by Sanderson Beck
This chapter is intended as prolog and background to the study
of civilization
as it is known to us through historical records.
Since the evidence of human experience prior to recorded history
is rather limited,
what we can learn from this long period of
evolution and development
is mostly speculative and uncertain.
The issues are further complicated by the split I perceive
between
the archaeological work of skeptical scientists and the
psychic intuitions of clairvoyants.
The two groups discuss human
prehistory from such different philosophical premises
and perspectives
that they hardly seem to be aware of each others' theories
and
consequently rarely communicate with each other.
The scientists
search for all the physical evidence they can find and attempt
to devise theories
from the geological and biological records
and the few human artifacts that are discovered.
The clairvoyants
search within the spiritual realms for the soul records
and then
try to describe the consciousness they have perceived inwardly.
The most apparent links between these vastly different worldviews
seem to be the myths
and legends passed down to ancient peoples,
which can be found in some historical writings
and art and which
point to some of the more "far-out" ideas of the psychics.
Scholars discount most of these as imaginative flights of fancy.
But what is the imagination? and where does it come from?
The spiritual side points to the mystery of creation and the
miracle of consciousness
as evidence that we are spiritual beings
who transcend physical bodies.
Traditional science can theorize
about the creation and evolution of the universe
but cannot really
explain why the universe was created, by whom or what,
nor for
what purpose; nor does it know how or why
consciousness was created
or even what it actually is.
That which occurs in spiritual consciousness
without making its imprint in the physical realm
obviously will
not leave any evidence for those who only consider the material
facts.
Yet that which is perceived or imagined through psychic means
is difficult to verify,
and psychic distortion occurs rather easily.
Where psychics disagree, the results must be treated as speculation
that may be true or false;
but where there is broad agreement
from many clairvoyants with good records
in other areas of psychic
perception, and particularly when ancient myths
or modern scientific
theory can corroborate their testimony,
then I believe we ought
to take their ideas seriously.
What I will do in this chapter is to present both viewpoints
briefly in an attempt
to develop a synthesis, which I believe
could be true from both perspectives.
The readers are warned that
this chapter is the most speculative and uncertain in this work,
and I hope that possible biases will not prevent anyone from going
on
to appreciate the rest of the work, which is quite different
from this chapter.
However, these fundamental questions of our
origins may give us a helpful background to the
natural laws and
principles which later become a context for human ethics and civilization.
From the spiritual perspective the universe is usually considered
to have been created
by God with Spirit pervading the entire universe
while at the same time transcending
the physical in other realms
of reality often referred to as heaven.
The explanation of evolution
does not contradict the spiritual perspective
unless one takes
literally certain ancient myths that became scripture for some
religions.
Currently the most popular theory is that this physical universe originated
about 13.7 billion years ago in a tremendous explosion called the "big bang,"
which created in an instant all of the energy-matter which remains constant in this universe.
This beginning, which from the spiritual view could have been preceded by other events,
universes, etc., probably occurred according to evidence in 2003
about 13.7 billion years ago,
although there is a recent theory that it could have been much less than that.
How the galaxies, stars, and planets were formed is not precisely
known,
although gravity is what holds them together.
The atomic
structures of the chemical elements were formed in the intense
heat
and interactions within the early galaxies.
Some say that
there was a split between matter
and anti-matter into equal and
opposite portions.
The physical universe is still expanding, and
it is not known whether it will continue
to expand indefinitely
or whether the pull of gravity will cause it to begin contracting
and eventually to collapse back into itself.
"Black holes"
are very intense gravitational fields
which trap all energy-matter
nearby, even light.
Recent evidence indicates that there may be
a black hole
at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
Spiritual
theories suggest that these black holes may be "doors"
to other parts
of the universe or even to other universes.
The first law of thermodynamics is that the energy-matter
in
this physical universe remains constant.
The second law of thermodynamics
briefly stated is that entropy always increases.
To explain it
more fully: in the process of using matter and energy in space
and time,
some energy is always being lost as heat.
For example,
when organisms take in nourishment they are able to use it
in
keeping their bodies orderly and functioning, but the total amount
of order in the universe
actually decreases as some of that energy
always escapes as the less orderly energy of heat.
Our sun is about seven billion years old, and this Earth
was
formed approximately 4.7 billion years ago.
The center of the
Earth is packed into a solid inner core,
which is surrounded by
a liquid outer core; this is enclosed in a thick mantle,
which
is covered by the crust.
The coming together of the particles
by the force of gravity caused heat and melting;
this heat was
supplemented by the radioactive decay of uranium.
