But little did I know—for it was something that was never taught, but always skipped-over, avoided, misinformed, or never mentioned—that the very book from which we dogmatically drew our genesis held secretive, mysterious, encoded messages about origins, visitations and beings not of this world. What was once accepted without question as the mystical, magical, miraculous stuff of ancient biblical stories, suddenly took on a very different perspective once I opened myself to the idea that there was more to those stories than I had been told, and much more brewing beneath the surface of what I had been taught.
Remove yourself, for a moment, to a place somewhere in a more shadowy past, before the days of modern psychological discipline and scientific advance. A time when we, the human race, believed that our life’s fortunes, illnesses, woes, and serendipitous happenstances were firmly rooted in the spiritual and the supernatural. As we evolved our technology and sciences, we learned more and more about the mind and body, universal expansion and entropy, geological tectonics, and the movement of our solar system around a somewhat smallish star that burned in the Milky Way galaxy. Along the way, we dispensed with our reliance on the ethereal, casting aside our need for gods, devils, and every caste of angel, demon and spirit in between. We corporately tuned-out our hearts, and turned our minds to the methodological pragmatic, allowing science and skeptical thought to successfully supplant faith in that great “something-bigger-than-ourselves.” Quantifiable Fact became the inevitable surrogate for the misty stuff of myth and legend. And while we may not have totally thrown out the baby with the bath water, we have successfully become a culture that discounts anything that cannot be measured by the scientific method, casting dispersions on experiential faith and even the slightest adherence to anything that smacks of an older spiritual belief system.
The paramount endeavor that occupies most of the recorded history of the human race—after the history of war, that is (which, sadly, seems to be synonymous with the history of mankind)—is the great quest for discovery: the seeking-out of the whos, whats, wheres, whys, and hows of our existence. And yet, while attempting, on that quest, to adhere to strict, quantifiable sources, we have let go of the Spiritual; the innocuous, insubstantial, airborne flotsam that, when you actually look for it, seems to permeate every facet of being, down to the very spark of life itself.
So, what if the outmoded, outgrown, discarded superstitions—the things of the unseen, unwanted realms—really do have their basis in some sort of truth? What if the superstitious banalities we brushed aside in the broad swath of our skeptical, scientific hand, were truly the evidentiary stuff of things not seen, the substance of a very real universe that dwelt and operated just below the surface of the visible, tangible world around us? What if there truly exists a viable, legitimate source code that, at times, finds its way through the barrier that divides the diaphanous from the substantive? What if science ain’t the end-all, be-all of this universe, and we really are surrounded by forces of good, evil, light, and dark? What if there really are living, vibrant beings who dwell and function beyond the veil of the dimension of the here and now?
Nearly every ancient culture has in its annals, mythological tales of supernatural beings who came to the earth for the purpose of intermingling with human beings. And out of these early encounters came the many subsequent accounts of an ancient universal flood imposed by a god or superior being for the purpose of wiping-out the offspring created by the supernatural intercourse between these beings and humans. In the ancient, pan-cultural understanding, these beings are referred to as angels, demons, spirits—and even gods. The question that begs to be asked is: were they actually part of some spiritual hierarchy of angelic and demonic beings, or were they only labeled as such for lack of a better understanding? Are we seeing the experiential contact of humans with angelics and demonics, or are these supernatural descriptors the only mode of illustrative labeling that ancient man had for understanding who and what they encountered and experienced? Were there supernatural beings who descended and cohabited with humans, bequeathing an offspring of giants—as many cultures purport—or is there a physical, extraterrestrial connection? Was there a doorway opened from another dimensional reality through which beings—who could be described by ancient man as nothing less than angelic or god-like—visited this dimensional plane?
In some of the apocryphal, non-canonical writings—those books excluded from biblical scripture by the Council of Nicea during the reign of Constantine in 325 CE.—we are told of a group of beings known as the “Watchers,” who “orbited” the earth with the divine mandate of “watching over” mankind, but who also desired to take on the self-imposed task of descending to the earth to teach certain skills to human beings, ultimately resulting in a cohabitation and sexual intermingling. The result was a race of god-like progeny called the Nephilim.
