National Geographic on the Crystal Skulls

National Geographic has an interesting article about the real Crystal Skulls on their website.

- Crystal Skulls Fuel Controversy, Fascination

The famed crystal skulls of ancient Mesoamerica have been a source of mystery and controversy for decades. The handful of known skulls have defied even the most advanced scientific efforts to determine who made them, when, and most puzzling, how. This specimen, owned by the British Museum in London, was originally thought to have been made by the Aztec of Mexico but was later determined to be a fake.
National Geographic
Photograph by AFP/Getty Images

(via Boing Boing)

Rosicrucian Advertisement from 1939

(from Modern Mechanix via Boing Boing)

Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens

Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens

By ARIEL DAVID – 14 hours ago

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."

In the interview by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes said that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom, he said.

The interview, headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," covered a variety of topics including the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and science, and the theological implications of the existence of alien life.

Funes said science, especially astronomy, does not contradict religion, touching on a theme of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made exploring the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.

The Bible "is not a science book," Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most "reasonable" explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.

But he said he continues to believe that "God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance."

Funes urged the church and the scientific community to leave behind divisions caused by Galileo's persecution 400 years ago, saying the incident has "caused wounds."

In 1633 the astronomer was tried as a heretic and forced to recant his theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.

"The church has somehow recognized its mistakes," he said. "Maybe it could have done it better, but now it's time to heal those wounds and this can be done through calm dialogue and collaboration."

Pope John Paul declared in 1992 that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."

The Vatican Observatory has been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best.

The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has a summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.
On the Net:

* Vatican Observatory: http://clavius.as.arizona.edu/vo

[Video] Austrian Suspect Preparing Insanity Defense

[Video] Austrian Suspect Preparing Insanity Defense
The lawyer for the Austrian man who allegedly imprisoned his daughter for 24 years, fathering seven children with her says he is preparing an insanity defense. (May 5)

[Video] Cellar described in abuse case

[Video] Cellar described in abuse case
Police in Austria have given details of the construction of a cellar used by a man to imprison his daughter for 24 years.

Metatron

From Wikipedia:


Metatron (Hebrew מטטרון or מיטטרון), is the name of an angel in Judaism and some branches of Christianity and Islam. There are no references to him in the Jewish Tanakh (Old Testament), Christian Scriptures (New Testament), or the Quran, though he is mentioned in a few brief passages in the Talmud, the Jewish Oral Law. Metatron appears primarily in medieval Jewish mystical texts and other post-scriptural esoteric and occult sources. In Rabbinic tradition he is the highest of the angels and serves as the celestial scribe, though there is no consensus as to his genesis, nor as to what position he should best be understood to have in the Christian hierarchy of angels, if any.

Origins

The Talmud has a section in which it claims that Elisha ben Abuyah, also called Acher, (אחר, "another", as he was an apostate), entered Paradise and saw Metatron sitting down (an action that in heaven is permitted only to God Himself). Elishah ben Abuyah therefore looked to Metatron as a deity and said heretically, "There are indeed two powers in heaven!" The rabbis explain that Metatron was allowed to sit because of his function as the Heavenly Scribe, writing down the deeds of Israel (Babylonian Talmud, Hagiga 15a).

"... the Talmud states, it was proved to Elisha that Metatron could not be a second deity by the fact that Metatron received 60 'strokes with fiery rods' to demonstrate that Metatron was not a god, but an angel, and could be punished." -[2]

In opposition to this apology, Metatron is identified with the term "lesser YHVH", which is the Lesser Tetragrammaton, in a Talmudic version as cited by the Karaite scholar Kirkisani. The word 'Metatron' is numerically equivalent to Shaddai (God) in Hebrew gematria; therefore he is said to have a "Name like his Master." It should be noted, however, that Kirkisani may have misrepresented the Talmud in order to embarrass his Rabbanite opponents with evidence of dualism. On the other hand, extra-talmudic mystical texts (see below regarding Sefer Hekhalot) do speak of a "lesser YHVH," apparently deriving the concept from Exodus 23:21, which mentions an angel of whom God says "My name [understood as YHVH, the usual divine Proper Name] is in him."

The Babylonian Talmud mentions Metatron in two other places: Sanhedrin 38b and Avodah Zarah 3b. Yevamot 16b describes in the Amoraic period the duties of 'prince of the world' being transferred from Michael to Metatron.

