This is a review of Lynn Picknett´s and Clive Prince´s "The Stargate Conspiracy", an absolute classic. Read it at your own risk!
This is one of the weirdest
books I've ever read. "The Stargate Conspiracy" is a kind of
anti-conspiracy conspiracy book. When I read it the first time a few years ago,
I considered it almost literally barking mad. However, after reading Jon
Ronson's book "The Men who Stare at Goats", it dawned on me that
certain circles within the U.S. military and the CIA were up to some *really*
strange things during the Cold War. Suddenly, "The Stargate
Conspiracy" didn't feel so strange anymore...
Well, relatively speaking!
Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince claim that large chunks of the "alternative" milieu, including Robert Temple, Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval, are (perhaps unwittingly) being used as puppets by a vast and sinister conspiracy involving the U.S. intelligence services, bizarre quasi-religious cults and (in a worst case scenario) actual space aliens or disembodied spirit-beings. I have more mundane explanations, but I wouldn't be surprised if a double-check of Picknett's and Prince's sources would confirm many of the criss-crossing connections in their book. After all, it seems to be more or less proven that the U.S. military carried out secret parapsychological experiments during the 1970's, and that many of those involved really did believe in supernatural powers.
Picknett and Prince make several interesting observations. First, they point out that many of the alternative speculations about ancient Egypt aren't based on solid research, but on the channelled messages of Edgar Cayce. The ARE, a group of true believers in Cayce's readings, have financed their own digs at the Giza plateau. Another occult group involved in alternative Egyptology is the Academy for Future Science, headed by James Hurtak, who claims to have channelled a series of messages from extraterrestrials, "The Keys of Enoch". These and other groups are also involved in promoting the so-called face on Mars, and often connect Mars with Egypt. So far, no surprises.
Next, the authors claim that many of these occult groups have contacts with U.S. military or intelligence circles. And no, they don't just stare at goats! Under the leadership of Andrija Puharich and James Hurtak, a series of mediums began to channel The Nine, a group of spirit-beings claiming to be the gods of Heliopolis, a town in ancient Egypt (the Biblical On). The Nine claimed that mass landings of UFOs would take place at some point in 1978, etc etc. One of the mediums who supposedly channelled the Nine was...Uri Geller! According to Picknett and Price, Geller was hypnotized during the sessions when The Nine "came through". Interestingly, Geller wasn't impressed by the "gods", regarded them as silly, and broke off his relations with the people behind the experiments. It seems Geller was the only sane person in these circles...
As a final clinch, "The Stargate Conspiracy" wonders whether real aliens or evil spirits may be involved in this sordid affair, or whether the whole thing is just as ploy by the establishment, perhaps as a massive experiment in psychological warfare or conditioning? The authors point out that both "The Keys of Enoch" and other channelled works from The Nine have become popular in New Age circles, despite containing racist (anti-Black), elitist and apocalyptic ideas. Prince and Picknett are spiritual libertarians who resent any kind of hierarchical control from Egyptian gods or anyone else, on Earth or in Heaven, and therefore conclude their book with a call to humanity to finally grow up and throw away all religions of old. Their favoured alternative is a return to shamanism.
As already indicated, I have a more mundane explanation of the "stargate conspiracy". Since many people are superstitious, it's not surprising that such people can be found even in the establishment. Since intelligence and military circles are (almost by definition) paranoid, some pretty strange projects can be launched by such people. Besides, parapsychology came close to becoming a respectable science during the immediate post-war decades, so experiments with remote viewing may not have been seen as *that* strange during the period in question. (I admit that channelling the Ennead of Heliopolis just might have.) As for establishment occultists being hierarchic, elitist and racist - well, what did we expect? The opposite?
There's no particular need to postulate an actual, conscious conspiracy to explain the facts unearthed by the authors at Giza or elsewhere. But sure, many of their claims are pretty startling even in their own right. Was the boss of Egyptian archaeology, Zahi Hawass, really educated with grants from the ARE? Has he really lectured regularly at events organized by the ARE or the AMORC? Did some occultists interested in "the face on Mars" have connections with NASA? And whatever happened to The Nine, anyway?
