The Ancient Mystery of Antarctica | Grand Theories
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the rich history of polar mythology, exploring the enduring fascination with the Arctic and Antarctic as mythical lands of giants, hidden civilizations, and lost paradises. From ancient Greek tales of Hyperborea to modern conspiracy theories, the narrative traces the evolution of these ideas across centuries, highlighting their influence on literature, science, and the human imagination. The script also touches on the scientific exploration of these regions, debunking some myths while acknowledging the enduring allure of the unknown that these icy frontiers represent.
Takeaways
- 📜 The Genesis 6:4 verse speaks of giants in the earth, a concept deeply rooted in myth and influencing interpretations of the world.
- 🌐 The North and South Poles have long been associated with mystery, serving as blank canvases for mythology, legends, and fiction.
- 🗺️ Early explorers and thinkers like Pythius of Massalia and Greek historians contributed to the development of polar mythology and the concept of Hyperborea.
- 📚 The term 'Hyperborea' was used to describe a land beyond the north wind, with varying interpretations ranging from a paradise to icy regions.
- 🌟 The Greek astronomer Geminus of Rhodes and others like him contributed to the understanding of the polar regions and the concept of a magnetic mountain at the poles.
- 📖 The works of ancient paradoxographers, who recorded or invented wondrous claims, influenced the perception of polar regions and their place in global imagination.
- 📚 The Renaissance period saw the Arctic depicted as a divided land with a central whirlpool and magnetic mountain, influenced by Arthurian legends and Ptolemaic cartography.
- 🌍 Theosophy and other esoteric beliefs in the 19th century, such as those of Helena Blavatsky, introduced the idea of lost polar civilizations and a sunken Arctic paradise.
- 📖 Modern interpretations of polar mythology have shifted towards science fiction, with authors like H.P. Lovecraft and Jules Verne contributing to the genre.
- 🔍 Operation Highjump and other explorations of the poles have fueled conspiracy theories and modern myths about hidden lands and ancient civilizations beneath the ice.
Q & A
What is the significance of Genesis 6:4 in the context of the script?
-Genesis 6:4, which mentions 'giants in the earth in those days,' is significant because it introduces the concept of mythical, fantastical beings that have influenced interpretations and mythologies across various cultures and historical periods.
How does the script relate the North and South Poles to mythology and human imagination?
-The script suggests that the extreme and uninhabited nature of the North and South Poles has made them blank canvases for human imagination, serving as settings for mythology, legends, and fiction. These polar regions are seen as the literal fringes of the earth, where fringe ideas and pseudo-histories persist.
What is the origin of the terms 'Arctic' and 'Antarctic'?
-The terms 'Arctic' and 'Antarctic' come from the Greek 'arktikos' and 'antartikos,' respectively, both derived from 'arktos' meaning 'bear.' The association with bears comes from the location of the North Star, Polaris, and the prominence of the constellation Ursa Major in the sky.
Who was Pytheas of Massalia and why is he significant in the context of the script?
-Pytheas of Massalia was a Greek explorer who is credited with being the first to write about the Arctic ice and the mysterious land he called Thule. His accounts were influential in shaping the ancient Greek understanding of the far north and contributed to the development of polar mythology.
What is the significance of the term 'Hyperborea' in ancient Greek mythology?
-Hyperborea, in ancient Greek mythology, referred to a land beyond the northern wind, often described as a paradise. It was associated with the Hyperboreans, a race of beings who were sometimes depicted as giants and were believed to worship Apollo in spherical temples.
How did the concept of a hollow earth evolve over time, as mentioned in the script?
-The concept of a hollow earth evolved from early theories like that of John Cleve Symmes Jr., who proposed the earth is hollow and habitable within, to more modern interpretations that blend science fiction and conspiracy theories, often involving ancient civilizations or alien life forms.
What is the Heflin Manuscript and how does it relate to polar mythology?
-The Heflin Manuscript is a purported document containing ancient alien theories about seven fantastical cities created by alien life forms in Antarctica. It contributes to the polar mythology by combining elements of ancient fantasies, eastern mysticism, and UFOs, suggesting that Antarctica was once a tropical paradise colonized by these beings.
How did the Operation Highjump and Admiral Richard E. Byrd's statements influence polar conspiracy theories?
-Operation Highjump, led by Admiral Richard E. Byrd, aimed to map Antarctica and prove it was a single landmass. Byrd's statements, particularly his radio announcement mentioning the 'great unknown' beyond the pole, fueled conspiracy theories about secret discoveries or unknown enemies in Antarctica.
What is the significance of the 'Rainbow City' in the context of polar mythology?
-The 'Rainbow City' is a concept from the Heflin Manuscript, described as the original cultural center of Earth, constructed of massive colored plastic blocks. It represents the idea of an ancient, advanced civilization in Antarctica and is a modern restatement of older theories about polar cities.
How does the script explain the modern fascination with pyramids or lost cities in Antarctica?
-The script suggests that the modern fascination with pyramids or lost cities in Antarctica is a continuation of older myths and legends, displaced from the Arctic to the Antarctic. These urban legends are fueled by the continent's last mysterious region status and the human mind's tendency to create its own stimulation in the face of vast, empty landscapes.
Outlines
📜 Biblical Giants and Polar Mythology
The paragraph discusses the biblical reference to giants in Genesis 6:4 and how interpretations of this verse have evolved over time. It explores the association of giants with polar regions, particularly the North and South Poles, which are seen as the Earth's final frontiers. The narrative delves into the mythological significance of these extreme locations, which have been used as settings for legends and fiction due to their lack of native history and civilizations. The paragraph also touches on the influence of these polar regions on the imagination, with references to ancient Greek beliefs and the concept of Hyperborea, a land beyond the North Wind.
🛶 Pythius and the Search for the Arctic
This section focuses on Pythius of Massalia, a Greek explorer who is credited with providing the first detailed account of Arctic ice and ice flows near a mysterious land he called Thule. The text discusses the controversy surrounding the exact location of Thule, with estimates ranging from the Orkney or Shetland Islands to Iceland, and even the Arctic ice itself. The paragraph also mentions the skepticism of later Greek historians like Polybius and Strabo, who regarded these accounts as fiction, and the influence of these tales on subsequent writers and thinkers.
📚 Myths and Paradoxography
The paragraph delves into the genre of paradoxography, which involves the recording or invention of wondrous claims, often set in distant lands. It discusses the works of ancient paradoxographers like Tiffany and Antonius Diogenes, who wrote about fantastical tales set in the polar regions. The text also mentions the impact of these works on later writers, such as the Roman writer Lucian of Samosata, who parodied these tales in his own satirical works. The paragraph highlights the enduring influence of these stories on the perception of the polar regions and the development of polar fiction.
🗺️ Mapping the Arctic and the Quest for Thule
This section discusses the various attempts to define and map the Arctic, from the ancient Greek concept of Hyperborea to the medieval and Renaissance interpretations of Thule. It mentions the works of Claudius Claudianus, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and Dr. John Dee, who argued for England's claim to the Arctic regions based on the supposed conquests of King Arthur. The paragraph also touches on the influence of cartography, such as the Mercator map projection, and the development of theories about the Arctic's geography, including the idea of a magnetic mountain at the North Pole.
