A Personal History

(Note: Many readers have inquired into the circumstances that led this author to write about history and prophecy. Rather than answer each inquiry at length, it seemed appropriate to address the topic in print, where one telling would suffice for all. The following, then, is an autobiographical sketch.)

Hamilton School stood on the corner of 8th South and 3rd East in Salt Lake; the First Ward chapel stood right next door. It was called the First Ward because it was the first ward constituted by the pioneers after they settled in the valley in 1847. By the time I was born, there were hundreds of wards in Salt Lake, but this had been the first.

In those days, Primary was held on a weekday, immediately after school, not during Sunday services as it is now. When school was dismissed, Primary would be convened next door, in the chapel. The first child to arrive at the ward house would be given a shiny, large hand bell to ring, calling all the children to Primary. The child so appointed, would stand at the top of the stairs outside the chapel entrance to ring the bell vigorously.

After brief opening exercises, the congregation of squirming, noisy children was dismissed to several classes, based on age.

It was in a Primary class, on just such a day, that my first inkling of the value of the scriptures in general and prophecy in particular came from a dear sister teaching a classroom full of inattentive, disruptive children. I do not recall who that diligent teach was, but I owe her a profound debt of gratitude. She set me on a course that led me to where I am today.

That particular day, I was probably one of the least attentive to the subject of the scriptures until she ventured into the idea that one could learn the future by reading them. She emphasized that some of the books in the Bible had been written by men who had seen the future in vision. She went on to explain that by reading what those prophets had written, we, too, could know what was going to happen in the future.

I was hooked. I went home and opened up the Bible — probably for the first time in my life — to read about the future. It was disappointing to learn that there was really very little prophecy. And what there was of it was not easy reading, nor was it understandable. It was all much too cryptic for a young mind.

I needed a key.

That was a setback, but not a barrier. From that day forward, I occasionally found myself searching the scriptures to find those parts that contained prophecy. The desire to search out and understand prophecy proved an excellent motivation to read all the scriptures. After all, if I didn’t read and understand it all, how would I know which was prophecy and which was not?

Later, in my teenage years, whenever anyone spoke in church on prophecy, they had my full, undivided attention. In those days, General Authorities often spoke in local sacrament meetings. Sometimes they even arrive unannounced to speak. On many occasions I listened intently to those men who would deliver profound and sobering commentaries on the last days. The depth of their knowledge, the power of their conviction and the generous influence of the Spirit made an indelible impression upon my young mind and heart.

In those days, Sacrament meetings ran a full hour and a half on Sunday evenings — often much longer when a general authority spoke. In addition, far more meeting time was dedicated to topics of the second coming and the last days than in today’s meetings. Those were topics that sparked my interest and imagination.

On Sunday nights, I would go to my upstairs room at bedtime, but not to sleep. There, lying in bed, I would listen on my crystal radio set to Herbert W. Armstrong’s radio program, “The World Tomorrow.” It was all about the fulfillment of biblical prophecy in the wake of the Second World War. I was only about 14 years old, but the topic riveted me.

Armstrong was a flamboyant evangelist. Today, we would call him a Millennialist. He preached prophecy, primarily from the book Revelation, and its fulfillment in post-war events. Like all such preachers of that era, he taught of the second coming in the wake of political and social upheaval. Armstrong believed that a union of the European political states would soon come about, as predicted by the prophecy of the many-headed beast in Revelation. Central to his interpretation was the atomic bomb as fulfillment of the “hellfire and brimstone” of scripture. I eventually lost interest in Armstrong because none of the short term predictions he made seemed to occur. More to the point, his views left me hanging. There seemed to be little basis for his interpretation other than mere coincidence.

I was impressed by anyone who displayed some depth of knowledge regarding the scriptures in general and prophecy in particular. Few outside the church seemed to have any real sense of the scriptures. They all seemed to repeat the same views, with only minor variations. Most of it was trite. They depended more upon shrill oratory than upon true substance. Within the church, I found a few whose knowledge of the gospel seemed encyclopedic — far greater than most Saints. I wondered to myself how they had come to know so much and if it would ever be possible that I could achieve such a level of understanding.

I was a senior I high school when I set myself a life’s goal. Sitting in a Sunday school classroom, listening to an engaging and informative speaker, I decided that if it were possible, I would like to become such a gospel scholar. That meant not only reading the scriptures, but also reading everything others had written about the gospel. It was an imposing task that amounted to a lifetime of work, but it was one that I hoped to achieve.

During my stay in the mission field, someone loaned me a copy of Crowther’s Prophecy: Key to the Future. I was impressed by his exhaustive research, which included many obscure prophecies by Joseph Smith. Sadly, however, Crowther’s conclusions differed little from those of millennialists like Armstrong. To my way of thinking, Crowther had done a marvelous job of compiling ancient and modern prophetic utterances but had not provided the key as the title promised.

By that time I had already read most of Skousen’s books on prophecy. Like Crowther, he had many invaluable insights, but could not provide a key. Later, when Elder McConkie published his observations on prophecy, it seemed like more of the same — an interesting compendium of prophetic utterances, yet no truly insightful interpretation. In my mind, they all said just about the same things. However, that wasn’t good enough for me. After reading all I could find that had been written on prophecy by exegetes in and out of the church, I still felt unfulfilled, that something was missing. Most prophecy was still a mystery to me. The imagery was too foreign, too exotic. No one seemed to see it clearly — least of all me.

After my mission and throughout my early years as a husband and father, my interest in prophecy waned but my appetite for gospel knowledge did not. Having found little new insight or interpretation to prophecy, I turned my full attention to the gospel as a whole. I was determined to become as knowledgeable on gospel subjects as anyone else.

My hunger for knowledge impelled me to read almost all Mormon scholars and general authorities. I came to appreciate Nibley’s insightful gospel dissertations. He had an inquiring, encyclopedic mind. His work also made it clear that there was much to be learned. To understand the scriptures, one must be well versed in a multitude of disciplines. The more one knew about ancient history, the more one understood the scriptures. Nibley helped me see how vast an enterprise I had undertaken.

Increasingly, I found that I was called to teach, most often as the Gospel Doctrine instructor. This served to confirm for me that I was making good progress in my quest to become thoroughly gospel literate. Still, I had not found the key, nor was I sure that such existed.

Then, in the mid-1970s, my whole view of the gospel, ancient history and prophecy began to change when Reader’s Digest published a condensed version of Velikovsky’s Worlds in Collision in its book section. After reading it, I commented to my wife that Velikovsky’s views were certainly unorthodox and novel, but they also fit nicely with the scriptural record of events. It seemed remarkable that one agent was made to be the cause of so many diverse natural events, yet the interpretation did not seem forced or exaggerated to me. It was one of the most reasonable, logical analyses of biblical history that I had ever read.

I was interested to know more of Velikovsky, and so commented to my wife. A few days later, she produced paperback copies of both Worlds in Collision and Earth in Upheaval that she had located on the bookrack in a local store. After reading both books, I was convinced that Velikovsky had stumbled upon a central truth: planetary catastrophes had played a vital role in shaping ancient history. Years later, Nibley’s response to my inquiry as to the correctness of Velikovsky’s thesis was that Velikovsky was “essentially correct, but he could have cited better sources” — a comment only Nibley could make.

Velikovsky’s was an intellectually invigorating thesis. Having studied Geology, Archeology, Anthropology and the world’s religions in college, as well as having gained firsthand knowledge of the ancient Meso-American cultures on my mission in Mexico, Velikovsky’s views were especially meaningful for me. They opened sweeping new historical vistas that bore directly upon the scriptures. His thesis of ancient planetary catastrophes brought everything into sharper focus. It was as if a bright light had suddenly illuminated almost everything I had ever learned. The arcane imagery of the scriptures suddenly became more intelligible. The disjointed analyses of history made by scholars became far clearer.

I had found the long sought key.

Almost immediately I began to share my newfound wisdom with other saints. Equally immediately, I began to encounter the indifference and hostility that remain a constant in my work today. Close friends who shard my enthusiasm for knowledge and love of the gospel were only lukewarm about the idea I quickly embraced. A few showed genuine interest, but the majority were indifferent to the ideas. This apathy puzzled me, but it did not dampen my desire to know more.

It occurred to me that if Velikovsky was right about the nature of the Exodus miracles, then some general authority in the church — from Joseph Smith to the present leaders — must have said or written something that would substantiate or verify Dr. Velikovsky’s thesis. I began my search with the History of the Church, a five-volume record prepared under Joseph Smith’s direction and supervision — almost all of it in his own words. Surely, I reasoned, Joseph would have had something to say along these lines if Exodus actually recounted a planetary catastrophe, as Velikovsky maintained.