The word Nephilim finds its source in biblical scriptures, both canonical and non-canonical, and that is why the study in this book will focus on those texts, at least as a starting point. “There were giants in the earth in those days, and also afterward,” so says the biblical Book of Genesis, “when the sons of God looked upon the daughters of men and found them fair, and took of them wives as they chose.” The bequeathed descendents became “the mighty men of old, the men of renown.” The literal translation of this passage reads something like: “The Watchers came and took human wives for themselves, as many as they wanted. Their children were the Nephilim of old, the giants.” The accounts of these beings can also be found in the Books of Jasher, Jubilees, and the more recently discovered Dead Sea Scrolls, The Book of Giants. The ancient Irish wrote of giant, shining gods called the Tuatha de Danaan who later became the Elven Folk of lore and Celtic mythology. The Middle Eastern and Mesopotamian cultures have the Anakim (Anunna/Anunnaki), and Rephaim—along with other beings and races described as having descended from giant Nephilim forebears. The Norse mythologies make reference to Niflheim, the underworld ruled by the goddess, Hel. The Hindu Vedas and Puranas tell of an antediluvian (pre-flood) giant-god, Daitya and the race of giant Andanari. Native American cultures speak of highly elusive giant, hairy, big-footed creatures that roam the American forests—just as Tibetan mountain peoples tell age-old tales of similar, equally elusive giant creatures in the Himalayas. The Greeks have their Titans and the ancient Sumerians have their flood epic of Gilgamesh, the giant half-god half-man. While these peoples, religions and cultures are widely diverse, their giant and flood mythologies, pictographs and folklore all seem to have common, historical linkages. In the pages ahead, we will explore these varied accounts and mythologies, drawing the obvious—and not-so-obvious—connections and similarities.
If, like me, you attended Sunday school as a kid, we were taught that God sent a great, universal flood to the earth to wipe out the “wickedness of mankind,” sparing only one righteous man and his family along with pairs of every animal on earth, and seven of the ritually clean ones. They all took refuge in a great barge for some 120 days, waiting out the deluge and the receding of the waters. This same story is told in these many other ancient records, with varying plot twists and a different cast of characters. But common to nearly all stories is the root account of extra-terrestrial (“extra”—from without; “terrestrial”—of this earth) beings who descended to the earth for the purpose of intermingling with humans, and having children with them. And common to most ancient accounts is the wrath of a superior being who wages “judgment” on the earth in an attempt to destroy the hybrid descendents as a result—seemingly to no avail, as they are mentioned as being “in the earth in those days, and also afterward.”
Cultural traditions from all around the world have myths and legends telling of angelic beings who descended to the earth and interacted with human beings, ushering in some sort of cataclysmic, worldwide destruction of humanity that left scant few survivors. When analysis of the languages used in the various accounts is compared, blatantly similar facts emerge, revealing a commonalit
y between the varied cultural tales, substantiating a corporate mythos: flesh and blood beings who were revered as gods, interacted with humanity in the most intimate of ways.
While there is a lack of scientifically repeatable evidence, there exists a sum of recorded history combined with diverse extant religious texts that comprise a broader picture of antediluvian races and events. Because these things cannot be quantified by the standards of the scientific method, do the plethora of ancient accounts establish any sort of verifiable proof of a crossover between inter-dimensional or interplanetary races? I believe yes, and that is what I will address in the pages of this book. While the data is not repeatable for scientific experimentation, the historical annals speak loudly and clearly. When there exist such localized myths in geographical regions, repeated by other localized myths in other, far away geographical regions, over and over again, there is a certain scientific methodology at play. There is a message revealed.
Almost more importantly than the physical, textual references and evidences are the spiritual implications that can be drawn. Beyond the accounts of giant beings and extraterrestrial intercourses with humans, we have the spirituality of the matter, spanning the gaps between dogmatic theologies and firmly held systematic beliefs, spawning a broader interconnectivity between religions, cultures, and spiritualities. It is my personal belief that there is much more to discover than has been revealed, and the more we hypothesize, ponder, explore, research, study, and meditate on this wide array of scriptures, facts, folklore, stories, and writings, the more we engage in a responsible dissecting and evaluation of the living, breathing existence of these beings.
Now, you may well ask what qualifications and credentials I possess to write of such things with any modicum of authority. I could hold up my years of incomplete, degreeless education in Bible College and Masters program in seminary as sources for much of what I learned about biblical scripture, but as I have alluded to previously, that education simply left me wondering more about the things I had not been taught. If exploration and discovery is at the core of every heart and mind, then seeking out the answers by means of personal study and research is what I am presenting here in this book. We are all scholars, and we all bear a responsibility of rooting out the facts and seeking truth. While this book certainly should never, ever be held up as a quotable resource for universal truth on these matters, it is one man’s attempt to find answers that do not simply and blindly follow the dictates of a single belief system. While this effort may represent my early years of speculative imaginings, rounded off by more years of education and scholarly research, I would call this a work of my heart as opposed to a scholarly tome that will be held as the absolute authority on the topics contained herein. I have many more questions than I have answers, but these pages represent honest, educated research that will—hopefully—lead you down a path to your own conclusions and discoveries.
There is so much more out there than what we have been taught. There is so much more out there to discover, uncover, and seek-out.
And then, there is that still, small voice.
