Atlantis: : Ancient Legacy, Hidden Prophecy

by John Michael Greer

Llewellyn Publications

A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive • Woodbury, MN 55125-2989 2007, 257 pages, $21.95 (US), $25.50 (Canada)

ISBN: 978-0-7387-0978-9

Reviewed by Brent Raynes

A practitioner of magic, an occult scholar and the author of more than a dozen books on esoteric subject matter, John Michael Greer saves the instructions on meditation and techniques for psychic perceptions at the end of the book, in its appendix. There he describes how Albert Einstein and quantum physicist Fred Alan Wolf explained that time is an illusion. He cited Edgar Cayce’s Atlantis rising in the Atlantic Ocean in 1968-69 as a prediction that may have been more symbolic than literal, but effectively sparked our collective imaginations.

The rest of the book wades thoughtfully and heavily into the documented details surrounding the legendary Atlantis. Greer begins logically with Plato’s philosophical dialogues known as Timaeus and Critias. This is our earliest account of the Atlantis story. He points out that Plato’s Atlantis was pretty much a city-state that was about as technically advanced as the Greek city-state Plato himself lived in. It wasn’t a place of powerful crystals, airships, pyramids and space-age technologies.

Greer describes how one Ignatius Donnelly’s Atlantis: The Antediluvian World, published back in 1882, became an overnight best-seller and ignited our modern fascination with Atlantis. Since then the tale of Atlantis has been penned by many different authors and many different versions have been written up. Greer describes a trail of dubious and conflicting evidence and shaky logic, with both true believers and debunkers alike.

Greer plows through the evidence, describing the contributions made by many different personalities, including Helen Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Richard Shaver and many, many others. Motion pictures have also contributed to the popularity of the Atlantis legend in modern times. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy incorporated the Atlantis legend in his storyline, referring instead to the famous continent as Numenor.

Greer delves into all of the different stories and theories, ponders their strengths and weaknesses, examining the global stories of floods, theories of comets and meteor impacts, how ice sheets collapsing can cause flooding and methane hydrate eruptions from the ocean bottoms, etc. One aspect of much confusion and frustration are the many different diverse locations described as Atlantean sites by the believers. Greer does cite Andrew Collins’s Gateway to Atlantis, which looks at the Bay of Batabano, southwest of Cuba, as a possible site for Atlantis that doesn’t really conflict with the original Plato account (unlike the sites proposed by many others). Nonetheless, Greer admits he isn’t completely convinced that Collins’s theory is right either.

So the author presents well a large body of the so-called hard facts of this enduring mystery, from which no author has yet of course been able to bring closure. No shame to be had there, that’s for certain. So in the end, Greer offers us techniques to explore the controversy psychically, which though interesting to read, does not sound like any sort of promising avenue by which we may arrive at any solid conclusions in this matter.

I’m not completely convinced that this book ended as best as it could have, but the body of evidence, interpretations and speculations were carefully and thoughtfully laid out and compiled.

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FAR OUT: 101 Strange Tales From Science’s Outer Edge

by Mark Pilkington

Disinformation Company Ltd.

163 Third Avenue, Suite 108 • New York, NY 10003

2007, 236 pages, $11.95 (US), $14.50 (Canada) • ISBN: 978-1-932857-87-0

Reviewed by Brent Raynes

The author begins in the introduction of his book by explaining that it contained tales of science that once were, a science that might have been, as well as a science that should never have been, or even might yet be.

A small pocket sized book (5 ” X 5”) that contains a small wealth of information, it is certainly a handy little reference for us unconventional, alternative types who are easily amused and intrigued by things “far out.” In addition, covered in this booklet are such diverse titles as Nikola Tesla and Universal Energy, Electronic Voice Phenomena, Orgone: The Cosmic Pulse of Life, Ectoplasm: A Sticky Business, Junk DNA, The Stigmatics, Pet Predictions, The Death Ray, etc., etc.

In clear, easy to read print and with photographs and illustrations, this is a stimulating and thought-provoking read.

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DVD

Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement

An Alex Jones Film

Edited by Robert Jacobson

The Disinformation Company Ltd. • 163 Third Avenue, Suite 108 • New York, NY 10003

2007, DVD 140 mins. (+34 mins. Bonus footage),

ISBN: 978-1-932857-99-3

Reviewed by Brent Raynes

Alex Jones, a nationally syndicated radio talk show host and documentary filmmaker, has produced some 17 different video documentaries exposing what he describes as the formation of a police state, the New World Order and government sponsored terrorism.

In “Endgame” Jones and his colleagues travel to Ottawa, Canada, as well as to Istanbul, Turkey, to document and publicize the hidden activities and secret summits of the elusive Bilderberg Group. Jones and his team describe the Bilderberg organization as a downright sinister movement of powerful and rich global “elites” who wish to establish and maintain a single world global empire.

Jones doesn’t paint a pretty picture. While I know that the world scene isn’t good, I sure hope and pray that Jones is inclined toward being a little paranoid and that the situation isn’t near as awful as he portrays in this documentary.