🌍 The Arctic in European Esotericism
The paragraph explores the influence of esotericism on the perception of the Arctic, particularly the ideas of theosophists like Helena Blavatsky and Rene Guenon. It discusses the synthesis of scientific and religious assumptions with mysticism, and the belief in lost continents like Hyperborea, Atlantis, and Lemuria. The text also mentions the impact of these ideas on later spiritualist movements and the popularity of concepts like the hollow earth theory and the search for the mythical city of Shambhala.
📖 The Hollow Earth and Polar Fiction
This section delves into the history of the hollow earth theory and its influence on literature, particularly the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Jules Verne. It discusses the narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym and the concept of an ancient civilization in the Antarctic, as well as the later works of H.P. Lovecraft that modernized polar mythology. The paragraph also touches on the popularity of these themes in American pseudoscience and fiction, and the enduring appeal of polar myths and legends.
🛰️ Operation High Jump and Polar Conspiracy Theories
The paragraph discusses the United States Naval Antarctic Developments Program, also known as Operation High Jump, and its impact on polar mythology. It mentions the statements made by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd Jr., which fueled conspiracy theories about unknown lands beyond the poles. The text also addresses the influence of figures like Amadio Giannini, who promoted the idea of an infinite earth and the existence of a secret land beyond the South Pole. The paragraph highlights the persistence of these theories and their roots in earlier myths and legends.
🏔️ The Reality and Myth of Antarctica
The final paragraph addresses the reality of Antarctica and its geological history, which supports some of the ideas proposed by earlier theorists. It discusses the existence of a landmass beneath the Antarctic ice and the continent's past as a tropical region. The text also debunks modern claims of pyramids and lost cities in Antarctica, attributing them to natural formations and the human mind's tendency to create patterns. The paragraph concludes by reflecting on the enduring nature of polar myths and the magnetic reality of the poles.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Giants
💡Polar Regions
💡Mythology
💡Pytheas
💡Hyperborea
💡Theosophy
💡Operation Highjump
💡Conspiracy Theories
💡Polar Mythology
💡Hollow Earth Theory
💡Antarctic Treaty
Highlights
Genesis 6:4 mentions giants in the earth, a concept that has inspired various interpretations and mythological associations.
The North and South Poles are considered the final terrestrial frontiers and have been a canvas for mythology, legends, and fiction.
The Arctic and Antarctic regions have been seen as a menagerie of mystery and truth, with a pseudo-history of ideas once respected.
The word 'Arctic' and its antipode 'Antarctic' have Greek origins, with associations to bears and the North Star, Polaris.
Ancient Greeks hypothesized an equal frozen region to the far south, which became known as Antarctica.
Pythius of Masalia was the first Greek sailor to explore Northern Europe and write about the Arctic ice and ice flows.
The concept of Hyperborea, a land beyond the northern wind, was both a paradise and a source of fiction in ancient times.
The Roman historian Tacitus reported a Roman fleet sighting Thule, which became a point of contention and fiction in later periods.
The philosopher Plato and Aristotle theorized about the Arctic and its southern mirror, influencing later writers and paradoxographers.
The Renaissance period saw a resurgence of interest in the Arctic, with explorers and cartographers contributing to its mythology.
The 18th century saw the French examining the Arctic through both critical and fictional lenses, with works like Casanova's 'Icosamaron'.
Theosophy, a 19th-century spiritual movement, incorporated elements of polar mythology, including the idea of Hyperborea.
Theosophist Helena Blavatsky proposed a cataclysmic history of the world, with Hyperborea as a real continent destroyed by a flood.
The concept of an ancient Arctic continent has persisted in modern pseudoscience and conspiracy theories.
Operation Highjump, led by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd Jr., aimed to map Antarctica but was cut short due to weather.
Conspiracy theories about the poles, including secret bases and ancient civilizations, continue to circulate in popular culture.
Modern scientific knowledge has revealed that Antarctica was once a tropical landmass, lending some credence to theories of ancient polar regions.
The North and South Poles are seen as both the origin and end of the world, with a unique tradition of rejected knowledge throughout history.
Transcripts
genesis chapter 6 verse 4 begins
there were giants in the earth in those
days
it's a verse famous for its notoriety an
element of almost alien mythology
turning up in the foremost pages of the
bible this wording here from the king
james version
an inspiration that there were
fantastical giants on or maybe in the
earth according to these scant few
references across the early pages of
scripture interpretations differ in the
extreme
but as a total image of the world grew
these giants fell away myth falls away
to undiscovered country
or as the bible says the stranger comes
from a far country what countries are
further than the ice bound north and
snow bound south the icy lands at the
north and south pole are the final
terrestrial frontiers frontiers make
good settings for mythology legends and
fiction
no surprise the north and south poles
are white canvases to be drawn upon the
extreme poles have no natural
civilizations they have essentially no
native history and thus they seem to
have no past
the arctic and antarctic can act like
literal ice boxes of mythology symbols
and ideas
tradition for short
maybe there in the earth there are
giants
perhaps
the image of the polar regions is then a
menagerie of mystery and truth a
pseudo-history of ideas once respected
that were dummied out from popular
consciousness
the literal fringes of the earth keep
fringe ideas alive in their icy vaults
the arctic regions seem like the veil
between the bonds of the earth and the
promise of space and the pole star
beyond
despite its inhospitability mystics east
and west have long described the color
of the arctic as a verdant green
it is a fertile field in imagination the
poles have their own associations the
attraction of the north and the
repulsion of the south
the furthest land that is what the
greeks called the ends of the earth
in the first century seneca the younger
wrote his play medea a tale of the
legendary sailor jason's spurned wife
medea a princess of the far-off country
of colcus
on stage cetica's chorus proclaims this
to the audience
there will come an age in the far-off
years when oceans show unloose the bonds
of things when the whole brought earth
shall be revealed when tethys shall
disclose new worlds and tool not be the
limit of the lands it is called seneca's
prophecy it may be the earliest use of
the term new world or worlds here seneca
speaks about a land beyond the northern
tule or thule a land regarded as
everything from a paradise to a place of
empty night throughout history
this is the mystery of the furthest
lands
and the world beyond even that
[Music]
the word arctic and its antipode
antarctic come from the greek arcticos
derived from arctos for bear in greek
the association with bears comes from
both the northern regions and the north
star polaris location to the north
the prominence of ursa major in the sky
lent its positive association of
strengths to the north
in opposition the ancient greeks
hypothesized an equal frozen region to
the far south antarctica
the greek root is antarticos or
anti-artic
antarctica held both negative linguistic
and magnetic associations in contrast to
the northern arctic
arctos was a vague concept in antiquity
the term boreal was preferred to gesture
to northern regions greek mythology
spoke of a hyperborea or a land beyond
the northern wind quite literally the
term hyperboreos meant pertaining to the
regions of the far north hyper meaning
far here
while often described as a paradise
beyond the north wind the actual content
of hyperborea was disputed between
stories and regions
some took it to be a paradise where the
tribes of hyperboreans worshipped apollo
in spherical temples others assumed it
was the icy regions of scandinavia
either way
since hyperborea was unreachable those
empty limits were filled by fiction
the first to challenge or provide father
for the fiction of the north was pythius
