Graham Hancock

[Anthony]

Approaching Infinity wrote about it here and here. And there's a book review here. Oh, and there a Mind Matters radio show where it's discussed here.

I read it too. It was interesting, and much fits with the discussion on the forum. As for the writing itself, Hancock's writing is a bit long winded but it makes for easy speed reading.

I've also read it having first heard about it on Mind Matters, the guys did a really great job with the show and they've basically covered all the main points from the book. I haven't read other books by Hancock, but he hit the nail on the head with this one, IMO.

 

[Cassandane]

I used to gobble up Graham Hancock's books, but I've read so much further since then that this one seems a bit formulaic and somehow lacking in depth.

I started reading it around the same time as I started Mary Settegast's "When Zarathustra Spoke" and stopped to consider an idea that took hold of my mind and wouldn't let go. This idea was sparked by both Hancock's and Settegast's work as well as the novel "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn and ideas set forth in the works of Joseph P. Farrell.

A little bit of background: In "Ishmael", Quinn gives an interesting take on the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, where Cain, the farmer of grains, kills Abel, the pastoralist who keeps goats, etc. Quinn sees the brothers as representatives of two competing lifestyles at the dawn of the agricultural revolution. Joseph P. Farrell's work aggregates the works of others on history, science, politics and money and is pretty wide-ranging. He uses the vast amount of research he does to extrapolate and speculate about what might really be behind the curtain, so to speak. He thinks the inhabitants of Atlantis were actually planning to take over the world - and had done so to an enormous extent - when disaster struck and their city was sunk and much of the world destroyed. He thinks that what little evidence is available indicates their intentions were NOT benevolent.

So, if bits of the ideas of these four researchers have any bearing on truth, suppose Hancock's seven sages were actually from Atlantis and somehow did survive the destruction of the city. Suppose, at the end of the Younger Dryas after the comets, etc., struck, they did still have some of the technology that had existed and used it to travel the world and spread the knowledge that had existed prior to the cataclysm - knowledge that, if disseminated to the survivors, could enable a rebuilding of the Atlantean civilization.

If that is so, these seven sages appear to have jump-started civilization quite successfully. All over the world, the same ideas seem to have taken root: agriculture, power in the hands of the few, war, religion, money, propaganda, cities full of square buildings, love of material things beyond what is immediately needed for life. Archaeologists seem to be constantly amazed that these ideas appear to have arisen independently in so many places and sprung into being without any preamble. Now these ideas are so accepted as the natural way of human life that we never question why we need to accept them and live this way. They are also quite destructive and inhibiting.

Mary Settegast places Zarathustra much nearer the end of the Younger Dryas than other scholars, and her conclusion seems well-reasoned. She also describes his main message as being mostly about agriculture - possibly the root of the Biblical injunction to "subdue the Earth". Like Quinn, she hints at an interesting picture of what life was like during the transition from hunter-gatherer to a settled, agricultural lifestyle - apparently there was considerable cattle-rustling going on, maybe even enough to convince those who had settled down to go back to their old hunting ways. So, along comes Zarathustra with a message that sways people back to agriculture. He seems to have been wildly successful at convincing people to do what may or may not have been in their long term best interests. Who was he? Where did he get his ideas? He was apparently a priest, although Settegast suggests there may have been more than one "Zarathustra" that was head of a priestly order. Depending on how accurate our measurement of time really is, Zarathustra - or at least the original one - may have been a recipient of knowledge from one of the seven sages, who also apparently stressed agriculture.

I find the idea of a group of men jump-starting civilization after the last cataclysm fascinating, not least because with all the talk of disaster likely to overtake the human race that has been in the air during the last 70 or so years. If you look back at history, in some respects you can see a clear timeline of the development of concepts that are decidedly STS. Humans are relatively short-lived, so how have these ideas managed to maintain traction in the human mind without outside help? Ah, you say, it's human nature. I'm not so sure. I find it hard to believe that real human nature is like that. That's why I found Laura's disseminating of the concept of psychopathy so illuminating. Especially since it's fairly obvious that the knowledge-hoarders who intent to ride out the coming catastrophe are more likely than not to be psychopaths.

