Certainly, "all things will be in commotion." Everything will be "shaken." Nothing physical will remain untouched by tragedy... Faced with accounts of great changes to come so great in fact that the heavens and the Earth could be considered "new"-what can be learned from prophecy about the changes that are to take place? What can we expect to see that will be so very different from what is seen today? The answers have been elusive, but now are at hand.

Definitive answers to these questions lie in prophecies of the future. But though there are numerous prophecies concerning latter-day events and the conditions to exist afterward in the Millennium, much of their message is cryptic and laconic. Even with the interpretation supplied by Velikovsky's theories of catastrophe, much of prophecy remains indecipherable to most investigators. In order to better understand those prophecies, an additional key must be obtained.

The restoration of all things

...the end result of the latter-day cataclysms will be ultimately to renew the Earth and restore it... Words such as "renew" and "restore" suggest a return to some previous condition or status; they imply that future conditions on the Earth and in the heavens will resemble those that existed previously in this planet's existence-a restoration of the physical order of things as well as the spiritual order.

...If the catastrophes of the last days are to be a reenactment (renewal or restoration) of the catastrophes of the past (as a close comparison of the books of Exodus and Revelation reveals), then one may logically assume that a future restoration to the desirable conditions of the earliest epoch of Earth's history is not only possible, but likely. There is yet to come, then, an age of the restoration of all things.

Before the Flood

With a physical restoration in mind, we may now refer to accounts of the conditions that existed in the heavens and on the Earth in the earliest historical epoch. Then, these accounts can be compared to the conditions prophesied to exist in the Millennium in order to decipher their meaning.

...In this quest to unravel the mysteries of the past, it must be remembered that any one ancient record or myth cannot present a complete picture of past conditions; but when the contents of many such records are considered in concert-given the cosmic nature and universality of past events and conditions-they each contribute a few details, thus combining to create a larger, more complete picture. The ancient scriptures alone (presenting an historic account of only one ancient culture or family-the Hebrews) may offer only scant data concerning the antediluvian world; but when the scriptures are considered in concert with other records and traditions from various ancient cultures (e.g. the Egyptians, the Greeks, etc.), a more complete account emerges.

The age of peace and plenty

The earliest age of the Earth is known in ancient records as the Golden Age (in Latin, aetas Area). According to accounts from ancient cultures the world over, it was a time when mankind lived more peacefully than today. Food was more abundant and more easily obtained. Illness was practically unknown, and the physical body did not degenerate and age as rapidly as it now does. The climate was far more temperate. Traditional narratives speak of a world devoid of inaccessibly high mountains or deep canyons, and there is no mention of great oceans to act as barriers between continents. It was an idyllic age.

The Golden Age is chronicled in texts from many cultures; only a few will be cited as examples of the rest. Known to the Greeks as the "age of Kronos," the Golden Age was described by Hesiod:

First, the immortal dwellers on Olympus fashioned a golden race of men, who lived in the time when Kronos was king in Heaven. They lived like gods, and their souls knew neither sorrow nor toil. Neither were they subject to age, but ever the same in hand and foot, they spent their time in leisure apart from evil.... The bounteous earth bare fruit for them of her own will, in plenty and without stint. They lived in peace and quiet in their lands with many good things, rich in flocks and dear to the blessed gods. (Works and Days, lines 108-130)

Later in history, Ovid recorded the Latin tradition regarding the Golden Age:

The first millennium was the age of gold;
Then living creatures trusted one another;
People did well without the thought of ill:
Nothing forbidden in the book of laws,
No fears, no prohibitions read in bronze,
Or in the sculpted face of judge and master . . .
No brass-lipped trumpets called, nor clanging swords
Nor helmets marched the streets, country and town
Had never heard of war: and seasons travelled
Through the years of peace. The innocent earth
Learned neither spade nor plough; she gave her
Riches as fruit hangs from the tree; grapes
Dropping from the vine, cherry, strawberry
Ripened in silver shadows of the mountain,
And in the shade of Jove's miraculous tree
The falling acorn. Springtime the single
Season of the year.
(The Metamorphoses, pp. 33-34)

From the Mahabharata, the traditional, sacred literature of Hinduism, come these notes:

Men neither bought nor sold; there were no poor and no rich; there was no need to labor, because all that men required was obtained by the power of will; the chief virtue was the abandonment of worldly desires. The Krita Yuga was without disease; there was no lessening with the years; there was no hatred, or vanity, or evil thought whatsoever; no sorrow, no fear. (Indian Myth and Legend, pp. 107-108)

The early mythology of China speaks of an idyllic age. Historian Kwang Tze (ca. 400 B.C.) wrote:

In the age of perfect virtue, they attached no value to wisdom.... They were upright and correct, without knowing that to be so was righteousness; they loved one another, without knowing that to do so was benevolence; they were honest and leal-hearted without knowing that it was loyalty; they fulfilled their engagements, without knowing that to do so was good faith; in their simple movements they employed the services of one another, without thinking that they were conferring or receiving any gift. Therefore their actions left no trace, and there was no record of their affairs. (Myths of China and Japan, p. 276)

All students of mythology know of the (Golden Age -- age of peace and plenty that marked the beginning of man's sojourn upon this planet. And any student of prophecy can point out scriptures that describe the Millennium in nearly identical terms:

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

. . . And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble .... (Isaiah 65:17,21-24)

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. (Isaiah 40:4)

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:1, 4)

And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)

Obviously the coming catastrophes will alter the Earth such that, once the cataclysms subside, it will be a much more pleasant place to live than it is now.

By comparing the previous references, it becomes apparent that the millennial Earth will be much like the antediluvian Earth. It is also obvious that the principle of "restoration of all things" extends to the physical aspects of Earth's existence as well as the spiritual aspects. The Millennium will see this world restored to its former condition. Thus, a key to understanding prophetic utterances about future conditions of Earth is a proper understanding of past conditions...

The quest

The previous comparisons are only a small foretaste of the remarkable parallels yet to be uncovered in this volume. The world of the Patriarchs was so different from the world we know today that it almost takes on the ambiance of a science fiction novel! As we proceed to examine the remaining evidence presented in this volume, it would be well to remember the pattern established in this chapter of past and future parallels even though the evidence may seem unbelievable. Of course, the final test of the thesis lies in its ability to decipher the prophecies of the last days and the Millennium. That would be the most convincing.

This is our quest: to understand the conditions that existed in the heavens and on the Earth from the time of Adam to the days of Enoch, and then to the days of Noah and beyond the Flood to the days of Peleg. We will learn that the world of the Patriarchs was very different from the world that we know today.

So it would seem that much of what appears inaccurate or fanciful in ancient astronomical texts may be attributed to the fact that they described a cosmos rather different from the one we know today.

The gods were planets

Another key to understanding myths is the knowledge that the ancient gods were the planets. For centuries, the only mythology known in Europe and America was that of the Romans and the Greeks. Hence, exposure to mythology was limited to those two cultures. Little or nothing was known of the mythologies of other cultures. (Witness the fascination of the Western world in the early 1800's with anything Egyptian because it was a previously "unknown" ancient culture being truly "discovered" for the first time less than two centuries ago.) This narrow view of world mythology, restricted to Greek and Roman accounts, led to some great misconceptions.

For years, Western mythologists refused to acknowledge that myths and legends had anything to do with Cosmology-much less that the gods of the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians were originally the planets themselves. It was heresy to even suggest such a thing. Then came a time when new discoveries of the mythologies of other ancient cultures (Babylonian, Sumerian, Chinese, Mayan, etc., which had their own peculiar versions of history), began to force a reevaluation of the connection between mythology and cosmology. Further, the weight of new evidence from documents found in recent archaeological discoveries-whole libraries have been found is some cases-and research into ancient cultures has become overwhelming. Today, more and more mythologists are admitting that mythology and cosmology are closely related. The most thorough treatment of the subject to date is Hamlet's Mill, wherein the authors argue persuasively that the myths of mankind originated in the movements of heavenly bodies through the zodiac. They concluded that contemporary science has been led by its modern evolutionary and psychological bent to forget about the main source of myth, which was astronomy-the Royal Science ....

Today expert philologists tell us that Saturn and Jupiter are names of vague deities, subterranean or atmospheric, superimposed on the planets at a 'late' period; they neatly sort out folk origins and 'late' derivations, all unaware that planetary periods, sidereal and synodic, were known and rehearsed in numerous ways by celebrations already traditional in archaic times .... Ancient historians would have been aghast had they been told that obvious things were to become unnoticeable. Aristotle was proud to state it as known that the gods were originally stars [planets], even if popular fantasy had later obscured this truth. (Hamlet's Mill, pp. 3-4; italics added)

It is not ironic that the names chosen for the planets by Renaissance scholars and philosophers, and retained in modern times, coincide with those of mythology-nor was it happenstance. It was not, as some advocates would have us believe, a matter of selecting colorful names of mythological gods to match the planets "discovered" by Renaissance astronomers. The names given the planets by medieval scholars were the very names they were known by to the Greeks and the Romans. Hence, the modern names of the planets were retained from antiquity. One may therefore conclude that the myths and legends of antiquity chronicle the movements and positions of the planets, couched in a narrative style.

Two catastrophists, Lewis M. Greenberg and Warner B. Sizemore, concluded that

. . . the great myths of the world do have a common origin, that mythic actions are those of celestial bodies, and the mythic geography is not that of the Earth but rather the heavens. (Kronos, Vol. I, No. 1, p. 34)

Surely the myths of mankind tell of the exploits of the celestial gods-the planets of our solar system.

There is hardly an ancient tale which fails to speak of world-destroying upheavals and shifting cosmic order. Indeed, we are so accustomed to the catastrophic character of the stories that we hardly give it a second thought. When the myths tell of suns which have come and gone, or of planetary gods whose wars threatened to destroy mankind, we are likely to take them as amusing and absurdly exaggerated accounts of local floods, earthquakes, and eclipses-or write them off altogether as expressions of unconstrained fancy. (The Saturn Myth, p. 2)

There may be much we can learn about Earth's history by properly interpreting myths and legends.

As a caution, it is well to remember that when we examine myths and legends, we are examining the views of people who worshipped the planetary gods and the idols that represented them. Thus their records, their myths and legends, reflect their worship of astral deity. Though the Prophets discouraged such idolatrous practices, it is significant that the Lord and His Prophets used the same imagery used by the idolaters because the images were types of eternal things and therefore useful tools for teaching eternal principles... So God and His Prophets spoke to the ancients in terms that they understood, using the imagery and metaphors of star worship that they were familiar with, and we must bear that perspective in mind when reading the scriptures and other ancient records.

The key

Having determined the proper role of myths and legends and established their potential value, the next step is to see what the myths themselves say.

In a previous quote, the Greek scholar Hesiod named Kronos as the only deity acknowledged by mankind during the Golden Age. "Kronos," he noted "was king in Heaven." Of course, the Greek god Kronos was known by other names in other cultures.

Through a method known as comparative mythology, scholars have reached the following conclusions: Kronos went by many names even in a single culture. To the Babylonians he was Shamash (Chemosh in the scriptures), Enki-Ea and Tammuz; to the Egyptians he was Horus, Re, Ptah, Temu, Atum or Osiris; the Phoenicians called him Moloch or simply El; the Hindus knew him as Brahma and Satyavrata, who reigned during the Satya yuga; and in the Americas, the Mejicas (ancient Mexicans) and the Mayas called him Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, Ce-acatl and Huracan. To the Hebrews who turned to idol worship, he was known as El or Eloah.