I'm not entirely sure how to relate to this anti-conspiracy conspiracy theory, but in the end I recommend it. I mean, "The Stargate Conspiracy" is something of a cult classic...at least among three people in my social circles. ;-)
Picture: Uri Geller bending a spoon.
Well, relatively speaking!
Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince claim that large chunks of the "alternative" milieu, including Robert Temple, Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval, are (perhaps unwittingly) being used as puppets by a vast and sinister conspiracy involving the U.S. intelligence services, bizarre quasi-religious cults and (in a worst case scenario) actual space aliens or disembodied spirit-beings. I have more mundane explanations, but I wouldn't be surprised if a double-check of Picknett's and Prince's sources would confirm many of the criss-crossing connections in their book. After all, it seems to be more or less proven that the U.S. military carried out secret parapsychological experiments during the 1970's, and that many of those involved really did believe in supernatural powers.
Picknett and Prince make several interesting observations. First, they point out that many of the alternative speculations about ancient Egypt aren't based on solid research, but on the channelled messages of Edgar Cayce. The ARE, a group of true believers in Cayce's readings, have financed their own digs at the Giza plateau. Another occult group involved in alternative Egyptology is the Academy for Future Science, headed by James Hurtak, who claims to have channelled a series of messages from extraterrestrials, "The Keys of Enoch". These and other groups are also involved in promoting the so-called face on Mars, and often connect Mars with Egypt. So far, no surprises.
Next, the authors claim that many of these occult groups have contacts with U.S. military or intelligence circles. And no, they don't just stare at goats! Under the leadership of Andrija Puharich and James Hurtak, a series of mediums began to channel The Nine, a group of spirit-beings claiming to be the gods of Heliopolis, a town in ancient Egypt (the Biblical On). The Nine claimed that mass landings of UFOs would take place at some point in 1978, etc etc. One of the mediums who supposedly channelled the Nine was...Uri Geller! According to Picknett and Price, Geller was hypnotized during the sessions when The Nine "came through". Interestingly, Geller wasn't impressed by the "gods", regarded them as silly, and broke off his relations with the people behind the experiments. It seems Geller was the only sane person in these circles...
As a final clinch, "The Stargate Conspiracy" wonders whether real aliens or evil spirits may be involved in this sordid affair, or whether the whole thing is just as ploy by the establishment, perhaps as a massive experiment in psychological warfare or conditioning? The authors point out that both "The Keys of Enoch" and other channelled works from The Nine have become popular in New Age circles, despite containing racist (anti-Black), elitist and apocalyptic ideas. Prince and Picknett are spiritual libertarians who resent any kind of hierarchical control from Egyptian gods or anyone else, on Earth or in Heaven, and therefore conclude their book with a call to humanity to finally grow up and throw away all religions of old. Their favoured alternative is a return to shamanism.
As already indicated, I have a more mundane explanation of the "stargate conspiracy". Since many people are superstitious, it's not surprising that such people can be found even in the establishment. Since intelligence and military circles are (almost by definition) paranoid, some pretty strange projects can be launched by such people. Besides, parapsychology came close to becoming a respectable science during the immediate post-war decades, so experiments with remote viewing may not have been seen as *that* strange during the period in question. (I admit that channelling the Ennead of Heliopolis just might have.) As for establishment occultists being hierarchic, elitist and racist - well, what did we expect? The opposite?
There's no particular need to postulate an actual, conscious conspiracy to explain the facts unearthed by the authors at Giza or elsewhere. But sure, many of their claims are pretty startling even in their own right. Was the boss of Egyptian archaeology, Zahi Hawass, really educated with grants from the ARE? Has he really lectured regularly at events organized by the ARE or the AMORC? Did some occultists interested in "the face on Mars" have connections with NASA? And whatever happened to The Nine, anyway?
I'm not entirely sure how to relate to this anti-conspiracy conspiracy theory, but in the end I recommend it. I mean, "The Stargate Conspiracy" is something of a cult classic...at least among three people in my social circles. ;-)
Picture: Uri Geller bending a spoon.
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