of masalia
he left an important book from around
330 to 320 bc
on the ocean
now lost the later references attested
was a treatise on the ocean and an
account of his expedition
as a greek explorer of lowly obscure
origin he was hailed and derided as both
liar and hero
why was he the first greek sailor to
prod northern europe well pythius was
the first to write it down and he was
also the first to circumvent the
carthaginian monopoly in the western
mediterranean sail beyond the pillars of
hercules strait of gibraltar and break
the bonds of the atlantic
pythius delivered to greece the first
report of arctic ice and ice flows near
a mysterious land he called tule or
maybe pronounced thule or thule or tile
there are many possible pronunciations
the greek astronomer geminus of rhodes
preserved one excerpt from pythius's on
the ocean where he claimed it seems that
these messelia came also to these far
northern regions at least he says in his
treatise on the ocean
the barbarians showed us the place where
the sun sets for it happened that in
these parts the night becomes extremely
short sometimes two sometimes three
hours long so that the sun rises a short
while after sunset
where in what was this tool or thule
it was clearly northward an unclear
frontier region but obviously an island
of some kind
pythius claimed his tool was six days
sale north of britain and near the
frozen sea
a description that gives the exact
location of tulle some flexibility
conservative estimates place pythius's
landing among the northern orkney or
shetland islands north of britain or
scotland liberal estimates believe he
sailed as far as iceland
the most extreme and likely impossible
claims believed pythius reached the
arctic ice itself
the placing of this tool will become a
controversy throughout antiquity and
even into the late roman empire
later greek historian polybius and
geographer strabo did not believe these
claims from on the ocean they regarded
it as outright fiction on the level of
the hyperborean tales
plenty the elder's natural history from
the mid-first century takes a more
neutral tone than them on the topic of
britannia it reports the most remote of
all that we find mentioned is hull in
which as we have previously stated there
is no night at the summer solstice when
the sun is passing through the sign of
cancer well on the other hand at the
winter solstice there is no day
here the location becomes metal again as
the natural history locates tulle in
some reachable distance of the arctic
sea
at one day's sail from tule is the
frozen ocean which by some is called the
cronian sea
the roman historian tacitus would report
a roman fleet sighted thule but by the
end of the first century tacitus's thule
was likely not the same as pythius's
tool
or the idea of what tool exactly was
by then the island was abstracting into
complete fiction in the pythian or
pythian odes 500 years earlier pindar
prior to pythius had skewered this
controversial north with the line but
neither by taking ship neither by any
travel on foot to the hyper-boring folk
shalt thou find the wondrous way
the philosophers reckoned with these
hyperborean folk both plato and
aristotle's earths accounted for the
arctic and its southern mirror both
theorized the far north and far south
should be the coldest regions on the
planet
though both also claim the equator would
be uninhabitable due to intense heat
either way plato in aristotle's world
view made it a ready habit to attack the
fiction writers and
paradoxographers who regularly inflated
claims of northern wonders
the paradoxographers were a kind of
writer in the ancient world who recorded
or invented wondrous claims their
regular settings being distant lands
hard to prove or disprove due to their
distance
one point of contention was the reality
of hyperborea
herodotus well known for
indiscriminately recording any claim in
his histories repeated the hyperboreans
lived northward of the scythians in the
asian steppe and kept griffins which
guarded gold
supposedly
aristotle counted this by saying these
griffins were simply vultures who
hoarded gold
and the more extraordinary hekatius
abellas according theodoros of sicily
reported the hyperboreans were a titan
race descended from the titans of
olympus
perhaps giving them the proportions of
giants due to their bloodline but
descriptions of the hyperboreans vary
if the skeptical hecateus believed any
of these extraordinary claims is unclear
these stories were repeated by later
writers though intermixed with elements
of actual truth
such strange distortions can be
attributed to the ancient greeks
distaste for pure fiction as it were
ancient fiction had to be prefaced with
some element of pseudo-history in either
setting or character paradoxographers
laundered wonderful tales as history to
avoid the bias against pure fiction or
to just make a buck on the global public
an intermingling which would long color
the perception of the polar regions and
tiffany's of virga was the most
notorious of the ancient
paradoxographers regarded as a
questionable tale teller even during his
life and tiffany's name became
synonymous with unbelievable stories
in the 4th century bc he published the
apista or unbelievable things
a major document of the
paradoxographer's genre of fantastical
tales
the lost and tiffany's apista presented
his stories as undeniably true which
lent them an heir of credibility
because of that his apista was
referenced as legitimate and parodied
for centuries after his death
the main derivative of antiphony's
apista was antonious diogenes the
wonders beyond tool from the 2nd century
a.d
a pseudo-historical romance about
fabulous adventures beyond ultima tool
into the realms of sun and moon
unfortunately the wonders beyond tool is
lost too
a common issue which repeats here much
of the writing and writings that
reference each other are lost
the wonders beyond tool remains only in
synopsis by the christian photios of
constantinople
antonius through a complicated story
within a story in his novel claimed his
work came from ancient sources recovered
from stone tablets
it was likely sarcastic sarcastic or not
the roman writer lucian of samosata
antonius's contemporary would parody the
wonders beyond tool with his own
adventures beyond tool the true
histories
otherwise known as a true story it is
obviously not
lucian was well known for his sarcasm
the issue with lucian's story is the
material it is mocking unbelievable
things and antonius's the wonders beyond
thule are lost so scholars are somewhat
lost in interpreting it either way the
true histories was intended as an
extended parody of the paradoxographers
like pythius account it commences with a
journey beyond the pillars of hercules
into the atlantic
and next involves phenomenal events as
varied as ascending to the heavens
through a whirlwind wars between the
peoples of the sun and the moon and
journeys to the islands of paradise
which involve meeting both homer and
odysseus
it concludes with the promise of a
sequel which was never published another
swipe by the ancient post-ironic lucian
at the gullibility of the public
how fictional factual or historical and
tiffany's antonius and lucian intended
their works to be is its own issue
it seems to have mattered a little to
later writers many took them unknowingly
or very well knowingly as fantastical
fact
they would cohere as a very early core
of polar fiction in imagination
by the fourth century the latin poet
claudius claudianus known today as
claudian was referring to tool
we wither so ever thou goest thee we
will accompany even as far as tool lying
icebound beneath the pole star or to the
burning sands of libya
tool or thule here is still inconsistent
and vague claudius seems to take tool to
be a poetic name for scotland as he goes
on to say it was warm with the blood of
picks and next refers to an ice-bound
hibernia ireland
the reference was confusing for later
scholars of this polar mythology
so by the end of the fifth century and
collapse of the roman empire tu ultima
was not much better defined
hyperborea became thule which was still
vaguely gestured to as simply the north
the inward focus of the middle ages
would end polar interest in earnest for
about the next thousand years
only north exploration and colonization
of iceland greenland and finland would
skirt the hem of polar regions
scholars though in the period would
settle on the identification of tulle as
on the edge of the known world probably
iceland or beyond that
the english chronicler geoffrey of
monmouth attested a tool under the name
atlas which he wrote of receives its
name furthest from the sun because of
the solstice which the summer sun makes
there
a cohesive effort to define the arctic
only resumed in late 1570s with the work
