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Cosmic Catastrophe The Ideas of Velikovsky Cosmic Catastrophe The Ideas of Velikovsky He predicted Venus would be found to have orbital anomalies in relation to the other planets; Venus has since been found to rotate on its axis in reverse direction to the other planets, and its day is longer than its year. We now know that parts of the atmosphere of Venus rotate in 4 days (with winds of up to 400km/h) while the planet itself rotates in 243 days. Both these rotations are retrograde. One of Velikovsky’s hypotheses for the slowing of the Earth’s rotation which made the Sun appear to stand still was that the planet was engulfed in the extended atmosphere of the comet Venus. Some of the diurnal rotation of the Earth was imparted to this dust-cloud according to Velikovsky, which fits the eccentric characteristics of the Venusian atmosphere. The comet spiraled past the Earth in an ever-decreasing path around the Sun before taking up its present orbit as the planet Venus. He further cites evidence to show that the Earth interacted with Mars on a number of occasions when writing was better developed than during the Venusian encounters, after Venus flipped Mars out of its orbit. Disturbances caused by the passages of Mars consisted of earthquakes and electrical discharges. Most of the ‘Mars events’ took place within a 90 a year period. This may sound far-fetched, but Velikovsky’s which begged for mercy and promised to go more slowly ever evidence and the predictions he made from it have stood the after. At the same time new islands appeared. The Ute Indians test of nearly four decades of investigation. As in his previous tell of piece of sun setting fire to the world , which was broken work, Velikovsky amassed an impressive range of evidence to off by a rabbit after the sun rose, went down and rose again. support his case. The legend of the cosmic battle of the planetary gods is familiar to us all. In the Homeric epics the Greeks choose ° Athene/Venus for their protector, the Trojans Ares/Mars. A Mythic Ke ys similar situation existed in ancient Mexico. The Toltecs wor- shipped Quetzal-cohuatl/Venus, but the later Aztecs revered Huitzilopachtil/Mars. The identity, conflict and features of the To support his interpretation of the Hebrew and Egyptian planetary gods are consistent across the ancient world. histories Velikovsky searched the records of the civilisations Chinese chronicles record two suns doing battle in the sky of the eighth and fifteenth centuries BCE. In his last book he and the disturbance of the other planets this caused. Mars was described his many years of research as sitting at the feet of pursued by Venus, the Earth shook, glowing mountains col- sages “to listen to those who lived close to the events of the lapsed, “the customs of the age are thrown into disorder ... all past ... I realised very soon that the ancient sages lived ina living beings harass one another”. An old textbook of Hindu frightened state of mind”. What became quickly apparent astronomy has a chapter on planetary conjunctions. A planet was the similarity of the events these peoples had experienced, can be struck down or utterly vanquished, and the victor in and the fear that global upheavals associated with planetary these encounters is usually the planet Venus. A juncture of the encounters had inspired. planets is called a yuga in Hindu astronomy; the ages of the The legends of the past are folklore, but the similarity of world are also called yugas. motifs from five continents and Pacific Ocean islands is An association for the planet Mars with the wolf is also striking; witches on brooms, the dragon and the scorpion, an common. In Babylon one of the seven names of Mars was wolf. animal with many heads and winged body, a woman whose An Egyptian god with the head ofa wolf prowled the land. The veils stream behind her - these images are universal cosmic Romans used the wolf as the animal symbol for Mars. Slavic myths recording the characteristic shapes possessed by com- mythology has a god in the shape of a wolf, Vukadlak, who de- ets. voured the Sun and Moon. In the Icelandic epic the Edda, the Velikovsky tracks the motif of the sun being trapped in its god that darkens the Sun is the wolf Fenris, who battled the movement through the tales of the Polynesians, Hawaiians and serpent Midgard in the heavens above. A Chinese astronomi- North American Indians. Like the Middle-East civilisations, cal chart quotes ancient sources in saying “once Venus ran into they have the story of the sun being snared and freed by a the