The heavier
molten materials gravitated to the center, while the waters and
air
of the hydrosphere and atmosphere may have condensed from
volcanic emission of gases.
The rocky crust formed into continental land masses,
while
water filled in the oceans over their constantly churning floors.
Although continental ages go back almost four billion years,
their
shapes have changed many times.
As the Earth cooled, heat was
released vertically through volcanoes.
The great continents and
oceans consolidated themselves about three billion years ago.
The one continent of Earth called Pangaea probably began breaking
up
about two hundred million years ago to separate gradually into
our modern continents.
The sea, as a reservoir of heat and cold,
acts as a global thermostat
to moderate temperatures on the Earth's
surface.
The spirit of the Earth was named Gaia by the Greeks,
and as a whole it possesses many of the characteristics of a living
organism.
The original atmosphere was most likely lacking free oxygen,
probably consisting of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
water
vapor, nitrogen, hydrogen, ammonia, and methane.
Complex molecules
and primitive organisms would have difficulty forming
with free
oxygen there to "burn them up" by oxidizing them.
Yet
the electromagnetism of atomic structures
enabled many energy
exchanges and combinations to develop.
Without an ozone shield
in the atmosphere, ultraviolet radiation from the sun
would disrupt
the genetic mechanism of anything that might be exposed on land.
Yet the radiation could release hydrogen from water that could
be used as energy
for an organic process in a molecule that might
thus come to resemble bacteria
by a photosynthesis that did not
produce free oxygen.
Radio astronomers have discovered evidence
of several organic molecules in outer space.
The structural pattern of the mineral kingdom had been established
when about four billion years ago a process began that would enable
physical entities
to take in energy, grow, replicate themselves,
and even evolve the genetic pattern of replication.
Because of
their ability to give and take electrons, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen,
and carbon
became the building blocks, along with elements such
as
phosphorus, calcium, and sulfur for energy exchange.
Stimulated
by solar radiation and somewhat protected under water, these elements
formed
into amino acids which combined together with peptide bonds
eventually to become proteins.
Self-replication requires an information
system, and in this case a molecular code
used deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) to communicate
the basic
chemical design of the various protein-building amino acids.
These
cellular messengers use four basic molecules as "letters"
linked in chains of three-letter "words" as a complex
grammar
of instructions for physical bodies to build and organize
themselves intelligently.
To grow, the first organisms needed energy or food.
At first
the energy of solar radiation was used in a photosynthesis
that
did not produce free oxygen.
Early cells, such as bacteria and
blue-green algae,
reproduced themselves simply by dividing in
two.
Yet the high-energy ultraviolet radiation of the time could
cause numerous mutations,
some of which proved to be improvements
in cell structure.
As bacteria-algae developed photosynthesis
that does release free oxygen,
then oxygen and ozone shielding
began to build up in the atmosphere,
lessening mutations from
radiation.
At this stage sexual reproduction involving the pairing of chromosomes and the division
of reproductive cells through meiosis enhanced variability
and the evolutionary process of natural selection.
This development of eukaryotic cells was probably reached
between one and two billion years ago and is considered the beginning of organic evolution.
Complex molecules had been organized into units bounded by a protective membrane
through which they could take in energy and nourishment and release waste.
Prokaryotic bacteria and blue-green algae never evolved cellular nuclei
nor sexual reproduction and are much the same today.
Through photosynthesis, oxygen eventually built up to its current
concentration
of about 21 percent of the atmosphere, which is
a homeostatic balance
between optimum metabolism and fire risk.
Some bacteria began to use this oxygen for energy and evolved
to become animals.
Single-cell organisms which reproduce by division
are potentially
immortal and static except for mutations.
By developing germ cells
of two types that could recombine,
sexual reproduction created
variability and interaction.
Large germ cells (eggs) containing
food materials could unite with small germ cells (sperms)
consisting
of a nucleus that could move well.
However, uni-cellular organisms
could only grow so big,
because volume increases faster than surface
area, thus limiting the food they could absorb.
About seven hundred million years ago, these cells began to
clump together in groups
or communities in order to produce larger
and more complex systems as sponges.
This evolutionary step of
group cooperation enabled cells to specialize and contribute
to
the whole organism by serving as protecting casing, digesting
of food, and eventually
sensing and conveying of messages.
Now
that germ cells could reproduce a similar but not identical organism,
that meant that the old organism would eventually be eaten or
decomposed by bacteria,
fungi, and viruses, and therefore die,
having been replaced by its new but slightly different offspring.
Roughly five hundred million years ago vegetation began to
colonize the land,
first as mosses and liverworts and then developing
into vascular plants.
