAMENT

Though reference to the gods or their gods or other gods, etc. is primarily the providence of the Old Testament, the New Testament does also acknowledge the gods.

*Acts 14:11: And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.

Did we note the plural “gods” and how they have a humanoid appearance?

*Acts 19:35: And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

Not only is the reality of the Roman goddess Diana (Artemis to the Greeks) noted, one of five such references, but she’s identified as a “great goddess” to boot. Jupiter of course is the Roman equivalent of Zeus, so in fact Zeus is named in a roundabout sort of way. 

*1 Corinthians 8:5: For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

We note that “there be gods many” – spot on IMHO.

DISCUSSION

One of the other Biblical proofs of the polytheistic pudding is that in the KJV of the Bible, you get 201 times the phrase “God of Israel” that appears. Note that it’s not God of Planet Earth; not God of Egypt nor Africa, not God of Mesopotamia, not God of Europe, not God of the Americas, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations, or any other geographical region. God is just God of Israel - Full stop. God has His chosen people and they aren’t the Celtics, the Native Americans (Amerindians), the Native Australians (Aborigines), the Aztecs, the Maya, the Incas, the Egyptians, not even the Greeks and Romans. In that context it makes no sense why the descendents of any of these cultures should worship God, because God doesn’t give a damn about them. They ain’t His chosen people. Muslims, and Hindus and Buddhists ain’t His chosen people. Modern Americans are ecstatic in their love of God, but Americans aren’t His chosen people either. 

Now that “God of Israel” bit makes perfect sense in a polytheistic context, because all those other geographical regions have their own ‘God’ – well actually ‘gods’ though there is usually a Big Boss God; the Big Cheese heading the rest of the pantheon of regional deities. It doesn’t take too much knowledge of ancient mythology to note the geographical/regional divisions.

Also interesting is that some versions of the Bible, like the New King James Version (though not the original King James Version) mention Hades in addition to, but apart from Hell. For example:

*Matthew 16:18: “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

*Revelation 6:8: “So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.”

Now Hades was both a god and a place. Hades was the Greek god of the underworld; the name of that Greek underworld was Hades. And as we see, the New King James Version uses Hades in both contexts.

So monotheism doesn’t exist since God is just one among equals, one among many gods by His own admission. But they don’t sink or swim together for the gods have an independent existence outside Biblical texts whereas God doesn’t, so it’s far easier to dismiss God from the big picture of the collection of all things godly than the multitude of deities. Polytheism rules, O.K.?

But even if you still acknowledge monotheism, well it’s easy to argue that monotheism is also polytheism since there’s a Jewish God, and a Christian God, and a Mormon God, and an Islamic God, etc. Even within the broad Christian church you have many factions (Catholic, Protestant, etc.); therefore you have so many versions of God. In fact if you gather together all the versions of the monotheistic God, you’d have enough Gods for a baseball game with Godly relief pitchers in the bullpen to boot. [Now that would be an interesting confrontation – God of the Jews, no-hit pitching to the .400 cleanup batter, the God of the Muslims!] 

Now you’d think that if there were really just one God, you would firstly have just one Holy Book. There would be no need for the 30 English language versions or editions of the Bible alone, and that’s excluding the Koran. There would be no if, ands or buts about what was to be included or excluded, and no wriggle room for this interpretation vs. that interpretation. In short, one God, one ‘word of God’ one unified belief system – that’s it, no factions. Everything would be crystal clear because God would not want any honest misinterpretations when it came to the bowing and scraping and all those other ritualistic activities He demands.

Secondly, you’d think that if there were really just one, and only one God, well that obviously means there are no other gods, and therefore no need to give constant reference to them in your holy texts since they don’t exist. I mean there’s no Tooth Fairy, no Easter Bunny and no Santa Claus so there’s not any need for the Bible to mention them – and the Bible doesn’t mention them.