Knowing that the "gods" were, in fact, the planets, the question arises: Which planet so dominated the skies above Earth during its Golden Age that it came to be known as the "King in Heaven"? Is one of the planets known to modern man the same that was known by the Greeks as Kronos? The answer comes from the Romans, where Kronos was identified by the name Saturn!

Saturn, the ancient god

No modern mythologist will contest the fact that Kronos was the Greek name of the planet Saturn. This is a crucial connection. Velikovsky realized through his research that Saturn was the planet that had ruled the skies in antiquity:

The cosmological thought of ancient peoples conceived of the history of the Earth as divided into periods of time, each ruled by a different planet. Of these, the epoch of Saturn, or Kronos, was remembered as a time of bliss, and it was made to precede the period during which Jupiter was the dominant deity. (Kronos, Vol.V, No. 1, p. 4)

Comparative mythology has established that almost without exception every ancient culture worshipped the planet Saturn as its earliest deity:

That Saturn governed the Golden age is a supreme tenet of the ancient mysteries. This is why the most sacred day of the week, commemorating the primordial era, was dedicated to Saturn. The Hebrew Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, was the day of Saturn, as was the seventh day of the Babylonian and Phoenician weeks. For the Romans the special day was Saturni dies, "Saturn's day." This was the Anglo-Saxon "day of Seater [Saturn]," which, of course, became our Saturday. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 31-32)

Catastrophists have found that Saturn was the "king of heaven" that dominated the skies of antiquity-that it appeared much larger and brighter than it does today. Supportive of this notion is the fact that one Latin name for Saturn was Stella Solis-Sun Star! The Saturn known to modern man is now but a bright light among many in the heavens. Why was Saturn anciently regarded as the dominant feature of the heavens? Were the ancients so ignorant that they believed a bright but tiny star to be a rival to the Sun? The truth is, ancient myths depict Saturn as being much closer to the Earth and brighter than it is today. In fact, ancient sources place Saturn/Kronos so close to Earth that Velikovsky, Talbott, Cardona, Rose and many other catastrophists have surmised that at one time Earth was actually a satellite of Saturn.

In the original age to which the myths refer, Saturn was no remote speck faintly discerned by terrestrial observers; the planet loomed as an awesome and terrifying light. And if we are to believe the widespread accounts of Saturn's age, the planet-god's home was the unmoving celestial pole, the apparent pivot of the heavens, far removed from the visible path of Saturn today.

. . . a few thousand years ago Saturn dominated the earth as a sun, presiding over a universal Golden Age.

. . . in the earliest age recalled by man the planet Saturn was the most spectacular light in the heavens and its impact on the ancient world overwhelming. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 4, 1)

As incredible as this thesis may be, it is as supportable by evidence from ancient records as is Velikovsky's thesis of past catastrophes. In addition, I propose that this explanation of Saturn's role in Earth's earliest history is the key to a clear understanding of the Millennium!

In the following chapters, I will present evidence that Saturn was the agent responsible for the greatest catastrophe of recorded history-Noah's flood; that it was also responsible for the legend of Atlantis, the tradition of a lost civilization; that Saturn's close presence to Earth was probably the motivating force for the construction of the Tower of Babel; and that its departure accounts for the dividing of the Earth in the days of Peleg!

"There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after." Ecclesiastes 1:11

In his own words, Talbott described his thesis:

In the earliest age recalled by man the planet Saturn was the dominant celestial body. Ancient races the world over record that there was once a "Golden Age"-a kingdom of cosmic harmony ruled by a central light god. Numerous sources identify this light god as the planet Saturn. (The Saturn Myth, p. 329)

Another scholar, Dwardu Cardona, has published numerous articles on the subject of the ancient Saturn. Together with a few other writers, Cardona's and Talbott's insightful examination of the corpus of myth concerning Saturn has revealed a remarkable picture of what the heavens and the Earth looked like anciently. Cardona wrote:

As I outlined several years ago, and as David Talbott has now shown, the primeval Saturn presented a multifarious appearance. Physically and visually, the luminary was composed of various components- orb, rings, axis-which changed cyclically throughout the Saturnian day and also evolved throughout the length of the Saturnian era.

As a unified entity, the Saturnian All Father received different names by different races. But different aspects of him-orb, rings, and axis- were also assigned individual names. Besides all this, to some he was male, to others female. In time he became both. Saturn's history was one of periodic disruptions. Following every such event, he seems to have reappeared in a slightly altered form. Each "new" Saturn was thus honored with a new name. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, p. 2)

Hence we see that the ancient Saturn may have appeared as a very different planet from the tiny, bright star we see today. It stood at the center of this creation and provided order to the heavens. It also appeared to be composed of various structures: the planet orb, its great rings and a "pillar" upon which it appeared to stand. When understood, each of the aspects of the ancient Saturn gives new meaning to the most common symbols of antiquity, which Talbott claimed "were literal pictures of Saturn."

From one section of the world to another the planet-god's worshippers drew pictures of the Saturnian configuration, and these pictures became the universal signs and symbols of antiquity.

In the global lexicon of symbols the three most common images are the enclosed sun [symbol not reproduced], the sun-cross [symbol not reproduced], and the enclosed sun-cross [symbol not reproduced]. It appears that every ancient race revered these signs as images of the preeminent cosmic power.

The enclosed sun-cross is not an abstraction. It simply records what the ancients originally saw. It is a literal drawing of the [then] polar sun, passed down from earliest antiquity: the image of Saturn, the Universal Monarch.

Rarely do archaeologists, seeking to interpret the widespread "sun" symbols, consult ancient mythology. Yet the myths explain the symbols and the symbols illuminate the myths. . . . The symbols, legends, and sacred hymns attempt to preserve a memory of Saturn and the primeval Cosmos. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 60-61) Such symbols, common to ancient cultures the world over, give meaning to enigmatic metaphors in all ancient writ.

As has been shown, Saturn was honored with many names within each culture-likely because it was itself composed of many parts. The assumption that Saturn changed its appearance several times in antiquity would also give rise to new designations for each change.

The pole star

De Santillana and von Dechend (authors of Hamlet's Mill), after an exhaustive analysis of the myths of Saturn from around the world, wondered in print:

What has Saturn, the far-out planet, to do with the pole? (Hamlet's Mill), p. 136)

Though De Santillana and von Dechend are not catastrophists (and thus do not share the catastrophist's view of ancient Saturn), they recognized the overwhelming corpus of ancient literature which speaks of Saturn. Their question focuses on the most incredible, yet crucial element of Saturn's past: its close proximity to planet Earth. Talbott wrote:

Accounts of Saturn's appearance suggest that the planet hung ominously close to the earth. In early ritual and astronomy Saturn appears as the "primeval sun," described as a figure of "terrifying splendor." Today, Saturn appears as a bare speck of light following the same visual path as the solar orb. But during the legendary Golden Age, Saturn stood in the north. Legends from every continent depict the primeval sun as an immense, fiery globe at the north celestial pole-the visual pivot of the heavens. Unlike the rising and setting solar orb, the primeval sun remained fixed in one place. (The Saturn Myth, p. 329)

Cardona described Saturn's ancient position thus:

The Saturnian scenario that has thus far emerged presents Saturn in a rotating but fixed position directly above Earth's north polar region. In other words, Saturn neither rose nor set; the "planet" simply "sat" there, looming large and ominous. What this implies is that the Earth shared the same axis of rotation with Saturn. This has to be stressed because the totality of the mythological record allows for no other interpretation. (Kronos, Vol.X,No.1,p.6)

An example of the myths that led these scholars to this conclusion comes from Ovid. In his Fasti, Ovid has the god Janus (who is implicitly Kronos/Saturn) say these words:

The guardianship of this vast universe is in my hands alone, and none but me may rule the wheeling pole. (Fasti, p. 9;italics added)

Cardona pointed out that, to the Egyptians, Atum was the "alter ego" of the primeval sun god Re, who was considered the founder of the epoch they remembered as the Golden Age. Speaking of Atum, the Coffin Texts, say:

The Great God lives, fixed in the middle of the sky upon his support. (As quoted in The Saturn Myth, p. 47)

Another author, Roger Ashton, penned the following thought on this subject:

Investigation of the links between gods and planets suggests a connection between Saturn and the Celestial Pole. This can be inferred from Greek and Roman myths. The same can be repeatedly extracted from materials included in the later compendia of Hindu myths. Sufficient evidence of this sort can be amassed to warrant serious consideration of the proposition that Saturn at the Celestial Pole was the central theme of myth many millennia ago.

Saturn's immobility is indicated when Ra is lauded as the god "who resteth on his high place". Osiris/Saturn was also "exalted upon his resting place". That his immobility really refers to Saturn is evidenced by one of Saturn's Hebrew names-Kokab Sabet, which means the Rest[ing] star (or planet). (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, pp. 16, 6)

Logic dictates that such immobility could only be attributed to a body positioned much like today's North Star, only ominously closer-and the myths emphatically declare it. A body so situated would appear motionless to Earth's inhabitants, while all else in heaven moved around it. Hence, Talbott expressed it thus:

In the original age to which the myths refer, Saturn was no remote speck faintly discerned by terrestrial observers; the planet loomed as an awesome and terrifying light. And if we are to believe the widespread accounts of Saturn's age, the planet-god's home was the unmoving celestial pole, the apparent pivot of the heavens .... (The Saturn Myth, p. 4)

Can it be?

Such a fixed polar position appears to contradict the laws of celestial mechanics as we know them. Astrophysicists ridicule such an idea, saying that it is physically impossible. Because they see no such configuration of planets in the present solar system, it is difficult for them to accept the possibility that such a situation could exist. They believe that without the offsetting centrifugal force generated by the smaller body orbiting the larger, the mutual gravitational attraction of the two planets would quickly draw them together, causing them to collide.

Velikovsky maintained that there are forces in the universe that are equally as powerful as gravity. He believed that all large bodies in space carry a charge. At the considerable distances that exist today between our neighboring planets, their various electromagnetic fields generally do not interact (although it is common knowledge that our moon is perturbed by Earth's magnetic field). But Velikovsky held that if two such charged bodies approached one another, the electric charges they carried would interact with tremendous force-so much force, Velikovsky claimed, that the planets would seldom, if ever, suffer a physical collision. Instead, they would be deflected from actual contact by their like charges (somewhat like the deflection felt when like poles of two bar magnets are brought together). If such a planetary charge exists, such a force could also offset the gravitational pull between the two companion planets, allowing them to orbit the Sun in tandem without colliding into one another or pulling apart to go their separate ways.

Barbell planets

A catastrophist, Frederic B. Jueneman, may have found another solution to the physics of a binary configuration of planets, without recurring to Velikovsky's charged body hypothesis. Jueneman postulated a model for the juxtaposition of two planets which came to be called "the barbell planet theory." He envisioned two bodies orbiting the Sun together, each poised above the respective pole of the other, each revolving about a common axis like a giant barbell.

. . . each body would describe a secondary orbit about the axis of a cone. Actually there would be two such cones, one for each planet. . . . the barycenter of this binary planet system is located at the point where the two cones meet. Thus, coupled by gravitation, the two will orbit their respective conical sections about the center of gravity, the barycenter. And, if one of the bodies approaches another, it would be forced to circumscribe a narrower part of its cone thereby accelerating its 'secondary' orbital velocity, and centrifugal effects would force it back towards its original position. (Limits of Uncertainty, p. 84)

[GRAPHIC OF BARBELL PLANET CONFIGURATION--not available.]

