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REVIEWS “© major Neolithic sites in Britain such as B oO oO K S Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill (a buried step pyramid?), and the pyramids at Teotihuacan in Mexico—and sees the hand of Thoth in every monument and site. The peak of Thoth's activity, according to Ellis's calculations, was around 13,700 years ago, but this date is based on movements in the Earth's axis that are assumed to be constant. So why should Thoth spark off new civili- sations and then depart without leaving any records in a safe place? And where could that place be? Ellis proposes that the layout contaminated with radioactive waste or toxic sewage sludge. However, rather than dwell on gloom and doom, we can take pos- itive steps for our personal and planetary health. Shannon lists a range of contacts and resources we can follow up—but we can always distract ourselves in the kitchen experimenting with her tempting recipes! THOTH: Architect of the Universe by R. Ellis of the Great Pyramid (upside down) and Publisher: Edfu Books, UK, 1997 Stonehenge can be viewed as maps of the ISBN: 0-9531913-03 (h/c) globe, both of them pointing to a place: the Price: AUD$poa; GBP£14.99 + £2 p&h; Sandwich Islands, arguably one of the last NLGF53,90; USD$25.95 +p&h vestiges of Atlantis! Could one of Thoth's Distributors: Aust—Specialist repositories be located there? Who knows! Publications, ph (02) 9736 2191; UK— si ee ese om rue upomy mar » Piviax Urey »emal’, by Martin Brennan kena.edfu@virgin.net;Europe—NEXUS —_puplisher: Bear & Company, USA, 1998 office; USA—Adventures Unlimited, ph ISBN: 1-879181-24-X (281 pp tpb) (815) 253 6390 ; Price: AUD$39.95; NZD$52.95: his treatise is less about the Egyptian GBP£16.99; NLGf44,00; USD$20.00 1 BO on in his various guises than the Distributors: Aust—Gemcraft, ph (03) legacy he has left around the planet. NZ Fa number of mythologies have it that Thoth ee idk -Ainit Book Concer ob endowed upon evolving humanity the 0181 8040400; Eur—NEXUS office, ph knowledge of architecture, astronomy, , , Pp mathematics, measurement, physics as well +31 (0)321 380558; USA—Bear & Co. as reading and writing. So why shouldn't he Publishing, ph (505) 983 5968, 1800-WE- leave messages encoded in monuments for BEARS, fax {605) 989 8386 dsculpn fi ions to decipher? e use of handsigns in art and sculpture vAuthor R Ellivisone of many researchers is prevalent in many spiritual traditions, devoted to the task, and the findings he pre- but the Maya were especially prolific in sents in Thoth: Architect of the Universe are their use of handsigns or manographs in the illuminating, though often inconclusive. glyphs decorating their artefacts. In The Ellis notes the mathematical commonalities, | Hidden Maya, author Martin Brennan such as the pi ratio, that are evident in the reveals that these manographs are the keys pyramids at Giza and Dahshur in Egypt, the __ to the very core of Maya thought. Brennan explains how hand gestures ' ag played an intrinsic role in the development ’ | Hey p | 7 Hi of writing, and how, with a variety of —_ b dialects in the Maya lands of Central \ Scohi one America, a commonly understood sign lan- guage developed into a complex artistic lan- guage with both mundane and esoteric meanings. Indeed, contrary to scholarly opinion, it would appear that the North American Plains Indians borrowed their sophisticated sign language system from the south—a realisation that drew Brennan to the Maya in the first place. When he compared their handsigns with the glyphs from the Maya codices and arte- facts, Brennan found that the hand gestures are central to understanding the glyph's meaning and, moreover, that the mano- graphs retain the inherent logic of the hand- sign system. As he decoded, the hands liter- ally opened a new door to a deeper under- standing of Maya cosmology, their astrono- THE HIDDEN MAYA by Martin Brennan Publisher: Bear & Company, USA, 1998 ISBN: 1-879181-24-X (281pp tpb) Price: AUD$39.95; NZD$52.95; GBP£16.99; NLGf44,00; USD$20.00 Distributors: Aust—Gemcraft, ph (03) 9888 0111; NZ—Peaceful Living, ph (07) 571 8105; UK—Airlift Book Company, ph 0181 8040400; Eur—NEXUS office, ph +31 (0)321 380558; USA—Bear & Co. Publishing, ph (505) 983 5968, 1800-WE- BEARS, fax (505) 989 8386 he use of handsigns in art and sculpture is prevalent in many spiritual traditions, but the Maya were especially prolific in their use of handsigns or manographs in the glyphs decorating their artefacts. In The Hidden Maya, author Martin Brennan reveals that these manographs are the keys to the very core of Maya thought. Brennan explains how hand gestures played an intrinsic role in the development of writing, and how, with a variety of dialects in the Maya lands of Central America, a commonly understood sign lan- guage developed into a complex artistic lan- guage with both mundane and esoteric meanings. Indeed, contrary to scholarly opinion, it would appear that the North American Plains Indians borrowed their sophisticated sign language system from the south—a realisation that drew Brennan to the Maya in the first place. When he compared their handsigns with the glyphs from the Maya codices and arte- facts, Brennan found that the hand gestures are central to understanding the glyph's meaning and, moreover, that the mano- graphs retain the inherent logic of the hand- sign system. As he decoded, the hands liter- ally opened a new door to a deeper under- standing of Maya cosmology, their astrono- 80 + NEXUS AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 1998