Now the documentation for polytheism might be even more impressive were it not for the fact that Christians are fanatics at destroying anything and everything when it comes to non-Christian (polytheistic) cultures. Hardly anything remains of ancient Inca and Aztec texts, including many artefacts, all destroyed, smashed and totally obliterated. And as for that cultural treasure, the Library at Alexandria, it was all torched by the Christian Roman Empire – burn, baby burn in 391 CE. If it’s not Christian in origin then it must be the work of the devil and all works of the devil (i.e. – all things pagan) must be destroyed and the hell with cultural diversity and preservation. You could imagine the outcry if a rampaging mob of atheists stormed the Vatican Library and burned it down, but it’s okay for Christians to do it, all in the name and for the glory of God.  

CONCLUSION: If you believe there is some form of God, be it supernatural (unlikely) or extraterrestrial (way more probable given His home address) and you put some stock in the Bible as highly embellished but still a partly true account of ancient history in a select geographical area, then you need to swallow equally as well, hook, line and sinker, the rest of the pantheons of other cultures from other geographical regions that came before and/or coexisted with what we call today monotheism. If God exists, then too the gods equally exist – the Bible says so.

Polytheism Confirmed - By the Bible Itself: Part One

There are way over 600 of God’s commandments regarding ‘thou shall’ and ‘thou shall not’ or ‘do this’ and ‘don’t do that’ or just plain ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ in the Bible. The top ten are of course the Ten Commandments. And what’s numero uno – number one – “Thou shall have no other gods before me”. That’s God first and foremost concern – “other gods”. In fact to reinforce commandment number one, commandments number two and three are variations on the exact same theme! Wow! As Sherlock Holmes might say, “The game is afoot”.

For a large part of the civilized world, monotheism rules because the Bible says so. Fortunately there are still cultures around with more commonsense and polytheism still rules. I say “more sense” because far from refuting polytheism the Bible confirms it. It’s monotheism that’s a myth.

People who put their religious money on monotheism, based say on the Bible, obviously also believe that polytheism is pure mythology. Monotheism is factual reality; polytheism is pure fiction. God exists; the gods don’t exist. Yet, those who profess the reality of monotheism based on the Bible, had better think twice about polytheism being myth, as that very book confirms the factual reality of polytheism as well. If you believe one you have to accept the other. 

Relatively few people put faith in the numerous texts from cultures around the world that detail the life and times, trials and tribulations and exploits (heroic or otherwise) of the polytheistic gods, goddesses and demigods. The gods don’t exist.

On the other hand, many people put faith in the text called the Bible (or related documents like the Koran) about the life and times of the monotheistic God. God exists.

However, the Bible, etc. is just one of those before mentioned numerous texts that confirm the reality of polytheism. Therefore, even if you put stock in only the Bible, you’ve still got to accept the reality of polytheism! That’s still the case even if the Bible doesn’t lend itself to specifics; specifics aren’t given; names aren’t usually named (why give space to your godly rivals?). So you won’t find often cited popular gods like Zeus or Odin or Quetzalcoatl mentioned by name. However, there are more than enough references to “other gods” and “the gods” or “their gods” or “gods of” to give polytheism the credibility it deserves. 

In fact there are 215 times that one lone word “gods” (not including something like “God’s”) appear in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, not to mention various other choice wordings that are suggestive of polytheism. Here are just a very few of them from the Old Testament followed by a few brief personal comments.

OLD TESTAMENT

*Deuteronomy 8:19: And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish

We have mortals who follow other gods, and therefore who must believe in their reality, otherwise, what’s the point.

*Exodus 12:12: For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.

Excuse me, but how can God execute judgment against the gods of Egypt unless God Himself was convinced of their reality, and probably even knew them personally?

*Exodus 20:3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

If there are in fact no other gods, then there is no reason to make this one of the Ten Commandments. If fact if God has an obsession based on number of references in the Bible, it’s not with homosexuality, or adultery or sex of any kind for that matter, not even blasphemy nor crime – it’s those God damn “other gods”.  

*Exodus 34:14: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

The obvious question is, if other gods don’t exist, what need for God to be jealous. Why not just tell the great unwashed “there are no other gods, stupid” rather than seemingly endorse their existence?

*Genesis 1:26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness

We note the plurals “us” and “our”. So, the gods created humans, and since gods are an indication of the plural – English 101 - polytheism must be a fact.