So the assumption stands that Saturn may have once appeared in a stationary position directly over Earth's pole. Cardona noted, ". . . the mythological record allows for no other interpretation." In our model, therefore, it is likely that Saturn once stood over the Earth and dominated the heavens sitting in a fixed, polar position, sharing a common axis with its smaller companion, Earth.

The Central Fire

What is most fascinating about the Philolaos system (mentioned earlier, in Chapter 3) is its resemblance to the ancient Saturnian system. Philolaos described Earth as a satellite of a Central Fire which, as it turns out, is not the Sun. The Sun was made to be a distant light source which was said to borrow part of its light from the Central Fire. This is unquestionably not the familiar heavens of our day and age. But it appears likely that it is a description of former conditions.

The analysis of ancient astronomies has revealed that a sun-like body once dominated Earth's skies. Ancient man was not a "sun worshiper," as so many mythologists and archaeologists mistakenly assume. He was a Saturn worshipper. And according to Talbott, author of "The Saturn Myth,"

Global myths insist that when the first civilizations rose from barbarism a brilliant light occupied the celestial pole. This steadfast light was the ancient sun-god, repeatedly identified as the planet Saturn, the Universal Monarch. The most common symbols of antiquity, which our age universally regards as solar emblems... were originally unrelated to our sun. They were literal pictures of Saturn, whom the entire ancient world invoked as "the sun." (The Saturn Myth, pp. 59, 4)

Saturn- Sun

As referred to previously, the Latin name for Saturn was Stella Solaris-the Sun Star! Macrobius (4th century A.D.) identified Kronos (Saturn) as the Sun. Diodorus Siculus wrote that the Babylonians called Saturn the "sun star," and Hyginus expressed the opinion that Saturn was known as "the star of the sun." A knowledgeable scholar, Cardona has done considerable research on this subject:

This truth, that the Babylonians called Saturn by the name of the Sun, is not hidden behind a veil of mystery; it is, on the contrary, laid bare for the inspection of any scholar. The Babylonians said it themselves in as many words: "(Mul) Lu-Bat Sag-Us Mul (it) Samas su-u -the planet Saturn is Shamash." This is the same as saying that the "planet" Saturn was a sun-there is no other way in which these words could be interpreted. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1)

Another indication of Saturn's role as an ancient sun is the festival of light known to the Greeks as the Kronia and to the Romans as the Saturnalia. In its original form, this celebration of light was a remembrance and a symbolic reenactment of the Age of Saturn. The modern holidays Christmas and Hannukah- celebrations of light-are modern vestiges of that winter solstice celebration of Saturn's light. Other Christmas traditions are reminiscent of Saturn's ancient rule. Consider, for instance: Santa Claus, who comes from the North Pole to bestow gifts; the Christmas Tree, which (as shall be demonstrated) is a symbol of the pillar or Cosmic Tree upon which Saturn appeared poised; and the many lights used to illuminate the season especially the star or angel that is traditionally placed atop the tree, just as Saturn once sat, sun-like, on the top of its pillar or pedestal of light.

Failed star

Much has been written in recent years in scientific journals regarding the possibility that the Jovian planets-Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune-may be "failed stars." That is, they have all the right ingredients to be stars, yet they lacked the necessary mass to ignite the thermonuclear reactions that would have made them stars. Such speculation stems from the fact that these gaseous giants are more star-like than their rocky cousins: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The massive atmospheres of the Jovian planets are primarily composed of hydrogen-like the sun's-while the rocky planets have little or no atmosphere (comparatively speaking). So modern scientists consider the Jovian planets to be "would-be stars" that never made the grade. But we may consider the possibility that this planet Saturn-once much larger-actually once burned as a miniature star before its fire was extinguished by a series of catastrophes. Such a scenario would account for the myths and traditions of antiquity which emphatically declared that Saturn once emitted light-that Saturn once had some very star-like properties.

The light of Creation

This conclusion would serve to explain a problem in the Genesis account of the Creation which has puzzled biblical scholars for ages. Why does the Creation account in Genesis speak of the creation of light on the first day when the light of the Sun, Moon and stars was created later, on the fourth day? How could the Sun give light to the Earth on the first day if it had not yet been created?...

The Scriptures themselves state that a light was created before the Sun. From what did that light emanate? Could it have come from an orb poised above the Earth? that same orb the ancients mistook for the Creator and which catastrophists today recognize as Saturn in its earliest stage of development?

God's light

A striking piece of evidence comes from The Book of the Secrets of Enoch... (See " 'A Strange Thing in the Land': The Return of the Book of Enoch," a series of articles in The Ensign, Oct. 1975 thru Aug. 1977.) Cardona makes the connection for us:

. . . Enoch contains much that is of value in understanding the religiocosmological beliefs of ancient times. The Book of the Secrets of Enoch, in fact, describes the "Creation" of the primordial light in a somewhat fuller version than does the Book of Genesis and it is from its pages that we learn of god's light being emitted by the "uncoiling" of Adoil. (Kronos, Vol. III, No. 3, p. 41)

Cardona further explains that "the name 'Adoil,' also 'Idoil,' might derive from the Hebrew 'hand of god,' that is 'hand of El.' (lbid., p. 41) Cardona indicated that El was one of the ancient Hebrew names for Saturn. Thus it is that Saturn is singled out as the source of the first light of creation. And thus Saturn was ultimately honored as the "Creator" in the myths and religious traditions of cultures from around the world. Cardona summarizes:

. . . we contend that the "planet" Saturn, originally a dark sun, went through a fissioning process; that it flared up as a stellar nova; that it emitted light, never to be forgotten by man, blinded the Earth and its inhabitants; that its remains continued to shine as a true sun of night, less bright than that of day but much brighter than the Moon; that mankind witnessed and remembered the event and so had it stated in various texts. (Kronos, Vol. III, No. 3, pp. 49-50)

Sun of day or night?

Because Saturn emitted light of its own, as well as reflecting the Sun's light, it would have illuminated the nighttime landscape of ancient Earth, while appearing somewhat subdued though still bright during the "daylight" hours. Thus it was known as the "Sun of Night," yet also portrayed as the "Sun of Day." The plainest example of this phenomenon comes from the Egyptians where, Ra was the "Sun of Day," while Temu (Atum or Atemu) was the "Sun of Night." The Babylonians also held that there was a day-sun and a night-sun. "Temu-Ra was the same as Shamash-Saturn." (Kronos, Vol.III, No. 1, p. 35)

Talbott explained:

Considerable evidence suggests that, to the ancients, the day began with what modern man calls "night"- that is, with the setting of the solar orb. It is widely acknowledged that the Egyptian day once began at sunset. The same is true of the Babylonian and Western Semitic days. The Athenians computed the space of a day from sunset to sunset, and the habit appears to have prevailed among northern European peoples.

. . . the coming forth of Saturn inaugurated the archaic day, which began at sunset. So long as the solar orb was visible, the fiery globe of Saturn remained subdued, unable to compete with the sheer light of the former body. But once the solar orb sank beneath the horizon, Saturn and its circle of secondary lights acquired a terrifying radiance. (The Saturn Myth, p. 41)

Cardona's opinion appears to be substantiated by the scriptural account of the creation where the creation periods are called "days." Rather than saying "and the morning and the evening were the first day," as we would commonly say it, the scriptures say, ". . . the evening and the morning were the first day. Perhaps this was intentional because the ancient "day"-when Saturn was at its brightest-is the time we know as night. Even today the Jews begin the Sabbath (Saturday) at sunset Friday!

The rings

The most prominent feature of Saturn today is its rings. The space probes of recent years have provided a spectacular, close-up view of them. Ironically, ancient man may have had only to lift his eyes heavenward to see a similarly impressive display.

Saturn was the ancient "Lord of the Rings." Talbott, in an effort to recreate past events from the mythological accounts, explained that the rings came into existence when

. . . massive quantities of cosmic debris exploded from Saturn, clouding the heavens and eventually congealing into a vast band around the planet. In mythical terms this band was Saturn's created "land" in heaven.

When Saturn appeared alone in the cosmic waters, a brilliant band congealed around the god as his celestial "island." This band was the original Cosmos, often portrayed as a revolving egg, a coil of rope, a belt or a shield enclosing the central sun. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 329, 6162)

That event was deemed by most ancient cultures to be the creation. That is, myths the world over relate how god created the Cosmos from his own body. As we shall see later, even though the "creation" of Saturn came later than the actual creation depicted in Genesis, symbolically Saturn's "creation" was an excellent type or metaphor for the original creation; hence its symbolism crept into accounts of the original creation.

More than any other part of ancient Saturn, the rings gave rise to a multiplicity of symbols and metaphors:

The ancients drew pictures of Saturn incessantly, and these pictures will be found around the world. Ancient papyri, clay tablets, monuments, artifacts, and rock drawings consistently show a central orb surrounded by a circle (9. This symbol of the "enclosed sun" is the original hieroglyph for the planet Saturn).

Images of Saturn in his enclosure occur on every page of ancient texts. The band is Saturn's spouse, the mother goddess [the "womb" of heaven giving birth to the god]. But it is also his revolving temple, city, or island in heaven. It is the stationary, but everturning "world wheel" recalled by almost every ancient race. Saturn wears the band as a golden girdle, collar, or crown. He dwells in it as the pupil of the allseeing Eye. The same band receives mythical interpretation as Saturn's throne, a receptacle of cosmic waters, and an encircling serpent. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 329-330; italics added)

Each of these Saturn "ring" symbols is significant to a student of the Scriptures because descriptions of these images are repeatedly employed in the writings of the Prophets.

The crescent

But not all the imagery of the rings relates to the circle. They also gave rise to a very familiar image in myth and art.

Receiving light from the solar orb, the Saturnian band acquired a brightly illuminated crescent, which, as the earth rotated on its axis, visually revolved around Saturn each day. (The Saturn Myth, p. 330)

Anyone who has perused Egyptian art for more than thirty seconds has seen the symbol of the crescent together with a solar orb. ...... Modern scholars have attached the symbol of the circular orb to the sun (since that's what the ancients called Saturn) and the crescent symbol to the Moon (because that is what it looks like to modern man). Yet, Talbott has asked:

. . . is it possible that the famous sun-in-crescent represented not a contrived "conjunction" of the solar orb and new moon (the conventional explanation), but rather the primeval sun Saturn resting over the illuminated portion of his polar enclosure [the rings]? (The Saturn Myth, p. 229)

Talbott goes on to make an excellent case for the sun-in-crescent symbol being another of ancient Saturn's images:

. . . the common location of the crescent beneath the central sun is not its only placement in ancient symbolism. At times the crescent appears to stand on end ......., while at other times it is inverted above the sun ....... Of course, this is exactly what we should expect- for if the crescent was the illuminated portion of a circumpolar band then that crescent must have appeared to revolve around the band with every full rotation of our planet upon its axis. One could thus render the daily revolution of the crescent schematically: ........................(The Saturn Myth, p. 232)

Saturn would have been brightest and most glorious when the crescent was at the bottom of the image-at midnight. Hence, t would naturally have been the most common among the symbols of antiquity: a representation of Saturn at its zenith.

Because of the resemblance of the crescent to a set of horns, Saturn was known as a horned god. The imagery of Venus having horns (as Velikovsky pointed out) was probable, but the imagery had existed long before the Exodus, when Saturn, the "Bull of Light" reigned supreme in the sky.

According to Talbott, the crescent gave rise to many images: the crescent-horns, the horned altar, the crescent ship, the crescent arms, the crescent-wings, the crescent sword, the Great Lotus (or other flower, depending upon the culture), the heavenly twins or gods, etc.