After reading 4 of the 5 volumes, I began to despair. It seemed that Joseph had said nothing to validate Velikovsky. However, I persevered in my task, and the answer came in the last volume. When it came, it also brought new, invaluable insight that opened up an even greater vista. It was as if a door that had only opened up a crack were suddenly thrown wide open.

Recorded in volume 5, page 337, Joseph Smith was speaking to a congregation of Saints on the Nauvoo Temple grounds. On that occasion, he swerved into a discussion of the signs of the second coming. Remarkably, I immediately recognized the signs he listed as identical to the natural phenomena that Velikovsky associated with the Exodus event. Still more remarkable, Joseph identified the agent of those events as “a comet, a planet.” Astoundingly, those were the same two words that Velikovsky used to describe the agent of the Exodus miracles. In a flash of insight, I realized that what I had been studying had as much to do with prophecy as with ancient history.

This was what they meant by epiphany! It was as if a brilliant light had suddenly illuminated every corner of my mind! This entire study was as much about prophecy as ancient history! The ideas began to rush through my mind, tumbling and falling over one another like boulders in an avalanche: History will end as it began; the symbolism of prophecy is rooted in ancient catastrophes; gospel symbolism stems from past catastrophes; clearly, Joseph Smith believed and taught this. Nothing I had ever read or heard approached this significance. Everything I had ever learned was a prelude to this discovery.

At long last I had the key!

More remarkable still, I had never heard a Mormon scholar expound on these ideas. I marveled that this could be so, given the power of these new ideas to unlock the most cryptic ideas, symbolism and teaching of the scriptures. Of course, in time I realized that one Mormon scholar — Joseph Smith himself — had, indeed, written and said much in this regard. This was part of the reason for his intense interest in things Egyptian: The Egyptian religion was the purest example of Saturn traditions know to the world in the mid-nineteenth century.

For a year or two, I presented my ideas to everyone who would stand still long enough to listen. I was enthused, amazed and in awe of the power these ideas had to explain some of the most enigmatic parts of the gospel. I could not keep it to myself. I felt compelled to share what I had learned, thinking that other saints would certainly share my eagerness for these novel ideas. Once again, I found that most simply tolerated my little lectures out of simple courtesy; some were openly hostile. It was clear that most did not share my enthusiasm for these views.

Still, I felt certain that many others would find these ideas a truly remarkable and fulfilling as I did. I felt compelled to reach out to those who might share my enthusiasm for what I had learned. I wondered how that might be done. I began thinking about writing a book — a prospect that filled me with dread because I felt terribly inadequate as a writer. As a result, I procrastinated the task for over two years.

One day, after enduring yet another of my diatribes, a good friend, Kaye Jansen, suggested I stop talking about it and start writing about it. He offered the use of his newfangled typewriter, called a word processor. The rest, as they say, is history.

Every LDS publisher turned down my initial manuscript. Not only was it poorly written, but they were concerned about how much appeal it might actually have. After all, publishers depend upon a book’s sales to justify the expense of bringing it to the marketplace. One publisher, thankfully, thought my book had merit. Keith Terry, the owner of Crown Summit Books, called to say he wanted to publish.

With the help of a very patient and capable editor named Allen Young, the entire manuscript was revised and a full-fledged book was written. In the course of doing so, I had a crash course in writing that eventually led me to the career I’ve pursued for the last 30 years.

At first it seemed that one book, And The Moon Shall Turn To Blood, (the title was suggested to me by Mike Jensen, Kaye’s son) would be enough to cover the subject. But my more immediate concern was the business failure of my initial publisher. The time came when I had to walk away from publishing or become a desk drawer publisher. I opted for self publishing and borrowed funds from my parents in order to do so.

In time, it became clear that a second and third book might be necessary, due to the voluminous research by others following Velikovsky’s lead. The idea for a trilogy evolved and was adopted in place of issuing revised, enlarged editions of the original book, and The Prophecy Trilogy was born.

In time, I learned of David Talbott’s work on the Saturn myths, which became the basis for the third volume in The Prophecy Trilogy. Equally as important as Velikovsky’s seminal work, Talbott’s insights proved to be the key that unlocked the entire package: gospel symbolism, cultural and religious tradition of all ancient cultures, temple architecture and iconography, the language of the prophets, as well as the interpretation of ancient myth and tradition.

Only the light and knowledge that came through the Prophet Joseph Smith eclipses the invaluable research and dissertation of Velikovsky and Talbott. In fact, it is my considered opinion that without the work of Velikovsky and Talbott we cannot fully comprehend what Joseph sought to convey.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2000

A Modern Myth

It is hard to conceive that in this age of enlightenment and scientific advancement that there could be any myths left in modern man’s paradigm. We believe ourselves to be smarter, more inventive and certainly more knowledgeable than our predecessors. After all, we ride where they walked, eat where they hungered, fly where they could only gaze and live a life of ease and comfort they could not envision in their wildest fantasies. It is almost preposterous to think that we might harbor notions as foolish as those embraced by our ancestors.

The ancients believed such foolishness as: the world was flat, the brain was useful only to cool the blood, life emerged spontaneously from swamps and ponds of stagnant water, idols answered prayers and the Earth was the center of the universe. Is it possible that we, the enlightened ones, still have similarly silly skeletal notions in our cultural closet?

A tale of oil and dinosaurs

A number of years ago, a large oil company advertised its gasoline product with an animated television commercial, explaining how ancient plants and animals gave their all so we could have gasoline for our cars today. The animators depicted a cartoon dinosaur poking its head out of a car’s filler pipe, making a somewhat comical growling sound as the car sped off.

This amusing commercial illustrated the modern view, held by geologists and paleontologists, that Earth’s petroleum deposits came from the remains of long dead plants and animals — a cleaver portrayal of orthodox science’s theories that Earth’s petroleum deposits and its many byproducts originated in the distillation of hydrocarbons from the decaying remnants of massive, ancient flora and fauna accumulations, buried by successive deposition in enormous subsidence zones. Over great expanses of time, they opine, these deposits were compressed in geological processes, squeezing out the hydrocarbons, which then collected in great pools beneath impermeable layers of rock. Hence the term “fossil fuel.”

Old ideas die hard

A century ago, this idea seemed logical. Probably since time began, man has mined coal for energy from great seams layered in the earth. Those same coal beds, and the strata adjoining them, hold the fossils of ancient plants and animals. Since the only things on this planet seen to contain appreciable amounts of hydrocarbons were the flora and fauna that proliferate on its surface, scientists naturally assumed that this was the source for buried hydrocarbons. Deep peat beds found in some locations seemed to support that idea. Those peat beds were thought to be simply an early step in a process that eventually would create coal and hydrocarbon deposits. Thus, it seemed reasonable to assume that coal and oil were the byproducts of some ancient biomass.

While such thinking may have been acceptable in the past, it is no longer viable. This is one of the great myths of modern science. What is more, it serves to demonstrate how intractable scientists are about their pet theories when faced with evidence that does not fit their paradigm.

A new age

This explanation for the existence of crude oil and natural gas — hydrocarbons — beneath Earth’s crust may have been useful up until the mid-twentieth century, but it has no meaning in light of the preponderance of evidence that has accumulated in the last 40 years — especially that gathered since mankind entered the space age.

For decades, we have launched unmanned probes to other planets and moons in our solar system. These have sent back pictures and data sufficient to teach us the true origin of Earth’s hydrocarbons. We have learned that hydrocarbons are present almost everywhere in the solar system, not just on Earth. Sophisticated spectrographic analysis has detected hydrocarbons in the atmosphere of many major planets and many large moons.

An oil world

Most notable for its concentration of hydrocarbons (scientists cautiously use the word “methane”) is great Titan, a moon nearly the size of Mars that circles Saturn. Data suggests that the atmosphere of this planet-sized moon is composed primarily of hydrocarbons in one form or another. Scientists say that so great is the concentration of hydrocarbons in its atmosphere that when it rains on Titan, condensed hydrocarbons fall in droplet from clouds of methane rather than water as on Earth. In fact, where Earth is a water planet with streams, lake, rivers and oceans of water, Titan is an oil planet with streams, lakes, rivers and oceans of flowing hydrocarbons in one form or another ranging from light, volatile oils to heavier forms.

Earth’s true history

What seems likely from the evidence collected to date is that Titan and Earth represent two distinct phases of similar planetary evolution. The oil deposits deep in Earth’s crust betray the unarticulated truth that this planet once passed through a phase like that which persists on Titan today. At some time in Earth’s long, ancient history, our atmosphere was so charged with hydrocarbons that they naturally accumulated in great concentrations on the surface. Some of the heavier oils — some almost tar-like — were deposited in layers and then buried in seismic events. Some of the lighter hydrocarbons, like naphtha, would have seeped deep into the ground to accumulate in vast pools, just as water concentrates in great, deep aquifers today. Those great pools of oil, gas or petroleum remained entombed in Earth’s crustal rock, insulated from the chemical and catastrophic processes that ultimately reduced our atmosphere to its present composition.