*Genesis 3:5: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

This is the serpent’s advice to Eve, and he (as Satan, the fallen angel) should be aware whether or not there was but one God or many gods. He tells us with no possible ambiguity that there are “gods”.

*Genesis 3:22: And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

I draw to your attention the word “us” that God uses as he expels Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Just who is this “us”? Note also the reference to immortality, something the Greek/Roman pantheon has for example, as in fact do most mythological deities.

*Genesis 6:2: That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Now it’s clear to me at least that if God has sons, there either must be a Mrs. God, or God reproduces via parthenogenesis. In either case, the “sons of God” themselves must be deities. If there are deities, plural, because there are sons (plural), then that alone eliminates monotheism as there is more than one God. Nothing could be clearer. 

*Genesis 11:7: Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

This refers to the Tower of Babel situation where a pissed off God invents from whole cloth numerous other languages, passes them around, and ships most off to faraway places with strange sounding names. Except, please note the “us” that is used. It’s not “I will go down” but “let us go down”. 

*Jeremiah 7:9: Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

Not only do we have reference to “other gods” but also specifically to “Baal”. Baal was a god of the weather, agriculture, and basically ruler or king of the earth. He was especially a god of Ugarit, a city-state on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. But Baal was also worshiped far and wide within Mesopotamia, down to and including Egypt, and by numerous kings of Israel from the third through to the first millennium BCE.

*Jeremiah 23:27: Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.

Just in case you missed the point above, it’s Baal again. Baal is one of the few deities or ‘other gods’ specifically mentioned in the Bible.

*Joshua 24:19-20: And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

It’s again blatantly clear that God needs a good lie down. Not only is he jealous of “strange gods” but psychopathically jealous to the point where you get no mercy, forgiveness, compassion, love or any of the warm and fuzzy traits God is normally associated with if you don’t put Him first and only. 

*Judges 2:12: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.

Here’s another one of 63 references to “other gods” in the KJV of the Bible. The fact that the phrase “other gods” occurred so frequently is surely a telling point in favour of there in fact being “other gods”.

*Judges 2:13: And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.

Here’s yet another reference and some more about the god Baal who no doubt “they” considered real and worthy of serving.

*Judges 10:6: And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.

Gods heaped upon gods heaped upon gods. God certainly is outnumbered by the Bible’s own admissions.

*1 Kings 11:5: For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

Oh dear, is nothing sacred when even Solomon goes astray and starts forsaking God for other gods (and goddesses).

*1 Kings 11:33: Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

Wow, jackpot! Three of those “other gods” noted and logged and confirmed.

*1 Kings 22:53: For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

Here’s yet again another reference to Baal, but also note the one of many references (201 in fact) to “God of Israel”, meaning that the entire rest of Planet Earth was either deity free or ruled by those other gods. Well, the populations of the rest of Planet Earth weren’t deity free so God had to share domain over the third rock from the Sun. But some kids don’t like to play fair and share their toys.

*2 Kings 17:35: With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:

I gather this is a rewording of one of those “thou shall not” Ten Commandments.

*Psalm 86:8: Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.

God is being compared here to other gods, rather strange if indeed there are no other gods.

*Psalm 97:9: For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.

We have more comparison between God and the gods. This is sort of like ranking baseball teams – the Yankees are exalted by their achievements far above all other major league teams.

To be continued…

Mythology: Ancient Astronauts: An Outline: Part Four

Denying the reality of the gods (including God) by attributing to them only mythological (fictional) status is easy. Much harder is to try to accept their reality while stripping them of their supernatural (deity) status. That’s what I try to do here. If that however can’t be done, well the fairy tales involving the ancient Egyptian, Roman, Greek, etc. gods or the Biblical God still make for interesting bedtime stories.