The cross

Surprisingly, even the symbol of the cross is found in ancient cultures world-wide, leading some of the early Catholic fathers to speculate that Christianity had been carried to the far flung corners of the globe. But as will be seen, the cross is probably a universal symbol because all mankind saw it standing in the heavens:

Four primary streams of light appeared to radiate from Saturn, dividing the Saturnian band into quarters. The symbols of these four streams are the sun-cross + and enclosed sun-cross ...... Mythically, these are the four rivers of the lost paradise, the four winds, and the four pillars of Saturn's Cosmos. The enclosed sun-cross is thus the universal image of the "unified state" on our earth, for every terrestrial "holy land" was a copy of the ideal kingdom above. (The Saturn Myth, p. 330)

The heavenly cruciform figure also gave rise to the idea of four cardinal directions or four points of the compass and their quarters of heaven or Earth . Talbott's conclusion regarding the modeling of earthly domains after the great "holy land" above is very important to the analysis of Millennial prophecy-especially regarding the City of Enoch.

The Axis Mundi

Another prominent feature of the Earth/Saturn tandem arrangement was a phenomenon called the Axis Mundi. From Cardona:

Perhaps the most intriguing single feature of the Saturnian configuration was the Axis Mundi [world axis].... this Axis appeared as a single "ray", or bright appendage, which stretched all the way from Earth's northern horizon to the Saturnian sun of night. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, p. 10)

The same records which describe Saturn's band [rings] and its fourfold division [cross] depict a pillar-like stream ascending the world axis and visually seeming to sustain Saturn's dwelling. (The Saturn Myth, p. 330)

Thus, not only would it have appeared that Saturn hovered, immobile, above the Earth, it also would have appeared to be connected to and supported by this pillar of light. The myths uniformly report the ancients' preoccupation with this "pillar," characterized as a tapering swath of light which filled the sky above the pole and reached heavenward toward Saturn.

The World Mountain

This magnificent phenomenon would give rise to many images in mythology. It could certainly be characterized as a pedestal, pillar, pyramid or mountain upon which the planet Saturn stood. Talbott wrote that the ancients considered the world axis to be a "cosmic mountain" and summarized its appearance and significance to the ancients:

The myths and symbols of the cosmic mountain constitute a collective memory shared by all mankind. The Mount universally appears as the inaccessible height, attaining the center of heaven. Around its summit revolves the circle of the Cosmos [the rings of Saturn]. In all principal accounts the Mount appears as the ancestral homeland-the lost paradise with its four rivers [the cross]. From one section of the world to another the ancients represented the primeval hill through sacred posts and pillars-the center-posts of temples and other holy dwellings, or the free standing columns holding aloft various emblems of the great god [Saturn] and his enclosure. The pillar of light appearing to support the planet-god was "the earth's highest mountain." The god on the mountain top seemed to occupy the summit of the terrestrial landscape, yet also appeared literally as the pivot around which all the heavenly bodies turned. Two primary images of the "cosmic mountain" are ...... and ...... In the myths this column appears as the great god's single leg, a vertical stream of water or air (the North Wind), and the erect serpent or dragon of the deep. (The Saturn Myth, pp.202-203, 330)

To the Greeks and Romans it was Olympus, the citadel of the gods, "When ancient Saturn had his kingdom in the sky." In Virgil's Aeneid, Saturn's Olympus is celestial. Homer tells of

. . . Olympus, where they say, is the abode of the gods that stands fast forever. Neither is it shaken by winds nor ever wet with rain, nor does snow fall upon it, but the air is outspread clear and cloudless, and over it hovers a radiant whiteness. (The Odyssey, VI. 41-45)

And when the Golden Age was ended by Jupiter's insurgence,

First from heavenly Olympus came Saturn, fleeing from the weapons of Jove and exiled from his lost relm. (Aeneid, VIII., pp. 319-330)

From this view, the formerly perplexing imagery of mythology becomes a remarkably straightforward declaration of Saturn's appearance and station in the heavens. It stood atop the pillar of light, the cosmic mountain, and illuminated the heavens.

The Heavenly Tree

The World Axis was also known as the trunk of the Celestial or Cosmic Tree-with Saturn's crescent rings forming the branches (an arboreal canopy or umbrella overhead) and may have been the basis for the familiar tree of life imagery of the Scriptures. The structure undoubtedly gave rise to the mythical Cornucopia-a long horn- or tube-like structure which poured forth bounteous gifts from above, and the Great Mill (Saturn)- sometimes referred to as Hamlet's Mill- that turned in the sky above the Earth, churning out those gifts.

. . . the most ancient myths of mankind, hoary with the timelessness of things long past, speak of a Golden Age where a perennial summer existed year around-a paradise lost. And, entwined with these legends are the tales of an extraordinary Great Millstone which turned out all sorts of stuff like an indefatigable cornucopia. Now, before the legendary Mill ground out salt to give the seven seas their briny flavor, it ground out stones. And, prior to that, the selfsame talented Mill turned out gold, which rained down like snowflakes on a wondering people, turning the skies a crimson red from the suspended colloidal particles. Thus, our ancestral Golden Age appears to have been in fact gilt-edged. (Limits of Uncertainty, p . 81)

So it is that Saturn and its appendages may have

. . . inspired everything from 'Hamlet's mill' to the story of the giant at the top of Jack's beanstalk (even the giant's golden egg and his golden harp that played by itself have Saturnian associations). (Kronos, Vol. V, No. 1, p. 38)

The Celestial Serpent

Yet this structure is also portrayed as a snake, dragon, beast or serpent which ravaged the Earth and caused its inhabitants to suffer:

Collected from a variety of sources much too numerous to reference here, comes this image of the Axis Mundi: That of a massive cyclone that churned and spun, and danced constantly in the north.

Seen from a safe distance, it presented a rather peaceful and beautiful image, a gentility that resonated with a soft electrical hum that soothed. But there were occasions when the Axis, due to the Earth's wobbling, went awry. Then it turned into a terrible vortex of great destruction, an uproarious voracity that knew no quelling.

It was this terrible cyclonic tempest that was responsible for the slaughter of the mammoths and other beasts, the jumbled and mangled remains of which can still be seen in the Siberian Islands and Alaska. It was this colossal maelstrom that uprooted the trees of those regions and flung them, broken and twisted, to mingle with the torn carcasses of mammoths, bison, and horses. . . . [then] came the deluges at least one of them- and also Saturn's snow. Mammoths, trees, and jumbled terrain were frozen on the spot. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, pp. 11-12)

Modern evidence

Unexpectedly, science has discovered in our solar system what appears to be a structure similar to the hypothesized Axis Mundi. Cameras on the Pioneer space probe discovered what scientists have called a "flux tube" that joins Jupiter and its closest moon Io. It appears in the photographs as a thin tether or strand which spans the space between the two bodies. They speculated that there was some kind of exchange of particles between the parent planet and its closest moon that followed a common path and created the phenomenon. This discovery was totally unexpected and left astronomers scratching their heads in amazement.

If one could stand on Io and observe the newly discovered flux tube first-hand and up-close, it would likely answer to the descriptions applied to the flux tube which myths report anciently connected Earth and Saturn. The existence of the Jupiter-Io phenomenon lends credibility to the claims of the ancients that such a structure existed anciently between Earth and Saturn. While this recently discovered flux tube is barely perceptible on space probe photographs, Lynn E. Rose and others, believe that the world axis of antiquity was far more pronounced and striking. That conclusion led them to postulate an even more surprising possibility:

. . . tidal distortion [induced by the gravitational pull of both bodies upon one another] would have had an even greater effect on the atmosphere than on the lithosphere. I would not exclude the possibility that Earth's atmosphere was so stretched out toward Saturn [and vice versa] that the atmospheres of Earth and Saturn were virtually continuous. This suggests that the celestial "music of the spheres" could have traveled atmospherically all the way from Saturn to Earth. In that case "the Hearth of All" really was a crackling hearth. Thin or not, and stretched or not, the medium could have been air, and the sound could have been of the ordinary airborne sort; there is no need to look for anything esoteric. (Kronos, Vol. A, No. 1, pp. 39-40)

The total picture

When each of the individual parts or symbols of Saturn are assembled, they create a rather remarkable, but familiar, picture:

In the polar configuration ..... the ancients saw, at once, the cleft summit of the cosmic mountain, with the central sun standing between the peaks of the right and left; the cosmic bull supporting Saturn between its horns; Saturn's crescent - ship on the mountain top; the heaven-sustaining giant with outstretched arms; the winged god or goddess [or winged angel]; the plant of life; Saturn's turning sword; and the altar of the world. It was the relation of the Saturnian crescent to Saturn's period of brilliance which produced the original symbolism of the four directions and of "day and night. " (The Saturn Myth, p. 330)

These symbols can be seen in the art, architecture and writing of all ancient cultures... These many symbols gave rise to a complex symbolic language which may be especially useful in interpreting accounts of events and conditions... Though this concept of ancient Saturn may seem incredible, perhaps in looking further we will see how amply it explains scriptural accounts and prophetic utterances.

Ezekiel's vision

A short but graphic example of the imagery of the Saturn myths appears to be depicted in the cryptic language used by Ezekiel to describe his vision. In this vision the imagery of Saturn is overused, to the degree that it is highly symbolic, yet still certainly discernible for what it is:

And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. (Ezekiel 1:4)

The whirlwind in the north sounds strikingly like the vortex known as the Axis Mundi, the Pillar of Heaven; the great cloud may be Saturn itself. Ezekiel continued on to describe four creatures with four faces each with a different face:

As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. (Ezekiel 1:10)

Talbott noted:

By facing the four directions and by sending forth the four directional streams, the Universal Monarch becomes the god of four faces or four eyes.... The four eyes, or four faces, become intelligible only in connection with the five regions the polar center and the four divisions ranged around it. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 133-134)

Parallel accounts

These four faces also represent the four directions or four quarters of heaven and Earth... John the Revelator had a very similar vision to that of Ezekiel, wherein he recorded a description of the same four figures:

. . . and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him .... (Revelation 4:6-8)

Ezekiel's wheels

Ezekiel then introduced the imagery of the wheel in heaven, when he apparently wrote of the rings of Saturn. Note that in at least one verse the author or the translators properly employed the term "rings" rather than "wheels":

. . . and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. . . . As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful .... (Ezekiel 1:16, 18)

Naturally, in keeping with the crescent-wings imagery, they have wings, just as the "beasts" in John's vision:

And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other . . . And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. (Ezekiel 1:23-24)

Ezekiel also wrote of the throne in the firmament and its brightness which is implicitly Saturn. He ended his description by writing:

As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness [the rings] round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. (Ezekiel 1:28)

So it is that the imagery of the Saturn traditions appears to illuminate some of the most enigmatic and mysterious passages in scripture. Ezekiel's vision is only one example of the use of mythical imagery in scripture...

And on the Earth

The presence of Saturn in the heavens-so close to the Earth and in such an unusual configuration- would have created conditions on the Earth that were unique. The oceans of the Earth would not have been exempt from the effects of Saturn's proximity. Instead of being distributed as they are today (mostly at the equator because of Earth's centrifugal force), the oceans of antiquity would have been held at the North Pole in one mighty "heap." The polar tide would not have been one of ebb and flow. It would have been permanent- held in place by the gravitational pull of Saturn.

Modern evidence of such an unusual condition can yet be found in the form of ancient shore lines that are two to three miles below present levels. That would suggest that the oceans were once much more shallow than they are today, as would be true if most of the water were held in a tidal bulge at the North Pole.

