FLYING SERPENTS AND DRAGONS
By R. A. Boulay 1990
Editorial Comments By Roberto Solàrion 1997
It is implicit that the gods must have had some means to convey their wishes from the heavenly ship to their representatives below - the kings, priests, and generals who carried out their wishes. Conversely, these officials needed to contact the gods and each other on occasion for instruction and guidance, particularly when they were afield on one of their numerous expeditions. How then did they communicate with each other? Basic needs would require at least three types of communications equipment: permanent fixed transmitters, field or regional stations, and some sort of portable communicator. All of these communication equipments and devices are found in the ancient literature and art forms. Before the Deluge, Larak in Mesopotamia had served as the main communications center; however, it was now under the waters of the Persian Gulf. Since it was decided to move the space facilities to the Western lands, it became necessary to establish a main communication and administration center. Ur-Salem, later to be called Jerusalem, is referred to throughout the Scriptures as "the navel of the Earth," attesting to its role as both a main geodetic center as well as a communications center. It broadcast throughout the Western lands providing instructions and guidance to the distant colonies of the Mesopotamian empire. Powerful transmitters are suggested in Psalm 29 which is called "Hymn to the God of Storm," a veiled reference to the god Adad. [Comment: Adad = Ishkur = Horus = Ares = Mars = Aria = Mitra = Ve = Perun = Og] This religious source indicates that Jerusalem broadcast instructions north to the space complex at Baalbeck and south to the alternate space complex established at Kadesh, also known as Mount Sinai. It states:
While Jerusalem was the central administrative center for the Western lands, there were other places in the land of Canaan and Syria which were considered to be holy or sacred and where the patriarchs contacted their god. These were the regional or field stations. They also dotted the landscapes of Mesopotamia and are mentioned in their literature and seen in their artistic depictions. THE REED HUTS AND OTHER FIELD STATIONS When Abraham and Isaac sojourned in the Western lands, they would halt occasionally and "set up an altar" where they would offer a sacrifice and communicate with Yahweh and receive further instructions. Certain places like Shechem and Bethel were considered to be sacred by the native population long before the Hebrews arrived. These were apparently the field stations or regional transmitters where communications facilities were available to the privileged few, the aristocracy. In Mesopotamia, reed huts were scattered throughout the land and appear quite often in paintings and engravings on cylinder seals and pottery. This is presumably the reed hut that was used by Utnapishtim when he was informed of the coming Deluge. In the epic story of Gilgamesh, when the gods had decided to bring on the Deluge and destroy mankind for his foibles, only one god remained sympathetic to man - his creator and benefactor Enki. Not wishing to see his creation destroyed, Enki decided to forewarn Utnapishtim so that he could make preparations and build a ship. In the epic, Enki addresses the wall of the reed hut,
This verse of the epic has baffled scholars as to its meaning, of why the god would speak to the wall of a reed hut in order to pass information to the Sumerian Noah. Understandably, this was just not a pastoral reed hut. Enki would logically at this time be where the gods had just met in counsel to decide man’s fate, probably in the orbiting space ship. Utnapishtim was presumably listening to the broadcast at a reed hut or radio receiver below at his home city of Shuruppak in Mesopotamia. These reed huts which were scattered all over Mesopotamia and the adjacent lands are shown on numerous cylinder seals and paintings. They all have the strange feature in common of antenna-like projections on the roofs with round eye-like objects attached. These antenna later became stylized as gateposts with streamers and became a symbol of the goddess Ishtar who seems to have had some association with these reed huts or radio stations.