pretenici imperia limits or limits of
the british empire
a mystical and fantastical manuscript
fitting for the british alchemist
sometimes con artist dr john d a
favorite of queen elizabeth
why d argued for the british empire's
rightful claim to the arctic regions
how d produced his own claim that king
arthur yes the king arthur of camelot
himself had conquered the arctic giving
england a rightful rule of the north
while these claims seem baseless and
they essentially were in fact john d was
well learned and connected enough to
produce an actual argument for his
position
it bordered on forgery perhaps but was
competent enough for what he desired
these three major sources were the work
of previously mentioned jeffrey of
monmouth and summaries of two mysterious
14th century works inventio fortunata
and justi
arthur's achievements sometimes also
known as arturus justin
inventio fortunata was a description of
the north pole and that just day arturi
was an account of king arthur's
colonization of the north pole
dee claimed that england's enemies left
purposely vague by him had destroyed
these works because of their importance
to the country
dee believed england had rightful rule
to the entire atlantic arctic circle at
the least
which included iceland perhaps known as
tool groenland a phantom island which d
assumed to be greenland wyland or
winelandia an anglicization of the norse
of inland estariland or northern canada
in some respect atlantis which
de-equivocated with the americas the
septentrano islands an old name for the
north atlantic isles which included
svalbard and perhaps as far east as
novaya zemlya and russia
these regions have imprecise names and
are essentially phantom islands because
d derived them from the cartography of
the time
all these claims were produced anyways
so england could lay claim to the
northwest passage a supposed trade route
rumored to circumvent north america via
arctic waters for asia
where did dee acquire these summaries
though
from a source no less reputable than
gerardus mercator himself of the
mercator map projection the dutch
cartographer exchanged now damaged
letters with d around 1577 it was
mercator who introduced d to the
questionable descriptions of the
inventio fortunata which mercator
claimed to have read
but only in summary
yes in summary mercator's information
was itself a summary of a summary dee
had developed theories from what was
literally third hand information
mercator did not have any copies of
either enventio fortunata or just
dayartori those had been lost by the
1500s what mercator had read was a
summary which he had also lost after he
loaned the book out to a friend
his excuse was literally i lost my copy
he accredited it to a mysterious
personage named jacobus or jacobus noyen
an older edition of knox of herzogenbush
who as mercator related travelled the
world like john mandeville but described
what he saw with better judgment he
wrote in the belgic belgian language
the ideas about the northern regions
which some time ago i extracted from him
follow word for word save for where the
sake of brevity or speed i have
translated into latin one if not always
his words i have retained his meaning
jacobus was a legendary traveler like
the fictional john mandeville who
traveled europe asia and africa but not
the arctic
that jacobus wrote about from the
inventio fortunata which according to d
was actually by a wandering english monk
from the 1300s jacobus had just cribbed
his description from the monk's writings
the inventio fortunata is the greatest
and most persistent work of
paradoxography it is from which mercator
and these descriptions of the far north
arrive
due to the proclaimed source material
the renaissance arctic was filled with
cliches of far offland's common and
medieval european historiography
dee's arctic is a divided land a ring
divided into four unequal portions
divided by in-drawing seas or channels
between them
the lands crusted with impenetrable
mountains surrounded a massive whirlpool
often called a maelstrom and a mountain
at its exact center the in-drying seas
and whirlpool were believed to circulate
the earth's waters
d perhaps influenced by arthurian
legends of a magnetic castle in the
north notes that the mountain at the
center is made of lodestone mercator
describes it in latin as the rupes negra
or black rock then a common but now
forgotten trait of adventure stories
these black rocks or magnetic mountains
were believed to pull the nails from
boats
renaissance cartography inspired by
ptolemy placed one at the north pole to
account for why compasses were drawn
north
mercator and d were not the first to
publish such ideas
in 1507 the flemish cartographer
johannes roysh published his map of the
world
royce's map followed the design of a
mountainous expanse for separated lands
in drawing seas and a northern magnetic
mountain
so similar if not the exact same as d's
royce though named these four lands
eronfe hyperbori europe and insula
deserta
the two insula deserta essentially mean
insular desert or wasteland which were
uninhabited russia's hyperbore europe
was the greek hyperborea and connected
to scandinavia iranfei is the most
mysterious of royce's creations unlike
the rest of the map it has no clear
origin in history or mythology
and later adopters of his ideas so
perhaps d and mercator believed it was
inhabited by a race called aramaphe or
aramfi
perhaps equivalent to the legendary
one-eyed aramasby said to be the enemies
of the hyperborean griffins
so maybe these were giants too it's kind
of hard to tell what his intentions were
the mercator d maps then perhaps
inspired by russia's ideas included
their own inhabited regions of the
arctic
both giants and pygmies featured in d's
1580 map the mystic believed beside
english colonists left over from king
arthur there were ancient cities
scattered across the north pole
homes of fantastic peoples among the
mountains in his own version of oromfay
the inspired by infertile fortunata
declared the northern reaches of
grokland or groenland greenland were
inhabited by men 23 feet tall though
never directly called giants by d
the parallel is obvious
d also declared that pygmies or tiny
peoples inhabited this north
these pygmies though may be more factual
than his 23 feet tall people a
possibility is mercator misinterpreted
the scralings of inland as described in
norse accounts as small people
these populations which mercator
explained to dee john d then mistook to
live in the far north dee's north pole
was a very lively place
all of this was questionable in the end
even for the time
most doubted the manuscript of inventio
fortunately ever existed
but inventio fortunata seems to have
been real in some form
other european scholars of the era
independent of d and mercator such as
battalion de las casas referenced the
work as trustworthy to some degree the
existence of jacobus neuen of
herzogenbush is questionable though
whatever the first form of the material
later known as invento fortonata it was
likely originally brought to norway in
the 13th century by a refugee from
greenland
its contents became distorted until they
ended up in the hands of mercator and d
this image of the arctic persisted well
into the 18th century
by 1701 the london periodical the
athenian mercury was answering why does
the needle and the sea compass always
turn to the north with the most received
opinion is that there is under our north
pole a huge black rock from under which
the ocean issueth in four currents
answerable to the four corners of the
earth or four winds which rock is
thought to be all of lodestone so that
by a kind of affinity it draws all such
like stones or other metals touched by
them towards it
in the 1700s the french would be the
first to examine the arctic in both a
critical and fictional lens
the european adventure giacomo casanova
would write much about the arctic in a
fictional side of his memoirs ikosamaron
1787
a tongue-in-cheek tale about the inner
earth beyond the arctic and its strange
inhabitants in which casanova adopted
ideas from the renaissance
interpretation of the arctic beside
being one of the earliest tales of
hollow earth fiction casanova's eco
samaran involved an entrance to the
inner earth through the northern
maelstrom
it was an early fantasy of a jungled
inner earth akin to jules verne's later
1864 novel journey to the center of the
earth
there was much scientific interest
directed towards the arctic by french
intellectuals the early naturalist
george luis leclerc de cal de buffalo
would propose a theory on the natural
creation of the earth outside religious
scripture the count de beaufol's
scientific theories accounted for the
creation of the arctic bouffant believed
as the hot earth-cooled post-creation
