rationalskepticism.org

Passer wrote:I respect this website so I'd like to ask; what's the general consensus on Acharya S' theories, is she correct or is she barking up the wrong tree?

Passer, below is an article I am working on for my new website on Acharya S's theories that you might be interested in.

Acharya S's Advanced ancient Global Pygmy civilization theory

One thing that has intrigued me is Acharya S's "Advanced ancient Global Pygmy civilization theory" that she hints at in her book "The Christ Conspiracy". I've posted details about this on a few sites, and recently Acharya S herself created an article on the subject on her website here.

Dave31 aka Freethinkaluva aka a few other names (who sometimes writes as though he had just come across her books), keeps claiming I am out to "smear" her... just by quoting her! Our latest exchange can be found here: http://freeratio.org/showthread.php?t=283576&page=4

So, what is Acharya's "Advanced ancient Global Pygmy civilization theory"? I've pieced together details from her book "The Christ Conspiracy" and her website.

In her website article linked to above, Acharya S quotes scholar Hallet, whom lived among the Pygmies in central Africa for 20 years, suggesting that the Adam and Eve story originated from the Pygmies, since they "could not possibly have borrowed it from any outside source" (emphasis in original):

[Hallet writes:] My Pygmy friends have an Adam story of their own. Schebesta has told this tale and emphasized that the Pygmies could not possibly have borrowed it from any outside source. It is the story of a god, a garden paradise, a sacred tree, a noble Pygmy man, who was molded from the dust of the earth, and a wicked Pygmy woman who led him into sin... The legend tells of the ban placed by God upon a single fruit, the woman's urging, the man's reluctance, the original sin, the discovery by God, and the awful punishment he laid upon the Pygmy sinners; the loss of immortality and paradise, the pangs of childbirth, and the curse of hard work.

(As an aside, I've found that what she doesn't mention is that, according to Hallet, the pygmies thought that the Garden of Eden was an actual place, in fact located at the Mountains of the Moon in the centre of Africa. This would conflict with her view that the Garden of Eden had an astrotheological origin.)

Then, quoting Jackson, she refers to the Pygmy Christ, and how the Pygmy Christ stories later on became the story of Osiris, Isis and Horus:

[Jackson summarizes:] The Pygmies believed in a Father-God who was murdered, and a Virgin Mother, who gave birth to a Saviour-God Son, who in turn avenged the death of his father. These later on became the Osiris, Isis and Horus of Egypt. The Pygmy Christ was born of a virgin, died for the salvation of his people, arose from the dead, and finally ascended to heaven. Certainly this looks Christianity before Christ.

(Now, once again, I have to wonder whether or not this conflicts with her astrotheological views on Osiris, Isis and particularly Horus.)

So, how did the Pygmies spread these stories? She quotes Jackson again:

Hallet's Pygmy friends told him that in the distant past they developed a highly technical and advanced type of material culture and that they built boats and traveled widely around the world, but that this technical excellence brought them nothing but back luck, so, preferring happiness to misery, they finally gave up this high material civilization. There may be a lot of truth in these traditions, for Pygmy fossils have been found in all parts of the world.

Note that the Pygmies "traveled widely around the world". She later corroborates this when noting the linguistic similarities for certain words in different parts of the globe:

Moreover, the Mayan creator god was called "Hurakan", and the Caribbean storm god was "Hurukan," both of which are nearly identical to the Tibetan wrathful diety, "Heruka," which in turn is related to Herakcles or Hercules. It is from this stormy god that we get the word "Hurricane." Walker hypothesizes that "Horus" was "Heruka" of the East and notes that the Pygmies revered Heru, an archaic name for Horus.

She also makes a similar claim in "The Christ Conspiracy", where she writes (page 391):

Evidence of an Ancient Global Civilization

As has been seen, it is virtually impossible to determine which nation is the progenitor of western culture and, therefore, the Judeo-Christian tradition, and we are left to ponder the idea of another source, such as the Pygmies, who claim to have been a global culture many thousands of years ago.