Metatron is also mentioned in the Pseudepigrapha, most prominently in the Hebrew/Merkabah Book of Enoch, also called 3 Enoch or Sefer Hekhalot (Book of [the Heavenly] Palaces). The book describes the link between Enoch son of Jared (great grandfather of Noah) and his transformation into the angel Metatron. His grand title "the lesser YHVH" resurfaces here. Metatron says, "He [the Holy One]… called me, 'The lesser YHVH' in the presence of his whole household in the height, as it is written, 'My name is in him.'" (12:5, Alexander's translation). The narrator of this book, supposedly Rabbi Ishmael, tells how Metatron guided him through Heaven and explained its wonders. Here Metatron is described in two ways: as a primordial angel (9:2–13:2) and as the transformation of Enoch after he was assumed into Heaven.[3][4]

"Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." —Genesis 5:24 NIV.

"This Enoch, whose flesh was turned to flame, his veins to fire, his eye-lashes to flashes of lightning, his eye-balls to flaming torches, and whom God placed on a throne next to the throne of glory, received after this heavenly transformation the name Metatron." - Gershom G. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941/1961) p. 67. Extract of 3 Enoch.

While this identification of Metatron with Enoch is not to be found in the Talmud itself, the connection is assumed by some of the earliest kabbalists. There also seem to be two Metatrons, one spelled with six letters (מטטרון), and one spelled with seven (מיטטרון). The former may be the transformed Enoch, Prince of the Countenance within the divine palace; the latter, the Primordial Metatron, an emanation of the "Cause of Causes," specifically the tenth and last emanation, identified with the earthly Divine Presence.[5]

The Zohar calls Metatron "the Youth" a title previously used in 3 Enoch, where it appears to mean "servant".[4] It identifies him as the angel that led the people of Israel through the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt (again referring to Exodus 23:21, see above), and describes him as a heavenly priest.

According to Johann Andreas Eisenmenger, Metatron transmits the daily orders of God to the angels Gabriel and Sammael. Metatron is often identified as being the twin brother to Sandalphon, who is said to have been the prophet Elijah.

VM Samael Aun Weor identifies Metatron as the Prophet Enoch, the Angel who provided humanity with the 22 Hebrew letters and the original Tarot, stating that the Angel lives in the superior worlds in the region Aziluth (The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of Tarot and Kabbalah).

Metatron's Cube

From Wikipedia:


The Fruit of Life (a component of the Flower of Life) has thirteen circles. If each circle's center is considered a "node", and each node is connected to each other node with a single line, a total of seventy-eight lines are created. Within this cube, many other shapes can be found, including two-dimensionally flattened versions of the five Platonic solids. The true Metatron's Cube will include all five Platonic solids in such a way that the solids, existing in volumetric 3D space, have had their z-coordinates set to zero but their x- and y-coordinates retained, such that they are orthogonally flattened.

In early kabbalist scriptures, Metatron supposedly forms the cube from his soul. This cube can later be seen in Christian art, where it appears on his chest or floating behind him. Metatron's cube is also considered a holy glyph, and was often drawn around an object or person to ward off demons and satanic powers. This idea is also present in alchemy, in which the cube was favoured as a containment circle or creation circle.

The simplest means of constructing Metatron's Cube is to begin with a cube flattened along a space diagonal, such that it becomes a 2D figure, equivalent to a regular hexagon divided via its own diagonals into six equilateral triangles. The vertices of this 2D figure are then connected with additional lines. Several steps later, the full Metatron's Cube figure is formed.[23] This method requires dividing vertices according to the golden ratio. There is also a method of construction from the Flower of Life.[24] The cube resembles the fourth dimensional analog of the cube, or the Tesseract.

DNA Confirms 'Dungeon Dad' Fathered Grandkids

Austrian police say the man who kept his daughter captive for 24 years and fathered seven children with her did not build secret hiding places at his other properties. (April 29)

Dungeon Dad May Have Planned to Free Daughter

Investigators say a man who imprisoned his daughter and some of the children he fathered with her in a dungeon for more than two decades warned his victims they would be gassed to death if they tried to overpower him. (May 1)

Austrian Dad Admits Abuse

Josef Fritzl has admitted to imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and fathering seven of her children. Allen Pizzey reports.

Austrian admits incest, imprisonment: prosecutors

A 73-year-old Austrian man has confessed to one of the nation's most horrific crimes -- imprisoning his daughter in a windowless cellar for 24 years and fathering her seven children. Public prosecutors said Josef Fritzl admitted holding his daughter and three children in a basement prison. Chief investigator Franz Polzer told a press conference that one of the children had died shortly after birth and had been "disposed of" by Fritzl in the furnace of his building. Images and soundbites of prosecutors' press conference+ STILL photos of Josef Fritzl and cellar.

Police: Man Raped, Imprisoned Daughter 24 Years

Police in Austria say a woman who went missing in 1984 was found over the weekend and told investigators that she had been held by her father in a cellar, where she was repeatedly raped and gave birth to at least six children (April 28)