the arctic would have been the first
region inhabited by life
while buffalo's theory simply theorized
life would have first emerged in the
inhabitable arctic regions buffalo's
contemporary young sivan bay elaborated
on it as fact bailly was a prominent
french revolutionary leader of the
tennis court oath and later mayor of
paris
though jean souvent bei's arctic
theories seem far from scientific today
bay's ideas combine buffalo's cooling
earth hypothesis with his own concept of
ancient astronomy bay proposed these
speculations in works such as a history
of ancient astronomy 1775 discourse on
the origin of the sciences and peoples
of asia 1777 and a treatise on indian
and oriental astronomy 1787
while not as extreme as later ancient
advanced civilization theorists jealousy
von bay's theory of ancient astronomy is
the early model for them essentially
they believed all major civilizations of
the world egypt chaldea meaning
mesopotamia here china and india were
descended from a single mysterious
perhaps advanced according to some
source civilization how did he reach
this conclusion bailly believed
astronomy his specialty the most ancient
science was first developed by a lost
civilization all science culture and
religions were derivatives from that
civilization
after its destruction according to
bailly's conclusions its descendants the
ancient scythians step tribes migrated
south and established cultures in
eurasia where did bei locate this lost
original civilization in siberia on the
arctic rim directly according to him on
the 49th degree around scandinavia bay
believed mentions of the hyperborean
paradise were memories of this lost
civilization hyperborea he also
confabulated with a true atlantic
atlantis believing they were one in the
same ancient memories simply intermixed
them
now highly questionable jealousy
lombay's ideas were competent enough for
the time though marred by speculation
with little back in fact while bae's
ideas withered on the vine his
conceptual influence did not the
parisian intellectual kept up a
correspondence with his countrymen the
philosopher voltaire
voltaire was not convinced of bay's
belief in a northern garden of eden he
was though convinced by bailly's
concepts in abstract as challenges to
establish scholasticism
mainly the catholic church's insistence
of humanity's origins in the middle east
as wherever the garden of eden was
located
a tenant martin luther had already
challenged during the protestant
reformation with the declaration the
deluge great flood had permanently
hidden the gun by changing the face of
the world bae and voltaire both believed
that reason instead of religious
traditions could locate the true origins
of humanity unfortunately bae was
guillotined during the reign of terror
before he could convince voltaire of
anything much
voltaire had after all already declared
prior to bailly in 1761 that it was
india which was home of the most ancient
and purest religion in the crater of all
civilizations
the existence of india and china
complicated the question of human
origins in europe
it was voltaire's indo and cynophilia
which led him to locate the origins of
civilization on the banks of the ganges
not the euphrates or nile river voltaire
like bailly believed in astronomy as an
original science
in voltaire's schema astronomy and
culture spread outwards from india it
was a theorem which will tear his
influence and the enlightenment would
spread his brief time in prussia in the
court of king frederick the great would
proliferate this idea to his prussian
contemporaries and through them later
german philosophy
in the quest for the garden of eden
metaphorical or not early german
philosophy found the perfect union of
religion science and philosophy
the prestigious name brought to the
question of human origins ignited a
search many later giants of philosophy
would venture their own guesses
immanuel kant would broach the question
of human origins in his philosophy
lectures while he never produced a
concise published theory
kant seemed swayed that humanity
originated in tibet
the mountains of tibet were as kant put
it mankind's ark his logic was that as
the biblical flood receded the first
civilizations would have emerged in the
tibetan highlands as voltaire with india
kant believed all primordial culture
spread out of tibet he went further than
voltaire and contemplated that the
original tibetans had populated the rest
of asia and then the world
looking for biblical foundations the
philosopher believed the hebrew
patriarch abraham of the old testament
was equivalent to the hindu brahma
simply because they rhymed
then while not the garden of eden
exactly kant's tibet was the original
civilization in his ideas
moving slightly to the west kant's
student johann gottfried proposed his
own theory of human origins besides his
notes on kant's ideas
herder agreed humanity originated in the
asian highlands but he believed the
garden of eden was in kashmir herder's
cashmere theory was based on the concept
humans would have first emerged in the
mountains he supported this idea by
claiming that a central east asia shown
the greatest human racial diversity of
the old world that to era suggested all
of humanity diverged from the
populations of the area herder's beliefs
then would create a very early basis for
later biological research into human
origins
hegel yes that hegel proposed his own
religious interpretation of human
origins hegel's theory boiled down to
the idea that human religion emerged in
the far east developed as its bred
westward then was fulfilled in the
religion of the prussian state remember
he was a prussian
philosopher hello saw chinese taoism as
the basic magic religion of humanity
from which all religion grew in varying
forms the development of religious
complexity in hegel's philosophy was a
chain one could follow back to human
origins basically across eurasia
what do these german divergences have to
do with the arctic or antarctica con er
and hegel's ideas by way of french
influence would clear the ground for the
science of comparative mythology
a scientific craze that would sweep
europe and the americas around the
mid-1800s
nowadays comparative mythology is more
literary than scientific but it was an
early field of anthropology
the belief cross-referencing mythology
and symbols could help create a
scientific view of history mainly
through reconstructing primitive myths
in its conceptual phase it was believed
to be a critical field to finding the
origins of humanity while an interesting
process it was a faulty questionable
tool based mostly on speculation
it resulted in some strange conclusions
european discovery of antarctica in the
1700s then the rush for the arctic in
the later 1800s would not help
the most famous advocate with the most
bombastic theory was reverend william
fairfield warren in 1885 with his book
paradise found the cradle of the human
race at the north pole
a 500-page argument advocated nothing
less than the origins of humanity at the
north pole
his theory was far less absurd for its
time than it appears now though william
f warren was not a nobody either but the
first president of boston college
he developed his ideas well before the
hypothesis of continental drift and
believed there was a frozen tropical
continent below the arctic ice so he was
working on some different logic than
scholars are today
warren proposed this submerged eden was
equivalent to the ancient greek
hyperborea all mythological references
to earthly paradises or foggy cultural
memories of this land and all
mythological symbols of spears and poles
unknowing references to the magnetic
poles of the earth even proposed
mythological giants were if the first
men were of the stature and strength and
longevity is supposed how certainly
would traditions of the fact linger in
the memory of mankind long after its
exile from its earlier and happier home
an attempt perhaps to explain away
earlier references to giants in the
north and give an origin to the garden
of eden
geographically
warren's paradise found made sense for
the 1800s then
he believed humanity had descended down
the sides of the globe and across earth
warren's book did have some what would
be called today scientifically founded
information
one was his belief in land or ice
bridges as he quoted another authority
in this field writing of the theory that
continuous land once connected europe
and north america at the north
another was warren's belief in the
importance of migrations and human
prehistory and radical shifts in global
climate regions though somewhat extreme
in his vision
even writing a poem on his somewhat
fantastical environmental
interpretations when the sea rolled its
fathomless billows across the broad
plains of nebraska when around the north