If not there, why here?

No one speculates that these newly discovered hydrocarbons found elsewhere in the solar system came from any kind of decayed biomass. The environment on most other planets — most notably the gaseous giants — is far too harsh to support any life, much less generate anything approaching the quantity needed to produce massive amounts of hydrocarbons. So, why assume that oil elsewhere — on Earth, for example — came exclusively from life?

This beg the question: Since there are massive amounts of hydrocarbons elsewhere in the solar system, might it be that Earth’s hydrocarbon deposits originated in the same way as those others? Of course, the only logical answer is yes! If it is impossible that hydrocarbons found elsewhere in the solar system are the byproducts of life, then it stands to reason that the same likelihood holds true for Earth.

Modern myths cling to life

Ironically, even though the newest evidence seems to suggest another source for Earth’s hydrocarbons, no one in the orthodox scientific or scholastic community speaks or writes of it. Indeed, the latest textbooks written and used by academia in classes on geology, paleontology and astronomy intended to “educate” the young, perpetuate this absurd fiction. Although the truth is as plain as the nose on our collective face, we persist in teaching a fabrication, a fraud. Once again, as in the days of Copernicus and Galileo, we see the establishment academia clinging like grim death to an absolute myth!

Immanual Velikovsky, the author of Worlds in Collision, speculated over 50 years ago that hydrocarbons were introduced into the Earth’s atmosphere anciently, but within historic times, when errant planets in our solar system passed devastatingly close to the Earth. Scientists mocked and criticized his theory on the strength of their conviction that hydrocarbons existed nowhere else in the solar system but on Earth. Such criticism was rather persuasive then since mankind knew so little about other worlds. Even the best telescopes did little to reveal the conditions that truly existed on other planets. However, now that the recently discovered evidence supports Velikovsky’s early assertion, there is still no re-evaluation of his theories forthcoming from establishment science.

Velikovsky’s theory was not just a lucky guess, as some charged. He asserted that hydrocarbons are plentiful in the atmospheres of other planets, based on ancient eyewitness accounts of fire falling from the sky and burning over the ground when one or more of those planets passed perilously close to the Earth, mixing their volatile atmospheres with our own. Given recent evidence, it appears that Velikovsky was actually more accurate than his detractors.

The success of Velikovsky’s predictions regarding the existence of extraterrestrial hydrocarbons should have caused the scientific and scholarly institutions to reassess their scathing criticisms of the good doctor’s other theories, but they did not. Likewise, once mankind entered the space age, the orthodox myth of crude oil’s origin in ancient biomass should have been dispelled immediately. But it was not. Instead, today’s science textbooks parrot the same tired myth of yesteryear.

The answer to why this old tradition was not summarily dismissed and why science refuses to reconsider Velikovsky’s theory reveals much about our culture and our intransigence — something Book of Mormon prophets would have called “stiffneckedness.”

As it is with science, so it is with religion. Whenever people who have embraced a myth are confronted by truth, they seldom relinquish the myth — ‘impartial’ scientists and ‘truth-seeking’ religionists included. Indeed, they continue to embrace the myth in the face of all evidence to the contrary, either completely ignoring the evidence for the truth or viciously attacking it with spurious logic and an utter absence of common sense. Not only do we see evidence of this time and again in the biblical record, as in the book of Mormon, we see it all around us today.

© Anthony E. Larson, 1999

Religion, Science and Catastrophism

An odd thing happened in both religion and science on the way from the past to the present.

Historically speaking, it is well known and accepted that in the Middle Ages the Christian church was the principal sponsor of education in Western cultures. The church held a tight rein. If you wanted an education, you first became a cleric. Thus it was that most scientists and scholars, before the Renaissance, arose from among the clergy of the day. Their worldview was shaped almost entirely by church dogma.

The split

When the Protestant reformation movement began, which eventually gave us the plethora of modern religious sects we see around us today, its earliest leaders came from among those same clerical ranks — Martin Luther, for example. They sought to reform the institutions and dogma of Roman Catholicism.

Ironically, at about the same time, the scholars and scientists as well sought to extricate themselves from the mother church and its orthodox religious dogma, which hindered real intellectual progress. Like their religious cousins, they sought a complete divorce from Roman Catholicism. So in a very real sense, science was simply another religion, a radical protesting faction born of the same milieu that gave rise to Protestantism.

Both catastrophist

The new religions turned to Bible fundamentals for their belief system, hence the term fundamentalism. The new sciences, however, had to invent their own catechism. Secular universities were founded to educate adherents in the new orthodoxy of science and scholasticism. Skepticism and empiricism replaced faith. Yet, not surprisingly, the two new offspring, science and breakaway religion, retained a considerable amount of dogma from the parent church. At the outset, they both shared the Creationist vision (Earth’s creation in seven days, Man’s creation from the dust, the Deluge shaped the world as we se it, etc.). They also shared a similar eschatology: The world would end in a new holocaust sent by the Creator. Thus, it can be said that both were catastrophist.

Ideological ‘drift’

Over time, science further refined its liturgy and its curriculum with doctrines such as Gradualism and Natural Selection. The two institutions — science and religion — drifted further apart over time, becoming more antagonistic and confrontational. In the 19th century, science eventually became patently uniformitarian and evolutionist while religion remained dogmatically catastrophist and creationist.

Ironically, an evangelistic spirit arose in both religion and science, each seeking to win disciples through proselytism. Naturally, a dissension emerged between the two that had not existed as long as the parent church dominated. While they were both trolling the same waters for believers, religion and science each won their own following or ‘congregation,’ if you will. Religion primarily held the hearts of the laymen, while science largely captured the hearts of the intellectuals. To begin with, there were few with feet in both camps.

Furthermore, science divested itself of any eschatology, while religion embraced it more fervently than ever. “Hellfire and damnation” were the watchwords heard from the pulpits of Christendom. On the other hand, if there were to be an end to the world, the scholars declared, it would come not by a god, but by slow, prolonged entropy, Earth’s life failing only when the life-giving light of the sun finally flickered and died. The religionists, on the other hand, retained the fervent belief in the penultimate holocaust, the final, catastrophic destruction of the world and all in it at its creator’s hand.

A revolution in thought

Then the nuclear age dawned, bringing with it a revolution in thought and an astonishing meeting of the minds in both camps.

The first nuclear detonations at the end of World War II brought some agreement between science and religion about the world’s end. Increasingly, they both saw doomsday as a world-devastating nuclear holocaust. Science predicted that mankind would ultimately destroy himself with his own malevolent invention, detonating megatons of nuclear devices in a superpower showdown that would plunge the Earth into a “nuclear winter,” eradicating all life. Science had finally found its own eschatological ‘sacrament.’

Oddly, this also brought and about-face in religionists. They suddenly seemed to agree with the scientists. They saw the atomic bomb as fulfillment of the Bible’s prophesied “fire and brimstone” at world’s end. A revolutionary reversal in Biblical exegesis saw the religionists proclaim that mankind, not God, would be Apollyon, the destroyer. Man now had the power to single-handedly bring about Armageddon. God could sit on the sidelines, a celestial spectator to the end of the world!

A new catastrophism

In the midst of this atomic age rapture, an iconoclastic scholar resurrected Catastrophism, to the horror of both science and religion. Immanuel Velikovsky preached the catastrophic nature of the universe to an unbelieving audience in both camps. Science reacted violently, damning him at every opportunity. Religion, more tellingly, simply ignored him.

Given religion’s catastrophist roots, one might have expected it to embrace Velikovsky and the new Catastrophism to some degree. Instead (and this is the odd thing), religionists have largely ‘shunned’ the Neocatastrophism Velikovsky preached.
Make no mistake, though. When pressed on the issues and worth of Catastrophism, most religionists tend to become even more shrill and acrimonious in their denunciation of it and its proponents than do scientists. Otherwise, they ignore it as if it did not exist.

A view from catastrophe

Catastrophists will see that the new Catastrophism is a litmus test for religion as well as science. In the last century or so, religion has cast off its catastrophist ‘vestments’ to such a degree that it rejects catastrophists and their theories as readily as does science. Thus, in today’s world, catastrophists find themselves ‘excommunicated’ from both science and religion.

Catastrophists will attest that the symbolism of religious imagery and the simple truths of science are all enriched by Catastrophism. Without it, both institutions are awash in ‘strange doctrine’ and ‘strange science.’ Modern religion no longer comprehends the origins of its traditional and scriptural symbolism, iconography, rites and rituals. Modern science turns a blind eye to revelations of fact that would overturn its sacred orthodoxy.