Since vegetation needs only sunlight, water,
and carbon dioxide,
plants are not required to move from place
to place searching for food.
Thus they drew nourishment in water
or rooted in the ground
wherever sunshine was present.
Animals
evolved the ability to move with a mouth in front and waste disposal
in back.
Successful mutations and variable reproduction evolved
organs of sensing
to assist the organisms in finding food.
These
sense organs and their communication system naturally centered
in the brain at the head of the organism.
Hard bone cells were
found to give protection to the main line of the nervous system
and strength to the organism's structure.
Thus vertebrates and
fish evolved.
With more genetic experimentation mutated flippers
and fins were used
to push on the ground in shallow water, and
eventually legs and amphibians evolved
who crawled onto the land
about four hundred million years ago.
Amphibians depended on water to nurture the growth of their embryos.
After about one hundred million years or so, the shelled egg was evolved by the first reptiles,
enabling them to stay on the land permanently.
Reptiles primarily ate insects, which were living off the abundant vegetation.
Eventually some reptiles became herbivorous, eating tropical plants in aquatic environments.
Reptiles were very successful and grew in size.
As much of the land dried out, reptiles took prominence over the amphibians.
For well over one hundred million years dinosaurs dominated the Earth.
Although some of them may have been warm-blooded,
it seems that climatic change and temperature extremes may have led to the extinction
of the dinosaurs about sixty million years ago.
Crocodiles survived in tropical rivers and the smaller snakes, turtles, and lizards
managed to survive by burrowing or crawling into holes.
Even the large squid-like Ammonites that lived in the sea died out at this time.
Apparently large size, even with ferocity, was a liability
in adapting to the winter cold and summer heat.
Many scientists now believe that the weather changes caused by
the impact of a meteor brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Birds and mammals evolved ways to stabilize their internal
temperature.
Birds used feathers to keep warm and wings to escape
predators and search for food.
Mammals evolved fur to keep warm,
milk glands to feed their young,
and large brains for skillful
adaptability.
Warm-blooded species have physiological mechanisms
to circulate heat
and cool off in hot conditions, enabling them
to survive cold nights and warm days.
During the decline of the dinosaurs, the primitive mammals began to flourish and evolve
more complex forms to fill the ecological niches now available.
The remarkable evolution of flowers, fruit, nuts, and grasses
at this time improved the food supply for animals.
This stimulated early primates to evolve grasping hands, generalized teeth,
stereoscopic color vision, and a still larger brain for the climbing of trees and other skills.
The spiritual view is that all of this creation and evolution
occurs within the consciousness
of God according to the divine
plan.
Spirit pervades all of the creation by extending itself
invisibly into stars, planets, and living organisms.
Evolution
is the process by which Spirit creates opportunities for learning
and spiritual growth that are gradual to various levels of consciousness.
What can we learn from this evolutionary process?
Obviously life is not static but moves, and it moves in a direction of improvement
toward greater awareness and capabilities.
In these continual changes we need not become too attached to a particular form
because it is likely that we will outgrow it or use something better in the future.
Adaptability to the environment is the key to survival and success in this world.
The Earth has a long history, and our little epoch of recorded
history
is just a brief moment in the life-span of the Earth.
Yet the Earth is our home; and not having learned how to live
anywhere else permanently,
we need to preserve the health and
ecological balances of the living Earth, Gaia.
We are just one
creature living on the Earth's body, and we ought to respect the
others,
especially whales, dolphins, and other mammals whose experiences
are of great spiritual value to the conscious entities that inhabit
those forms.
How can we ever measure the gratitude we owe to this
wonderful and beautiful place
where we have been growing toward
conscious Godhood?
Where would we be if it hadn't been for all
of our ancestors and the Earth itself?
Before continuing the story of evolution with the primates,
let us consider their consciousness
so far so that we can understand
some of the basic instincts and motivations that all humans
still
share even though they may have been modified greatly since then.
Certainly we can see that all life-forms that have survived to
pass on their characteristics
to their descendants have very strong
survival and reproductive instincts.
For primates surviving means being able to function as a living organism
by breathing air for energy, regulating the body's temperature by drinking water,
finding and eating and digesting food for physical energy,
and being able to escape danger and early death from predators.
While the internal physiological mechanisms seem to be mostly automatic and unconscious,
the abilities to find nourishment and avoid danger are more conscious activities
because they involve interaction with the outer environment
by means of sensory perceptions and skilled actions.
The early primates, which later evolved into monkeys, apes, gorillas, chimpanzees,
and humans, began small like rodents.
When the Earth was mostly covered with forests, they were able to live in trees
by using their grasping limbs and digits and stereoscopic color vision.