Anyway, I would love to know what your thoughts are on what I've written here.

 

[Iain]

I have read a few of his books; Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints and Magicians of the Gods, Supernatural and am nearing the end of America Before.

I do enjoy his writing style and he does put a lot of research and data into his ideas, plenty of references to check out and other authors. At first I had the impression of someone with a very open mind on the subject of an advanced ancient civilisation, but this seems to have waned a bit over time.

As expressed by many here it feels like after Supernatural he became quite focused on the Ayahuasca side of things and hallucinogens in general. As he writes, he very often only mentions other means to to have spirit journeys or to contact 'the spirit world' in passing and then goes straight back to Ayahuasca. Once again this comes up about half way through America Before which I was not expecting, given that most of the book is dedicated to archaeological work and geometry. Of course to him the geometry of many sacred sites seems inextricably linked to drug use...

On the subject of him revising his claimed dates for the pyramids, I'm not sure he has changed his position too much there. For whatever reason, his older dates for the pyramids seem to now refer to previous structures that began the pyramid building project as well as some of the passages below the pyramids themselves. When he and Randal Carlson appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast, they did not seem to change their dating at all.

I do get the impression at points in America Before that the conventional dates for the pyramids suit his dating of various sites in the US more than his previously theorised dates, providing the link between Egyptian and Native American culture.

As I say, not quite finished reading it yet, but there is a feeling of dates being moved around to suit a narrative. I certainly agree with him about an ancient, advanced civilisation – there is more than enough evidence around for that – just perhaps not the narrative spin he currently has on it.

 

[Chad]

This looks like it might be worth checking out - a new series of docs with Graham Hancock on Netflix:

Ancient Apocalypse

Journalist Graham Hancock travels the globe hunting for evidence of mysterious, lost civilizations dating back to the last Ice Age.


Watch Ancient Apocalypse | Netflix Official Site

On his FB he writes:

All 8 episodes of "Ancient Apocalypse", my new Netflix TV series, will be available to view worldwide from Friday 11/11/22: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81211003. We start in Indonesia with a mysterious pyramid that new geological evidence dates to more than 20,000 years ago -- the peak of the last Ice Age when sea level was 400 feet (about 120 meters) lower than it is today. Please consider setting a reminder and adding the series to your "My List".

 

[Z...]

This looks like it might be worth checking out - a new series of docs with Graham Hancock on Netflix:

Ancient Apocalypse

Journalist Graham Hancock travels the globe hunting for evidence of mysterious, lost civilizations dating back to the last Ice Age.


Watch Ancient Apocalypse | Netflix Official Site

On his FB he writes:

All 8 episodes of "Ancient Apocalypse", my new Netflix TV series, will be available to view worldwide from Friday 11/11/22: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81211003. We start in Indonesia with a mysterious pyramid that new geological evidence dates to more than 20,000 years ago -- the peak of the last Ice Age when sea level was 400 feet (about 120 meters) lower than it is today. Please consider setting a reminder and adding the series to your "My List".

View attachment 66300

Just watched it-the episode about Malta was super interesting.

 

[Niall]

Hancock appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast recently, again with Randall Carlson, who teased viewers with 'insider information' about a group of scientists who have been working for years, in secret, in the Maldives on 'ancient technology involving sound waves'...

 

[unkl brws]

This looks like it might be worth checking out - a new series of docs with Graham Hancock on Netflix:

Ancient Apocalypse

Journalist Graham Hancock travels the globe hunting for evidence of mysterious, lost civilizations dating back to the last Ice Age.


Watch Ancient Apocalypse | Netflix Official Site

On his FB he writes:

All 8 episodes of "Ancient Apocalypse", my new Netflix TV series, will be available to view worldwide from Friday 11/11/22: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81211003. We start in Indonesia with a mysterious pyramid that new geological evidence dates to more than 20,000 years ago -- the peak of the last Ice Age when sea level was 400 feet (about 120 meters) lower than it is today. Please consider setting a reminder and adding the series to your "My List".