None the wiser

Yet, it is also clear to some catastrophists that both institutions would profit immensely were they to seriously consider Catastrophism and all it implies for the world we live in. Religion could rediscover the richness of it planetary traditions without threatening its faith and humanitarianism. Science would discover a whole new universe out there without sacrificing its empiricism and objectivity. Imagine what might be accomplished.

Sadly, both science and religion have created their own, modern mythology: science to avoid that which it cannot explain, and religion to deny the “paganism” and ancient mythology from which most of its traditions sprang.

The Mormon catastrophist

Mormons are no exception to this rule. Joseph Smith and the early brethren were catastrophists. They lived during the heyday of 19th century Catastrophism, before the concepts of Uniformity and Gradualism were popularized. One need only read their expressions on creation, Earth’s early history and the last days to realize that they believed that the planetary powers, guided by their creator, were responsible for past catastrophes as well as those predicted in scripture for the future. Yet, it is also clear that the Prophet’s views in all things were not shaped by the times in which he lived, but by his exposure to revealed truth.

Given Joseph Smith’s position on the subject, it is rather strange that most modern Latter-day Saints are uncomfortable with Catastrophism. Perhaps it is because they have not taken the time to adequately school themselves in the beliefs and teachings of their founding prophet. In addition, it may be due to the fact that formal gospel training fails to touch on the subject, except in passing. Catastrophism and its attendant hypotheses are studiously avoided in church teaching manuals, and it is never addressed over the pulpit.

Mormons are Christians

It appears to this author that most Saints have been seduced by the same delusion that has afflicted our Christian cousins. We have abandoned our catastrophist roots because they make us uncomfortable when discussed in the context of religion. It all sounds too pagan, too naturalistic and too material; it seems to lack the spiritual element that religion should espouse. Instead, we have adopted the uniformitarian view of the world that science espouses, simply because it is popular. In addition, it gives our antagonists less ammunition to use against us in our struggle to assert our Christianity. That is to say, if all Christendom is uniformitarian, then we should be too in order to appear equally Christian.

Our loss is … our loss

Yet, so much is lost in our present approach. If our scriptures were written by prophets who experienced great catastrophes and celestial displays, if they related those experiences to the gospel and to their visions of the future by creating a unique lexicon of iconographic symbols and written imagery, if our founding prophet was, indeed, a catastrophist, then denying and ignoring that element in their teachings leaves us with a rather sanitized understanding of their pronouncements, prophetic and otherwise.

The rich imagery and symbolism of the scriptures and the gospel can only be truly fathomed by first obtaining the same mindset as those who wrote them. Relating the prophets’ imagery to the unique symbols left everywhere by the cultures they lived in brings a remarkable depth of understanding to prophetic pronouncements. How can we say we understand the gospel if we ignore this vital element?

Joseph Smith did not ignore it. He embraced it. He dedicated considerable time to understanding the Egyptian culture, religion and symbolism because it was closely related to those same elements employed by the Hebrew prophets. Like Abraham, Joseph, sought to restore the cosmological knowledge of our forefathers. That invaluable knowledge is composed of a discussion of planets, stars and the heavens.

Like the Joseph Smith, the creators of Egyptian documents were obsessed with a combination of gods and heavenly bodies, embellishing and re-illustrating them in countless repetitions and variations. The Pearl of Great Price is loaded with such stuff. What is more, the iconography of the ancient world has adorned every temple constructed in this dispensation. Its imagery may look and sound pagan, but the Prophet dedicated considerable time and effort to its exposition. That must mean that it has significant relevance to the restored gospel. If it were unimportant or unrelated to the gospel, why is it in the scriptures and the temples he left us? Is it not reasonable to assume that if Joseph Smith thought a study of these things important, we should as well?

Ignoring Joseph's approach to religious symbolism leaves us in an untenable position. We utterly fail to understand the significance of these things to our comprehension of the gospel.

Is that what we want?

© Anthony E. Larson, 2004

What Joseph Knew

At the heart of the exposition offered by this author in this and other publications is an effort to more fully connect modern Saints with the teachings of their founding prophet, Joseph Smith, and thus to those of the ancient prophets. Joseph faithfully and correctly reproduced those ancient teachings, passing them along to a world that was, and still is, largely ignorant of the truths of the gospel and the past.

This work is vital for many reasons, which have been repeatedly cited by this author. But one reason, not often mentioned, is that this work intellectually validates Joseph’s claim as a prophet, called of God to restore the gospel and to right the flawed paradigm of modern mankind. As such, it becomes a second, confirming witness to that of the Spirit.

Testimony first, then knowledge

While any good Saint is quick to point out that we have no need of intellectual substantiation of Joseph’s claims since we have the witness of the Spirit, which is sufficient, it can be argued that seeking intellectual support of that witness is also a worthy quest — especially when it results in further enlightenment regarding things so vital as a comprehension of the language of the prophets, the origins and symbolism of temple practices and temple iconography, symbolism and meaning of the scriptures and a corrected view of ancient history and our modern view of the world around us. Such information cannot help but augment our testimonies, further strengthening them. After all, our scriptures admonish us to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith,” and “if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118; 130:19.)

All knowledge restored?

Lest any care to argue that Joseph had communicated all knowledge needful for the Saints before his premature demise, one need only recall that one entire section of the gold plates, commonly referred to as the “sealed” portion of the Book of Mormon, never saw the light of day, suggesting that there is much more that the Saints could learn.

Additionally, the 9th and 13th Articles of Faith, Joseph’s own position on the subject, argue eloquently against such logic. “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God … If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”
Add to that the admonition of the Lord to “seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118.) Clearly, the Lord indicates that there is much yet to be learned.

The never-ending story

The topic at hand, that has been treated by this author throughout two decades of research and writing books and articles, presents a novel and radical view of the past and the future, a sweeping vista so enormous that it can only be documented in small snapshots. No one is willing to absorb the entire story in one sitting, even if that were possible. Not only that, the reader must be given time to assimilate such far-reaching ideas, which contravene much of orthodox scientific, cultural and religious thought.

Additionally, this is a dynamic field of inquiry. As the Catastrophism movement, begun in the 1950s by Immanuel Velikovsky, grows worldwide, so do the number or researchers delving into these matters. The research is ongoing, as are the revelations it produces. New information is forthcoming on a regular basis, thus bringing new perspectives to bear on one’s gospel study.

Thus, a fragmented, piecemeal approach is the only one possible in such a dynamic field of inquiry, making the process that much more difficult. Yet, given time for elucidation, contemplation and study, those same snippets of information can be readily assembled in the mind’s eye of the investigator or reader to build a wholly new framework upon which to view both ancient history and prophecy — no mean accomplishment.

Correlation of information

The pivotal point for Latter-day Saints, when considering the tenets of Catastrophism, is what Joseph knew and taught with regard to these concepts. If there were no substantiation or corroboration of Joseph’s views in the ideas presented by modern catastrophists like Velikovsky, Talbott, Cardona, Cochrane, et al, then studying their theories would be of no advantage to us. But because there seems to be almost complete agreement between certain teachings of a prophet of God and the research of comparative mythologists, planetary scientists and scholars of all things ancient, it behooves us to investigate those connections fully.

Thankfully, the orientation of these scholars and researchers is such that they see profound value in the written records, cultural traditions and beliefs of the ancients — something Joseph would celebrate. Instead of rejecting them as fanciful, metaphysical accounts — as does modern science and some religion — these ancient records, traditions and beliefs are recognized as a valuable record of the past.

Subjective though those accounts may be, they convey a very different historical message than that commonly taught as fact in all modern educational institutions.
Those points of corroboration and substantiation are admittedly few, but they are of critical importance. A brief review may be in order.

What the prophet taught

The first point of convergence to consider is the Joseph Smith statement that the last great sign of the last days will be “a comet, a planet.” A careful consideration of all the prophet said on that occasion has many implications and ramifications, all treated at one time or another by this author. What is clear from Joseph’s statements is that future cataclysms will be of a nearly identical nature to those from the past. Additionally, it verifies the position that these calamities stem from the irregular motions of orbs in our solar system.

Another, vital connection is the Philo Dibble facsimile, said by Dibble to be a virtual copy of an illustration drawn for him by the prophet himself, supported by the corroborating statements taken from many diaries and journals of early Saints.



The Dibble illustration, showing three planets in close proximity, sharing a common axis of rotation, clearly presents an understanding by the prophet Joseph Smith of the unique polar configuration of planets that existed in antiquity. That is, the dotted lines and the angle they describe are clearly meant to delineate the declination of the axis of rotation to the plane of the ecliptic, meaning that they were ‘stacked’ pole to pole and all rotated around the same axis. This is a vital point, not mentioned by Dibble, yet clearly implied in his facsimile. Since only in this extraordinary arrangement could these three orbs have appeared to hover in the heavens, above the Earth, thus presenting a unique vista that inspired nearly all ancient symbolism and imagery, this facsimile is a pivotal clue to what Joseph Smith knew.