c.3200-3000 B.C. Late
Uruk-Jemdet Nasr period [Comment: Ishtar is the Levantine equivalent of Inanna, Nibiruan Air Commander at Baalbeck.] These reed huts were also portable and could be moved from place to place when required, as shown on a cylinder seal depicting one being transported by boat. Another example of the portable or mobile radio station was the Ark of the Covenant built by Moses specifically to contact Yahweh during the days of the Exodus. THE ARK OF THE COVENANT AS A PORTABLE TRANSMITTER During the Exodus, Moses and the Israelites needed a form of communication to keep in touch with Yahweh. [Comment: Keep in mind that Y was the treacherous Archon of Destiny who used Moses unwittingly to seize control of the planet from the other, more popular Archon, resulting eventually in the plot by Prince Nannar to stage his unsuccessful coup d’état.] It was only after they had been soundly defeated at Rephidim and retreated to Mount Sinai and Kadesh to regroup under Jethro, when it was decided that, since they could not enter Canaan by the direct route, they would have to go around by a longer and more indirect route that would take them another 38 years. [Comment: As has been noted elsewhere, the Hebrew expression 40-something to describe size or length was a colloquialism that meant "a lot" or "a long time." Thus, this wandering for 40 years simply means that they wandered for a long time. Similarly, the rains that caused the Flood of Noah were said to have lasted "40 days and 40 nights." Thus, they lasted a long time. Even in more modern times, this literary tradition has been employed, as in "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves," obviously a reference to "Ali Baba and his large gang of thieves."] Meanwhile, a means of communication was needed to pass orders down when the deity was not among the Israelites in the Tent of Meeting. It seems that Adad (Yahweh) expected to stay at Mount Sinai and direct Moses from there. [Comment: This is a careless mistake on Boulay’s part. Earlier in this book he has already equated Yahweh with Enlil.] Moses was given instructions on how to build the Ark of the Covenant and schematic drawings as well. The fact that Moses built the Ark from drawings supplied by Yahweh on Mount Sinai is clearly stated in the Scriptures when he is told,
The box itself was of acacia wood with gold plating. The cover, however, was the key to the device. The cover was to be fashioned of solid gold with a cherub at each end facing one another; solid gold was an excellent choice since it was a good conductor of electricity. It was also specified that the cherubs and the cover must be made in one piece, probably to ensure good electrical contact. The cherubim were to have wings outstretched, facing each other and shielding the cover with their wings, thus forming an antennae. There is no description of what these cherub looked like, but in view of the Egyptian origin of Moses and his associates, it must have looked something like a winged sphinx. The cover was to be placed on the box after depositing the tablets provided by Adad. It is significant that it was only after the Ark was constructed that the tablets were provided to Moses. The tablets presumably were an integral part of the device and contained the power source necessary to activate the receiver-transmitter. Moses is told then,
This was the form of communication used as they travelled through the wilderness for the next 38 years. According to Numbers 7, Moses "would hear the Voice addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Pact between the two cherubim." The power source and transmission device was incorporated into the two tablets of "stone" upon which was inscribed the Ten Commandments. When Moses broke the first set of tablets upon descending Mount Sinai because he was angry at the sight of the Israelites worshiping a golden calf, it defeated the whole purpose of the Ark. Moses had to go back a second time in order to have another set fashioned. Perhaps this explains the forty days he spent there - it may have taken that long to fabricate a second set or to get the replacement parts. [Comment: It took him a long time, in other words. Also, remember in the New Testament that Jesus went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days. He fasted a long time.] THE DANGERS OF THE ARK: ITS POWER SOURCE At first only Moses, Aaron, and his two sons were allowed to approach the Ark because of its inherent dangers. This was demonstrated when an accident killed the two sons of Aaron. They were hit by a sudden and unexpected discharge of electricity from the Ark for as Leviticus states, "and fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died before the Lord." The Old Testament does not give the full story, however, and we must look to the Hebrew oral tradition for further details on this event. In the Haggadah, it relates how,
This obvious electrical discharge proved to be a real threat to anyone who dared to enter the tent in order to service the deity. Thus in order to prevent further casualties, Moses was told in Leviticus to warn Aaron:
This statement makes it clear that it is the Ark of the Covenant that is dangerous and not something else in the Ten of Meeting such as the vehicle or kabod of the deity. Due to the inherent dangers of the Ark, it was decided to train a group of priests - the tribe of Levi - to care for and to handle all contacts with the Ark. From there on, only a fixed, clearly defined group of initiates, who wore protective clothing, and followed the proper safety procedures, were allowed access to the Ark. The instructions for fabricating these garments is very detailed and specific, allowing for no margin of error, indicative that its protective nature was woven into the fabric of the material. The Ark was extremely dangerous and even the Levites must have approached it with trepidation and a certain fear of not returning from the Tent alive. The Tent of Meeting containing the Ark was kept at a safe distance from the Israelite camp. When travelling, the Ark was carried by the Levites and preceded the body of people. In Joshua 3, they are instructed to keep a safe distance, "there shall be two thousand cubits, do not come near it." Two thousand cubits is roughly one kilometer, the distance considered as a safety buffer zone. In Numbers, the story is related of how a group of 250 members of the tribe of Korah were annihilated by the destructive power of the Ark. When the Israelites were resting near Kadesh after their second and final defeat in Canaan, 250 members of the tribe of Korah were directed to bring copper pans for presenting incense, and to appear at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Suddenly, "a fire went forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering incense." The victims appeared to have been completely incinerated for the priests were told to remove "the charred remains, and scatter the coals." Ironically, their copper pans which had attracted the electrical discharge were hammered into sheets and used as plating for the altar. Since the incident happened right after their second defeat at Hormah, it may be, as the Haggadah seems to suggest, that the tribe was eliminated for showing cowardice at this battle. The Ark also appears to have emitted dangerous radioactivity. Numbers 10 relates the incident when Marian, the sister of Moses, was "stricken with scales" at the entrance to the Tent, an affliction that sounds very much like radioactive poisoning. Subsequent associations with the Ark seem to confirm the radioactive character of the instrument. After the Exodus, and after the tribes had settled in Canaan, in the days of Eli the Prophet, the Ark was captured by the Philistines and brought to their cities in the hill country of western Palestine. The First Book of Samuel describes how the Philistines suffered from plagues for seven months. Those who came too close to the Ark received sores and tumors and their hair fell out, classic symptoms of radioactivity poisoning. It was passed from one Philistine city to another until finally, in disgust, they returned it to the nearest Israelite community and abandoned it at Kireath Jearin. Seventy local people who became too curious and approached the Ark were also killed. After that, the Ark acquired a deadly reputation and due to its dangers remained untouched and unmoved until much later when David decided to return it to Jerusalem. In this attempt, one of the men tried to steady the Ark as it began to topple from the wagon carrying it. He was killed outright by a discharge from the Ark. This appeared to be the last activity of the Ark, and this last discharge probably neutralized the power source, for the Ark remained inactive in the days that followed. [Comment: One can presume it remained inactive, but one does not know for sure? King Solomon built his temple in order to have a permanent place to house the Ark. It remained there until about 550BCE when it was hurriedly removed from Jerusalem in advance of the invading Persians. It was taken to Elephantine Island in the River Nile south of the Valley of the Kings, where it was protected for about 200 years. Then it was moved down the Nile to Khartoum and from there down the Blue Nile River to Lake Tana, Ethiopia, where it was housed on an island in the lake. Later a temple was built at Axum, Ethiopia, home of the Queen of Sheba, to permanently house the Ark. Supposedly it is still there to this day. This editor has visited the Mariam Church of the Ark of the Covenant. Then, there was nothing but a locked door preventing access to the Ark and its official caretaker-priest. Today, there is a chainlink fence around that church, and the church yard is patrolled by armed guards wielding machineguns. Perhaps this Ark is still active; and as the Planet Nibiru approaches once again, "God" is trying to communicate to the "priests." Perhaps this caretaker-priest at Axum "heard something," prompting the Ethiopian Army to decide to start guarding the Ark more carefully. It makes one wonder...] THE PORTABLE COMMUNICATION DEVICES: THE TERAPHIM OR ANIMATED IDOLS When the kings of Mesopotamia were away from their home city, particularly when they were afield on one of their numerous military expeditions, they required some sort of mobile or portable communications to keep in touch with their home base and to receive instructions from the gods. For this purpose they took with them the temple images or statues of the gods. These statuettes were believed to be the active residence of the deity. They were of different size and composition. Joan Oates in her definitive work Babylon, remarks that these animated statues which were carried off to war by the kings and priests, were fashioned and repaired in special workshops in the city and had to undergo an elaborate and highly secret ritual of consecration which endowed them with "life," and enabled them to speak. This ritual probably consisted of embedding a radio receiver and transmitter, as well as a power source, inside the statuette. Abraham and his father Terah are reported to have operated a workshop which fabricated these statuettes. Although Genesis is silent on this activity, it is fully discussed in the books of the Pseudepigrapha. Terah and Abraham were described as members of the priesthood, the elite class that ruled the city of Ur. According to Jubilees, Abraham came from a family of high priests. His father Terah had learned the sciences from his father Nahor, for it was said that,