Their brains were large enough to give them dexterity
in climbing, seeing food, grasping it, and avoiding dangers.
Their diet of leaves, flowers, fruit, insects, birds' eggs, and possibly nesting birds
did not require the specialized teeth found in most mammals.
Possibly the mammals' taste for dinosaur eggs
may have contributed to the extinction of the large reptiles.
In the trees vision became a more important sense than smell,
which is so well developed in other mammals.
The process of adapting
to climbing trees and jumping from branch to branch
must have
resulted in many casualties and deaths for those primates which
fell to the ground.
This survival of the fittest evolved more
brain capacity for vision and muscle coordination.
In this environment
that was less predictable than solid ground,
those that learned
how to be careful and skillful survived.
The ability to grasp
the branches with the feet
and what came to be hands was naturally
selected.
Upright posture also became preferable, and the skeletons began
to change
so that the backbone was more vertical and the neck
redirected in order to balance
the skull above it instead of projecting
the head forward as with four-legged animals.
The arms were able
to swing more freely, as those primates
who could swing from branch
to branch had an advantage.
The thumb began to oppose the other
fingers for good gripping,
and the skins of the finger pads became
very sensitive.
The nose became smaller and the eyes larger and
more sensitive to light.
With two eyes facing forward taking in
an overlapping field of vision,
primates developed sharp depth
perception.
The brain became larger even faster than the size of the primates
themselves increased.
This implies that they were probably much
like contemporary chimpanzees and apes
which are primarily social
and communicate with each other.
Sounds could be made to warn
others of dangers or to express jealousy or displeasure.
The need
to reproduce certainly made the sexual instinct quite strong.
Also since the offspring must survive to reproduce themselves,
the maternal instinct to care for the next generation was also
selected.
As the brain began to grow more after birth since the
size of the birth canal was limited,
the period of helpless infancy
and early learning through play was extended.
The genes of humans and chimpanzees, our closest biological
relative, are 98% the same;
it is estimated that our evolution
only began to diverge about eight million years ago.
Our ape-like
common ancestor, called Ramapithecus, lived in Africa and
parts of Europe
and Asia between 15 and 8 million years ago.
As
they began to use their hands more for defense,
the need for large
canine teeth diminished.
During this time the amount of forest
declined, creating open savannas.
In this environment the ability
to stand up and look around
was quite useful for finding food and perceiving predators.
Walking on two legs, these primates
could carry food or their young in their arms.
The ability to grasp objects in their hands enabled Ramapithecines
the opportunity to extend
their bodies by picking up a branch
or rock and brandishing it to scare off a predator.
Eventually
objects were used as tools to assist them in
digging for roots
or catching insects or for fighting off predators.
Naturally the
improved vision and mental adaptability
learned in the trees was
helpful on the savanna as well.
During a period of about ten million
years when declining rainfall and increasing deserts
separated
the forests of Africa from those of India and east Asia,
the shrinking
living space for the Ramapithecines must have caused the
estimated
twenty million hominids to become more social
in the three hundred
thousand or so separate bands.
By four million years ago what is now called Australopithecus,
meaning southern ape,
was walking fully erect such that the feet
were no longer
able to cling to branches or the fur of the mother.
Such infants required even more care and attention.
Australopithecus
stood about four feet tall, and the brain was still fairly small
compared to Homo sapiens, gradually increasing from 400
cubic centimeters to 700
for the tool-using Homo habilis
by one million years ago.
Apparently between about 2.6 and 2.3 million years ago there
was a cold and dry period
which stimulated greater adaptability.
The earliest tools have been found from this time and probably
consisted primarily of
sticks and stones, which were flaked to
make choppers, scrapers, gougers, and hammers.
Anthropologists
theorize that on the savanna the social organization of the family
developed
and perhaps also hierarchies of dominance with the males,
females,
and young sequenced in that order according to individual
strengths.
Australopithecines began to eat the meat of dead animals
that
they were able to find or steal away from other predators.
Eventually
they began to hunt live animals for themselves,
probably acting
in bands of mostly males.
At this time the males were about twice
the size of the females;
and as the hips became wider in the females
for a wider birth canal,
the males could also run faster.
At first
the hunters only attacked small game such as
birds, lizards, rats,
hares, tortoises, and young antelopes.
This change to meat-eating is a major shift in human evolution.
For more than a hundred million years primates had been vegetarians
and insect-eaters.
They did not have the specialized teeth of
carnivores for ripping and tearing flesh.
Their long digestive
tract was designed for plant food;
whereas carnivores have short
digestive tracts which
eliminate the meat residue out of the system
more quickly.
Humans still have difficulty digesting excessive
amounts of animal fats.
However, Australopithecus was able to
survive by eating red meat,
although this certainly put them in
enmity against many other animals.
Tools were probably developed
to enable them to tear through the tough hide
of young antelopes
and to smash open the bones to get at the marrow.
Hunters had
to be able to scare off scavengers such as hyenas, jackals, and
vultures,
and probably carried their meat into trees or rock shelters.
Gradual evolution from Australopithecus resulted in a Homo
erectus,
who was about five feet tall 1.6 million years ago,
and by a million years ago
the brain had grown to an average of
nearly 1,000 cubic centimeters.
Females were closer in size to
the males.
These early Homos spread north out of Africa
and Southeast Asia into
Europe and China about 900,000 years ago.
Tool kits began to contain hand axes.
With the wide variation in brain size the experience of hunting
and traveling over large
areas selected rather rapidly for larger
brains with more skill and memory capacity.
Successful hunting
requires patience, sensitivity of perception,
communication, and
group cooperation.
Homo erectus was the first primate to
share food regularly with other adults.
Hunting surely alienated Homos from other large animals as the act of brutal killing
selected individuals with this aggressive instinct.
Yet the complex planning and teamwork involved in hunting also stimulated
and selected intelligence if not compassion for other animals.
As the brains became larger, the infants developed more slowly,
requiring up to five years of parental care.
Primate evolution
had also moved away from litters of offspring and toward single
births
so that now it is rare for a woman to have more than one
child at a time.
This allowed for greater prenatal growth and
more special care from the mother after birth.
As the infants
required more care from the mother,
the mothers needed more protection
and help from a reliable male.
As the males went off bonding together
as hunting parties, the females were able to
gather plants locally
and prepare food, bonding with their children and each other at
home.
Homo erectus is the only mammal in which the estrus
period of procreation has
completely disappeared, so that the
female is not preoccupied by periods of intensive
male sexual
attention, which would be disastrous for the infants,
but instead
is attractive to the male at any time.
Also the erect posture
allows humans to copulate face to face.
Thus the sexual act becomes
less mechanical, quick and instinctive,
and more likely to be
an emotional experience.
As the brain and intelligence increased,
thought, feelings, and choice
became more available to early humans.
In other words, voluntary control of these instincts developed
so that the individual could
choose the partner and the time and
place for sexual intercourse.
As personal preference became more
meaningful,
male-female relationships could become more enduring.
Also as sexual activity could be chosen for its pleasurable qualities,
homosexuality became possible.
The ability to plan and think and restrain oneself
while hunting
prey affected other activities as well.
Inhibitions and prohibitions
regarding sex developed for social reasons,
as dominant males
expressed jealousy and prevented promiscuous relationships.
Concern
that the young become socially mature as well as sexually mature
before producing children may have led to incest taboos and delayed
mating
until the male was ready to provide for a family.
As different
groups hunted in competition with each other,
ways to avoid violent
and deadly conflicts between groups may have developed
such as
mating with members of other groups to develop emotional ties.
The first use of fire seems to coincide with the movement
of
early humans north into Europe and China.
Fire could be obtained
first from lightning strikes or burning oil from the ground
and
could be carefully kept burning.
Eventually means were developed
to light fires.
Fire gave humans more independence
and made them
considerably more threatening to other animals.
With fire they
could scare large predators out of caves and take them over for
homes.
Fire gave them light as well as warmth
so that they could
socialize and communicate more at night.
Fire also assisted tool-making
by sharpening spear points and so on.
Cooking improved the taste
and eased the digestion of many foods, especially starches.
Softer
foods put less strain on the jaw muscles
which gradually decreased
along with the molar teeth.
These changes accompanied a thinning
of the skull bones,
allowing for the selection of still larger
brains.
By 300,000 years ago Homo sapiens was hunting game
as big as elephants
and beginning to emerge with an average brain
size of about 1,100 cubic centimeters,
and by about 100,000 years
ago the current average of 1,450 was reached.
Certainly the use of fire made humans more domestic
as they
patiently prepared or waited for the cooked meals in their warm
homes.
As hunters developed signals into better communication
and returned to the family hearth,
the urge to share their experiences
with their families
must have stimulated the development of language
and storytelling.
The women surely also invented terms or verbal
expressions
to indicate objects and activities.
With small teeth
and an agile tongue many different sounds could be made
and distinguished
by their excellent hearing.
As memory increased, older members
of the families were valued
for what they could tell of the past
and earlier traditions.
Knowledge and skills could be passed on
from one generation to another.
Fire is also a powerful symbol
and could have been used in various rituals at night
to enhance
social cohesion and pass on traditions of hunting and other important
activities.
What have been called Neanderthals lived between 100,000 and 35,000 years ago.
Although only about an average of five feet tall,
their brains were a little larger than modern humans.
Found mostly in Europe they lived well into the last ice age,
which began about 60,000 years ago and lasted until about 11,000 years ago.
The need for vitamin D in the northern climates probably selected for
whiter skin which could absorb it better from sunlight
to prevent rickets of which many died.
Neanderthals are the first creatures known to have buried their
dead.
Evidence indicates that 60,000 years ago a man was buried
on a bed of flowers accompanied by a wreath of flowers.
Other
graves were surrounded by a circle of stones or goat skulls.
Remains
of an amputee and an arthritic man have been found,
indicating
that they cared for their disabled.
Other evidence reveals that
individuals may have been killed by weapons
or had their brains
eaten.
Their tools became lighter and more artistic,
but they
continued to hunt large game such as mammoths.
About 35,000 years ago a transition occurred
to the anatomically modern human called Cro-Magnon.
They began to follow the herds of reindeer, bison, mammoths, and horses they ate,
and tools became even more sophisticated using bone, antler, or a wooden tool
to press off small flakes from a flint core.
The stone burin tool was used to carve bone and antler into harpoons and fishhooks
as humans began to eat seafood.
The atlatl, or spear-thrower, was invented and more than doubled the distance
a short spear could be thrown.
Even more effective was the bow and arrow invented about 20,000 years ago.
By then fish traps were used to catch salmon in western Europe.
Social organization advanced as bands joined together to form
tribes.
Long houses were built for a community of several families.
Incest taboos and kinship rules no doubt were quite complex.
Cooperative
hunting on a larger scale
may have occasionally led to warfare
between such tribes.
Bone needles found as far back as 20,000
years ago indicate that
clothing from animal skins was increasingly
used.
The massive ice at this time must have lowered sea levels
by 250 to 500 feet,
exposing vastly larger areas of continental
shelf.
The human population of perhaps ten million spread throughout
the world,
including to America and Australia.
Tools and weapons were decorated with engravings of animal figures.
Pigments were used for cosmetics, and decorative jewelry such as pendants were worn.
Female figurines were designed out of bone and ivory;
and eventually these figures emphasizing female characteristics were shaped out of clay.
Inside caves paintings of animals were made; some deep inside the caves
were very skilled and were probably used for mysterious hunting rituals.
In order to do such painting, oil lamps must have been invented.
This art reached its height when the herds began to decline;
but the painting was discontinued about 12,000 years ago.
As the last ice age receded and the climate warmed up,
the
old hunting life-style seemed to change.
As human population increased
while the available animals for hunting decreased,
new sources
of food had to be found.
Experiments with the cultivation of plants
were to lead
to a new way of life and a new form of human culture.
Although we do not have specific events to evaluate,
by now
morality had become an important human concern.
We can hardly
judge the early primates for causing the extinction of dinosaurs
by eating their eggs, for they were merely following the instinct
to survive
with little or no awareness of the consequences of
their actions.
Yet some time between then and the beginning of
religion
as indicated in burial customs and art, enough consciousness
had developed to make individuals responsible for their actions.
When is the origin of ethics?
Is it when hominids were intelligent
enough to use tools
and could consciously kill another of their
own kind?
Is it when they could control their sexual urges enough
to make a choice as to their partner?
Is it when they felt responsible
for the raising of their offspring?
Is it when they depended on
the cooperation of others in their band?
From the spiritual perspective the soul is responsible.
When
the soul enters into an animal body that is evolved enough
to
offer it a valuable experience, the consciousness of right and
wrong
inevitably results from the awareness of choices.
When we
are consciously able to choose,
we are attempting to choose the
good and avoid the bad.
As the brains of the early humans became
large enough to give them this awareness,
then ethics had begun;
and I believe that this may have coincided with
the beginning
of souls embodying themselves in the human form.
What then was the ethics of the hunting and gathering cultures?
Certainly the violence of killing animals to eat their meat
not
only increased aggressive tendencies by natural selection but
also
became a socially acceptable way of behaving.
For more than
a million years humans were brutally killing
other mammals for
the sake of survival.
However, there is only a little evidence
that they were killing each other.
Murder, war, and cannibalism,
though they did occur, did not seem to be common then.
As with
most other mammals and so-called "primitive peoples,"
conflicts over territory
or sexual possession could usually be
resolved by threats and often
ritualistic confrontations that
determined without violence who would prevail.
Although these incidents probably did result in some hierarchical social structures,
studies of hunting and gathering cultures tend to show that members of the same band
cooperate by sharing their resources and looking out for each other.
Before the development of private property
people seemed to function more as a unified group.
Wealth was not hoarded by some while others were left to starve
or forced into slavery because there was no wealth to hoard.
Systems of kinship governed sexual relations with taboos
and various patterns of exogamy and endogamy.
Figurines of women emphasizing sexual characteristics were probably fertility symbols
and indicate worship of the feminine.
Before men organized force for wars, women were probably
closer to being equal partners than developed in later patriarchy.
Family became important and eventually extended to more distant relations in the clan.
Ironically the aggressive instinct of hunting was not turned against other humans much
until agriculture made hunting unnecessary but produced wealth and social hierarchies,
both of which eventually led to organized warfare.
Myths and legends from many different cultures refer to very
ancient continents
and their cultures that may have existed long
before recorded history.
The most prevalent of these are about
Atlantis,
which is said to have been in the Atlantic Ocean more
than 10,000 years ago.
However, long before that, esoteric tradition
tells of a large continent
in the Pacific Ocean area called Lemuria.
In oral traditions much can be indicated from names.
Lemurs,
like humans, are primates, and they live in trees.
Since Lemuria
is considered the most ancient place where early humans lived,
it might correlate with the Ramapithecines who were living in
trees in a warm climate
with abundant fruit and nuts, a veritable
paradise
without much knowledge of "good and evil" or
self-consciousness.
Some have placed the "garden of Eden"
in Lemuria.
Perhaps the "fall of man" symbolically refers
to the change in climate
that started
about 2.6 million years
ago
in the time of Australopithecus and led to meat-eating, hunting,
and killing.
Although many clairvoyants and esotericists have described
previous lifetimes
for individuals in Lemuria or Atlantis, probably
the psychic
with the best overall record is Edgar Cayce (1877-1945).
As I do not intend to try to prove anything in this discussion,
I shall limit the psychic evidence primarily to Cayce's readings
so that at least the esoteric view can be considered.
The Cayce
readings refer to human evolution
as the "gradual growth
upward to the mind of the Maker.
All souls were created in
the beginning,
and are finding their way back to whence they came."1
The Cayce readings state that humans appeared on the Earth
ten and a half million years ago
and refer to "projections
from the animal kingdom.
These took on many sizes as to stature
... from midgets to giants,
for there were giants in the earth
in those days—
men as tall as ten to twelve feet, and well-proportioned
throughout."2
According to Cayce early Lemurian development began about a
million years ago;
it was inundated by water and its peoples scattered
a half a million years ago;
then it was inhabited, and its civilization
advanced between 400,000 and 300,000 years ago;
a second Lemurian
catastrophe occurred 250,000 years ago, possibly by fire.
Numerous Cayce readings refer to Atlantis, which is said to
have emerged
about 200,000 years ago, which would correlate with
the beginning of a major ice age.
As the levels of the ocean declined,
much of the shallow continental shelf in the Atlantic could have
emerged.
The Cayce readings also refer to major events occurring
about 50,700 BC.
First there was a world conference of experts
to decide what to do about a problem with large animals.
Apparently
the methods chosen to deal with it using fire
and perhaps natural
gas from underground led to the first major catastrophe for Atlantis,
perhaps the final destruction of Lemuria, and the onset of another
ice age.
Cayce readings declare that the second period of cataclysms
for Atlantis
was about 28,000 BC and caused the already broken-up
continent
to sink with the exception of a few islands.
This catastrophe
is said to be the origin of the
Biblical flood and the deluge
myths of other cultures.
This seems to correlate with a major
interstadial
melting of ice in the middle of the last ice age.
However, the final destruction of Atlantis is dated by Cayce
as 10,600 BC
and correlates with the end of the last ice age,
which also could have been the source of many deluge legends.
Cayce described influences on the people in the Pyrenees and the
sending out of colonies
by those who foresaw the destruction to
Egypt and Yucatan where they built pyramids.
The Incas are said
to have been influenced by Lemuria.
Interestingly enough a map
of the most advanced sites involving Cro-Magnon
shows a concentration
on the Atlantic coasts of western Europe and along the rivers
that empty into the Atlantic Ocean.
Later during the Neolithic
period the megalithic tombs and temples such as at Stonehenge
were likewise concentrated on the western coasts of Europe, England,
and Ireland.
The Cayce readings tell many stories about Atlantean and Egyptian
culture
and the spiritual conflict between those who followed
the Law of One
versus the "sons of Belial," who were
more selfish and exploited animalistic people.
Most difficult
to reconcile are the descriptions of the advanced technologies
of Atlantis
that include virtually all our modern inventions including
airplanes, submarines, radio,
television, atomic power, lasers,
and even solar energies that we have not yet developed.
Given
the large gap between this and the level of technology
so far
uncovered by archaeologists for that period,
it is difficult to
believe these at this time, though perhaps eventually evidence
will be found.
The oldest texts referring directly to Atlantis are
by Plato (428-348 BC) in the Timaeus and Critias.
In those dialogs Critias gives an account he heard when he was
only ten
from his ninety-year-old grandfather, who heard it from
his father, who got it from Solon,
who heard it from priests in Egypt.
Critias admits his account
is unusual
but declares more than once that it is not a myth but
true.
Solon (638-539 BC) was so impressed with this story that
he was going to write
an epic poem about it but was unable to
complete it.
The Egyptians chide Solon and the Greeks for being
so young culturally
with little memory of the ancient times,
"for
you remember but one deluge, though many had occurred previously."3
The Egyptians claim that their civilization is 8,000 years
old
and that the Atlanteans were 9,000 years before the Egyptian
record.
The continent of Atlantis was beyond the pillars of Heracles
(Straits of Gibraltar)
and was larger than Libya (Africa) and
Asia together,
dwarfing in size the Mediterranean area.
The kings
of Atlantis ruled over many islands
and Europe as far as Tuscany
and over Libya as far as Egypt.
Solon, who was a great lawmaker in Athens, tells a story in
which
ancient Athenians are battling against Atlanteans, who have
become oppressive.
However, portentous earthquakes and floods
swallowed them all up in one day,
and the mud the island created
as it settled blocked up their passageway to the ocean.
Solon
associates Poseidon, the god of the sea, horses, and earthquakes,
with Atlantis and says that his son Atlas was the first king
and
ruled along with ten of his brothers and their descendants.
His
account also credits Atlantis with being wealthy and as technologically
sophisticated
as their own culture in using metals, chariots,
and sailing ships.
However, their destruction is brought about by the loss of
their divine qualities and virtue
as they succumbed to greed and
ambition.
Zeus, the god of the gods, is about to give a speech
calling for the punishment
of the Atlanteans when the dialog by Plato is abruptly cut off
unfinished.
Like Cayce, Plato
gives us an account of an advanced culture
that is destroyed because
of its spiritual and moral failures.
The other main classical source on Atlantis is the general
history
written by Diodorus Siculus in the first century BC.
This
Hellenistic historian described the Atlanteans
as living in the
regions on the edge of the ocean.
Their reputation excelled their
neighbors in reverence towards the gods
and in humanity toward
strangers.
The Atlanteans claimed that the gods were born among
them,
and Homer is quoted (Iliad
14: 201) where he said
he went to the ends of the earth to Okeanos,
the origin of the gods.
Diodorus then described the myths of their first king Uranus,
Gae, Basileia, Rhea, Hyperion,
Helios, Selene, Cybele, Marsyas,
Dionysus, Apollo, Kronos, and Atlas,
whose seven daughters are
associated with the stars of the Pleiades.
The Olympian Zeus,
whom he differentiates from the Zeus who was king of Crete
and brother of Uranus, overthrew his father Kronos and the Titans.
Gaining supreme power, Zeus traveled all over the inhabited world doing good
for the masses of people while punishing the evil.
After he passed on, his name was associated with the word "living,"
and he was enthroned in the heavens as god of the whole universe.
This account by Diodorus, though to be treated with skepticism,
nonetheless does explain why the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology
may have had such human characteristics in their
romances, jealousies,
and fighting with each other.
Although in the preliterate civilizations we find evidence of religion and warfare along with
the development of agriculture and metal technology, it is difficult to evaluate precisely
without knowing the actual beliefs, actions, and consequences of individuals and institutions.
The general pattern of the development of property, both private and public,
from the surplus value created by agriculture, crafts, and trade seems to have led in most
cultures to hierarchical social structures dominated by aggressive and successful males.
This exploitation whether by the force of arms or the persuasion of religion created social
and economic inequalities that were not so pronounced in the more “primitive” tribal cultures
which tend to share more and look out for each other.
How law, religion, philosophy, theater, literature, and other social institutions attempted
to remedy these inequalities and injustices will be the main challenge
of the literate civilizations we shall examine.
1. Robinson, Lytle, Edgar Cayce's Story of the Origin and
Destiny of Man,
p. 43: Case # 8337-D-276.
2. Ibid., p. 43-44: Case # 364-11.
3. Plato, Timaeus, 23b tr. R. G. Bury.
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