My friend, Craig Hines, author of Gateway of the Gods, made reference in his book to a “small, quiet voice” that had been speaking to him—not audibly, but deep in his subconscious—telling him to “square the circle.” Like Craig, I have struggled with seeking and finding the answers to questions that delve much deeper than what seems to be lying on the surface. My entire life I have known that there is something lying just beyond the borders of the familiar, reaching far beyond systematic theologies and entrenched dogmas. Before we ever met face-to-face, I found in Craig, through the vehicle of his writing, an able, unwitting ally in my quest to make the square peg of my quest fit into the round hole of the universe.
There is an Old Testament passage where the prophet Elijah, desiring to have a face-to-face encounter with God, is shown a phenomenal sequence of divine events passing by him as he is standing in the cleft of a rock face: wind, earthquake, and fire. The noise of theophany is overwhelming, but it is only with the palpable quiet of the aftermath that God spoke in the sound of sheer silence. It is that same stunning silence, that “still small voice” that has whispered in both Craig’s ears and my own. When you experience the calm stillness of an almost revelatory realization that the seemingly random dots connect, a complete picture starts to materialize and come into full view. As a result, both Craig and I have, in a sense, stumbled upon the conclusion that we have been asked to “square the circle”—something Craig reminded me of in his private, hand-written note on the title page of Gateway of the Gods, the copy of his book he gave to me.
For most of my life, I have insisted that as much as we live and dwell in a natural world, we live and dwell in a supernatural one. The natural and Supernatural are one-in-the-same, and do not exist and function independently of each other. In fact, there is no “supernatural.” There is only the living, breathing, substantive world and universe around us, that ebbs and flows in it’s own mysterious ways. For me, this book is all about coming to terms with the religious efforts of man to explain the misunderstood, and find a better understanding about the things we thought we once knew all there was to know about. Squaring the circle is my realization that all things are connected, all religions are connected, all spiritualities are connected in a great web of understanding what and who we are, where we are going, and how we are supposed to get there. I want this book to stand as another effort in attaining that equation, and there may even be theories put forward in these pages that cause you to wince in pause as you attempt to assimilate the information and conclusions offered.
Ancient mankind was visited by beings of another dimension, or from a distant star, who intermingled, seeded, receded, and in some cases reemerged in their interaction with the human race. There are remnants and evidences all over the world in every culture, all one need do is look. Ancient biblical and apocryphal texts tell us that the Nephilim “were on the earth in those days, and also afterward…” And “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be [in the end times].”
So sit back in your favorite reading chair, grab your itty-bitty book light. Devour, absorb, and cogitate. Agree or disagree. Above all else, examine and dissect the materials in this book by going to that place where the trappings of societal sterility cannot reach your desire to see things with “older” eyes. Discard what you think you know and see the world and universe around you with a fresher-yet-ancient, un jaded view. Draw your conclusions based on an openness to know, rather than allow current thought to dictate where you take your beliefs. Ask questions and seek the answers to those questions. Enjoy and ask yourself how you can find a way to square the circle.
chapter 1
Science Almighty
“Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.”
—Henri Poincaré,
Science and Hypothesis, 1905
“I spent a lot of time at age eight experimenting… commanding stones to levitate: ‘esir, enots.’ It never worked. I blamed my pronunciation.”
—Carl Sagan
So, I have this pile of stones, each one representing a scientific fact that could be used to build a solid foundation for what I’ll call the “House of the Origins of Humanity.” Yet, they remain in an unstructured heap, because-although each stone may be individually factual, they can be loosely mortared together only by hypothesis, built on the presupposition that humans evolved from lesser forms of primates, who in turn evolved from emergent aquatic species, who themselves evolved from primordial slime. Though these individual facts may indeed comprise my pile of stones, they cannot construct an unshakeable foundation, for they lack concrete coherence. So the house remains in the architectural phase. We know where we want to put the stones; we just are not yet sure how they all fit together.
Science, as we know it, is defined as a branch of knowledge or study of the physical o
r material world, dealing with a body of facts and/or truths systematically arranged, showing the operation of general laws gained through observation and experimentation, reflecting a precise application of said fact and/or principles. Science is also the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena, restricted to a class of natural phenomena.
Although science is continually uncovering facts as to variant species that on a hypothetical level demonstrate a mutation within the species, they still lack that definitive link that results in an exclamation of “Eureka!”
This does not nullify the facts—that metaphoric pile of stones—but it certainly wreaks havoc with the proposed hypothesis.
To continue following my House of Humanity construct: Science has proven that there are five characteristics that separate man from other hominoids: a large neocortex, bipedality, reduced anterior dentition with molar dominance, material culture, and unique sexual and reproductive behavior.1 Science has yet to demonstrate that the discovered variants are actual linkages within the Human species. All we know with certainty is that scientists have uncovered numerous forms of fossilized prehistoric skeletal remains, leading them to conclude that they are substantiating the line of human evolutionary ascendancy, albeit with many gaps in the progression, and therefore no real linkages. But they are pretty damned sure that they are correct in their hypothesis.
The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim Page 2
