The Gods of Eden - Ch.17

Flying Gods Over America

BY THE TIME of the Crusades, major dramas had unfolded on the opposite side of the globe. Great civilizations had come and gone on the American continents.

It is difficult to study the history of the ancient American civilizations because nearly all original records from those civilizations were destroyed centuries ago. As a result, historians are often confronted with disputes over the most basic facts, such as dates. For example, time estimates regarding the great Mayan civilization have placed it everywhere from 30,000 years ago to 12,000 years ago to only 700 years ago. For the purposes of this book, I will use the dates most commonly accepted by modern historians and archaeologists.

Many archaeologists believe that the first important North American civilization was the Olmec society of Mexico. It is estimated to have flourished from about 800 B.C. Until 400 B.C. Very little is known about the Olmecs except that they left behind impressive ruins which included a large pyramid. The existence of the pyramid is strong evidence that there was interaction between the Old and New Worlds in the B.C. Years.

The Olmecs are believed to have given birth to the famous Mayan civilization which followed. The Mayan culture extended from Mexico to Central America and lasted from about 300 B.C. until 900 A.D. Like the Olmecs, the Mayans were fond of building pyramids. Surprisingly, some Mayan pyramids were given a limestone facing like the earlier pyramids in Egypt. The Mayans also copied the Egyptians by mummifying bodies and by holding similar beliefs about a physical afterlife. According to historian Raymond Cartier:

Other analogies with Egypt are discernible in the admirable art of the Mayas. Their mural paintings and frescoes and decorated vases show a race of men with strongly marked Semitic [Mesopotamian] features, engaged in all sorts of activities: agriculture, fishing, building, politics and religion. Egypt alone has depicted these activities with the same cruel verisimilitude [appearance of truth]; but the pottery of the Mayas recalls that of the Etruscans [an ancient civilization of Italy]; their bas-reliefs remind one of India, and the huge steep stairways of their pyramidal temples are like those at Angkor [in Cambodia, dedicated to Hindu worship]. Unless they obtained their models from outside, their brains must have been so constructed that they adopted the same forms of artistic expression as all the other great ancient civilizations of Europe and Asia. Did civilization, then, spring from one particular geographical region and then spread gradually in every direction like a forest fire? Or did it appear spontaneously and separately in various parts of the world? Were some races the teachers and others the pupils, or were they all self-taught? Isolated seeds, or one parent stem giving off shoots in every direction?1

The coincidences are far too strong for the American civilizations to have arisen independently of the Old World societies. Jungian theories of a "collective unconscious" are hardly satisfactory. The striking similarities indicate that the American civilizations were part of a global society, even if ancient American inhabitants were not aware of it. A similar situation exists today. In different cities around the world, we find modem skyscrapers that look remarkably alike no matter where on the globe they stand: from Singapore to Africa to the United States. It can be rather a surprise to see in a remote African nation a tall glassy skyscraper that is virtually identical to a skyscraper in Chicago. The surrounding culture, however, may be radically different in each country, indicating that the skyscraper in Africa is not a product of the native African culture, but is the product of an independent global influence. A similar global influence clearly existed more than a millennium ago as evidenced by the remarkable similarities between ancient Mayan and Egyptian cultures. That global influence appears to have been the Custodial society, because as soon as we review ancient American writings, we encounter once again our Custodial friends.

Custodians were worshipped by ancient Americans as humanlike "gods" who hailed from other worlds. As in the Eastern Hemisphere, Custodians in America were eventually disguised by a cloak of mythology. As in Egypt and Mesopotamia, Custodial servants in America were the priests, who held considerable political power because of their special relationship to mankind's reported extraterrestrial masters. It is therefore not surprising to find evidence that the Brotherhood existed in the ancient Americas. For example, the snake was an important religious symbol throughout the ancient Western Hemisphere. Several Freemasonic historians claim evidence of early Masonic rites in pre-Columbian societies. The Brotherhood symbol of the swastika was also prominent, as Professor W. Norman Brown of the University of Pennsylvania points out on page 27 of his book, The Swastika: A Study of the Nazi Claims of Its Aryan Origin:

A curious problem lies in the presence of the swastika in America before the time of Columbus. It is frequent in northern, central and southern America, and has many variant forms.

The American civilizations had a history similar to that of the Old World. It was filled with wars, genocides, and calamities. Cities and religious centers in ancient America came and went. One thing that remained consistent was the building of pyramids. The Toltecs, a civilization which arose from the Mayan society, continued the pyramid-building tradition and constructed the fabulous Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico. This pyramid is larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt in sheer bulk and is crafted with the same stonecutting precision that characterizes its Egyptian counterpart.

When the Spaniards invaded America in the 16th century, they deliberately destroyed nearly everything they could of the ancient American cultures, except for the gold and precious metals which were shipped to Spain. At that time in history, the Inquisition was at its height and Spain was its most zealous advocate. The ancient Americans were considered pagan, and so Christian missionaries engaged in an energetic campaign to destroy all records and artifacts related to the American religions. Unfortunately, those records included priceless history and science texts. The effect of this obliteration was much like the destruction of the Alexandria Library by Christians earlier: it created a substantial "black out" regarding some of mankind's ancient history. This has left a great many unanswered questions about the Mayans. For example, the Mayans built many fabulous religious centers and then abandoned them. Some historians believe that the abandonment was done suddenly and that its cause remains a mystery. Others conclude that it was done gradually as the Mayan society decayed. The Mayans were also known to practice human sacrifice. Some historians believe that the sacrifices were an infrequent ritual; others think that the sacrifices amounted to full scale genocide claiming 50,000 lives per year. Where does the truth lie?