All this is fairly clear. Acharya S suggests that the Pygmies originated some of the world's myths, and as they had developed a highly technical and advanced global culture, spread these myths around the world. She speculates that the Pygmies were, in fact, the source of western culture and thus the Judeo-Christian tradition.

The "sky people"

It seems to me that Acharya S hints at various points that there is a connection between the "sky people" and Pygmies, though she doesn't state this outright. I agree with Acharya when she writes:

In a serious scientific search, one needs to be more cautious in jumping to conclusions based on speculation, and to produce a recital of facts, with as little speculation as possible.

So this connection is just my speculation, awaiting clarification by Acharya S or Dave. Even if I'm wrong, the 'facts' she presents give an insight to how she views the world.

In this link here, she does examine whether alien visitation might be the source of some of the myths, but she rules that out as "just a bit absurd":

... to suggest that all these solar heroes such as Krishna, Quetzalcoatl, Osiris, Horus and Jesus, with their virtually identical "lives," were aliens, is just a bit absurd, since it supposes that they all were born of virgins, had tyrants trying to kill them at their birth, were presented with the same gifts, did and said the same things and then were all crucified. In shoring up such a premise, we are asked to believe that "superior" aliens kept "coming down" and kindly obliging the barbaric humans, who kept insisting upon crucifying them (between two thieves, no less).

Recently I was rereading "The Christ Conspiracy" and it struck me that the Pygmies would be a good candidate for her "sky people", as she describes them:

In any serious investigation of this subject, we must be able to discern between the "gods" and the "sky people" mentioned by the ancients. As noted, the enlightened ancients knew the "gods" were the planets, representing astrotheology. The sky people were a different matter apparently. Some of them may have been "aliens" in the off world sense, but other legends hold that at least some of these sky people were the remnants of one of the advanced global civilizations destroyed by cataclysm. The legends further say that such advanced people appeared around the world to reestablish civilization after the various cataclysms.

That sounded like her Pygmies to me. So I started looking deeper. In this link here, she states that "The ancients were not the dark and dumb rabble commonly portrayed. They were, in fact, highly advanced" and "there seem to have been at least two "global" civilizations of high degree thousands of years ago who may have in fact been working mines."

The Pygmies are undoubtedly a candidate for one of the two (or more), and given their role as the originator of at least some of those myths, they might well have been the first. In fact, Acharya doesn't just see them as the progenitors of western culture, but some kind of missing link between the white races and the black races, as these quotes from "The Christ Conspiracy" show:

Thus, Pygmy remains and culture are found around the globe, including from Egypt to India...

Although they may be the oldest race, the Pygmies are in fact true human beings and evidently reached an advanced state long before the "giants" existed in large numbers. The Pygmies represent an anthropological enigma, however, as they have been described as both negroid and caucasoid...

In the Pygmies can be found not only very ancient origins of human culture and religion but evidently a "missing link" between the black and white races as well.

Further evidence for the connection

Some factoids that Acharya S has collected that make me think she has the Pygmies in mind for the "sky people". Quotes from here: http://www.truthbeknown.com/mysteries.htm

* Cultures around the world claim to be descended from or taught by "sky people," reflecting that ancient man had the capacity to fly.

* Ancient pre-Columbian carvings in Central America depict black men and bearded, red-haired white men, long before anyone was supposed to have crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

* Pygmies claim to have reached a high degree of technology and to have sailed around the world in very ancient times. Pygmy remains are purportedly found around the globe, although it is uncertain if they are the same "race" as those from Africa.

* Tiny, intricate artifacts such as spears and coffins are found that appear to have been made by elves.

* Mummified remains of little people or "aliens" are reported to be found in caves or in Tibetan monasteries.

* Giants, elves and alien creatures of all sorts have been reported for millennia to have descended from the skies or appeared out of the ground or from the ocean.