A more explicit story emerges from the Apocalypse of Abraham, a First Century AD document transmitted in Slavonic through Byzantine channels and therefore not available to western scholars until the late Middle Ages. It provides much information on the early days of Abraham. [Comment: To those reading this on the Web, this use of the word "channels" undoubtedly refers to "hands" or "sources" and not to the modern concept of "channeling."] According to this account, Abraham’s father was an idol maker as well as an astrologer. He manufactured idols for the temples and for sale to ordinary citizens and travellers. These idols were of different value and quality, depending whether they were made of stone, wood, iron, copper, silver, or gold. It was one of Abraham’s assigned tasks to take some of these statuettes and sell them to merchants from Egypt at a stall just outside of town. Soon after, Abraham had a falling out with his father over these idols and providentially, the workshop of Terah was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. When Terah and Abraham left for Haran and thence to the land of Canaan, they presumably had in their possession a number of these idols - statuettes with certain devices or power packs implanted. These were probably the teraphim or portable communicators of the Old Testament accounts. At Tepe Gawra in upper Mesopotamia, archaeologists have found dozens of so-called cult statues which have been dated to about 3000 BC. The "cult" objects fit the description of the animated idols of the Sumerians. These large-eyed pagan idols or portable statuettes had concave eye sockets where some fist-sized objects were inserted, probably crystal like power packs which activated the communicators. These power packs have been described as "stones," evidently the ancient word for large crystals. THE TERAPHIM OR PORTABLE RADIO SETS The teraphim of the Old Testament were figurines or idols, of different size, which according to Biblical accounts were used for divination, that is, they answered specific questions which were posed to them, as in Ezekiel 21, Zechariah 10, and Judges 17 and 18. The etymology of the word teraphim is obscure and its meaning is unknown. A source in the Encyclopedia Judaica has suggested that it may come from the Hittite word tarpis which means "animated spirit." In view of the Hittite influence in the land of Canaan, this derivation is probably true. The teraphim plays a significant role in the life of Abraham. Its usage can be traced for a thousand years, through the days of Isaac and Joseph, thence to Egypt where they presumably fell into the hands of Moses. References to the teraphim reappear in the days of Joshua and his successor Kenaz. By this time, about 1400 BC, they had become inactive and were considered to be merely pagan relics or curiosities. From the days of Abraham, down to the days of Moses and before the Ark of the Covenant, the teraphim was apparently used to communicate with the deity. It was by this means that El Shaddai or Adad directed Abraham to go to Canaan and thence to Egypt, and later during the days of the invasion of the eastern kings. [Comment: Note that this date comes less than 200 years after the last theorized arrival of Nibiru in 1587 BCE.] The teraphim were of various sizes - small enough to hide under a saddle as in the case of Rachel, yet some were large enough to imitate a person sleeping under a blanket as in the case of David which fooled the assassins sent by Saul. The first explicit reference to the teraphim is in Genesis 35 which deals with the incident of Rachel when she attempted to steal her father’s idols. These may have been part of the cache that Abraham left at Haran with his cousin Laban just before he left for the western lands. Jacob and Rachel obviously knew of the value of the teraphim, and from the lengths that Laban went to retrieve them he may have also guessed their purpose, although he obviously did not know how to use them. The existence and significance of these idols must have been imparted to Jacob by his grandfather Abraham before he died. This can be shown by the following calculations. Abraham died at the age of 175 in the year 1992 BC. Jacob was born of Isaac when he was 60 years old or in the year 2007 BC. Thus Jacob was 15 years of age when Abraham died; Abraham had sufficient time to brief his grandson Jacob of the existence and the import of these devices and their storage at Haran. [Comment: Since Boulay is incorporating the Velikovskian reconstruction of history into his own overall chronology of events, it is to be assumed that the above dates are at least "in the ballpark."] Jacob’s sojourn to Haran to live at Laban’s house was probably predicated on his obtaining the devices and returning them to the control of Abraham’s family. Rachel was obviously in on the plot, and it may have taken all these years that Jacob suffered at the hands of Laban to find out where the teraphim were hidden. The incident as related in Genesis reads like a story out of fiction. Jacob had been forced by Laban, under one pretext or another, to serve him for twenty years. Finally, Jacob and Rachel, taking advantage of Laban’s absence, left secretly taking with them the idols or teraphim of Laban. Much fuss was made over these idols by Laban when he realized that Jacob had left. He chased