pole grew bananas and willows and
mastodons fought with the great
armadillos for pineapples grown in
alaska
paradise found would quickly fall out of
the public consciousness despite its
limited appeal but decades later would
re-emerge as a major document of the
intellectual fringe
so warren's book briefly refocused
arctic interest in the united states
but in europe the arctic was coming
under mystical eastern influence
this was due to the indology and german
philosophy after extended contact with
asia in the 1800s
the european oriental societies which
sprung up were importing and translating
large amounts of hindu and buddhist
scripture cross-pollination between
these ideas would produce a very strange
intellectual mixture
the first modern philosopher to broach a
mystical interpretation of the arctic
was the french proto-socialist charles
foyer freya's utopian beliefs called for
total harmony across the world which
would bring about total equality
once accomplished foie believed this
harmony would turn the arctic and
antarctic into a boreal and austral
crown of the earth perhaps meaning the
aurora borealis would reign over the
world for thousands of years
this popular european utopianism of the
early 1800s would mix with the growth of
spiritualism and faux eastern mysticism
as the 1800s went on
it was mainly the influence of tibetan
buddhism translations of the kala chakra
tantra and other mystical buddhist
scriptures would popularize dharmic
cosmology and european thought
but as asia became more reality and less
a fantasy this buddhist magic as it was
symbolically and literally called was
focused in other directions often as an
alternate or challenge to established
churches
the practice of comparative mythology
would dig its teeth into the
classicalism and buddhist mysticism in
vogue at the time
the importance of the north and south
pole in european esotericism emerges
here relying on the kala chakra tantra
scholars began to examine the ancient
helnick view of the world against the
buddhist image
one topic of importance was mount meru
or the axial mountain of the hindu and
buddhist universe
mount meru according to strings of
dharmic literature is the mountain at
the center of the sifa dipa or white
island deepa also translated as
continents sometimes mount meru in the
civil depa according to some sat at the
center of the four or seven lotus
petal-shaped continents of the world
it was at the head of lake onotata
awandit which was the source of the
world's water a black mountain above a
maelstrom at the center of a white
island it may or may not have actually
been black though
european mystics and scholars associated
mount meru with the rupus negra or
magnetic mountain of medieval
renaissance lore
here was a strong bone of comparative
mythology later mystics declared that
these myths and their varying
translations were drawn from the same
source
the traditions of yamashivan bay's
so-called ancient civilization were soon
revived in questionable spiritualist
circles
the overflow of religious information in
europe would run off into this chic
spiritualism of the mid and late 1800s
the amalgamation of the theosophical
society was a result in 1875
beliefs promoted by the russian mystic
helne petrovna blavatsky a synthesis of
scientific and religious assumptions of
the 19th century coupled with outright
mysticism chris riley describes the
patrick's spiritualism of theosophy
wisdom of god as a spiritual location of
byzantine complexity theosophy may be
understood as unique bricolage of
spiritualism ancient mythology eastern
religion and the legendarily turgid
mystical novels of edward bowler linton
most of the time demean balotsky's
incites a simple parlor room buddhism
but her pseudo-spiritual theosophy was
the next link in the chain of odd polar
beliefs blavatsky adopted strains of
comparative mythology between east and
west to account for her cataclysmic
history of the world according to
blavatsky's visions legendary continents
like hyperborea atlantis and lemuria
were all real each inhabited by
different age of humanity though maybe
not humanity as biologically understood
today
she believed each age of humanity was
destroyed by a cataclysm like the
biblical flood the first two were the
polarian on mount meru and hyperborean
which according to bolvatsky was the
arctic which in ages past surrounded the
original ocean on the top of the world
this arctic ring continent once again
dee's medieval lore re-emerges here was
blavatsky's equivalent to bayes original
civilization
which she claimed was the same as the
hindu period of man ventara or a
imperishable sacred land this distorted
hyperborea was the sunken eden of
theosophy
as jocelyn goodwin described bolvatsky's
hyperborea is ambiguous in this regard
it is geographical being situated at the
north pole yet it is immaterial meaning
that one will probably not find it if
one looks for it with their mortal eyes
blavatsky's synthesis was impactful for
better or worse theosophy would cohere
into the first major branch of european
esotericism in the 19th century it was
not without later opponents who sought
to preserve other pre-modern forms
the second branch of european
esotericism would come from the
controversial pen of the french mystic
rene guenong
going on was a constant critic of the
theo's office even penning the attack
the theoso historia
theosophy history of a pseudo-religion
his attacks on fads of spiritualism and
faux buddhism were common advocating his
perennial philosophy above debased
mysticism as he saw it
whale's beliefs in tradition of east and
west veered more towards the symbolic
but not without their indulgences such
as a belief in the subterranean paradise
of shambhala
similarities between granola's
metaphysical tradition and blavatsky's
theosophy are due to drawing from the
same source materials
goyal's writings on tradition as he
called it are complex close system but
one of his own making based on the bones
of things like mythology mystical
literature and some forms of hinduism
why not look towards the arctic through
the ever popular lens of the late 1800s
to him meru the axial mountain should be
equated with the symbolic polar axis
meru was the common center of the world
or the seven divas which surrounded the
white land he regarded common
conflations of atlantis and hyperborea
as pointing towards the primordial
traditions of the north atlantic though
granola never exactly specified if he
believed them to be literally real or
simply symbolically real a symbolic
spiritual well which all cultures drew
from a western equivalent to hinduism in
india
one of gwynell's famous popularizations
was the equivocation of greek
mythological eras gold silver bronze and
iron with the hindu yugas or ages
universal periods of rise and decline
though here modified to guenor's own
symbology he overlaid the eastern
cyclical universe of reincarnation on
the western linear timeline of creation
and apocalypse
no consensus would be reached on these
ideas but bolovatsky and gwynel were
consequential in their own rights
one of blavatsky's disciples was the
russian orientalist helena rarick and
her husband the artist always in exile
nicholas rarick friends of the
theosophical society at its peak though
not exactly followers of the doctrine
nicholas rarick was well known in the
early 1900s for his own tibetan
buddhist-derived mysticism and paintings
of central asia which you have been seen
taking a distant note from immanuel kant
the couple went searching for the
origins of humanity in tibet and
attempted to find the mythical buddhist
city of shambhala a secret pure city
which existed either in tibet or inside
the earth itself
they found nothing but nicholas rarick's
artwork and helena's writing did much to
mystify buddhism in the west
the raric family's wake was tangible in
europe america and asia
in india emerging indian nationalism was
receptive to the sympathetic orientalism
of europeans
belgangadar talaq one of the fathers of
modern india would do much to nativize
the myths the west had projected on to
india
in 1903 he published the arctic home in
the vedas it is exactly what it sounds
like
a theory of northern arctic genesis from
an indian perspective
callak quoted heavily from william f
warren's paradise found and he was much
convinced by warren's hypothesis
to add to this chillac contributed his
own symbolic mythological analysis of
the vedas hindu holy scripture to the
conclusion
combed hindu scripture for references to
a primordial arctic paradise
mainly in references to northern
paradises and long nights he even
identified the arctic as the original
home of the anthropological indo-aryans
statements which would soon be
politicized
as noted balganda heart was not a fringe