Again, there are many remarkable, salient connections between the concepts illustrated in the Dibble facsimile and the theories of David Talbott, who took Velikovsky’s seminal idea of orbital disarray in our solar system in antiquity and then examined the most ancient records and traditions — what he called the Saturn myths — to discover the existence of a proto-heaven vastly different from that which we know now.

The connections between Joseph’s illustration and Talbott’s polar configuration theory are stunning to an impartial investigator. While not conclusive, the points of correlation are extraordinary.



This illustration of the polar configuration of planets (left to right: Saturn, Venus and Mars) demonstrates the likely reality behind the Dibble illustration when carefully comparing the two. The Earth, not pictured in this frame, would have been some distance away to the right of the picture.

Of course, the iconography and design of modern temples offer still more connections to Talbott’s research. Tellingly, except for extensive commentary in this publication, there is a notable scarcity of information regarding the iconography of the Salt Lake Temple, its meaning and its origins. Researchers who tackle that issue universally lament the lack of data to explain temple symbols. Most simply guess at the meaning, a clear indication of ignorance.

The extraordinary capacity of Talbott’s polar configuration theories, extrapolated from the Saturn myths, to explain the symbolism of both scripture and temple iconography is graphic evidence and powerful testimony of the interpretive value of his theories, especially when contrasted with the interpretive vacuum that exists without them.

Lastly are the dozens of statements by early Saints with corroborating information that they universally attribute to the prophet. Not only are numerous dreams and visions by early Saints made immediately more understandable and reasonable when seen in the light of Catastrophism and the Saturn myths, so are their recollections of concepts taught them by the prophet. LDS scholars can no longer discount statements by several early general authorities as fantasy or invention, as they have done in the past. Moreover, observations by Elder Orson Pratt, for example, a world-renown scientist in his own right, must carry considerable weight with modern Mormons. In truth, were Elder Pratt’s counsel to the Saints heeded to reject Uniformity and embrace Catastrophism, it would revolutionize our view of ancient history, the gospel, the scriptures and prophecy. Not only would it put church members in a position to better understand and accept recent and upcoming scientific revelations regarding ancient history, this planet, the solar system and the universe, but it would, more importantly, prove priceless as a means for giving the Saints a much more comprehensive paradigm for use in understanding the scriptures and the gospel.

Why so little information?

As noted previously, the evidence for Catastrophism and the Saturn traditions in early church literature and the statements of the brethren is admittedly fragmented and incomplete. There may be two reasons why the information, while compelling, is somewhat imprecise.

Assimilation of very new ideas is difficult. It takes time and frequent repetition to make a lasting impression. All early Saints were converts to whom almost everything the prophet taught was new. Certainly, information about ancient history, planets and astronomy was largely foreign to most of them; even if it weren't, they were not accustomed to thinking of these things as part of religion. It was a lot to absorb in a short time. What was thought to be secondary or ancillary quickly fell by the wayside over time.

Moreover, a one-time exposure to a genuinely new concept is bound to be poorly understood, information retention being as fallible as it is. The mind typically retains complicated information only after repeated exposures over time. Any attempt to pass on information gleaned in a transitory manner invariably results in distortion and ambiguity if it is retained at all. Joseph simply ran out of time before he could repeat or re-emphasize these ideas to the brethren in particular and the Saints in general. Hence, nearly all the information connected with Joseph’s view of these concepts comes to us as scraps and bits.

This makes the Dibble facsimile all the more valuable in that it is hard data, not subject to fallible human recollection. It is the vital key to Joseph’s concepts of Earth’s early heavens. It is the lynch pin of the entire thesis that Joseph taught a concept nearly identical to that elucidated by Talbott el al.

Perhaps more to the point is the fact that those that learned these things from the prophet thought them to be sacred, and thus not for repetition near uninitiated ears. Many were told these things within the confines of the temple precincts, so they kept them to themselves or recorded them only in private journals. Dibble, for example, for whom the prophet drew the illustration personally, did not make his facsimile public for almost 50 years.

Unfinished work

The most obvious reason why so little was written or said about these concepts was Joseph’s martyrdom. Any plan he might have had to elaborate on these concepts was cut short by his early demise, leaving an incomplete picture of the concepts he undoubtedly intended to amplify and embellish in the written record and to the minds of the Saints. It is most likely that, had he lived, Joseph would have had much more to say on these themes and modern Saints would be more cognizant of them.

Evidence of this view can be found in the fact that temple icons and discussions of planets, stars, moons and their role in ancient and modern calamities came late in Joseph’s career. The Kirtland temple, for example, had none of the iconography of later temples. Early revelations were intended for basic doctrine, instruction and organization of a fledgling church. It was not until the Nauvoo era that discussions of cosmological ideas came forth, once the essential business of organizing a church was more complete. Indeed, one can only speculate that had the prophet been allowed to continue his mission, much of what has been written in these pages would now be part of mainstream Mormonism rather than marginal material.

Drifting with the mainstream

To whatever degree some early Saints may have known and understood the concepts at issue here, the membership in general slowly abandoned them as they integrated into mainstream American culture, which was turning away from Catastrophism throughout the latter half of the 19th century as it adopted the tenets of Uniformity in its emerging scientific and educational institutions. This ongoing process eventually resulted in an orthodox mindset, a paradigm that left most Saints unable to make heads or tails of the evidence from the restoration at issue here, much less see it as an invaluable key to unlock knowledge from the past. An important and invaluable aid to understanding the fullness of the gospel, the past and the future, had been lost.

For these, and several lesser reasons, modern Saints poorly understand these concepts. This is why they are largely ignorant of scriptural symbolism and the meaning of temple iconography when those elements exist in rich abundance in their scriptures and their temples.

In fact, this same ignorance breeds suspicion in the minds of most Saints when confronted with these concepts for the first time. LDS congregations are understandably cautious, loathe to accept any scriptural or gospel exegesis that sounds “unscientific” or “unfamiliar,” no matter how well founded in scripture, evidence, logic and common sense. Most have never been exposed to this information nor taken it upon themselves to read the words, firsthand, of Joseph Smith and other early Saints on the subject. Nor have they heard theses concepts over the pulpit or in Sunday School classes because nearly all LDS scholars and educators, those who write church manuals, avoid these topics. These ideas contradict the present cultural and scientific paradigm that governs all education and research in our world today, so they seldom find their way into official church publications. Hence, contrary to popular LDS belief, modern science and cultural tradition hold tremendous sway over our perception of the gospel, the scriptures and the words of modern prophets, severely limiting our comprehension of them.

Few clues, strong correlation

In summary, in order to see what Joseph knew and taught with regard to these topics, we must depend on a relatively small amount of evidence that seems generally meaningless in the context of our orthodox cultural and scientific paradigm. However, when these same bits of information are reviewed in the context of Catastrophism and the Saturn myths, the evidence becomes compelling. It gives us an invaluable key: We get a glimpse of what Joseph saw; we more completely understand what he knew.



This illustration more realistically shows the relative sizes and distances of the planets in the ancient polar configuration as envisioned by Talbott and suggested by the Dibble facsimile, although this view incorporates considerable parallaxis, making the planets look closer together than they actually were.

This knowledge gives meaning to cultural traditions, beliefs, practices and rituals, the origins of which were lost in hoary antiquity. It brings added meaning to scriptural records, the words of the prophets — all ancient records from whatever source, in fact. It reveals the meaning of temple symbolism, ancient and modern, connecting it with the rich traditions of ancient temples.

Lastly, it gives meaning to obscure teachings of Joseph Smith and those who labored with him then and since. It clearly tells us that Joseph Smith embraced a view of history very much like that of modern Catastrophists. It gives meaning to information he included in scripture and bestowed on his contemporaries that otherwise seems meaningless. It gives us a systematic, uniform method for interpreting the imagery of the prophets and prophecy itself. Such insight is of infinite value to the earnest and sincere Latter-day Saint, further confirming the witness of the Spirit. Indeed, studying and learning more about all these things can only invite additional confirmation from the Spirit.

Curiosities? Or keys?

Hence, these few tantalizing bits of information, once thought to be nothing more than so much flotsam and jetsam of the restoration, turn out to be invaluable keys for every Latter-day Saint who wishes to understand all facets of God’s creation. We should have known: No bit of information that comes by revelation, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is useless knowledge. Rather it is all meant to enlighten us and enrich our understanding. Ironically, the data most disparaged by modern LDS scholars and educators turns out to be invaluable.