after Jacob and finally caught up with the fleeing culprit. Laban was incensed over Jacob’s secret departure but seemed more concerned over the theft of his idols; "you had to leave because you were homesick for your father’s house, but why did you have steal my gods," he complained. The account mentions only those hidden by Rachel in a camel cushion which she was sitting on. When Laban tried to search it, she pleaded that she not be disturbed since it was that time of the month. Laban searched everywhere but could not find the teraphim. While only this teraphim was mentioned in the account, there must have been many more in Jacob’s possession which somehow he managed to hide from the prying eyes of Laban. On the way back to Canaan, Jacob and his household stopped at Shechem, a site sacred to the indigenous people. At Shechem, he ordered all the alien gods which they had obtained at Haran. These must have been numerous and they were buried at a terebinth (oak) at Shechem. Jacob must assuredly have kept his, yet he was concerned that no one else be allowed to bring one back to his homeland. Control and use of the device was a tightly held secret; it would appear that only he and Rachel were privy to the real purpose of the teraphim. Perhaps Jacob wanted to assure himself a plentiful supply of statuettes as well as their power packs; in any case, the cache remained buried at Shechem for generations and until the days of Kenaz. Many years later, these idols and their "stones" or power packs were unearthed by the followers of Kenaz, the successor to Joshua. When Jacob went to Egypt at the age of 130 in the year 1877 BC, he probably took along the communication devices and these were passed down until Moses acquired them several hundred years later and used one to contact Yahweh or Adad on the first visit to Mount Sinai. [Comment: Thus, when John Baines in The Stellar Man discusses the idea that Moses used an "occult" method from the "mystery schools" to contact the Archon Y, he may have been indirectly referring to the use of these primitive "tricorders."] THE CRYSTALS OF KENAZ: POWER PACKS FOR THE TERAPHIM The document which relates what happened after Joshua died and which defines the succession of leaders through Kenaz, Zebul, and finally Deborah is the so-called The Biblical Antiquities of Pseudo-Philo because their attribution to Philo of Alexandria in the First Century AD is in question. Philo describes how the tribes were hard-pressed by the Philistines after the death of Joshua and they sought a leader. Kenaz was elected and proceeded to question each tribe of its sinful behavior in the belief that their troubles were caused by their straying from the Mosaic Law. The confessions ranged far afield but the one which is most interesting for our point of view is that of the tribe of Asher who confessed that,
Kenaz immediately sent a group of men to find them, had them removed and brought to him. These stones were described as crystal and prase in color, that is, clear and light-green.
These clear and light-green crystals had been embedded in the idols of the Amorites (Canaanites) presumably in the hollow eye sockets. The crystals were alien to the Hebrews who presumably did not know their purpose except as adornments on the pagan idols. It is a truism that what one does not understand, one fears and destroys. Kenaz found out, however, that these stones or crystals were virtually indestructible. He tried to destroy them several ways: first by fire, but then they only quenched the flames. Then he tried to split them with an iron sword but they only dented the blade. Finally in desperation they were offered on an altar to the deity and, according to the account of Philo, they were removed mysteriously during the night by an angel. These crystals of Kenaz which emitted light and were virtually indestructible were embedded in the idols taken from the cache found at Shechem under an oak. Presumably they were the ones that were buried by the household of Jacob several hundred years earlier. These crystals still emitted light after all this time and therefore were active to a certain extent. The stones by themselves were not very useful for they served to activate devices such as the teraphim, the Biblical portable radio receiver and transmitter. By the time of the days of Kenaz, the late 15th Century BC, and the beginning of the quiet period known as the Days of the Judges, the stones had become mere curiosities. Known to be associated with the idols of the native Canaanites, they were treated as merely pagan religious artifacts. THE STONES THAT ILLUMINATE The crystals of Kenaz were also described as shining brightly at night so that it was unnecessary to use a lamp. Such a power pack was probably used by Noah for illumination in the Ark during the long period of 150 days that his sealed ship was at sea. According to the Hebrew oral tradition as revealed in the Haggadah, the Ark was illuminated by a precious stone which served to brighten the inside of the ship and made night seem like day. A similar source of power is mentioned in the Book of Mormon, the holy book of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. When the tribe of Lehi left Jerusalem about 600 BC for their trip to the "promised land," they built eight ships for the journey. These were sealed like the Ark of Noah and in order to see in the darkened interior, the vessels were given sixteen small stones, two for each ship, which were "white and clear, transparent as glass." These stones "shone forth in the darkness" during the 344 days they were at sea and before they finally reached the shore. |