View attachment 66300

I just watched the first and second episodes on Gunung Padang, Indonesia and Cholula, Mexico respectively. Fascinating stuff! This is a quote from the beginning of the second episode:

"Are we a species with amnesia? Could we have forgotten a vital part of our own story?

 

[Cosmos]

This looks like it might be worth checking out - a new series of docs with Graham Hancock on Netflix:

Ancient Apocalypse

Journalist Graham Hancock travels the globe hunting for evidence of mysterious, lost civilizations dating back to the last Ice Age.


Watch Ancient Apocalypse | Netflix Official Site

On his FB he writes:

All 8 episodes of "Ancient Apocalypse", my new Netflix TV series, will be available to view worldwide from Friday 11/11/22: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81211003. We start in Indonesia with a mysterious pyramid that new geological evidence dates to more than 20,000 years ago -- the peak of the last Ice Age when sea level was 400 feet (about 120 meters) lower than it is today. Please consider setting a reminder and adding the series to your "My List".

View attachment 66300

Just watched it-the episode about Malta was super interesting.

I just watched the first and second episodes on Gunung Padang, Indonesia and Cholula, Mexico respectively. Fascinating stuff! This is a quote from the beginning of the second episode:

I have started to watch the series as well. Finally, something watchable on Netflix! Kudos to Hancock and co. for finally bringing the idea of a global cataclysm at the end of the last ice age and a possible ancient global "advanced" civilization during the ice age to mainstream "attention" in that way! I especially like the fact that Hancock discusses sites and structures that are not that well known (some of which I haven't heard of before!) and lets the experts speak, many of which are the primary sources in the background who are mainly responsible for the studies, research, inspirations and knowledge that opened up this area of research in the last decades (such as Randall Carlson, various Geologist, Archeologists etc.). Apart from some of the usual assumptions being presented here and there (and that Hancock is known for), I think overall it is a great series with lots of interesting stuff in it and I think it is well worth to watch and share it!

 

[Cosmos]

Hancock appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast recently, again with Randall Carlson, who teased viewers with 'insider information' about a group of scientists who have been working for years, in secret, in the Maldives on 'ancient technology involving sound waves'...

Thanks for bringing that up. Sounds interesting. I'm not sure though that most especially Hancock (and probably, to a far lesser degree, Carlson) are fully aware of the extent and reach of the PTB and how good they are in infiltrating, suppressing, coopting anything that poses even slightly a threat to "the system". And what seems to happen here certainly sounds like something they would want to control. And here I'm just talking about the human level, not even accounting for the hyperdimensional control/power structure (which both, Hancock and Carlson, IMO, are likely not aware of, or, in "the right way")!

There is also the possibility that Carlson was taken in by a "scammer" although I'll give that a low probability since Carlson (from what I have seen) seems to have a pretty well and good functioning bullshit detector and is somewhat aware of coopting and cointelpro mechanisms.

Assuming the stated story is true, I think there is a good likelihood that the PTB monitored/infiltrated/controlled "the secret lab in the Maldives" from the get-go and that "the inventor", those working in the project and Carlson himself are probably fooling themselves in believing that they have put in all the right safety mechanism in order for it not to be suppressed/controlled/coopted by the PTB. The fact alone that car manufacturer Mazda in Japan seems to be already part of the "research and development of those ideas in form of a concrete 25 Million Dollar project/development" certainly points to that direction for me as well, since Japan (and therefore likely pretty much all their big cooperations) seems to be fully infiltrated and controlled by "the power structure".

I'm pretty certain that Randall Carlson has indeed uncovered/presented pretty fascinating ideas over the decades (not only) in terms of geometry and numbers and I wouldn't be surprised if some scientist/inventor/engineer types would have indeed found unique and probably "revolutionary" ways of using that information to develop stuff.