We should have known.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2003

The Electric Universe

Before we can begin to understand the dynamic picture of the ancient heavens that our forebears struggled to communicate to us, which is reflected in the symbolism and metaphor of the scriptures, we must understand the true nature of our universe.

The standard interpretation of planetary history taught universally by modern science is of no assistance here. In fact, instead of illuminating our path to understanding, modern scientific theories have proven the stumbling blocks to understanding the primary messages handed down by our ancestors.

To find the answers we seek, we must turn, once again, to the paradigm rejected by modern science nearly 200 years ago, the one embraced by Joseph Smith: catastrophism.

Electricity was yet to be discovered in Joseph’s day, so he had no knowledge of its power or true function in nature. It was a mere novelty at that juncture. Benjamin Franklin had performed his famous kite and key experiment to demonstrate that lightning was actually electricity only a few years before Joseph’s birth.

Velikovsky was the first in modern times to suggest that “electromagnetism” played a role in ancient planetary encounters. He claimed that ancient accounts were replete with descriptions of phenomena that could only be defined as electromagnetic. Scholars and scientists scoffed, insisting on measuring Velikovsky’s assumptions with the old, gravitational model — the one that still dominates astrophysics to this day.

Planetary electric arc machining

As early as the mid-1970’s, an engineer named Ralph Juergens was the first to describe the effects of electricity in space on solid bodies. He was also the first to see the sun as an electromagnetic engine. While plasmas were not part of his concept, he was the first to recognize the effect of electricity on the evolution of stars and planets. He explained that the strange features found on other planets such as sinuous rilles, canals or canyons, pock marks and craters were formed by electrical activity rather than geological forces or impacts.

Juergens was the first to introduce the idea of scalability in electrical activity. That is, the effects of powerful lightning strikes on Earth served to explain the features seen on other planets and moons in our solar system. Interplanetary lightning impinging upon other bodies, which would be many orders of magnitude greater than any here on Earth, was capable of generating structures similar to those seen in terrestrial lightning strikes but much larger and dynamic in scale — several orders of magnitude greater.

Results of a lightning strike


For example, in this photograph, the bolt of lightning carved a 40-foot furrow across the infield of a baseball diamond. Note the central, sinuous path taken by the lightning in the bottom of the furrow and the scalloped edges of the trench, formed as the energy of the discharge excavated the ground to a depth of several inches and ejected the material away from its path.

Compare that electric scar to photos below of rills on the moon and Mars to see how remarkably similar they are. Indeed, the structure would seem to indicate that these are similar effects of the same phenomenon: interplanetary electrical discharge.



A comparison — whether detailed or casual — of the terrestrial features generated by lightning here on Earth and those found on other planets and moons offers particularly valuable insights on the morphology of such mysterious features. Juergens was the first to suggest that such rilles were patterns of electrical machining on bodies in space.

It was Juergens that maintained that interplanetary lightning could act, with variations due to local conditions, on worlds that are hot or cold, on worlds with high or low gravity, on worlds with or without an atmosphere and on worlds with or without water, lava, or other liquids.

Testing a hypothesis

We stand at the threshold of discovery. At this juncture in history we have a way to test the electric universe hypothesis. If the proponents of the electric universe model are correct, then evidence from space exploration and from laboratory experiments should provide proof of its validity.



By comparing the results of comparatively simple and easily reproducible laboratory experiments (left) with photographs returned to Earth by space probes (right), we see the remarkable similarity between electric arc-generated phenomenon here on Earth and nearly identical structures found on other rocky planets and moons.

The rille pattern traced by an electric spark across an insulating surface dusted with fine powder (left) is remarkably similar to lunar rills (right). Their primary features include the parallelism of the spark paths and the tendency for the tributaries to join the main channel at near right angles. Note also the scalloped edges and the deep secondary channel running along the center of the pattern. Compare these to the lightning strike photo above.

These electrical discharges can take one of three forms on the exterior of a planet or moon. Racing across the surface and parallel to it, an electric discharge machines up material, throwing it out to form a levee on either side as it excavates the trench, as seen in the rille photos. The other two forms, as we shall see momentarily, impinge on the surface at right angles, perpendicular to it. These, not impacts, form the familiar craters seen on our Moon and many other objects in space, including asteroids. Still more revealing, Electric Universe theorists believe that the tails of comets are simply the material machined away from the surface of an asteroid in just such an ongoing discharge.

The power of experimental electrical phenomena to explain the geologic structures seen elsewhere in the solar system is impressive. One is compelled to wonder why scientists are unable to see the similarities and therefore question the possibility that electricity plays the primary role in shaping the surface of the planets.

This photo amply demonstrates the sinuous nature of electrical discharges in the laboratory, matching the rille patterns seen on other planets and moons. Theorists assert that as such charges spread out across the surface of a planet, moon or asteroid, these spidery electrical arcs excavate the material, ejecting it out on either side of their path, leaving behind a scar that is a carbon copy of the arc itself. These winding tracks, left behind by the arc, are commonly called “Lichtenberg figures” and are considered “frozen lightning.”


Such sinuous shapes are also remarkably similar to the filamentary structure seen in tabletop conversation pieces called “plasma balls,” an innocuous form of electric discharge.

The similarities between the effects of lightning strikes, laboratory experiments and rilles seen on other planets and moons are conspicuous and undeniable.

But the similarities do not end there. Even the ubiquitous craters seen on rocky planets, moons and asteroids, which were once thought to be exclusively impact caused, can be better explained as the touchdown points for electric arcs and their machining effects.

Electric arc cratering in the laboratory.

Electric arc cratering on the Moon.

The wonder is that planetary scientists, cosmologists and astrophysicists, stuck in the centuries-old paradigm that excludes electromagnetic forces, continue to refer to these structures as volcanic or impact generated.

Though such evidence passes largely unacknowledged by orthodox science, even the man on the street can recognize its explanatory power.

Relating electric arc machining to the scriptures

This evidence casts a whole new light on scriptural accounts of catastrophic and supernatural phenomena.

First of all, students of the scriptures can begin to see that some accounts of unusual events in antiquity may have described the destructive power of electric arcs with their ability to machine the surface of a planet. Phenomena such as Moses’ burning bush, the “lightning and thunder” on Mt. Sinai, the “brimstone and fire” that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, the “blast” that destroyed the Assyrian army in Isaiah’s day or “fire” that consumed the sacrifice of Elijah and the priests of Baal may have been just such plasma and electrical manifestations.

The language from Elijah’s sacrifice event is especially apt. “Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” (1 Kings18:38, italics added.) An interplanetary lightning discharge capable of excavating huge craters and channels by first pulverizing everything at the surface then blasting it away, lasting considerably longer and being many orders of magnitude greater than ordinary lightning in a thunderstorm, could easily be seen as fire that consumed wood, stone, dust and water.

Indeed, the terminology used by the prophets can be seen as much more descriptive of electrical phenomena than other mechanisms capable of such prodigious feats.

More geologic evidence

The nature of electricity is such that it can also cause a “blister” surface effect as well as the aforementioned etching or excavating.

Most lightning strikes are called electric anode arcs. That is, they are actually ground-to-cloud arcs, the cloud being the anode or receiver of the charge. Such anode arcs caused all the previously illustrated crater and rille formations where the violent and powerful upward flow of electrons serves to lift or levitate the surface material.

More rare are lightning strikes called electric cathode arcs. These are cloud-to-ground strikes. Rather than etch the surface, these cathode strikes cause bubbling or blistering of the surface.

As with the anode arc effects, a simple laboratory experiment suffices to demonstrate how an electric arc can create a very different configuration from craters or rilles. These can then be compared with photographs taken on other planets by sophisticated space probe cameras.

In the lab experiment seen here, an electric cathode arc, simulating a cloud-to-ground lightning strike, raises just such a blister.


These bell-shaped blisters are typically called “fulgurites” when formed by earthly lightning.

Profile view

Top view

When compared with pictures taken on other planets, the effects are strikingly similar.


In comparison, we see that Olympus Mons, the most prominent example of what may be an electric cathode arc, has all the characteristics of a lightning blister, including the imbedded crater at the summit of the blister — what planetary scientists typically characterize as a volcanic caldera.

Examination of the evidence strongly suggests that electricity plays a far more crucial role in the formation of planetary features than was previously thought. Yet, mainstream scientists continue to interpret these as strictly volcanic in nature.

What they saw

Of course, the sizeable nature of these formations on other planets suggests bolts of lightning much larger and of far greater duration than anything seen today.


Those would have been almost unrecognizable to us as lightning since they would be heaven-spanning phenomena with prolonged light and sound displays of epic proportions.