The "sky people", aliens and UFOs

The following quotes by Acharya S are from here: http://www.truthbeknown.com/aliens.htm

Sightings of UFOs of varying sizes, shapes and other characteristics have been recorded all around the world since this era of history began, some 6,000 years ago. "Sky people" were purportedly recorded as having brought advanced culture to the hominids who live on this planet. According to these legends, supposedly, this "first contact" had occurred previously, following cataclysm. Some stories relate this civilizing event to have happened several times during Earth's history. Geological, paleontological, anthropological and archaeological data reveal that there have indeed been many cataclysms on this earth, several on a global level, with climate change and mass extinction. The tales allegedly recount that after such a catastrophe, many surviving humans were reduced to the Stone Age but that more advanced humanoids descended from spacecraft and reestablished civilization. Were these "sky people" aliens? Have there been "aliens" among us all along?

In addition, it is obvious from the legends that at least some of the "spacecraft" were of the probable previous earthly civilization, the "vimanas" and "flying machines" of lore... However, there have also allegedly been found the skeletal remains of a number of bizarre humanoid and hominid races now unknown and extinct, indicating unexplained phenomena, if not necessarily "aliens" from another planet...

Many sightings are explainable by natural or manmade phenomena, but some are not, and millions of people in the past few decades have reported seeing something that is clearly unidentifiable. Abduction by aliens has been ridiculed as hallucination, which, no doubt, it often is. But is it necessarily always?

Over the past few decades, several excellent researchers have followed the lead of the fringe element and produced superb insights into the potential reality behind the tales and the sightings. Despite being ignored by mainstream media, these credentialed and credible experts have managed to evince effectively that UFOs are real, extraterrestrials are here and abductions are occurring, among other "alien" behavior. Some of these "experts," however, may be disinfo agents, and this field is rampant with fraud and hoaxes, so, again, caution must be taken.

Does Acharya S believe that UFOs are real, whether the occupants are alien or "sky people"? The answer is "yes", though Acharya S is open-minded about whether they are extraterrestrial or not:

The facts are that UFOS - i.e., unidentified flying objects - do exist, and that chances are there is life elsewhere in the universe. The questions are: Are any UFOs "spacecraft" powered by "aliens?" And, has alien life thus found its way here, to this dinky little speck of space dust in the middle of nowhere?

One thing that is clear, though, is that the government is "in on it":

In addition, it is very wise to keep in mind that, while it appears the various world's governments are covering up the UFO/alien phenomenon, it is also clear that someone in "the government" is using the phenomenon to manipulate the masses in some bizarre and ungainly manner...

In this case, it is obvious that the same old terrestrial powerbrokers are up to their old tricks. The Order of Melchizedek, in fact, is named in the Bible as the highest priesthood, of which Abraham and Jesus are made priests under Melchizedek. Therefore, "Melchizedek" or "Righteous Molech" is the highest figure in the universe under God. Melchizedek is in reality a mythical character, being the Molech or Moloch of the Old Testament, the god to whom children were sacrificed in burnt offering or holocaust by Phoenicians, Canaanites and Israelites. The Order of Melchizedek, then, represents a very ancient esoteric cult that has as its central practice, one that disguises it in fact as the Order of Melchizedek, the sacrifice by fire, whether human or animal. Melchizedek, of course, also figures quite prominently in the URANTIA cult, whose book is one of the most clever and insidious brainwashing devices ever devised.

Putting it all together

Note the recurring themes throughout Acharya S's work: Pygmies... small hominids... mummified remains of little people... tiny, intricate artifacts made by elves... skeletal remains of a number of bizarre humanoid and hominid races... "sky people"... ancient man had the capacity to fly... UFOs do exist...

What does it all add up to? It does seem to me that Acharya S has in the back of her mind that UFOs are being driven by Pygmies or the descendants of Pygmies, especially since the myth is that UFO occupants are often described as short "hominids". I'd love Dave31 or even Acharya S herself to confirm whether this is one concept sitting behind her theories. Even if it isn't, you have to admit she has a most fantastic and fascinating worldview.