One book has surfaced which purports to be a record of ancient Mayan beliefs. It is known as the Popol Vuh ("Council Book"). The Popol Vuh is not a genuinely ancient work. It was first written in the sixteenth century by an unknown Mayan. It was later translated into Spanish by Father Francisco Ximenez of the Dominican Order. Ximenez's translation was first published in Vienna in 1857 and it is the earliest surviving version of the Popul Vuh.

The Popol Vuh is said to be a collection of Mayan beliefsand legends as they had been passed down orally through the centuries. It is clear, however, that many Christian ideas were incorporated into the work, either by the original unknown Mayan author, by Father Ximenez, or by both. It is also obvious that the Popol Vuh contains many tales of pure fiction mixed in with what is said to be the true story of the creation of man. Nevertheless, several segments of the Popol Vuh are worth considering because they repeat important religious and historical themes we have seen elsewhere, but with far greater sophistication than is found in Christian writings. Those themes are expressed by the Popol Vuh within the context of the multiple gods of the ancient Mayas.

The Popul Vuh states that mankind had been created to be a servant of the "gods." The "gods" are quoted:

"Let us make him who shall nourish and sustain us! What shall we do to be invoked, in order to be remembered

on earth? We have already tried with our first creations, our first creatures; but we could not make them praise and venerate us. So, then, let us try to make obedient, respectful beings who will nourish and sustain us."2

According to the Popul Vuh, the "gods" had made creatures known as "figures of wood" before creating Homo sapiens. Said to look and talk like men, these odd creatures of wood "existed and multiplied; they had daughters, they had sons. .. ."3 They were, however, inadequate servants for the "gods." To explain why, the Popol Vuh expresses a sophisticated spiritual truth not found in Christianity, but which is found in earlier Mesopotamian writings. The "figures of wood" did not have souls, relates the Popol Vuh, and so they walked on all fours "aimlessly." In other words, without souls (spiritual beings) to animate the bodies, the "gods" found that they had created living creatures which could biologically reproduce, but which lacked the intelligence to have goals or direction.

The "gods" destroyed their "figures of wood" and held lengthy meetings to determine the shape and composition of their next attempt. The "gods" finally produced creatures to which spiritual beings could be attached. That new and improved creature was Homo sapiens*

Creating Homo sapiens did not end Custodial headaches, however. According to the Popol Vuh, the first Homo sapiens were too intelligent and had too many abilities!

They [first Homo sapiensy were endowed with intelligence; they saw and instantly they could see far, they succeeded in seeing, they succeeded in knowing all that there is in the world. When they looked, instantly they saw all around them, and they contemplated in turn the arch of heaven and the round face of the earth.

But the Creator and the Maker did not hear this with pleasure. "It is not well that our creatures, our works say; they know all, the large and the small," they said.4

Something had to be done. Humans (and by implication, the spiritual beings that animate human bodies) needed to have their level of intelligence reduced. Mankind had to be made more stupid:

"What shall we do with them now? Let their sight reach only to that which is near; let them see only a little of the face of the earth! It is not well what

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' According to Sumerian texts, Homo sapiens resembled Custodial bodies. This may explain why the "gods" of the Popol Vuh were successful with Homo sapiens, but not with other types of bodies: spiritual beings were more willing to inhabit bodies which resembled those they had already animated before.

they say. Perchance, are they not by nature simple creatures of our making? Must they also be gods?"5

The Popol Vuh then tells in symbolism what Custodians did to early Homo sapiens to reduce human intelligence and intellectual vision:

Then the Heart of Heaven blew mist into their eyes, which clouded their sight as when a mirror is breathed upon. Their eyes were covered and they could see only what was close, only that was clear to them. In this way the wisdom and all the knowledge of the four men [first Homo sapiens/ . . . were destroyed.6

The above passage echoes the Biblical Adam and Eve story in which "revolving swords" had been placed to block human access to important knowledge. It also suggests a Custodial intention that human beings should never learn about the world beyond the obvious and superficial.

The Popol Vuh contains another element worth mentioning because it reflects the "muddling of languages" theme of the Biblical Tower of Babel story. The Popol Vuh relates that various "gods" spoke different languages which the ancient Mayan tribes were compelled to adopt whenever they fell under the rule of a new "god." Even in the New World, humans were broken into different linguistic groups by the Custodial "gods."

By the time the Spaniards first landed in the Americas in the late 15th century, the Custodial "gods" were no longer directly visible in human affairs, and had not been so for centuries. Although UFOs continued to be observed around the world, people no longer viewed them as the vehicles of the "gods." The Custodial race assumed a low profile which made it seem as though they had left the Earth and gone back home. Unfortunately, they still remained, as the next, and perhaps most ominous, chapter reveals.

- pages 172-178, The Gods of Eden, by William Bramley