Continued from yesterday’s blog…

Unresolved Questions:

*One ultra-super-major question arises – if we can’t crossbreed with even our closest living terrestrial evolutionary relations, and I know of no even short-term viable union between human and other primate gametes (i.e. – there are no gorilla-human or chimpanzee hybrids in even just the earliest of embryo stages) then how can we breed with the ‘gods’? We’re terrestrial; they’re extraterrestrial – a goldfish should have a higher probability of successful mating with a petunia since their both terrestrial species. Well, I can only conclude that the ‘gods’, in their artificial selection program to create humans for their own purposes (including sexual) had the ability in advanced genetic engineering techniques to make successful mating viable. Clearly from their point of view, human-‘god’ offspring would result in better overall stock than just human-human breeding. The potential proof of that pudding is that modern humans went from hunter-gathering on Earth to hunter-gathering on the Moon, not in millions of years or hundreds of thousands of years, but in less than ten thousand years. No other species on this planet has accomplished so much so fast. That’s in view of the fact that overall there’s apparently no real natural evolutionary pressure towards higher intelligence. Will a smarter cat catch more mice, or will a faster cat and/or one with sharper vision and better reflexes catch more mice?

*One interesting question is that are all the motley collection of ‘gods’ (including ‘God’) and associated ‘pets’ and the ‘half-and- halves’ all one genetically-related race (like all terrestrial life-forms are), or many? If one takes concepts like “Star Trek”, “Star Wars”, “Stargate”, etc. at face value, the galaxy is teeming with many races many at similar technological levels. Given the diversity already mentioned I’m inclined to go with the ‘gods’ (including ‘God’) representing more of a (in “Star Trek” terms) a Federation.

*This Federation of extraterrestrials is further postulated by yet another range of apparently mythological beings – the wee folk, or in general the fairy folk. Tales of elves, fairies, leprechauns, sprites, etc. are also quite commonplace throughout the world’s culture. Were it not for the UFO greys, I might dismiss them, but modern UFO occupants show a diversity akin to that of ‘ancient astronauts’ (the ‘gods’ and ‘God’ and ‘pets”) and presumed ‘ancient astronauts’ – the wee fairy folk. 

*Another question needs to be asked, could the polytheistic ‘gods’ and ‘ancient astronauts’ be two entirely different things? IMHO, the answer is “no”. If you remove the polytheistic ‘gods’ as being part and parcel of any ‘ancient astronaut’ consideration, and that’s including God from the ancient astronaut equation, then there’s no remaining suggestive evidence for ‘ancient astronauts’.

*Yet another reasonable question is that is the ‘ancient astronaut’ gods (including God) mythology one general overall story with many differing cultural variations in the telling, or are there many actual differing tales unique to differing cultures? That distinction probably remains to be worked out in detail yet; it’s probably a bit of both. Overall, because there are so many common (creation, paradise, sky being, etc.) themes between cultures, I’m inclined to endorse the former. However, many individual cultures probably have some myth or two or twenty that’s pretty much exclusive to them.

*Translated, with respect to similarities vs. differences, can one reasonably suggest that An or Enlil (Mesopotamia) = Zeus (Greek) = God (Christianity) = Jupiter (Roman) = Indra or Brahma (India) = Odin (Norse) = Fuxi (Chinese) = Quetzalcoatl (Aztec) = Viracocha (Inca), and so on and so on down the line, or are they all different ‘gods’ ruling different kingdoms? The same applies to ‘lesser’ gods – does Eros = Cupid or are they two separate beings? Is Ares (Greek) the same person as Mars (Roman)?

Rival Ideas:

*Highest Probability: That the gods (including God) really existed or still do exist in some cases, but are really flesh-and-blood extraterrestrials as outlined above.

*Next Highest Probability: That the gods (including God) never existed and never had any sort of physical reality. This might imply that advanced extraterrestrial civilizations with interstellar spaceflight capacities don’t exist; they exist but somehow missed our planet; or found it uninteresting and moved on.

*Lowest Probability: That the gods (including God) really existed and still exist as supernatural deities.

Conclusions:

*If technologically advanced extraterrestrials arrived on Planet Earth, say some six to eight thousand years ago, you could be pretty certain that…

*Humans would come up with legends of ‘sky gods’.

*Humans would interpret technology as magic or the supernatural.

*Humans would deify the beings as ‘gods’.

*The ‘gods’ would in reality be our modern concept of ‘ancient astronauts’.