intellectual born of the first leaders
of the indian independence movement
his influence would be very
consequential across both spiritualism
and politics
theosophy and perennial philosophy were
a potent mixture in the political
radicalism of pre-1940s europe
in italy a theosophist by the name of
arturo orgini an early neil pagan of an
authoritarian bend would introduce later
self-described super fascist julie
savola to gwen all's works evola would
adopt some of gwynell's concepts but
diverge in his own belief after falling
out with rodini a menagerie of fringe
concepts would fuel evolve's mystical
militaristic ideological beliefs
a hyper right-wing mysticism opposed to
theosophy's spiritual left wing if one
can even apply such terms here
wherever diverged was in his open
incendiary political involvement his
grounding belief in an ancient arctic
continent where lived the first humans
in a society based around a warrior cast
it was much the same in germany where in
1918 the notorious tool society was
founded esotericism racialism and
fascism would mix to world-changing
results the nazi and antarctica myth has
been covered elsewhere though the major
promotion of a chilean diplomat post
world war ii miguel serrano a man so
taboo and perplexing nothing sufficient
can be said about him needless to say
serrano's beliefs no matter how
confounding were an offshoot of this
polar mythology in a strange strange
form
in the united states the polar
traditions found a better home in early
pseudoscience and fiction rather than
mysticism like in europe the border
between both was blurry there the old
world obsession provided plentiful raw
material for american writers
on april 10th 1818 john cleve sims jr
published his number one circular it
proudly declared about the earth to all
the world i declare the earth is hollow
and habitable within containing a number
of solid concentric spheres one within
the other and that it is open at the
poles 12 or 16 degrees i pledge my life
in support of this truth and i'm ready
to explore the hollow if the world will
support and aid me in the undertaking i
ask 100 brave companions well-equipped
to start from siberia in the fall season
with reindeer and slaves on the ice of
the frozen sea
i engage we find a warm and rich land
stocked with thrifty vegetables and
animals if not men on reaching one
degree northward of latitude 82 we will
return in the succeeding spring
endearingly absurd and basically
pseudo-scientific even at the time
but sims circular is one of the earliest
documents advocating a scientific hollow
earth theory
it was predated by the german priest
athanasius kirkers mundus subterraneus
subterranean earth in 1664 and the
english scientist edmund haley in
philosophical transactions of the royal
society in 1693
kirker's work proposed a subterranean
land which circulated the earth's waters
and winds
he also thought dinosaur bones were the
bones of giants there again are giants
haley an influential thinker was the
first to propose the concentric earth
model or the idea the interior of the
earth is like a nesting doll with
multiple earths
it's unclear if sims read either volume
either way he never got his expedition
though the united states congress
entertained the idea for a brief moment
though never accepted as mainstream
sim's proposal was a fringe fantasy for
authors to chew on
edgar allen poe would come to learn of
sims hollow earth theory by way of sims
companion the editor jeremiah and
reynolds
poe tackled the mysterious pore regions
in his only novel the narrative of
arthur gordon pym of nantucket 1838
a tale of the cursed descent to the
south pole aboard whaling ships through
impossible cannibalistic tribes strange
weather phenomena and to the oceanic
wasteland of antarctica itself
before the postscript alludes to
southern antarctic civilization arthur
gordon pym encounters a gigantic
shrouded figure in the antarctic fog
it has never made clear what the figure
is due to the cliffhanger ending but it
can only be assumed poe was alluding to
the myths of giants in polar regions or
the figure was some sort of unknowably
vast ancient ruin
in his 1897 french fan sequel to the
narrative the sphinx of the icy regions
jules verne describes the figure as a
sort of sphinx of ice this sphinx at the
center of the south pole is highly
magnetic and pulls metal towards it it
is that which traps and kills arthur
gordon pym
a modern form of the rupus negra or
magnetic mountain in fiction
the trope of unknowably ancient polar
civilizations would enter the mainstream
decades later by way of the antarctic
fringe in hp lovecraft's at the
mountains of madness
1936
which would modernize polar mythology
away from the fantasy of giants to the
science fantasy of aliens
though the story was predated in concept
by lovecraft's own 1921 short story the
nameless city though that takes place in
a desert
at the mountains of madness is about an
expedition to impossibly vast antarctic
city of the decayed elder things and
their chagas servitors
it would become the later model of
ancient alien science fiction stories
well-read it is doubtless lovecraft was
familiar with bae's original
civilization the symbolic darkness of
antarctica and his own admitted
influence from poe
lovecraft's influence on the antarctic
mythology was immediately obvious
in the 1940s the self-proclaimed true
account the heflin manuscript supposedly
began to circulate containing early
ancient alien theories the manuscript
was about the seven cities of antarctica
seven fantastical cities created by
alien life forms sometimes called
martians or the celestial ancestors of
humanity antarctica which they colonized
when it was a tropical paradise is
referred to in writing as motherland of
the world
it's a shadowy interplay of everything
from ancient fantasies of hyperborea
william f warren's polar paradise this
time imposed on antarctica to
blavatsky's faux eastern mysticism
it's all present in the heflim
manuscript alongside ufos
one of these cities was referred to as
the rainbow city for its rainbow design
because it was constructed of massive
colored plastic blocks
this rainbow city was the original
cultural center of earth but is
surrounded by impenetrably high ice
walls there's your flat earth connection
it can now only be accessed by
subterranean tunnels which connect the
seven cities
subterranean tunnels and ancient
antarctic cities of course be major plot
points of lovecraft's at the mountains
of madness
rainbow city itself is a largely
original concept but one could point to
earlier mythological associations of
rainbows and paradise its plastic
construction seems an idea purely out of
the 1940s united states though
the identity of the heflin manuscript
author is unclear the heflins who
supposedly first privately published the
manuscript are obscure
they appear to have existed but if they
actually had anything to do with this
rainbow city myth is unclear and seems
unlikely
by now all this modern paradoxography
should sound rather familiar
it repeats itself
so step away for a moment
in 1946 1947 american naval officer rear
admiral richard e byrd jr attempted to
put a conclusive end to the mystery of
antarctica in the united states naval
antarctic developments program 1946-1947
better known today as operation high
jump high jump was bird and supporting
officers effort to map antarctica the
main objective beside establishing a
scientific base in antarctica was to
prove the polar continent was one
singular landmass
a question which byrd's earlier
expeditions to marie birdland named in
honor of his wife had been unable to
conclusively answer
though in february 1947 the operation
would be canceled and recalled due to
intense antarctic weather the event
would be popularized in the american
consciousness by the 1948 documentary
the secret land which chronicled the
research operation high jump and the
secret land of antarctica
the secret land the documentary would
establish for bird a reputation as the
greatest latter-day american explorer
though unfortunately now rather
forgotten in popular consciousness
rear admiral bird's statements on radio
and in papers would prove a ready fodder
for mysticism and conspiracy
in his radio announcement from
antarctica on february 1947 at the
conclusion of operation high jump bird
declared i'd like to see that land
beyond the pole that area beyond the
pole is the center of the great unknown
then upon his return to united states
added the present expedition has opened
up a vast new land
believers in polar fringe theories
taking this to suggest bird had
discovered more in antarctica than was
obvious either some greater land mass or
discovery of an unknown enemy there
neither is true
the idea misconstrues birds other
parallel warnings from the secret land
