The Stargate Conspiracy (52 page)

Narby’s theory still has a long way to go. For example, it is hard to see how intelligent DNA can explain the knowledge the shamans receive about specific techniques, such as weaving or mixing curare. The important achievement is that he has shown that shamans derive usable information by mental contact with some nonhuman source. And they do appear to be in touch with the ‘gods’, or at least some strange beings who exist in another dimension and share their undoubted powers with them.

Another very significant aspect of Narby’s research is his identification of a common feature throughout the shamanistic cultures (and ancient myths): divine twins as the bringers of wisdom, ‘the theme of double beings of celestial origin and creators of life’.
¹⁶
He points out, for example, quoting from Claude Lévi-Strauss, that the Aztec word
coatl,
as in the name Quetzalcoatl, means both ‘snake’ and ‘twin’.
¹⁷
(Quetzalcoatl can be interpreted as either ‘feathered serpent’ or ‘magnificent twin’.) Narby believes that the ‘twin serpents’ so often encountered during shamanic flights and which he himself experienced represent the two strands of the double helix of DNA. This reminds us of the two sets of twins in the Heliopolitan religion (Isis and Osiris, Nepthys and Set) as well as the Nommo of the Dogon, as described in Robert Temple’s
The Sirius Mystery,
who are also made up of sets of twins and descend to earth to civilise mankind.
¹⁸
Again, Narby’s shamanic theory provides an elegant - and, in our view, much more plausible - alternative to the ubiquitous ‘ancient astronaut’ explanation for these myths.

Perhaps DNA has other secrets to impart. The genetic code in the human genome is made up of just 3 per cent of its total DNA - the function of the rest is unknown, and is officially termed ‘junk DNA’. Narby suggests that a better term would be ‘mystery DNA’.
¹⁹
How many ‘miracles’ and how much potential does the other 97 per cent encompass?

Narby’s ideas about DNA and shamanism throw a completely new light on hitherto intractable historical mysteries. Were the outline drawings of animals and birds on the sands of Nazca in Peru meant to be guides to and celebrations of the shaman’s flight? Did the Dogon discover the secrets of Sirius simply by asking their shamans’ spirit guides? Were the massive stone blocks that make up the giant pyramids of Egypt manoeuvred into place according to the advice of the ‘gods’ visited by their priests in trance?

Significantly the flight of the shaman also enables him to visit far distant places and later describe what he saw and heard there - in other words, remote viewing. This aspect of shamanism particularly intrigued anthropologist Kenneth Kensinger, who tested it among the ayahuasqueros of the Amazon and found that they were able to ‘bring back’ accurate information about distant places, as well as tell him about the death of a relative before he heard about it himself.
²⁰
(Andrija Puharich also studied the remote-viewing potential of shamans, as described in Chapter 6.)

We asked Jeremy Narby if he agreed with us that his ideas could account for the extraordinary knowledge implicit in the building of the pyramids. He pointed out that the Aztecs, Incas and Maya had constructed comparable temples, and that ‘the double serpent, or Quetzalcoatl, or Viracocha, or whatever figure you take depending on the culture, teaches about curing, healing and plants, but also about astronomy, building techniques, technology - arts and crafts in general.’
²¹

Narby was cautious about stepping outside his field of specialism. But was there really an ancient Egyptian equivalent of ayahuasca - and if so, what was it? Synchronistically, the Channel 4 television series,
Sacred Weeds,
went far in answering this question. This four-part series, first shown in August 1998, featured the use of natural hallucinogens in sacred practices such as shamanism. The final programme attempted to rediscover what some believed to be an ancient Egyptian ritual drug, the blue waterlily.

Although now very rare, this plant was commonly used both recreationally and ritually by the ancient Egyptians. It is frequently depicted in wall paintings and papyri, and even forms the design of the pillars of the great temple at Karnak. Egyptologists believed it to have been merely decorative, but the programme set out to determine if it had a psychoactive effect, which may well have been exploited in ancient Egypt. Interestingly, the lily was specifically associated with Ra-Atum. Seeing the way the plant flowers, shooting a long stem out of the water which then bursts into an open flower, it is easy to see the symbolic association with Atum’s bursting forth from the primeval waters.

As tested on two volunteers, an extract from the blue lily proved to have the suspected narcotic effect. Towards the end of the programme historian Michael Carmichael, an American living in Oxford who is a specialist in the shamanic use of psychoactive plants, discussed the possibility that, in higher doses, it could be used to induce shamanic experiences.