The only phenomenon familiar to us that has any resemblance at all to those ancient displays would our Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. For all their magnificence, however, such awe-inspiring, auroral displays are only a faint whisper of the towering celestial displays that our ancestors saw.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2005

Easter

Most Christians vaguely grasp the connections between Easter and Passover. What most do not understand are the deep roots both holidays have in paganism and Saturnian symbolism. However, such knowledge serves to explain much of the tradition and ritual surrounding this Christian holiday.

A Christian holiday

Easter celebrates the death and resurrection of the Savior in the meridian of time. Mormons, like the rest of Christianity, see the holiday as a time to remember and reverence that most sacred and remarkable event in all of history.

The entire philosophy of Christianity hinges on the resurrection. Without it, Christianity — and by inference, Mormonism as well — is just another religious philosophy among many. With the resurrection comes the promise that all will rise from the grave, Christ being the first fruits. This concept is at the heart of our religion.

The Passover connection

Easter’s connection with the Passover stems from the fact that the Savior’s crucifixion and resurrection in Jerusalem took place during the annual Jewish Passover celebration, a juxtaposition that was not lost on the Savior since he clearly chose the time and the place of his own expiation.

Seen from the catastrophist’s point of view, the Passover was a celebration of Israelite deliverance — not just from Egyptian bondage, but the entire planet from planetary catastrophe. Passover was the moment of closest approach between Earth and the comet Venus, hence the term “pass over.” It was the culmination of a series of plagues that afflicted not only Egypt, but also the entire world, according to Velikovsky.

So, too, in Christian eyes, Easter is a celebration of the deliverance of the human race from the bonds of death.

Both Easter and Passover involve the consumption of a ritual meal in remembrance of their deliverance. The Jewish Seder reflects the Lord’s directive that the Israelites eat roast lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. (Exodus 12:8-10.) They do so to remember how they were saved from the plague that took so many Egyptians during the Exodus. The Christian sacrament reflects Christ’s instruction that they partake of bread and wine to remember him and the deliverance from death he has provided. (Luke 22:19, 20.)

A note, in passing

Incidentally, it may be noteworthy, in passing, that there may have been a very practical purpose for the consumption of the Passover meal. If, as Velikovsky suggests, Earth’s atmosphere was supercharged with elements from the tail of the passing comet Venus, then eating bread without yeast and bitter herbs may have served to offset the debilitating physical effects on the human body of those pollutants. If, as this author suggests, the compounds that turned the water red in Egypt were acidic, causing sickness and death in animals and humans, then the basic, alkaline nature of bitter herbs would serve to chemically offset the elevated levels of acid in the body (acidosis).

Additionally, it is well known that certain types of yeast (Candida albicans, for example) in the gut can release toxins that can severely debilitate the immune system. Other types of yeast produce compounds that can cause humans to hallucinate. In this instance, the instructions to eat bread without yeast (unleavened) may have been designed to help the Israelites better cope physically with the temporarily hostile environment created by the extraterrestrial pollutants — eminently practical advice given through revelation from God to Moses. The idea of food as medicine is one that modern science has recently come to recognize, a philosophy that has been at the heart of herbal use and practices since time immemorial.

Eating is a religious experience?

Such ritual meals as Seder, the Eucharist and the Sacrament are also practiced in most pagan cultures. They range, on one end of the spectrum, from consumption of simple foods to cannibalism on the other extreme.

Most animal sacrifice did not consist of cremation, as most moderns believe. Rather, it was, in most cases, a ritual method of cooking and preparing the animal for eating. Our modern, seemingly innocuous and strictly culinary practice of barbequing actually has its roots in cultural traditions of sacrifice. So remember, next time you throw something on the ‘barbie,’ you are practicing the time-honored, ritualistic tradition of sacrifice with its roots deep in antiquity.

Recidivist Israelites, too, adopted pagan eating rituals. "The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger." (Jeremiah 7:18.)

Note the similarity between the elements of this ritual and the Christian sacrament. They consumed bread and drink in honor of the goddess. It was a ritual meal. These backsliding Israelites prepared cakes and drink to honor their pagan gods, just as we take bread and water today. Such similarities are not coincidental. Christ, on the eve of his crucifixion, obviously turned to a well-established, ancient practice in the Hebrew culture as the basis for his new eating ritual, the Sacrament.

Hot cross buns

Just such a ritual meal is connected with the Christian’s celebration of Easter. Hot cross buns are a lesser, but well established part of this holiday that, doubtlessly, have their origins in pagan antiquity. These loaves were originally marked with horns, the crescent symbol for ancient Saturn, or the cross, the cruciform symbol for the Queen of Heaven, Astarte or Venus. The ancient Greeks also consumed these types of buns in their celebrations of Artemis, Goddess of the hunt (known as Diana to the Romans). And the Egyptians ate a similar cake in their worship of the Goddess Isis. Later, Saxons ate buns that were marked with a cross in honor of Eastre (Astarte). These customs of creating a ceremonial bread or loaf, marking it with the symbol of the goddess, then eating it as part of a festival in honor of that same goddess is an echo of the Israelite practice of making cakes to their Queen of Heaven.

Such universal practices beg the question, where did the human race get the idea that eating something was a sacred practice? The idea that eating should be part of religious ritual may have begun in Earth’s ancient heavens when one planet ‘consumed’ other, smaller satellites. In a later monograph, we will discuss more about sacrificial rituals around the world and the events and beliefs that may have inspired the practice.

A Christian or pagan holiday?

Returning to our Easter theme, it seems rather ironic that this ostensibly Christian holiday is burdened with much of the celebration and ceremony that once attached itself to the ancient cults that worshipped astral goddesses.

We discover, for instance, that the very name of the holiday has its roots in idolatry. Easter is a corruption of the name of the goddess who leant her name to the holiday, Aster or Astarte, as the Greeks knew her. Her Syro-Phoenician counterpart was the goddess Ashtoreth. The Babylonians called her Ishtar and the Romans called her Venus. She was also the great mother goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe, who knew her as Eastre, from whence we get the name Easter today.

The Saturn connection

Surely these ancient goddesses from a variety of ancient cultures all had their origins in the planet Venus that once stood near the Earth in the Polar Configuration because they all share common attributes, history, and iconography. Talbott wrote:

Wherever you find the Universal Monarch (Saturn) you will find close at hand the ancient mother goddess — the goddess whom the Sumerians called Inanna, the Queen of Heaven, and the Babylonians Ishtar, and the Egyptians Isis, Hathor, and Sekhmet, each with numerous counterparts in their own and in other lands, and virtually all of them viewed symbolically as daughter or spouse of the creator-king, and the mother of another, equally prominent figure.

The Mother Goddess is the planet Venus, the luminous, central orb seen squarely in the center of Saturn and from which radiating streams of material course outward. (Thoth, Vol. 2, No. 8.)

So, we see that the true origins of this most Christian of holidays actually owes its existence to events that transpired in Earth ancient heavens.

The Easter egg

Originally, the egg, now a cultural symbol of Easter, was closely related to the eye symbol — both symbols of this mother goddess, this goddess of fertility anciently. Mythical traditions say that she was born as/or in a celestial egg. Indeed, in the Polar Configuration, Venus’ transformation into the prototypical star — the archetype of all radiant star symbols — began when it took on an ovoid shape, thus forever connecting the goddess with the egg.


It is for this reason that the favored decoration for Easter eggs anciently was a star. Indeed, the very name of this goddess in several cultures, as well as our own, came to mean ‘star.’

Yet, in our culture, stars and the eggs have no discernable relationship. Like so much in mythology, the connection seems absurd to the modern mind. Yet, in ancient myth and tradition they are intimately connected. Only the theory of the Polar Configuration satisfactorily explains their symbolic ligature. Indeed, it not only explains it; it demands it. The star and the egg were two primary aspects or phases in the development of ancient Venus while in the Polar Configuration at the dawn of time.

Dyed eggs, originally colored to match the turquoise color of ancient Venus, were part of the rituals enacted in the Babylonian mystery religions. The variety of colors we see today was a natural, artistic elaboration of the original idea. Such colorfully dyed and decorated eggs were considered sacred because of their symbolic representation of the ancient goddess/planet Venus. They played an integral part of the religious ceremonies in Egypt and the Orient. Dyed eggs were hung in Egyptian temples. The egg was regarded as the emblem of regenerative life proceeding from the mouth of the great Egyptian god Atum because the actual planet Venus so presented itself in the Polar Configuration. Venus (Hathor) was centered on Saturn (Atum), assumed an egg shape that seemed to house the child, Mars (Horus) and then appeared to give birth to Mars.

The Easter rabbit

In addition to the egg symbol, the Norse goddess of fertility, Ostara, whose name was clearly a derivative of Aster or Astarte, was connected to the hare. This connection was a later one, unique to the Norse culture, which probably stems from the well-known fecundity of rabbits.

Three other seemingly disconnected traditions of Easter further connect the holiday to pagan practices and ultimately to the Polar Configuration: the woman’s Easter bonnet and special holiday dress as well as the Easter parade.