As for Hancock's statement about the leaders of our world being children, and that he can't think of any leader of those people being "mature" enough to responsibly handle such things as atomic energy, I would have to disagree. There is one leader/government I can think of, and that is Putin and co in Russia. I wouldn't be surprised that Hancock has bought into the Putin/Russia bad thing quite a bit, while I think there is a good chance that Carlson hasn't fallen for it (nor for the Covid nonsense).

I also think there is a good chance that both are fooling themselves (and probably Hancock much more than Carlson) in assuming that just because ancient civilizations (such as Atlantis) might have been more highly developed in terms of "technology" than we are, or had a different approach to civilization, that this automatically translates into them having being "better", "smarter", "holier" or more "spiritually advanced". Those are big assumptions.

 

[Voyageur]

Hancock appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast recently, again with Randall Carlson, who teased viewers with 'insider information' about a group of scientists who have been working for years, in secret, in the Maldives on 'ancient technology involving sound waves'...

It was a bit amusing when words state something along the lines of 'they were doing this outside government interference" - which you sort of touch on, too, Cosmos

Whatever they have come up with if legit, its focus seems to be on Frequency Vibration Resonance (FVR). Now that is a C's term as provided to Laura in session transcripts going way back, so hope they included patent rights to reflect. ;)

Seriously, though, levitation and sound waves has been discussed since long before. Recall this on the Templers and Celtic Dance (there was also Tibetan priest singing - sound wave levitation, and then the guy out of Florida:

July 26 1997

Q: Speaking of these tall guys, William Wallace's life was sort of symbolic, in my mind, and he was supposed to have been over 6 and a half feet tall. During the time that all that mess was going on over in Scotland with Wallace and the Bruce, the Templars were being dissolved in France...

A: Dissolved?!? We think not! They merely went "underground."

Q: Is that literally or figuratively?

A: Why not both?

Q: Well, there are Templar organizations that some Mason's claim to be in contact with.

A: And where do you suppose these are?

Q: Underground?

A: Bingo!

Q: Okay. The Templars were formed in Jerusalem. They were there for quite a while with no record of doing any of the things that the group supposedly intended to do. There are a lot of rumors... what were they doing in Jerusalem?

A: Templars held the secret of levitation.

Q: Is this something... and I am talking about the 9 guys in Jerusalem... did they discover some document in Jerusalem that gave them this secret?

A: Yes.

Q: And is this how they were able to get so much support from certain royal houses and so forth?

A: It is time for you to study Kaballah again, but be careful!!

And further along, although there are other sessions that look to these matters (and The Wave series):

[Break. Group watches video: Riverdance.]

Q: Hi guys! Did you like the movie?

A: We do not need to have such presentations, since we have all presence awareness!

Q: Well, gosh! Lighten up! (T) Well, they must be able to see the original! (L) Indeed. How close are these dances to the original Celtic dances?

A: Half.

Q: Considering everything, that is a lot. What about these dances would make them more original?

A: Floating.

Q: Holy Shi'ite Moslems! No wonder Caesar went bananas! But, why the stylized rigidity of the arms? A; Has to do with sound through chemical enzyme based utilization for power purposes.

Q: How does the stiff-arm posture relate to sound?

A: Chemical transmitter flow.

Q: You mean that something flowed through their arms and out their hands to enhance levitation?

A: Close.

 

[Alejo]

Hi everyone,

I have been watching this series, it is presented by Graham Hancock, the author of America Before. And I must say that it is splendid!

I would highly recommend it, it has a lot of production value, it has him having, I get the sense, almost full control of the content that is exposed and the audiovisual aspect of it gives the entire subject a wonderful ease of understanding.

He talks about Atlantis, the Younger Dryas, sperpent cultures, pyramids, ancient civilizations, and commentary events... And he does a wonderful work putting them together. I have not finished it, but so far I am rather hooked on it.

Again, highly recommend it, here's the trailer should anyone be interested:

 

[aragorn]

I've now listened to the Rogan podcast with Hancock and Carlson and agree with what you pointed out, Cosmos.

A couple of points:

The semi-frequent endorsement of the use of psychedelics was nauseating. The topic just kept popping up during the show. At the end Rogan even said that "[using psychedelics] is the only way out". It's suprising how naive they are about it, as if there were no negative consequences of using those, and as there were no other ways of 'enlightening' yourself. The fact that ancient societies probably used psychedelics to some degree doesn't, in my opinion, directly prove that they are useful to us in our present time; many aspects of the ancient world and its people were probably a whole lot different. Then there's the fact that for all we know, maybe the use of those psychedelics was part of the reasons why those ancient societies imploded. What comes to mind is that if and when you see spiritual entities while on psychedelics, who's to say that they are not there to deceive you (as we've read in mulitple sources).

Another thing that I noticed was that these guys had a good dose of wishful thinking (paraphrasing): "the truth is coming out", "today's youth is not 'taking it' anymore, they're thinking for themselves", "soon we'll have these amazing new energy sources". In my view, quite the opposite is happening. And I agree, Cosmos, that the things Carlson talked about regarding the amazing technology sound too good to be true, and that he's probably being set up for some kind of disecrediting scam.

Despite the above, there were many interesting and more insightful things that were discussed. The thing with the undiscovered buildings in the Amazons was one of the most interesting things, as was those underground cities in Turkey. I'm looking forward to watching the Netflix series at some point. All in all, Hancock and Carlson seem very well educated on their main expertice (ancient archeology/comets/asteroids) but they do have blindspots that makes you wonder if those will be their downfall.

 

[Cosmos]

I've now listened to the Rogan podcast with Hancock and Carlson and agree with what you pointed out, Cosmos.

A couple of points:

The semi-frequent endorsement of the use of psychedelics was nauseating. The topic just kept popping up during the show. At the end Rogan even said that "[using psychedelics] is the only way out". It's suprising how naive they are about it, as if there were no negative consequences of using those, and as there were no other ways of 'enlightening' yourself. The fact that ancient societies probably used psychedelics to some degree doesn't, in my opinion, directly prove that they are useful to us in our present time; many aspects of the ancient world and its people were probably a whole lot different. Then there's the fact that for all we know, maybe the use of those psychedelics was part of the reasons why those ancient societies imploded. What comes to mind is that if and when you see spiritual entities while on psychedelics, who's to say that they are not there to deceive you (as we've read in mulitple sources).

Another thing that I noticed was that these guys had a good dose of wishful thinking (paraphrasing): "the truth is coming out", "today's youth is not 'taking it' anymore, they're thinking for themselves", "soon we'll have these amazing new energy sources". In my view, quite the opposite is happening. And I agree, Cosmos, that the things Carlson talked about regarding the amazing technology sound too good to be true, and that he's probably being set up for some kind of disecrediting scam.

Despite the above, there were many interesting and more insightful things that were discussed. The thing with the undiscovered buildings in the Amazons was one of the most interesting things, as was those underground cities in Turkey. I'm looking forward to watching the Netflix series at some point. All in all, Hancock and Carlson seem very well educated on their main expertice (ancient archeology/comets/asteroids) but they do have blindspots that makes you wonder if those will be their downfall.

I have watched it is as well and pretty much agree. Apart from the usual and crucial missing piece, which is the hyperdimsensional aspect, I think once again, with those naive and down right dangerous ideas about psychedelics, I think they present a vector that most especially seems to come from Rogan and Hancock's side. All that talk about "how great psychedelics are" in terms of what they can "teach us" about consciousness and/or "other realms" and what comes through might be downloads "or teachings from other realms" and how those psychedelics "were at the core of ancient civilizations" is IMO a presumptuous distraction at best and doesn't add up. Even if it were true that some ancient civilizations used psychedelics in any key aspect of what they did (which might be true or not), that wouldn't translate into them having been "better", "more wise" or "spiritual", quite the contrary could have been the case as well.

It might be that Carlson is getting vectored into that direction by Hancock, Rogan and others now. So far it seemed to me that Carlson pretty much stayed out of it by not using and/or promoting ideas in that direction (aka. not engaged/endorsing it himself), but with this episode, it seems to me that Carlson might start to flirt with those ideas as well. We know that Rogan and Hancock are, or have pretty much become, "pot heads" and "psychedelic heads" (aka using it on a regular or even constant basis themselves) while so far it seemed to me that Carlson didn't take that bait and just had limited experiences of that kind in the 70ies himself and then stopped it. I also think that McGilchrist has an interesting take on how psychedelics affect the human brain (which sounds pretty counterintuitive to what one would think and not so rosy at all). I also think they don't have the slightest idea what they are getting themselves into by engaging/dealing with "those other realms" and how dangerous it actually could be for most people to "explore a world beyond our perception". Somewhere it was suggested that "the other world" is in a lot of ways more dangerous than the thickest jungle on earth, and it would be foolish and dangerous for us in our state of being and perception to try to engage with that other world/realm. I think Castaneda said something along those lines. Yes, I think it is true that a very limited and controlled use of psychedelics can help some serious cases to deal with life better by readjusting some imbalances in the brain, but I think it is dangerous to promote any of it as a "cure", "solution" or "way out" on anything in a general manner. As Laura said "there is a program for everyone".

Apart from that, as you said, the other stuff they talked about was interesting as always (if you are aware of some of the assumptions they work with). As for:

And I agree, Cosmos, that the things Carlson talked about regarding the amazing technology sound too good to be true, and that he's probably being set up for some kind of disecrediting scam.

Unfortunately, that is a real possibility.

 

[Turgon]

I saw the first episode last night - very interesting and in-line with the overall theme of Fingerprints of the Gods, except he uncovers more ancient sites and structures in the show. Will keep watching, for sure.

 

[Lyndi]

Hi everyone,

I have been watching this series, it is presented by Graham Hancock, the author of America Before. And I must say that it is splendid!

I would highly recommend it, it has a lot of production value, it has him having, I get the sense, almost full control of the content that is exposed and the audiovisual aspect of it gives the entire subject a wonderful ease of understanding.

He talks about Atlantis, the Younger Dryas, sperpent cultures, pyramids, ancient civilizations, and commentary events... And he does a wonderful work putting them together. I have not finished it, but so far I am rather hooked on it.

Again, highly recommend it, here's the trailer should anyone be interested:

This trailer for the series, Ancient Apocalypsee, led me just now to a 14 minute Joe Rogan video with Hancock and a Randall Carlson. The kicker that Carlson announces at the end is that Mazda motors is investing $25,000,000 in testing the possibility of retrofitting the combustion motor using - not sure what best describes it - but energy based on years of research, with patents now in hand, with sound and the vibratory rates of the elements. Carlson, - many of you probably know him, I didn't but will find out more - taught about ancient sacred geometry and the inventors of this new application said to him that he built the foundation and they put the house on top of it.

First thought was, EV's are so last year's news, and maybe just in time. Probably many other energy techs could revolutionize if Mazda puts its money where its mouth is.

This also brings calls to mind the book 'The Power of the Pendulum' by Lethbridge - I found that book through it's mention on this forum - where Lethbridge, through charting the elements with a pendulum, was led to dowsing into other dimensions. Lethbridge might have dowsed deeper in terms of aspects of the vibrations of elements had he known what Carlson has been talking about. I wonder if he could have investigated anything like this power with a pendulum. With a pendulum you can transmit medicines, the frequency of images and so on, I've learned in looking into dowsing. Well, I guess it is our minds, that can do things like this depending on our basic belief system.

My brother replied recently to my enthusiastic conversation with him about dowsing with a story. He did, I think, hear this as a true tale in B.C.. Two prospectors went deep into the wilderness prospecting for gold. They didn't find gold but got totally lost and had to dowse their way back to their vehicle. Which they did.