Wolf-Star”. NEXUS New Times Seven - Summer 1989 19 He predicted Venus would be found to have orbital anomalies in relation to the other planets; Venus has since been found to rotate on its axis in reverse direction to the other planets, and its day is longer than its year. We now know that parts of the atmosphere of Venus rotate in 4 days (with winds of up to 400km/h) while the planet itself rotates in 243 days. Both these rotations are retrograde. One of Velikovsky’s hypotheses for the slowing of the Earth’s rotation which made the Sun appear to stand still was that the planet was engulfed in the extended atmosphere of the comet Venus. Some of the diurnal rotation of the Earth was imparted to this dust-cloud according to Velikovsky, which fits the eccentric characteristics of the Venusian atmosphere. The comet spiraled past the Earth in an ever-decreasing path around the Sun before taking up its present orbit as the planet Venus. He further cites evidence to show that the Earth interacted with Mars on a number of occasions when writing was better developed than during the Venusian encounters, after Venus flipped Mars out of its orbit. Disturbances caused by the passages of Mars consisted of earthquakes and electrical discharges. Most of the ‘Mars events’ took place within a 90 year period. This may sound far-fetched, but Velikovsky’s evidence and the predictions he made from it have stood the test of nearly four decades of investigation. As in his previous work, Velikovsky amassed an impressive range of evidence to support his case. Mythic Keys To support his interpretation of the Hebrew and Egyptian histories Velikovsky searched the records of the civilisations of the eighth and fifteenth centuries BCE. In his last book he described his many years of research as sitting at the feet of sages “to listen to those who lived close to the events of the past ... I realised very soon that the ancient sages lived ina frightened state of mind”. What became quickly apparent was the similarity of the events these peoples had experienced, and the fear that global upheavals associated with planetary encounters had inspired. The legends of the past are folklore, but the similarity of motifs from five continents and Pacific Ocean islands is striking; witches on brooms, the dragon and the scorpion, an animal with many heads and winged body, a woman whose veils stream behind her - these images are universal cosmic myths recording the characteristic shapes possessed by com- ets. Velikovsky tracks the motif of the sun being trapped in its movement through the tales of the Polynesians, Hawaiians and North American Indians. Like the Middle-East civilisations, they have the story of the sun being snared and freed by a NEXUS New Times Seven - Summer 1989 mouse. In the Hawaiian version Mauii caught and beat the sun, which begged for mercy and promised to go more slowly ever after. At the same time new islands appeared. The Ute Indians tellofa piece of sun setting fire to the world , which was broken off by a rabbit after the sun rose, went down and rose again. The legend of the cosmic battle of the planetary gods is familiar to us all. In the Homeric epics the Greeks choose Athene/Venus for their protector, the Trojans Ares/Mars. A similar situation existed in ancient Mexico. The Toltecs wor- shipped Quetzal-cohuatl/Venus, but the later Aztecs revered Huitzilopachtil/Mars. The identity, conflict and features of the planetary gods are consistent across the ancient world. Chinese chronicles record two suns doing battle in the sky and the disturbance of the other planets this caused. Mars was pursued by Venus, the Earth shook, glowing mountains col- lapsed, “the customs of the age are thrown into disorder ... all living beings harass one another”. An old textbook of Hindu astronomy has a chapter on planetary conjunctions. A planet can be struck down or utterly vanquished, and the victor in these encounters is usually the planet Venus. A juncture of the planets is called a yuga in Hindu astronomy; the ages of the world are also called yugas. An association for the planet Mars with the wolf is also common. In Babylon one of the seven names of Mars was wolf. An Egyptian god with the head ofa wolf prowled the land. The Romans used the wolf as the animal symbol for Mars. Slavic mythology has a god in the shape of a wolf, Vukadlak, who de- voured the Sun and Moon. In the Icelandic epic the Edda, the god that darkens the Sun is the wolf Fenris, who battled the serpent Midgard in the heavens above. A Chinese astronomi- cal chart quotes ancient sources in saying “once Venus ran into the Wolf-Star”.