and contemporary interviews about polar
warfare in a hypothetical future
conflict a topic that highly concerned
bird
this land beyond the pole and vast new
lands to which birderford is the
region's operation high jump was unable
to explore due to early cancellation
bird would later return to antarctica in
1955 1956 anyways with the international
expedition operation deep freeze one
the land beyond the pole myth would
remain popular though the largest
proponent of this land beyond the pole
was one f amadio giannini seemingly no
relation to the american banking magnet
of the same name an incredibly bizarre
but influential figure in early american
conspiracy circles who believed in what
was essentially an infinite earth his
own pet theory
prior to birds sitting out with
operation high jump janine warned bird
that upon moving beyond the south pole
his plane would be sucked into another
world
rear admiral byrd ignored giannini but
amadio giannini did not ignore bird
later in 1959 giannini would publish his
thesis world beyond the poles physical
continuity of the universe to explain
his infinite earth theorem
it did a poor job but it perpetuated
several ingrained myths around operation
high jump and the arctic
giannini though he contradicts himself
in the book described his belief that
space yes the space in the sky was part
of the earth
all the planets were other land masses
on the universal ocean in his view earth
was like two infinite planes that met at
the poles
maybe or maybe it was a sort of tube
one could travel to other planets by sea
or air someone then could then cross
this boundary by moving across the poles
janine's theories were confounding
exceeding even the logic of flat earth
and it's unclear if they even made sense
to him
his earth maybe looked something like
the interior of a hollow candle with a
celestial and terrestrial surface the
atmosphere or space between them it's
hard to parse
beyond the book's perplexing
descriptions it went on to popularize
several myths about the reality of the
north and south pole
or simply became fodder for other
experts
all of genie's claims are questionable
he was only entertained by the public
because paranormal magazines such as
flying saucers found him amusing
one of janine's assertions was bird had
made a secret expedition to the north
not south pole in 1947. there he reached
beyond the known limits of the earth
it never happened it was another bit of
the man's fiction like infinite earth it
seems giannini conflated bird's
controversial 1926 north pole flight in
1946 1947's operation high jump
others later in the 1960s would assert
genini was correct by pointing to a
supposed secret diary of bird from 1947
but this was a forgery bird had
published his own explorers diary but
only one
this second diary which records a
mystical experience in the north pole
was written by a walter siegmeister
their references to sigmeister as a
member of the german fool society but
this is bunk
siegmeister a russian jew and later
naturalized as raymond w bernard was a
new age mystic
the scene in the second secret diary
where byrd meets a secret master
straight out of theosophy at the hidden
land beyond the pole is an almost 141
rip-off of a scene from the 1937 film
lost horizon
a movie where a british agent on an
accidental expedition meets a high llama
in the lost tibetan city of shangri-la
with all the interest in reinvigorated
global exploration at the time it is
clear sigmeister's main inspirations for
the forgery or adventure movies faux
eastern mysticism and his own commitment
to his new age beliefs siegmeister or
bernard's expansion on the older
theories of giannini were as faulty as
the source material
it would have been impossible for bird
to reach the north pole in february 1947
anyways due to the near total darkness
of the arctic winter
bird never made any secret flights to
the north pole none that can be
obviously proven at least
when asked to support any of his own
claims by the press giannini would
always respond you can find all the
information in the new york times that
then shut the door on polar mythology
for now
it's not in the new york times
all modern claims and conspiracies of
the arctic in antarctica are largely
recycled ideas from this more than 2 000
year history of rejected knowledge
what of claims of pyramids or lost
cities in antarctica
nothing new there are modern
restatements of jaundi's claims on
arctic cities inhabited by giants or
pygmies as almost see von bailey's
theories of an original civilization in
the far north
though today such myths have been
displaced to the south pole
there are two reasons for such urban
legends popping up in antarctica
one because it is the last mysterious
region on the globe and two antarctica
now seems more likely hyperborea or
atlantis it is a graveyard of both
continents and legends
what of nephilim or giant aliens people
claim to witness across the polar ice
point again to royce mercator and these
maps
the modern giants have been reskinned
with elements of biblical eschatology
and conspiracy or simple science fiction
the final far country on earth is
antarctica a place which history and
mythology can be freely projected
popular conspiracy and really culture in
general believe there has to be
something in all that ice
even if they are just a random images of
giants on google maps governmental
conspiracies related to the united
states other major powers and a new
world order are common as well
those have a far different heritage
though and are only believed by an
ardent fringe
travelers can freely enter and exit
antarctica only citizens of signatory
countries on the antarctic treaties need
permission from their governments or the
ports themselves
technically there are only 42 signatory
countries on paper
what is going on in antarctica and to a
lesser extent the modern arctic then
it is a buildup of a unique tradition or
lineage of rejected knowledge throughout
recorded history there is an anti-human
image about vast ice sheets when the
human mind lacks sensory input it begins
to create its own for stimulation
the north and south pole are mental
canvases
peridolia the mind conjuring images and
randomness is common to both arctic and
antarctic formations
those pyramids they're probably nunitics
or glacial islands the ones that
resemble pyramids are actually called
pyramidal peaks or glacial horns these
nuditics are the result of land judging
above ice sheets which is then worn down
by erosion famous mountains like the
matterhorn were formed by the same
process
it results in the semi-pyramid
formations that some see as ancient
ruins
recognizable shapes but they are not
impossible for nature to form on its own
unfortunately no verified south pole
ruins yet
though maybe edgar allen poe and hbill
of craft will end up being right one day
in other ways though these lost
traditions have been vindicated to a
degree by modern knowledge of antarctica
in the last hundred years it has become
clear there is a landmass below the
antarctic ice
a graveyard of landforms that drifted
southward the dropped parts of
continental drift
this patchwork continent beneath the
stone ice was probably once tropical in
the remote past but it was definitely
not a paradise this was long before
humans as well but it was able to
support its own native life so it is
still unlikely the only shivan bay's
original civilization would have existed
in antarctica but it does somewhat
vindicate william f warren's belief in a
tropical pole
though on the bottom of the earth
instead of the top
while in no way proves any polar
mythology it does show some advocates
were not totally wrong-headed in their
beliefs
there was then once a place beyond the
wind
it was the south wind though not the
north
this then is why the arctic and
antarctic are both totally new and
utterly ancient
unsettled but not unnoticed by human
history
they are omphalos or the world naval
both origin and end
and original emptiness as it were the
last frontiers were the leftover fringe
beliefs of long ago can still endure
ice keeps anything warmed over or rotten
in ready condition
do not mind the common cabin fever
the magnetic reality of the poles will
surely outlast whatever odd stories we
give them
check me
just to chill a little bit because this
is a longer video so it took a little
more time and effort i do have a patreon
you can support if you want to see
longer videos like this one and i do
have a twitter anyone can follow for
updates i usually don't make that known
but those are there in case you want to
use them okay thanks everyone
i would like to give a thank you i
cannot pronounce to my supporters
frasier and the gel samini family
[Music]
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