We contacted Carmichael, who worked with R. Gordon Wasson, one of the pioneers of research into the shamanic use of drugs (see Chapter 5). He told us that there is abundant evidence for the use of psychoactive drugs in ancient Egypt, saying, ‘there are so many that I don’t know where to begin’.
²²
Several are mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus (c. 1500 BCE, the oldest known medical text in the world). They are known to have included opium (imported from Crete), mandrake and cannabis. The psychoactive substances used by ancient cultures, including Egypt, have been studied by several researchers. Little if anything of this has found its way into the Egyptological literature because of its characteristic extreme conservatism.
²³

Several other scientists and researchers have studied the shamanic practices of ancient Egypt and their use of psychoactive drugs. They include Benny Shanon, a cognitive psychologist and philosopher at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Carmichael agreed emphatically with Narby’s observations that useful information can be gained by shamans in their ecstatic states, from communion with otherwordly entities. He told us:

But what are the entities? Are they ‘real’, or elaborate constructs of the shaman’s mind? Carmichael pointed out that this question involved the whole philosophical and metaphysical argument about the nature of reality itself, and was probably unanswerable. We suggested that one test of the reality of the shaman’s experience was whether the knowledge he acquired actually worked - which, as we have seen, it most assuredly does. Carmichael agreed.

Turning to the question of the inexplicable knowledge of the ancient Egyptians, Carmichael - who is well acquainted with the ideas of the New Egyptology - told us:

So what are the entities? Nature spirits, the gods, a dramatisation from the shaman’s subconscious mind, somehow personifying information picked up by ESP or even DNA? Or could the shaman really be in contact with beings on some far-off world?

Jeremy Narby told us: ‘I guess this is what your average Amazonian shaman would testify: travelling in his mind to another planet.’ He referred to the paintings of an Amazonian shaman, Pablo Ameringo, who depicts the things he sees under the influence of ayahuasca, saying:

Although such scenes and entities may well not originate from another planet, no one has all the answers. It will probably turn out to have a much more complex - and stranger - explanation than a straightforward extraterrestrial hypothesis. But it may be significant that Whitley Strieber has described similar visions of ‘golden cities’ and exotic otherworldly structures.
²⁵
Similarly, the Space Kids, while in hypnotic trance induced by Puharich, also described alien cities. Does this imply that their experiences were basically shamanic? And - at least in the case of the Space Kids - was it the result of a deliberate experiment to induce shamanic experiences?

On the other hand, could the shamanic experience really be of extraterrestrial origin - or is such a question meaningless? Narby says:

Not everything in the shamanistic experience is beautiful, though. Narby warns:

Even highly trained shamanistic initiates can encounter not just evil, but also trickster spirits. Perhaps this should be a warning to those amateurs who believe that they are in touch with the gods.

The evidence of shamans and mystics suggests strongly that there is a stargate and it is possible for individuals to step through it into a magical otherworld. But it is not a physical device like the rippling vortex machine of the movie. Just as Michael Harner’s internal journey brought him face to face with animal-headed gods so reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian deities, so it seems each of us already possesses the means to meet the gods. Perhaps this is what the Hermeticists - the much later initiates of the old mystery schools - meant when they taught that man is a microcosm of the whole universe. It is interesting that Dale E. Graff, the man who was not only director of the US Army’s remote viewing STAR GATE project, but also chose its highly evocative name, wrote:

No teacher, priest or guru can locate the stargate for us, so our quest for it and its mysteries, if we care to look for it, may be long and hard. The problem is that many find it easier to listen to those who promise to deliver the stargate already neatly packaged and temptingly ajar, and to invite mighty ineffable beings to step through it to inspire us with awe, enliven our dull existence and make us feel special, chosen - until we realise that in coming through they have slammed shut the ultimate prison door through which there is no escape. The beings who come as gods may not exist beyond top-secret rooms inside government buildings or in the fevered imaginings of channellers. But even if they do come from distant star systems, we have a right to defend our minds against what is dangerous and corrupt.

If we are right, then this warning does not come a moment too soon. If we are wrong, then we still have time to learn to be proud of our humanity - and find the stargate for ourselves.

 

 

With the greatest firework display the world has ever seen - and an unprecedented outbreak of good behaviour - Millennium night came and went, leaving only sore heads and slightly depleted bank balances in its wake. The celebrations, although memorable and hugely enjoyable, had not turned into rioting, violence and anarchy as many had predicted. No cults rose up to commit either mass homicide or suicide; Jerusalem did not erupt in fiery fanaticism of any sort, neither did American militia groups attempt to overturn the government. Even the dreaded ‘Y2K Bug’ failed to wipe out the world’s computers, destroying civilisation as we know it. No doubt to the disappointment of some, we woke on 1 January 2000 to a world that looked pretty much the same as it did the day before.