The corollary to shallow oceans is more dry land- enough, in fact, to create great land bridges between continents so that all the land was joined together... Continental drift is often cited as the mechanism for separating or joining continents. But the Saturn myths provide a new perspective of how continents may be joined or divided by simply changing the level of the oceans.

The dark side

One of the greatest fears of Medieval mariners was that they might sail too close to the edge of the world and therefore suffer death by falling off. Though their fears seem totally unfounded to us, one aspect of the proposed ancient Earth/Saturn configuration gives real meaning to such strange beliefs.

If Earth anciently enjoyed the glowing light from Saturn, it would have illuminated the northern hemisphere exclusively. That is, the southern hemisphere would have seen an ordinary daynight cycle, while the northern hemisphere would have been constantly bathed in light from Saturn. Thus the northern hemisphere would have come to be considered the "light side of the Earth" while the hemisphere "down under," or the "underworld," would have been considered the "dark" side. And, indeed, if such was the case, a line clearly and vividly demarcating the division between the light and dark halves of the Earth (what astronomy calls the "terminus" or "terminator") would certainly have been considered the "edge" of the Earth. Even after the disappearance of such a phenomenon, popular customs and traditions among an ignorant and superstitious people would surely preserve the idea of the Earth's "edge."

Such an "underworld" or dark side also serves to explain the persistent idea of Hell being a subterranean area located beneath the Earth. The distant or dark side would have seemed to be a very different world from the side lighted by Saturn. Naturally, mankind would have been very fearful of the place and superstitions would have abounded regarding its evil nature. Perhaps this accounts for the fact that nearly all ancient cultures flourished exclusively in the northern hemisphere. It also serves to explain the Earth and Counter Earth concept of Philolaos.

So the Saturnian configuration, as complex and incredible as it may seem, answers many questions and gives more plausible meaning to myths and legends-the records of antiquity.

After the Flood

Likely, the myths of mankind from ancient cultures the world over that tell of the birth of the great god in heaven originated in the first generation after the Flood. They universally speak of the "creation" of both god and the world out of the waters of "chaos." In mythology, god is said to have created everything out of his own body (as was noted earlier in this chapter). That is to say, the first descendants of Noah would have watched Saturn "emerge" or "rise" from the water congealed at the north pole-a remnant of the Flood- and form the rings, cross and pedestal that were to become familiar fixtures to subsequent generations.

The subject of the original creation legend is the formation of the great god's visible dwelling above. The legend records that when the creator rose from the cosmic sea a great band or revolving island congealed around the god as his home. The band appeared as a well-defined organized, and geometrically unified dwelling-a celestial "land" fashioned by the great father. All space outside this enclosure belonged to unorganized Chaos. (The Saturn Myth, p. 11)

...Although the Genesis account now seems to borrow heavily from mythological symbolism (which was probably introduced into the account at a much later date), the creation story of the Scriptures is substantially different from the creation myths of all other cultures. Among other things, in the Old Testament account, Adam is not portrayed as a super-human being-a god- Which IS how his counterparts are portrayed in the mythological creation epics.

The scriptural record indicates that the immediate descendants of Noah's sons disbelieved and distorted the accounts that Noah had struggled to preserve. The imposing and impressive presence of Saturn above Earth's pole would have presented a seductive substitute for the true God of the Patriarchs. Perhaps they believed that Saturn was that god, because Saturn's "creation" gave visual form to their accounts of the original creation. For example, the Egyptians called Saturn "Atum (Adam), the first man." In any case, it appears likely that they quickly and easily adapted the teachings of Noah and the antediluvian records to the worship of Saturn, then visually displayed in all its celestial glory. What few correct facts and principles were preserved by the idolatrous descendants of Noah were merged with the symbolism and worship of Saturn.

Though it appears that Saturn's emergence was, for them, the "creation," they still remembered the early traditions. For example, many ancient "creation'' accounts tell of people who lived before Adam (or the first man) was placed on the Earth-likely a reference to the antediluvian peoples. Even Genesis seems to make the same allusion, leading some to erroneously speculate that Adam was not the first man.

Though there may be many similarities between the myths of man and the accounts kept by the Prophets of God, the myths are only the remnants retained by apostate peoples. We find Talbott concluding that the ancient

. . . accounts speak of a creator, a first man, and a first king-all referring to the same cosmic figure. It is impossible to understand these accounts in any conventional sense because the ancient terminology carries meanings radically different from the modern. The legendary creator, first man, and first king was Saturn. (The Saturn Myth, p. 329)

Modern scholars (including many catastrophists like Talbott) make the mistake of lumping Hebrew history in with all the other ancient accounts because its traditions appear to make use of the symbolism of its idolatrous neighbors whose religion and traditions were based in Saturn worship. And it is true that the Israelites, for the most part, were as idolatrous as their neighbors at times wholeheartedly adopting foreign deities, with their names and rituals. Subsequently, one can see how as they transcribed and interpreted the sacred records, they took the time and trouble to "correct" them-to make them conform to their beliefs. Thus it may be (and it certainly appears so) that the records of the Israelites are tainted and corrupted with the myths of Saturn. Nevertheless, Hebrew history contains the most accurate account of man's earliest existence on the Earth-the era of the Patriarchs because it represents the only record of the antediluvian world, preserved by Noah who represented the only culture to survive the Flood!

The myths and legends of antiquity unanimously report a world where Saturn was born in heaven and reigned supreme. It may be that the ancient Saturn gave rise to most of the religions of the world, which gave rise to the myths and legends of man. With the understanding of ancient events, conditions and symbols provided by the catastrophists, we now proceed to examine the historical events depicted in the Scriptures.

"And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Genesis 5:24

And, among other things, the center of Saturn's circle was believed to be a city! Ancient cosmology locates the primordial 'place,' not "down here," but at the celestial pole, the center and summit. In Egyptian thought, states Clark, the celestial pole is "that place" or "the great city."

. . .The heavenly city lay at the cosmic center; it was the first thing created by God; and it was surrounded by the primeval sea. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 92,106)

In point of fact, "astrogeography" was so implicit in the beliefs of the ancients that there appears to be a compelling force which not only caused Mankind to raise its collective eyes and arms in cosmic supplication but to conceive celestial cities as well. (Kronos, Vol.I, No. 1, p. 34)

Talbott quoted the Egyptian Coffin Texts (among many others) to make his point:

The great god lives fixed in the middle of the sky . . . dweller in the city. (As quoted in The Saturn Myth, p. 105.)

Zion and the myths

Given the... insight provided by the Saturn myths, it appears very likely that the ancients' concept of a celestial city was reinforced by traditions which told of the ascension or translation of Zion. In fact, the idea probably originated in the Enoch event. It is likely, considering the accounts that still exist, that many people witnessed the event. It may be, in the first place, that Saturn was the agent used in the removal of Zion from the Earth in some early cataclysmic episode. Later generations were probably taught by their traditions that a city of righteous beings was once torn from the Earth and removed to heaven.

After the flood, Saturn apparently continued to dominate Earth's skies... In fact, Saturn probably appeared to cover fully 1/3 of the northern sky from these latitudes, making it seem very close... Apparently Saturn stood above the Earth for all to see the heavenly city. There would have been no mistake in the minds of the ancients about where Zion had gone!

Later, when Saturn itself retreated into deep space following another cataclysm (likely in the days of Peleg), its removal was associated with the traditions of the translated city- reinforcing the concept that Zion had fled. These traditions told of a city being lifted to heaven. Not seeing "heaven" above them as their ancestors had, they looked to some distant part of space for the heavenly city (a reasonable assumption since that was precisely the fate of Saturn).

Taken up

Another thing may still be considered: How was the city physically taken up? ...assume that a portion of the Earth could be actually dislocated by tremendous gravitational forces. Called the "Roche limit," there is a fatal boundary between planets, beyond which awaits total destruction. If two planets approach each other too closely, the gravitational pull of the larger will methodically dismember the smaller. Some astronomers consider the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to be the remains of such a dismembered planet-mute evidence of the cataclysmic powers unleashed when two worlds passed too close. But if such gravitational forces could be applied momentarily- sufficient to dislodge a part of the Earth-it could have done so without totally dismembering the planet. Such appears to have been the fate of the City of Enoch. The great rift that circumscribes our globe is mute evidence of the torsion that once almost tore it apart.

Translated city

The foregoing conclusions leave a small part of the Zion problem unresolved: If the city was torn from Earth's crust in a catastrophic event, what became of the people? Is it reasonable to believe that anyone could survive such an event? ...Certainly, myth and the Scriptures know no more of their fate than to say that they were removed from the Earth. The most that can be said is that being "translated" (a form of physical change that is said to render the individual safe from any physical disability such as aging, hunger, sickness, or death) could have insulated them against the detrimental effects of any catastrophe.

Another option is that the translation of Zion was one thing and the catastrophe that lifted the city heavenward was another. Translation could have been accomplished shortly before the catastrophe that otherwise would have obliterated any physical trace of the city and people. Such juxtaposed events could easily have merged into one event as recorded by later generations

...the Saturn myths do not clarify the issue any more than the Scriptures. However, it is of little consequence to us whether they are on Earth or in space, whether they are mortal, translated or immortal. The point this thesis seeks to make is that there is an intimate relationship between the myths and legends of mankind and the epics of Enoch and Zion. That connection opens up the world of the ancients and the world of tomorrow in a manner that would not have been possible otherwise. The Saturn myths are a treasure trove of information about a time when all mankind saw "heaven" immediately overhead.

Indeed, it probably appeared to the antediluvian peoples that Earth was connected to heaven, making heaven and Earth two parts of one structure. Then, part of the Earth was torn away in a cataclysmic event, seemingly taking Enoch and his city off the Earth. Generations later when Earth and Saturn parted, it would have appeared as though heaven itself had fled, taking Zion and Enoch with it.

By anyone's standards, the Great Deluge which engulfed the planet and destroyed most of its life-forms must have been the most devastating catastrophe to occur since man had first been placed upon the Earth:

And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. (Genesis 7:21-22)

Colliding giants

Velikovsky believed that Jupiter and Saturn were primary protagonists in the events that culminated in the Earth's flood:

Suppose that two bodies, such as Jupiter and Saturn, were to approach one another rather closely, so as to cause violent perturbations and huge tidal effects in each other's atmospheres. As a double star, or binary, they might interact to the extent that, under certain conditions, the interaction of the members of such a pair will lead to a stellar explosion, or nova. A nova is thought to result from an instability in a star, generated by a sudden influx of matter, usually derived from its companion in a binary system. If what today we call Jupiter and Saturn are the products of such a sequence of events, their appearance and respective masses must formerly have been quite different.

Such a scenario would explain the prominence of Saturn prior to its cataclysmic disruption and dismemberment-it must have exceeded Jupiter in size. At some points during a close approach to Jupiter, Saturn became unstable; and, as a result of the influx of extraneous material, it exploded, flaring as a nova which, after subsiding, left a remnant that the ancients still recognized as Saturn, even though it was but a fraction of the size of the celestial body of earlier days.

In Saturn's explosion much of the matter absorbed earlier was thrown off into space. Saturn was greatly reduced in size .... (Kronos Vol. V/ No. 1/ pp. 6-7)

It is common knowledge that the rings of Saturn are composed largely of ice. Velikovsky speculated that the nova-like explosion of Saturn ejected ice, gases and other debris into space. The rings we see around Saturn today, according to Velikovsky, are but a small remnant of the great ring which formed around Saturn after the Flood. Because Earth was a satellite of Saturn in our hypothesis, it stood sufficiently close to be enveloped by the ejected material. So it appears to have been Saturn, in a conflict with Jupiter, which was the agent responsible for the inundation of the Earth. But some of the water that arrived at Earth may not have been icy like the rings of today's Saturn. Produced in an explosion which emitted light and heat, the water descending on the Earth may have been super-heated. Velikovsky reported:

The Midrashim and other ancient sources describe the waters of the Flood as being warm. . . the volume of water on the Earth was vastly increased. And it is of interest that the Atlantic Ocean was called by the ancients "the sea of Kronos"- perhaps indicating that it came to be only after the Deluge. (Kronos, Vol.V, No. 1, pp. 7, 9)

Velikovsky also noted that the Deluge not only "vastly increased" the amount of water on the Earth, but it also altered the composition of the oceans:

. . . the waters [from Saturn] may have been rich in chlorine, an element which in combination with sodium forms common salt. Maritime geologists are unable to trace the origin of the huge amounts of chlorine locked in the salt of the Earth's oceans, the Earth's own rocks being rather poor in this element and incapable of supplying it in the needed quantities. Chlorine may thus be of extraneous origin; being a very active element, it could possibly be present in some different combination on Saturn. (Ibid., pp. 7-8)

So it is that Noah's flood may be attributed to a nova-like explosion of Saturn following a conflict between Saturn and Jupiter. Even so, Saturn appears to have remained standing above the Earth, dominating the imagination of mankind. After the flood, as man gained a new toe-hold on the earth, he looked to the heavens and saw a new Saturn rise from the waters of Chaos-in effect being born in the heavens. From those observations come the myths of the Creation of heaven.

Man reaches for the star

This new postulation of the state of things in the years after the flood leads to some rather important conclusions about the actions of the ancients-actions that heretofore seemed enigmatic and illogical.

. . . they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven .... (Genesis 11:4)

Following the flood, when the descendants of Noah spread out to once again populate the Earth, it was decided by those who lived in a land called Shinar (whose king was called Nimrod) that they wanted to build a tower. (It is likely that the tower took the shape of a pyramid since the Axis Mundi or World Mountain connecting Earth and Saturn appeared pyramidal in form, suggesting to the ancients that the pyramid was the proper shape for a structure with which to reach heaven. That would also explain why the pyramid was such a popular and uniquely religious structure anciently.) Perhaps, as some ancient texts suggest, they did not wish to risk drowning should God decide to send another deluge, so they sought to ensure that they could survive by building a tower high enough to be above the waters of another flood... One source describes the effort:

And all the families assembled consisting of about six hundred thousand men, and they went to seek an extensive piece of ground to build the city and the tower, and they sought in the whole earth and they found none like one valley at the east of the land of Shinar, about two days' walk, and they journeyed there and they dwelt there. And they began to make bricks and burn fires to build the city and the tower that they had imagined to complete.

. . . And when they were building they built themselves a great city and a very high and strong tower; and on account of its height the mortar and bricks did not reach the builders in their ascent to it, until those who went up had completed a full year, and after that, they reached to the builders and gave them the mortar and the bricks; thus was it done daily.

And behold these ascended and others descended the whole day; and if a brick should fall from their hands and get broken, they would all weep over it, and if a man fell and died, none of them would look at him. (The Book of Jasher, p. 21)

Of course, the Lord caused the confusion of tongues so that the whole project ground to a halt.

And as to the tower which the sons of men built, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up one third part thereof and a fire also descended from heaven and burned another third and the other third is left to this day, and it is of that part which was aloft, and its circumference is three days' walk<. (Ibid., p. 2)

Judging from the previous quote, the destruction of the Tower of Babel was due to cosmic forces, for the indications of a catastrophe are evident. Of special interest is the note about the size of the building. The remaining part, the smallest part (the top being narrower than the base was still so large that it was a three day walk just to go around it! Notice the earlier reference to its taking a year to carry bricks and mortar from the base to the top. If these descriptions are even remotely accurate, it was a monumental building.

The proposed fixed position of Saturn above the Earth lends logic to the desire of Noah's descendants to build a tower to reach "heaven." Because of the difficulty involved in judging the distance of any heavenly object (some medieval peoples thought the stars to be little higher than the hills or mountains around them), it seems reasonable to assume that the inhabitants of Shinar supposed that "heaven" (that great orb hovering above the Earth) could easily be reached by a great tower. Rose put it thus.

During the Age of Kronos, Saturn was quite close to Earth. It was indeed not so close that one could actually reach it by building a high tower, but that idea would be far more likely to occur then than, say, now. Saturn also appeared to be standing still and waiting; the builders knew the direction (up) in which to proceed and the place (the sub-Saturnian point) from which to begin. . . . But it was to no avail. All they did was build a giant "lightning rod", and thereby call down upon themselves a giant discharge. (Kronos, Vol. V, No. 1, p. 41)

..So it is that the construction of the Tower of Babel is made more logical and reasonable when considered in light of the Saturn myths...

The days of Peleg

Sometime in the days of Peleg, a descendant of Noah, came the end of Saturn's reign:

Saturn's death or fall, we will discover, constituted the prototypal catastrophe, recounted by the ancients in numerous forms and elaborations. The collapse of the celestial kingdom; the world-destroying deluge; the battle with the serpent-dragon of the deep; the birth of Jupiter, the Child-Hero; the resurrection and transformation of Saturn; and Saturn's eventual departure to the distant realm-these are key elements in a story of incalculable impact on ancient imagination (The Saturn Myth, p. 332)

Cardona wrote that this catastrophe

. . . caused a second major Deluge when Saturn was forced to release the waters it had held in tidal captivity at the Earth's north polar region.... It was the second major Deluge that originated in the north pole [Noah's flood being the first]. (Kronos, Vol. III, No. 4, p. 39)

According to Talbott and Cardona, the days of Peleg saw another great flood. It was not as great as the Universal Deluge, for no water was added to Earth's existing store. This flood originated in the north. The "great deep" that was held there by Saturn's pull was suddenly released when Earth was torn from its orbit with Saturn. Then the centrifugal force of Earth's rotation became predominant. The waters from the north rushed to the equatorial regions, raising the level of the oceans 2-3 miles at some latitudes. This resulted in the inundation of major portions of the globe, effectively dividing Earth's landmasses into separate continents and forming the world much as we know it today.

...In reality, the world was divided in two ways in the days of Peleg: First, because Saturn was considered part of Earth (the "celestial" part), its removal was considered to be a splitting or division of the Earth... Second, the water from the permanent polar tide held in place by Saturn was released, whereupon it flooded the world, dividing the continents. This harmonizes with this author's concept that the recorded history of cultures the world over began after Noah's flood. The "creation" recorded by most ancient historical accounts was, in fact, Saturn "creating" himself in heaven as the world emerged from the Deluge. Hence, the great flood spoken of in most ancient literature reefers to the flood of Peleg, not the flood of Noah. It is known to profane history as the flood of Apop (Agog), Ogyges or Deucalion.

The lost island

Given this perspective, it becomes apparent that the story of the lost island of Atlantis draws its imagery from the same source as the lost City of Enoch. Plato described a mythical island that was located beyond the pillars of Hercules. In the center was a single mountain surrounded by a broad, fertile plane. The island was surrounded by several rings of alternating water and land. Its land was productive, its people enlightened and benevolent.

Talbott commented:

And this identification of the central sun as an enclosed or encircled god appears to throw light on the endlessly repeated myth of the lost island. What the Greeks called Ogygia (the island of Kronos/Saturn in the farthest north) occurs under many different names the world over. The white island, the floating island, the revolving island .... Not of our earth, the lost isle floated in the sea of heaven. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 65-66)

Plato's observation that Atlantis could be found beyond the pillars of Hercules has been a major stumbling block to understanding his account. In modern times Gibraltar came to be known as the pillars of Hercules, hence the search for Atlantis is focused in the Atlantic, west of Gibraltar. Yet to the ancients the pillars of Hercules were the four pillars of heaven portrayed by the symbol +. Curiously, Atlas, who stood on the Earth in the north and held up heaven also answers to the role of Hercules. Noticeably, the name Atlas derives from the same root word as Atlantis and Atlantic.

Thus the story of Atlantis can be traced to the same source as the story of the lost city of Enoch-a city or island in the north that was lost to the world. Whether the stories of the lost city or island originated in the Enoch event or later when Saturn was removed from Earth's vicinity is of little importance. It simply serves to show the similarities of such accounts and how widespread they were anciently.

Peter knew

Much later, during New Testament times, Peter recognized that great changes had occurred in the past. As we consider the changes in the days of Peleg, his observations will help us comprehend the nature of those events. He wrote that the heavens and the Earth had completely changed in the past:

. . . by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; .... (2 Peter 3:5-6)

The first impression is that Peter was referring to Noah's flood, but that may be inaccurate. The Saturn myths allow us to see that Peter may have been writing about the days of Peleg, after the flood.

The myths inform us that the "word' of God was Saturn's enclosure-the material that had been ejected from the core to form his "body." It was the cosmos, and together with the center it formed the "heavens" of old (Everything outside the Saturnian circle what we call the heavens today-was considered to be uncreated matter, or chaos.) It is so indicated in records from cultures all over the world. Talbott wrote:

In the "creation," Saturn, the primal Seed, ejected the fiery material ("primeval matter"), which congealed into a circle of lesser lights (the Cosmos). The myths describe this resounding birth of the secondary gods as Saturn's "speech": Saturn was the Word or voice of heaven. The Egyptians recall Atum [Re/Saturn] as the ancient Voice of heaven:

The word came into being.
All things were mine when I was alone.
I was Re [Atum] in his first manifestations.

After his appearance the god "uttered words" and these utterances possessed a visible form as the kheperu, the first things created. The Kheperu "came forth from my mouth." These visible "words" flowed from the creator as the waters of Chaos, the sea in heaven upon which the creator floated or wandered. To reckon with the tradition in its own terms one must think of the primordial sea as a fiery "ocean of words" in heaven, emitted by the god in a prolonged and resounding explosion.

Numerous traditions view the emanation or pouring out of creation as the great god's "speech." This is the root meaning of the Greek and Hebrew "Word," which signify, really, "visible speech." . . . (The Saturn Myth, pp. 35, 12, 29, 74)

Remember, our thesis asserts that the people to whom Peter addressed himself espoused and understood these traditions. They believed that the "word" of god (Saturn) was something that had been both seen and heard as he created the Cosmos. This gives added meaning to Peter's expression, "by the word of God the heavens were of old"-that is to say, the speech of god became the stuff of which heaven was created. And the fact that their traditions taught them that Earth had at least two parts anciently (the part men lived on and the heavenly part that stood overhead-between which stood the water of the Earth heaped up in a great tide), gives meaning to his next phrase, "and the earth standing out of the water [the heavenly part] and in the water [the terrestrial part]...." Hence, when Peter wrote of "the world that then was, being overflowed with water," he was probably talking about the days of Peleg when Saturn released the water held at the pole, inundating a large portion of the globe. Thus the words of Peter seem to indicate that he understood the profound changes that occurred in the days of Peleg, for it was at that time that "a new heaven and a new earth" came into being...

John's description

It seems clear that the Apostle John wrote in Revelation of the demise of Saturn as a war in heaven. His description of those events matches the Saturn myths that describe the demise of Saturn. Read the following verses while keeping in mind the symbolism of the Saturn myths:

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown ....(Revelation 12:1)

This verse demonstrates the ancients' view of Saturn in its female aspect as the "Queen of Heaven." She was not only the circle or the shield of god, at times she was god-as in this case. She was the sun, while the moon under her feet is the crescent of Saturn's ring at its brightest, and the crescent symbol @ represents that configuration. Of courses as god, she wears the "crown" that surrounds her, yet at the same time she is the crown-the band around Saturn which was the heavenly counterpart of all the crowns of earthly monarchs.

The following verse makes use of the imagery of the "womb of heaven," the encircling mother goddess in the act of giving birth to god, the orb, Saturn:

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. (Revelation 12:2)

Then the imagery of the serpent or dragon, the opponent of god, is employed. It serves to demonstrate how many identities were ascribed to the various parts of Saturn's configuration and how they interacted in the catastrophe that divided Saturn and Earth:

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon .... And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God . . . (Revelation 12:3-6)

The pillar-the sometimes undulating vortex in the north-was characterized as the "red dragon" that stood before the woman in heaven giving birth. The fact that it was red and perceived as a dragon gives credence to the idea that this was a catastrophic episode. The dragon/serpent is depicted as standing before the woman giving birth which is a visually accurate metaphor of the pillar that stood "before" Saturn as if to receive the emerging child/god. The fact that the woman and the divine child both disappeared is further in keeping with the idea of Saturn's demise.

Next appear the verses that are symbolic of Satan's struggle in the preexistence. Yet, at the same time, these verses depict the events of Saturn's disappearance:

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. . . . Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath ....(Revelation 12:7-9, 12)

These verses are in keeping with the concept of a conflict that would have been seen to erupt in heaven as Saturn began its departure. The name Michael is appropriate. It means "One who is like God," and has been used anciently for Saturn. The various elements of Saturn's configuration became protagonists in a battle:

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness .... (Revelation 12:13-14)

John reiterated the proposed elements of Saturn's departure in order to set the order of events and to elaborate on them. As the pillar collapsed, it would have been seen to fall to the Earth, leading to the conclusion that the dragon had been driven out of heaven (which was departing) and "cast unto the earth." The wings given to the woman are clearly symbolic of the crescent-bird, a primary depiction of ancient Saturn.

The term "wilderness" conveys the understanding that the ancients had of the Cosmos of Saturn being "organized" or "created" while everything else in space was Chaos. If Saturn was the sacred city, then everything outside its walls would naturally be uninhabited, unorganized "wilderness."

John continued his description of the departure of the "woman" in heaven by describing the flood from the north in typical Saturnian imagery:

. . . And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:15-17)

Because the oceans of the Earth were held in a tremendous tide at the point where the Earth and the pillar met (as suggested earlier), the imagery of the serpent/dragon gushing forth water is accurate. The Earth would have "swallowed up the flood," as the water rushed to the equator-but at a great cost to humanity. Of course the ancients believed that the outcast dragon/serpent descended beneath the Earth and hid there in the underworld (Hell, Hades), on the dark side, to await the opportunity to once again ascend into heaven to do battle with god, or the "woman," in this case. John devoted the entire next chapter to that future event which will see the return of the great dragon/serpent and the "woman" bearing her "child" in the catastrophes of the last days.

After comparing the symbolism of the Saturn myths to the language of Revelation, can there be any doubt about what John was describing?

Job

Job articulated the surprise and anxiety of the world at the loss of "heaven." Speaking of God, he declared:

He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. Job 26:7

Job registered his astonishment that the Earth no longer hung from heaven and he bemoaned the fact that the north, the location of such great heavenly manifestations, was now "the empty place." Imagine the confusion and fear in the hearts and minds of men upon seeing "heaven" recede into the distance. Still more surprising to them would have been the fact that Earth continued to exist without its umbilical connection to heaven. Because that life-giving connection had been severed, the ancients would have been convinced that they and the world they lived on had truly "fallen," that they had been "cut off" from god.

Job went on to describe the power of God, using the metaphors of the mythical Saturn. In order to properly interpret the following verses remember that there were "waters" in the heavenly sea that surrounded the island in the center (which was also the "throne"). There were also "waters" held in suspension at the pole.

He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them. He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud. By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand? (Job 26:8-14)

All the foregoing appears to be Saturn imagery. As Job noted, "these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him?" Even after the removal of Saturn, the imagery vividly lived on.

Abraham

No analysis of antiquity would be complete without a discussion of Abraham's place in it. He played a pivotal role in history. By the time Abraham was born, Saturn's "death and removal from its exalted place would have been an accomplished fact, and the reality of Saturn's former glory was then well on its way to becoming myth and legend. But the change in the heavens which would have occurred at Saturn's demise left the astronomy of all ancient cultures in confusion and disarray. A grasp of astronomy is essential in order to develop and maintain an accurate calendar. Imagine the problems they would have encountered as they struggled to create a new calendar. Now that Saturn was lost, by which heavenly body would they reckon time? How long is a year now? When would they plant, when would they harvest? An entirely new meteorological system would have been initiated. Seasons would have changed and become exaggerated with hot summers, cold winters- all of which added to the urgency of comprehending the new order of things.

Changed worship

And what about the religion of mankind? Whereas once there was no confusion about where heaven and god were when all men (save the Prophets) worshipped the same astral deity, now there was confusion and contradiction from culture to culture. How did one properly worship a god who could not be seen? Answer: Create an image of that god to worship in place of the once visible god. What rituals are appropriate to reverence a vanished god? Answer: Imitate his works in order to merit his approbation or perhaps even entice him to return. If he burned his children with fire and consumed them as Moloch/Saturn had, then men should do the same. If he subdued "chaos" and drew it all into his relm or "cosmos" to bring order in heaven, then his earthly counterpart, the king, was expected to subdue the "heathen nations" in sweeping wars of conquest in order to bring them into his circle of influence. Traumatized by the loss of heaven and by the new, hostile environment, it appears that mankind became more confused fragmented and aggressive.

Into that world Abraham came with the answers. In a world so steeped in the old Saturn traditions that it could not make sense of the new order of the heavens, Abraham was a godsend. The true Creator had shown Abraham the new order of the heavens and, in turn, Abraham disclosed it to the Egyptians. Abraham was as successful at teaching the truth as most of the prophets have been. The old priesthood class among the Egyptians was loathe to accept new teachings because it threatened the established order; above all they sought to retain the old religious order- not necessarily because they were "wicked," but because it would have seemed sacrilegious to them to do otherwise.

Of course, Abraham taught of the true God who loved his children. That likely did not ring true to a people who felt that god and heaven had withdrawn from them. In addition, he sought to change their understanding of the heavens by teaching them the new order of things. Because people always resist change and because his teaching struck at the very basis of their religion, they attempted to sacrifice Abraham in one of their religious rituals.

Abraham and the myths

Abraham-in our historical view-taught of the true and living God, and sought to teach the new order of the heavens after Saturn's demise; but even though Abraham undoubtedly taught against everything that the Saturn myths stood for, ironically his own life was described by later generations in terms of the Saturn myths!

The apostle Paul mentions something about Abraham that is not mentioned anywhere else in scripture. Being well trained in Hebrew scripture, Paul certainly knew much about Abraham:

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:8-10, 16)

As Talbott explained, Saturn was the heavenly city, and it was that planetary god who was his own "builder and maker." In addition, Talbott explained:

Residing at the immovable center of the Cosmos, Saturn was the stone or rock of foundation- the prototype of the cornerstone (situated where the four corners meet ..... . The four beams of light which radiated from the Saturnian stone appeared to sustain the world wheel at its "four corners" .... so that, in many myths, the life bearing streams are synonymous with the "four pillars of the world."

The Foundation Stone is thus an indispensable ingredient in the symbolism of the four life bearing streams. The stone denotes Saturn in his character as the steadfast support of the turning Cosmos and the source of the radiating life elements. (The Saturn Myth, p. 134)

In another example, speaking of Abraham's promise from the Lord, Paul also wrote:

Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. (Hebrews 11:12)

Though there is no doubt that Paul was writing of Abraham, consider the possibility that he was using an astral metaphor of Saturn's death. When the Cosmos, the old god (Saturn and its appendages) died, mankind probably saw the multitude of stars in heaven for the first time and considered them to be the dissected parts of the dead god scattered across the sky. So the above description fits both the life and promise of Abraham, and what the ancients perceived to be the dissection of Saturn. This gives additional meaning to Paul's description of Abraham's life.

Idolatry

Abraham's primary complaint against his predecessors was that they had turned to idol worship...

Talbott observed:

In the earliest age the Saturnian configuration was the exclusive focal point of religious rites. But when Saturn's Golden Age passed away, mankind drew on all aspects of nature to commemorate his reign. The solar orb, the moon, meteorological forces, various animals, mountains, and rivers all manifest some special quality of the creator king. And where no representative powers were available in nature, the ancients fashioned their own monuments in earth and stone. (The Saturn Myth, p.331)

Thus the concept of idol worship among Abraham's contemporaries was compulsive. They were desperate to restore the ancient order of things. Such compulsion based on desperation would be extremely difficult to overcome. This novel view of Abraham's role in history is a direct result of the catastrophists' reevaluation of history.

We have now briefly traced the Saturn myth through the scriptural account of history. Even a cursory examination such as this reveals astonishing facts. Imagine what careful scrutiny might uncover.

"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits . . " Romans 11:25

New heavens

...After Saturn was propelled away from Earth into the blackness of space, a new panorama of glittering stars appeared (they would not have been seen previously because Saturn's light would have obscured them). Cardona explained:

The starry heavens became visible in all their glory when Saturn disappeared. For this reason, the stars were thought of as being the dissected members of Osiris/Saturn or of the dead sun. It was during this time that parts of Saturn's former unique configuration were sought in the newly "created" constellations. It was then that the constellations received their names. It was then that the "seven stars" received the name Pleiades in memory of Saturn's former seven rings. It was then that the mix-up between constellations and planets occurred. Not only Saturn and his dissected parts, but the attributes of the other planets, which also went through an apparent change, were now sought in the constellations. (Kronos, Vol. III, No. 4, p.39)

...

The Earth tipped over and thus Saturn appeared to move to the south pole. For that reason, some myths point to the south pole as the abode of Saturn. This state of affairs, however, was only temporary. The Earth tipped again but [this time] Jupiter propelled Saturn away from Earth into the blackness of space .... (Kronos, Vol. III, No. 4, p. 39)

Ashton also noted the myths that gave rise to the idea that Saturn fled to the south pole:

After the golden age, Saturn went to Tartarus. In Hesiod's description of Tartarus, there is a suggestion of the south celestial pole. In his Theogony, this region is described as having been "as far below the earth as heaven is above earth; for so far is it from earth to Tartarus". In Tartarus dwelt Styx. In his Georgics, Virgil wrote that "one pole is ever high above us, while the other, beneath our feet, is seen of black Styx and the shades infernal". (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, p. 23)

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

The student of the Scriptures who is schooled in prophetic accounts of future events may have already seen the reflection of those coming events in accounts of the past. But aside from all the evidence to support the Saturn theories advanced in previous chapters, the strongest argument for the validity of the ancient Saturn theory is its ability to explain prophesied phenomena. Why else would God make use of imagery in modern revelation that seems to be specifically connected to the Saturn myths if not to emphasize their validity and their similarity to future conditions? The logical deduction that the theories of several modern catastrophists regarding the part Saturn played in Earth's history is essentially correct. And the corollary to that conclusion is the most stunning of all: Saturn, or a Saturn-like body, will yet play a pivotal role an Earth's future.

A restoration

Though these theories may seem extravagant in the context of current thought (religious and secular), they seem to give considerable meaning to scriptural prophecy.. that otherwise remain mysterious and esoteric. They give a fuller picture of the world we will one day live in should we survive to see the Millennium. It is in the scriptural accounts of the Millennium that the Saturn myths yield new and exceptionally plain meaning, revealing remarkable details about the world to come:

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. (Isaiah 60:19-20)

As mentioned earlier in Chapter 2, the events of the last days will see "the restoration of all things." Apparently this restoration will include a return to the former conditions that existed in the heavens. Earth will be restored to its former position, moving through space with either Saturn or a Saturn-like body. The heavens will be ablaze with the light of a permanent, fixed "sun"-which will be a marvelous thing to see.

Scriptural testimony

...The roar of the Decalogue during the Exodus, the "speech" of the "creator" as he created heaven, the mythological 'music of the spheres,' are all proposed evidence that tumultuous and ethereal sounds accompany catastrophic events. Undoubtedly the voice that will be heard in the future will have some relation to the returning body. Some of that sound may originate here on Earth. It may be the sound of a tremendous tidal wave, "the voice of many waters"... As it is recorded in the Old Testament... the days when the Earth was "divided" was in the days of Peleg: i.e., Saturn and Earth were separated and Earth's water was released to divide the continents... Our evidence suggests that it was Saturn that held the oceans of the Earth at the pole anciently; it then will likely be Saturn or a Saturn-like body that will again unite the oceans at the pole when it returns in the last days. The "great deep" will return to its proper place "in the north countries" at the outset of the Millennium and the land will be joined again "as it was in the days before it was divided."

If the release of Earth's ancient ocean from the pole caused a major, worldwide inundation in the past, the regression of today's oceans to the pole will surely result in another catastrophic flood. The sudden evacuation of water from the equatorial regions to the polar regions presents an astounding picture. Imagine the water in the Gulf of Mexico suddenly rising from its bed to roll northward, advancing up the central United States (primarily the Mississippi and Missouri rivers' drainage basins). The wall of water, likely, would be nearly as high as the Gulf of Mexico is deep moving northward at a frightening speed.

And what kind of damage will the Mediterranean do to Europe and the Indian Ocean to Central Asia as they rush northward?

It appears certain that Earth's oceans will once again congeal at the North Pole, substantially lowering the present level of the oceans. That event will once again join the landmasses of the Earth as they were before the days of Peleg. When that is accomplished...[a] "highway" appears in the "midst" of the water that will have moved to the Pole. Anciently, the Axis Mundi was considered the "way to heaven," and the form of this World Axis was a vortex that appeared to connect the Earth and Saturn. It appeared to be a pillar or column upon which Saturn stood-the tether which linked "heaven" and "earth." Thus some may believe that the scriptural reference to a "highway"... refers to the reappearance of the connection between Earth and Saturn. Of course, as the oceans are evacuated northwards great land bridges will appear, connecting the continents. Thus others may choose to believe that just such a land bridge is the "highway" spoken of in this revelation. Many exegetes have declared this "highway" to be a road across which the returning people "who are in the north countries" will come.

The return ...The myths of ancient Saturn which tell that it formerly stood fixed above the Earth's pole, coupled with the doctrine of the restoration of all things to their former condition and the prophecies that reflect that restoration, all unite to declare that the Earth will once again assume its former position beneath the planet Saturn (or a Saturn-like body) where it once stood anciently.

The New Jerusalem

One of the most profound and impressive promises made by God to men in this dispensation is the promise of a New Jerusalem... The New Jerusalem may also have to do with the Saturn myths. Talbott wrote:

Every sacred kingdom or city derives its character from the primeval dwelling, so that whatever was said of the enclosure above was also said of the imitative form constructed by men. Through identification with Saturn's dwelling, each terrestrial kingdom or city of antiquity distinguished itself as the Middle Place, the center from which history took its start. (The Saturn Myth, pp. 110, 113)

Considering the "Middle Place" or "center" imagery, recall the language used in revelation to designate Zion, the City of New Jerusalem...

The pillar of light

One of the recurring New Jerusalem themes is that the city literally will be lit by the light of God:

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. (Isaiah 60:19-20)

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it .... (Revelation 21:23)

And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light .... (Revelation 22:5)

The Saturn myths speak of a sun that never set and a pillar of light that stood over the Earth anciently. The pillar was called the Axis Mundi or the World Mountain; it was described as a pillar of light which illuminated the Earth...

In fact, the imagery of the Saturn myths seems to be prevalent in most of the scripture dealing with Zion. Reflecting upon the fact that the band around the god was perceived as the "womb of the mother goddess," the Queen of Heaven, his crown and his shield (while at the same time she was part of the celestial city, the wall or the moat which protected it), the reference to Zion's female gender is also a part of the imagery associated with ancient Saturn...The Saturn metaphors were symbolic, yet they graphically portrayed both physical and spiritual realities. Divested of the knowledge of the physical realities behind the metaphors, religionists have been restricted to discussions of the spiritual realities. Now, through the thesis of the Saturn myths, we can begin to appreciate the physical realities behind the prophetic metaphors-which may further allow us to better grasp the spiritual implications.

The strength of the Earth

Anciently, when Earth and Saturn appear to have been companion bodies, Earth enjoyed some especially salubrious benefits from the union. Because of Saturn's influence, Earth would have been an especially pleasant place to live, and apparently it will be so again... Apparently the forthcoming change will affect the crops of the world.

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed .... (Amos 9:13)

Some have wondered how Earth could possibly survive as a neighbor to Saturn; yet if the myths are to be believed, the effect was very beneficial rather than detrimental. When considering the prospects of a future coupling of these planets, one might expect the effects to be equally benevolent.

Consider the situation of Jupiter's tiny moon, Io. Io orbits close enough to giant Jupiter that the tidal friction within the core of that small moon (generated by Jupiter's tremendous gravitational pull) creates sufficient heat within the moon to generate great lava spills which erupt onto the surface of the planet. If a similar but subdued, effect were induced in the Earth by Saturn, then warmth would be radiated from within the Earth. Or if Velikovsky's thesis of electromagnetic fields surrounding planets is correct, then the Earth could be heated by induction due to the tremendous magnetosphere of Saturn (an effect akin to the mechanism that heats food in a microwave oven). In either event, the soil of Earth would be warmed from within-a great incubator in which plant life would flourish.

Coupled with a meteorological system like that which existed anciently which would deliver ample surface water and nutrients (" . . . there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground"), the plant life on the Earth would prosper as never before. The entire Earth would become a greenhouse, in effect...

In the world we know, the ground will yield enough to sustain us only when intensive agricultural practices are used to maximize the yield of each acre. Imagine a world where a little effort yielded super-abundant harvests. One might properly say that today's land is "cursed" by the standards of a millennial world... Apparently, that curse will be lifted, for the Earth will then yield abundantly.

A fountain of youth

If the flux tube that connected the Earth and Saturn anciently (as postulated) was the result of a flow of energized particles along magnetic field lines, then Earth's inhabitants may have enjoyed some amazing physical benefits. Roger Wescott, Ph.D, Rhodes Scholar and Professor of Anthropology wrote:

A likely result of this influx would have been rapid healing of physical injuries (which were presumably rarer than now). Such healing might have been analogous to the accelerated tissue repair known to occur today in response to low-level electrical current.... The fact that such lines are credited by psychics and dowsers but dismissed by most other observers may indicate that they are residual in nature, surviving only as faint bioenergetic echoes of what were once palpably pulsating meridians. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 2, p.73)

Though this sounds wildly speculative to us, such things are remembered in the myths and legends of man. If true, then Saturn's return in the Millennium may reestablish such force fields, physically benefiting Earth's inhabitants once again. In fact, such a phenomenon would account for the prophetic statements regarding retarded aging and lack of illness in the Millennium.

Levitation

Another effect of Saturn's return may be quite "uplifting." Many myths contain accounts of beings who could levitate. Consider the many stories in mythology that told of levitation- flying carpets, for example. Again, Roger Wescott speculated that Saturn (which he calls Aster, meaning simply "star") could have caused such an effect:

At least on its Asterian side (which, because of a rotational lock, never turned away from Aster), Earth did not constitute the "gravity well" that it now does. Instead, particularly atop its Aster-ward bulge, it was characterized by literal levity. In addition, it may be that the energy stream in the world-axis flowed in both directions, with the result that, in certain locations, objects (including human bodies) could "float" upwards. (Kronos, Vol. X, No. 1, p. 43)

If such is true, then that effect would certainly give credence to the ascension imagery of the Scriptures... But there may be more to the levitation stories than what Wescott perceived. Myths and legends aside, palpable evidence of levitation in antiquity still exists. Consider the monolithic structures of antiquity that are composed of massive hewn stones: Tiahuanaco in the Andes, Stonehenge in Great Britain, the Pyramids in Egypt, and many others like them, world-wide. In each case, stones-some of them weighing thousands of tons-have been quarried, worked and then transported many miles to where they were placed. How they were moved is one of the mysteries of antiquity. No mechanism known to modern man could have moved such mass. Even with all our vaunted technology, we cannot duplicate those feats.

Velikovsky postulated that from time to time in antiquity the electromagnetic environment of the Earth changed due to past planetary catastrophes. During those periods, he proposed, it was possible for men to accumulate a charge on some objects that would offset the pull of gravity, thus causing even the most massive objects to levitate. If this is true, then this would have provided the power needed for moving the giant monoliths of antiquity.

Unlimited possibilities

The implications for the future are even more staggering. Most of our modern inventions, which provide us with a comfortable lifestyle and tremendous power, were realized by observing the forces of nature at work and then harnessing or adapting them for our own benefit. If, in the future, the phenomenon of levitation (as probably used by the ancients to move stones) is observed in action- when that feat can be duplicated by man-then man will harness that power for his benefit. In addition, energy may be far easier to harness because of its abundance due to the lines of force linking Earth and Saturn. It is hard to imagine a world where energy will be so abundant and so available, yet it will likely be a key to a society far advanced beyond our own.

Resources such as these, coupled with the salubrious and abundant environment that will exist in the future, will combine to create a nearly perfect world. Mankind will want for nothing. Living, as we do, in a world without such benefits, it is impossible for us to imagine a millennial Earth. Like the myths that record strange conditions and events, those prophesied future conditions seem more like a fairy tale or a science fiction novel than reality. We can only prepare and hope that we will live to experience it for ourselves.

New people

Those who survive the cataclysms of the last days to see heaven and Earth restored to their former glory and beauty will have been changed as much as the world around them. The people who live in that special time will be special people....

Imagery of The Second Coming

The last and most sublime thing to contemplate is the Second Coming of our Savior. There is considerable imagery in prophecies of the Second Coming. When considered in light of the Saturn myths, such imagery may not be indicative of the coming of the Savior at all; rather, it may refer to the return of Saturn. The confusion arising from these images appears to have led to some misconceptions about the Savior's advent. For example:

For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as was before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place. (Micah 1:3-4)

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True . His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns .... And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood .... And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Revelation 19:11-13, 14,15)

The above statements can only be applied metaphorically to the Savior's advent. However, it appears that they can be literally applied to the reappearance of Saturn, or a Saturn-like planet, during the catastrophes of the last days. Elijah's analysis of catastrophic events and the imagery they spawn may be helpful here:

And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (1 Kings 19:11-12)

One must not confuse the imagery of the Second Coming with the Savior's actual physical appearance. He is not the heroic figure depicted by these images from the Scriptures. As Elijah observed, God is not in the catastrophic forces of nature. Such descriptions seem only meant to establish His credentials as the God of heaven and Earth, the Ruler, the Creator, the Man behind the heavenly manifestations...

Prophetic model

...The Savior's appearance will be to the survivors of tremendous catastrophes. He will teach them... and set them on the path to a Zion society. The world will become "like the garden of Eden."