Easter bonnets and finery

Festivals that celebrated the ancient star goddess, Venus, were ideal occasions for women, who sought to emulate the goddess, to adorn themselves as the goddess herself. The bonnet worn today is a distant replication of the hat, hair dress or crown worn by the goddess in heaven.


Older, more customary variants of the bonnet draped a veil across the face, also a feature of the ancient sky goddess. LDS temple-goers will recognize the validity of this tradition and its connection to temple ritual and furnishings. The dress, usually white, was designed with symbolic significance relevant to the ancient appearance of Venus and her role as a fertility goddess. Thus, anything that enhanced the gender specific attributes of a woman was employed to demonstrate her procreative role. Indeed, the more elaborate, yet accurate, the duplication of the symbols/appearance — because the symbols of the goddess were representations of what she looked like in Earth’s ancient heavens — the greater the identification of the individual with the mother goddess, imitating her essential aspects. Thus, a practice that had deep religious significance in antiquity has come to be a mere fashion statement today. Such is the dilution of the original concepts and practices over time. Yet, the themes persist in our cultural traditions, outliving, by far, the knowledge and understanding they were meant to convey.

The Easter parade

Parading up and down the streets, carrying an effigy of the god or goddess upon their shoulders, the ancients moved from one strategically sited temple location to another to re-enact the mythical movements of their deity in the heavens anciently. In many cultures — especially the Egyptian — these portable shrines were set in replicas of boats, carried on long, stout poles that could be borne by several carriers. It is the image of the god or goddess, sitting in a celestial boat, that we commonly see in ancient Egyptian art. It is for this reason that we apply the term “float” to our modern version of these icons that move along city streets in modern parades. They were originally boats; so calling them floats is natural.

Additionally, it is the reason the term “ark” was applied to the most sacred object in Judaism, the Ark of the Covenant. It was applied to the conveyance that bore tablets containing the Ten Commandments and other artifacts of the Exodus.
Thus, the Easter parade is a modern counterpart of this ancient practice. Once again, our culture maintains the practices or traditions instigated in Earth’s ancient skies with no concept or grasp of their origins or original meanings.

Christian hypocrisy

Ironically, modern Christians, who seem so determined to avoid any suggestion of paganism or cultism in their religions, who vociferously denounce the paganism of Christmas and Mormons as cultists, have enthusiastically embraced the paganism of Easter.

Latter-day Saints, too, fail to recognize the astral traditions in our culture and religion, yet it should not be so. Joseph Smith and the prophets that succeeded him sought to connect us to our ancient past and the traditions handed down through cultural transmission. Sadly, we Saints discarded our understanding of these things in favor of the Christianized customs and practices of the American culture. Yet, like our Christian cousins, our traditions, our temples and our scriptures are filled with the evidence from the past of their true cosmological nature.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2002

The Name of God

“Sound is an evocative and thus a creative experience. Many
cultures credit the gods with the power to make sounds, either
through natural agencies, such as wind, water, and animals, or
through musical instruments. In myth, sound can be bewitching
(the voices of the sirens), or destructive (the shout with which
Joshua and the Israelites felled the walls of Jericho). Many
creation myths talk of sound disturbing the pre-existent
stillness, thereby bringing the world into being.” David Fontana,
The Secret Language of Symbols, (San Francisco, CA: Chronicle
Books, 1994), p. 64.

Velikovsky suggested that all humanity had once heard what they perceived to be a celestial voice, which spoke the name of God.

That name, according to the good doctor, can be found in the ancient traditions of many cultures today, good evidence that the voice was heard worldwide in antiquity. Perhaps the best instance of its preservation is in the sacred Hebrew name, YAHWEH. For reasons that will become clear by the end of this monograph, the ineffable word was mere onomatopoeia.

The source of this voice, according to Dr. Velikovsky, was the electromagnetic oscillations produced by the interplay between Earth and a proximate body. The Earth, acting as a great transducer or speaker, effectively converted those electromagnetic waves into audible sounds. A clue to the nature and form of this ancient voice may be found in the behavior of modern radio receivers because they convert electromagnetic signals into audio - in effect, doing the same thing that the Earth did anciently.

Early radio receivers often produced an annoying ‘whistling’ sound that can only be called an electronic glissando. This sound began at a very high tone, slid down to a very low tone, then slid back up to the high tone. In fact, the receiver was reproducing a long wavelength carrier frequency on which the program audio was superimposed or modulated. The carrier wave is normally suppressed by circuitry within the radio so that only the desirable program material - music or voice - was reproduced. The technology to suppress the carrier signal was crude in early receivers, hence the ‘whistle’ was often heard when attempting to tune the set.

This ‘whistle’ holds the key to understanding the sacred name, YAHWEH.

To understand the relationship, we must alter that crude ‘whistle.’ Perhaps the most useful device for its reproduction is a modern analog music synthesizer, which can be manipulated - using tone or waveform generators, envelope generators and a variety of filters - to produce “electronic” sounds of epic proportions. In fact, the ‘whistle’ effect can be enhanced and refined to reproduce what must certainly be a close approximation of the sound the ancients heard.

First, we begin with ‘pink noise’ - a hissing, rumbling noise that contains all audible frequencies sounding at the same time, with extra emphasis on the lower frequencies. This is the simple ‘shhhh’ sound we make with our mouths when we wish to quiet a noisy child. This represents the omnipresent background noise in the universe, generated by all the electromagnetic activity around us. We push that noise through a comb filter, which is driven by an extremely low frequency sine wave - a pure fundamental tone that is the equivalent of the electronic oscillations set up by intersecting planets in antiquity. The sine wave causes the filter to emphasize only those parts of the pink noise that correspond to its amplitude - the ‘peak’ of the wave emphasizes only the highest frequencies, the ‘valley’ of the wave emphasizes only the lowest frequencies. This produces a ‘swishing’ sound, much like that which you can make with your mouth by rapidly opening and closing your lips while making the “shhhh” sound. It sounds like the onomatopoeic word ‘swish’ repeated over and over.

The sound heard by the ancients was undoubtedly far more complex due to its nature as a random or chaotic electromagnetic event. By adding several other minor tones to our sound, we arrive at an even more dynamic sound that, I believe, is more representative of the sound heard in antiquity. Finally, by increasing the amplitude of our fundamental sine wave - beginning with an extremely high-pitched, noisy tone that gradually shifts to an extremely low, rumbling frequency - we approach the dynamics of the ancient sound. The ‘swish’ now moves at a snail’s pace and it varies from extremely high to extremely low frequencies. What we hear now is probably what the ancients heard.

If you do not have access to an analog synthesizer, you can use your mouth and your voice to simulate an onomatopoeic expression of it. Using only the vowel sounds, begin by making the ‘eeee’ sound heard in the word ‘me,’ with your jaw closed. At the same time use your vocal cords to intone the highest tone possible. Proceed from vowel to vowel - eeee, aaaa, oooo - letting your jaw open gradually as you purse your lips, all the while dropping the frequency of the tone you are singing until you are at the lowest tone possible and your mouth forms a perfect ‘o.’ Then, without stopping, reverse the sequence of sounds and events until you end where you began, with the ‘eeee’ sound.

You have just spoken the sacred name of God, YAHWEH, as the ancients heard it and subsequently articulated it in countless sacred ceremonies and holy proceedings in antiquity.

It seems likely that this sound was heard repeatedly and in various forms. At times it would have been at a very low volume - almost a whisper. It would have seemed to the listener that the pianissimo voice was whispering right in one’s ear. On other occasions it would have been a mind-numbing, ear-splitting cacophony that would have been felt as much as heard, seemingly penetrating the very fiber of one’s being. Such descriptions of the voice of deity are replete in ancient records.

Of course, this was not the only sound heard anciently as the result of electromagnetic waves turned audible. As others have suggested, trumpet-like sounds, drum-like sounds and ringing, bell-like sounds were heard. Thus, these instruments found their way into the liturgy of all cultures in an attempt to replicate (re-member, as Talbott put it) the sacred sounds. So, too, the chants and mantras of all religions, including the chorale renditions of modern Christianity, hearken back to those audible sounds produced when the planets stood in proximity to one another.

One wonders if composers, like their artistic counterparts who draw on universal symbology for their inspiration, do not subconsciously draw on those ancient sounds to reproduce them in modern musical expressions. This would explain the power of some orchestral and choral compositions to affect emotional responses. Indeed, the more true a musical expression is to the ancient originals, the more power it would seem to have for its listeners. This would explain why these sounds are so important to sacred rites and rituals. They not only replicate the sounds, they duplicate the human response to them.

These sounds, then, were literally the ‘music of the spheres’ and the ‘voice of God’.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2000