*Lastly, regardless of the speculations, it’s not going to be 100% possible to totally separate out reality from mythology. Even if the ‘gods’ (including ‘God’) were flesh-and-blood extraterrestrials, many of the tales surrounding them will still have some mythological elements to them. Currently scholars will argue that its 0% reality; 100% mythology as far as the polytheistic ‘gods’ are concerned. Enthusiastic and fundamentalist-oriented monotheistic believers have 100% reality for ‘God’; 100% mythology for the ‘gods’ – what they think of ‘ancient astronauts’ probably varies from disbelief to high probability, as long as it doesn’t involve ‘God’. I put my money on 75% reality for the ‘gods’ + ‘God’ = ‘ancient astronauts’; 25% that the ‘gods’ and ‘God’ are total mythological.   

Summation:

Several hundreds of thousands of years ago, a technologically advanced race of alien beings landed on Planet Earth, perhaps with the idea of colonization. They selected the most highly suitable ‘intellects’ on the planet, the primates, in order to genetically engineer an intelligent enough species to basically be their subjects, if not downright slaves to do all the hard work. This was pretty much accomplished by about 8000 years ago, when said aliens began to educate the now intellectually sufficiently race of Homo sapiens. The transition from unsophisticated primitives to sophisticated urbanites had begun. The alien race became the gods (in modern terminology, ‘ancient astronauts’); human’s dealings with them our mythologies. Perhaps we were too much of a good thing, for ultimately they withdrew from our obvious presence, however still maintaining down through our modern era a presence via the phenomenon we call the UFO (and associated baggage).   

Glossary:

*Ancient Astronauts: The gods (including God) and associated beings (like angels, etc.) who came to Earth multi-thousands of years ago from a place or places unknown.

*Demigods: Offspring resulting from the mating between a god and/or goddess and a human.

*God: One of thousands of (falsely presumed) deities albeit in the top echelon and who briefly assumed Top Dog status before His demise.

*The gods: The combined officers and crew of a fleet of interstellar starships who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. The gods includes God within those ranks.

*Half and Halves: The apparent outward appearance of some mythological beings that reflects a part-human/part-animal hybrid. Some gods are also half-and-halves (i.e. – the ancient Egyptian gods tend to have animals heads).

*Jesus Christ: The Son of God, but now a dead ancient astronaut, executed by humans.

*Paradise: Planet Earth.

*Shape-Shifting: The apparent ability of the gods (or at least many of them) to alter their outside appearance when it suits their purpose(s).

*Starship Asgard: Captain Odin’s spaceship and command, which includes an accompanying battle-fleet including the Starship Valhalla.

*Starship Heaven: Captain God’s spaceship and the ship under His command.

Further readings on which much of this is based:

Allan, Tony; The Mythic Bestiary: The Illustrated Guide to the World’s Most Fantastical Creatures; Duncan Baird Publishers, London; 2008:

Bierlein, J.F.; Parallel Myths; Ballantine Books, New York; 1994:

Brown, Nathan Robert & Smith, Evans Lansing; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to World Mythology; Alpha Books/Penguin Group, New York; 2007:

Burgess, Dana L. & Osborn, Kevin; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Classical Mythology; Second Edition; Alpha Books/Penguin Group, New York; 2004:

Crossley-Holland, Kevin; The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings; Penguin Books, 1980:

Davidson, H.R. Ellis; Gods and Myths of Northern Europe; Penguin Books, London; 1964:

Ferguson, Diana; Hamlyn History: Myths Retold; Reed Consumer Books, London; 1998:

Hathaway, Nancy; The Friendly Guide to Mythology: A Mortal’s Companion to the Fantastical Realm of Gods, Goddesses, Monsters and Heroes; Penguin Books, New York; 2001:

Impelluso, Lucia; Myths: Tales of the Grek and Roman Gods; Abrams, New York; 2008:

Ions, Veronica; Hamlyn History: Mythology; Reed International Books, London; 1997:

Leeming, David; The Oxford Companion to World Mythology; Oxford University Press, Oxford; 2005:

National Geographic Society; Essential Visual History of World Mythology; National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C.; 2008:

Ryan, Donald P.; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Ancient Egypt; Alpha Books, New York; 2002:

Tyldesley, Joyce; Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt; Allan Lane/Penguin Books, London; 2010:

Various authors; The Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology; Chancellor Press, London; 1996: