The Birdman: Our Connection to the Stars, Expressed in Art, Understood (and affirmed) through Science
By Robert M. Schoch and Catherine Ulissey
Posted 14 December 2024 (This article is based on research and discoveries presented in all editions of our book Forgotten Civilization, initially published in English in 2012, with the subtitle The Role of Solar Outbursts in Our Past and Future; the 2021 revised and expanded edition, with a decade of updates and 40 additional photos, is subtitled New Discoveries on the Solar-Induced Dark Age.)
Acknowledgement: Many of the images below are courtesy of Dr. Anthony Peratt. Many years ago, I (Robert Schoch) had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Peratt when he and I were both invited to present our research at a conference. Approximately a decade later, realizing that his research (on plasma physics) and my research (on ancient civilizations) intersected, I contacted him via email and asked for permission to use some of his published photographs and illustrations in my own publications. He granted permission and, in exchange, I shared some of my photographs from Egypt with him. A number of images used below are done so courtesy of Dr. Anthony Peratt.
An Introduction
The ancient world is replete with depictions, in one form or another, of birdmen
, birdwomen, or bird-headed humanoid
figures. From India to Easter Island and from paintings to petroglyphs, the birdman stretches as far back into civilization's
past as one can peer. In India we find Garuda (a sculpture of him can be seen on the far left in the banner image above),
the bird-like deity who is considered to be the mount of Vishnu. (While not representing the Sun specifically, Vishnu
is closely associated with the Sun.) On Easter Island we have birdman petroglyphs. A carved wood statue of a birdman
holds a place of honor in the Island's church (in the banner image above one can see the upper portion of this wooden
statue, second image from the left on the top). And on Easter Island there was also an ancient tradition of an annual Birdman
Competition in honor of the supreme god Makemake who was depicted with two huge bulging eyes which is, in our assessment,
a symbol of plasma (electrically charged particles, as discussed below, based on the work of Dr. Peratt). The pantheon of
Egypt includes several bird-headed gods. The falcon-headed Horus, synonymous with the Sun, is the offspring of the supreme
Egyptian god Osiris and his mate Isis. Thoth, god of wisdom and writing, is often depicted with the head of an Ibis. The
Egyptian Ba-bird, typically depicted as an human-headed bird, is related to the soul or personality of an individual. We
have native American traditions of Indian chiefs wearing ornately feathered headdresses, and we see bird-headed engravings
on rock in countries around the world (two examples in the banner image above are from Arizona in the United States and
from Ausevich, Norway). Could there be a common theme or themes to these motifs that lie beyond mere speculation? Our
answer to this question, which has taken us fifteen years of research at which to arrive, is a resounding YES! We have
found scientific data that allows us to make important connections. For those who would like to travel back in time with
us to see how we have arrived at our conclusions, and to glean the profundity of the Birdman's sacred meaning, we briefly
share with you here our work and journey. In addition to knowing (or learning) just a little bit about my research,
it will take learning a little bit about the work of an outstanding Nobel Laureate (now deceased) and, separately,
America's preeminent plasma physicist (now retired). I will say here, too, that my wife Katie's contributions to this
research have been invaluable, as those who follow my work already know – and, though written in my voice, it is together
that we present this article to you.
Let us begin with the most fundamental building block of the universe: the hydrogen atom.
Hydrogen and Plasma
One of – if not the – most fundamental building blocks of life and the world around us is the hydrogen atom. Ubiquitous in the universe, common hydrogen is comprised of a single positively charged proton and a single negatively charged electron (there are some rare forms of hydrogen with one or two neutrons in addition to the proton and electron, but they are not important for the present discussion). Single hydrogen atoms readily bond with other atoms. Take, for example, water. When two hydrogen atoms bond with one oxygen atom a water molecule is formed, thus water is expressed as H2O. In space, oftentimes hydrogen atoms bond with each other and collect to form clouds of H2. It is believed that through time and gravitational forces such hydrogen clouds may compress into stars. (This is the standard explanation for star formation, though it should be stated here that there are other theories regarding star formation.)
Our Sun is a rather typical solar-type star, comprised mostly of hydrogen and helium. Its temperatures are scorching,
and in that heat the nuclei (protons in the case of typical hydrogen atoms) and electrons of the various atoms become
separated. Another way of expressing this separation is to say that the atoms are ionized
and the resulting particles
are electrically charged
. When this separation occurs, we call the collection of charged particles plasma
.
Plasma is sometimes referred to as a gas, but it is more accurately termed the 4th state of matter. Our Sun can be thought of
as a big ball of plasma – and plasma too is ubiquitous in the universe. Scientists believe that plasma comprises more than
99% of the known universe. (Note: Plasma was given its name because it seemed to behave much like blood plasma; it acted
as if it were alive.)
Stars, such as our Sun, emit plasma, sometimes in relatively gentle releases such as the solar wind. Sometimes they eject plasma in more violent bursts, such as in coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These charged particles can intersect and interact with our atmosphere. The moving electrical particles produce a magnetic field, and the plasma can be pulled toward the polar regions of our planet. However, as our planet spins, these particles encircle and disperse, oftentimes creating the beautiful Northern and Southern Lights known as the auroras. The stronger the ejection of these particles from the Sun, the stronger the auroras – and in very strong geomagnetic storms, these lights (this plasma) can be seen at lower latitudes.
America's Preeminent Plasma Physicist
Here is where we must introduce the work of a most accomplished and renowned scientist. For decades, prior
to his retirement, Dr. Anthony L. Peratt was America's leading plasma physicist working at Los Alamos
National Laboratory in New Mexico (birthplace of the nation's nuclear weapons research projects). Suffice
it to say Dr. Peratt studied plasma and the Sun utilizing America's best technology: state-of-the-art
laboratory experiments and imaging equipment combined with supercomputers. In studying plasma in the
laboratory, Dr. Peratt noticed something remarkable. At high intensity plasma takes on shapes, unique
and unusual shapes; they are distinct and diagnostic. Before we get into some specific
shapes Dr. Peratt identified, we must return to simple charged particles and understand what is
termed the Z-Pinch
.
X, Y, and Z
When charged particles at searing temperatures and moving at incredibly fast speeds begin to
slow down and cool they strive to recombine (due to electromagnet properties). However, still
racing by each other, they may “miss”. As they are drawn/pulled toward each other these forces
begin to create circular motion; they begin to spin. If one visualizes a two-dimensional piece
of paper, one can think of the vertical line as X
, and the horizontal line as Y
. If one then
visualizes a line moving from front to back (a third dimension), this would be the Z
axis. Dr.
Peratt explains that due to the interaction of the electrical and magnetic fields, in a plasma
column (a stream of charged particles) a pinch or pinches can occur, which are termed Z-Pinches
(the details of why Z-pinches occur in nature at specific locations along a plasma stream or
column can be incredibly complex). Depending on the angle from which one views the glowing
particles of light (photons) created by the plasma, shapes begin to emerge.
Some of the plasma configurations that Dr. Peratt distinguishes appear to resemble stick-figured men with
dots on their sides (the dots are indicative of synchrotron radiation), stick-figured men with bird heads (or
birds on a stick -- see the banner image at the top of this page, bottom center), cascading cylindrical shapes,
and what appear to be pairs of large eyes. Even more astounding than this is that Dr. Peratt then noticed that
these very specific shapes occur as ancient petroglyphs (images carved into rocks). He first noticed these
plasma petroglyphs
in his New Mexico neighborhood. Expanding his research, Dr. Peratt identified distinct
plasma petroglyphs in more than 130 countries worldwide.
What this means, Dr. Peratt concluded (and we fully agree), is that at some point in Earth's past our Sun released a monstrous plasma explosion or explosions. Call it a solar outburst; call it a micronova. The charged particles traveling at incredibly high velocities intersected our planet, interacted with its magnetosphere and atmosphere, and the auroras, so intense, took on distinct shapes. People all over the world witnessed the event (or events) and they recorded what they saw on rock. How did I become draw into this scintillating research? Let me summarize some of my recent work.
My Research in a Nutshell
In 1990, at the invitation of the independent Egyptologist John Anthony West (now deceased), I was first invited to Egypt to offer my geological assessment of the Great Sphinx. The monument, carved from the limestone bedrock and resting largely below ground level (only its head sits above the plane of the Giza Plateau) is dated by conventional Egyptologists to circa 2500 BCE. The problem with this dating is that Giza, on the eastern edge of the Sahara Desert, has known hyper-arid conditions for the last 5,000 years, yet the monument's body and the walls of its enclosure bear the geological scars of torrential rain. After additional trips to Egypt, John Anthony West and I, in various academic forums (such as the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science), presented our research, asserting that the Great Sphinx, and thus civilization itself, must be thousands of years older than previously believed. The argument from the opposition was: If civilization goes back much further in time, where is other evidence of this advanced civilization (capable of carving and moving massive stones)? At the time, I had no other evidence, but I was sure of the science I was presenting (for more on my training, please see the About page of this website). Now, however, we have a literal mountain of megaliths, writing, and an associated city, all the hallmarks of civilization.
The site I refer to immediately above is Göbekli Tepe, in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, and it has been rigorously dated to the end of Earth's last ice age, circa 9700 BCE.
For me, the question had always been what could wipe out such advanced civilization. Impactors of some sort (comets or asteroids) were the common explanation for the catastrophic events that occurred circa 9700 BCE, and I did ponder these as explanations (see my 1999 book Voices of the Rocks). However, my focus was turned sharply toward the Sun in January of 2010 when, shortly after returning from Easter Island (where, incidentally, Katie and I were married) Katie made the astounding observation that the glyphs seen in the Island's rongorongo script seem to mirror the distinct plasma shapes Dr. Peratt identified in his research. (I write about this, with much more detail, in my book Forgotten Civilization: New Discoveris on the Solar-Induced Dark Age. This is the 2nd, revised and expanded edition of the book, published in 2021.) After fifteen years of studying ice and sediment core data, lunar data, tree ring data (dendrochronology), global plasma petroglyphs, and more, I am convinced that our Sun is the culprit and the keystone.
A solar outburst circa 9700 BCE explains why Earth literally snapped out of the last ice age with the subsequent dramatic rise in ocean levels (from the rapidly melting glaciers). Massive amounts of moisture was pumped into the atmosphere, due to not just the increase in temperature, but also plasma literally driving down to the surface of Earth – imagine huge lightning strikes – melting glaciers and evaporating water from lakes and seas. Our atmosphere could only contain so much moisture before it poured down as torrential rains. Flood stories abound in ancient texts and legends from around the world. This is the science that supports those accounts. The geological record indicates that this was a time when many large mammals went extinct. Mankind almost followed suit (due to high radiation levels); however, being resourceful (and, as we postulate, this was a very advanced civilization or civilizations that faced this global event), mankind carved down into rock to create shelter that would protect large populations. Beginning with natural caves and shelters, ultimately massive underground networks were constructed. The underground cities in the Cappadocia region of Turkey come to mind, but there are also many other examples. Jordan has extensive rock-cut shelters. In Egypt we find the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, the origins of which we suspect go back to this remote period and then later were reused. For a more detailed summary of my work regarding the end of the last ice age, see our book mentioned above, or the article Rising From the Ashes of SIDA.
With the realization that the Sun can both give life and take it, it is easy to understand why many ancient people (cultures) worshiped the Sun as God, or a god. However, the story grows richer and more mysterious.
Nobel Laureate Dr. Luc Montagnier
Enter the work of the late Nobel Laureate Luc Montagnier who demonstrated that water (H2O) can encode and also transmit information. In a series of admittedly controversial experiments (although having read the original papers, I find them compelling), Montagnier demonstrated that DNA (along with RNA, the genetic code of life) imprinted its structure (that is, its information) into a sample of water, and the imprinted water under the right conditions could transmit that information, apparently via electromagnetic waves, to a second sample of water isolated from the first sample. This demonstrates that water, and thus in my assessment the hydrogen and its protons and electrons specifically (as well as the protons and electrons in the oxygen atoms), can encode and store information, and that this information can be transmitted or shared with other atoms, protons, and electrons. In short summary, the evidence indicates that hydrogen and plasma can encode information.
Information and the sharing of information is, one can argue, fundamental to thought
and consciousness, One then must ask the question of whether or not large collections of hydrogen and plasma,
such as Suns, stars, and even electromagnetic fields, are conscious in some way or at some level, even if it is very
different from human consciousness. Indeed, consciousness may not be an epiphenomenon (a secondary effect) of the material
universe, as many materialists insist, but rather consciousness may be fundamental to, and underly and be responsible for,
the material universe. In a 1931 interview Max Planck, the founder of quantum theory and recipient of the 1918 Nobel
Prize in Physics, stated I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness
.
(I go into more detail on these topics in
Forgotten Civilization).
Revelations
Standing before the so-called Khafre statue in Cairo's Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, with the years of study mentioned
above contained within us, Katie and I fell silently in awe. One of the most fundamental beliefs of the ancient Egyptians was
that when we die we can be reborn as stars in the sky. This may seem to be merely a fanciful, uplifting notion: eternal life
in the cosmos. However, having learned a little bit – as you now have – about plasma physics, this statue began to communicate
its profound message to us. The seated being (ostensibly the Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Khafre of circa 2500 BCE, but who really
knows?) is a birdman. Notice the falcon (Horus) behind his head. He is seated (or being carried) upon a chair that has a lion's
face at the top of its front leg and the feet of the chair are those of a lion. The lion is synonymous with the Sun (in astrology
the sign of Leo is ruled by the Sun). Thus one can begin to hear the message we are being carried to the Sun (or the stars)
on a chair (or vehicle) dedicated to the Sun
. However, there is more! On the sides of the chair appears the classic and
diagnostic plasma Z-Pinch, representing the behavior of the most ubiquitous particles (protons and electrons in the form of
plasma) in nature, as we already discussed. And supporting the legs of the chair are cascading rings (toroids created
by the Z-Pinch). This statue is a symphony in stone. It contains in art Egypt's most sacred message – that humankind has
eternal life among the stars – and it can now be read, heard, and understood through cutting-edge plasma physics.
Connecting the Dots
During life the hydrogen within us is encoded with our information, our personalities, our actions and the emotions connected to those actions. Hydrogen is the lightest element on the periodic table. When we die, being light, our hydrogen lifts (albeit slowly) to space where it gathers with other hydrogen atoms to form clouds – which can ultimately give birth to new stars. This gives an added layer of meaning (perhaps) to facing Ma'at's feather upon death.
The ancient Egyptians believed that upon death the soul would pass through a Hall of Judgement where the goddess Ma'at would weigh one's heart (or soul) against a feather. Do negative emotions such as guilt, remorse, shame, etc., change the weight or behavior of hydrogen? Dr. Emoto determined (and his research, although controversial, has been replicated to some extent) that negative emotions alter the shapes of ice crystals such as snowflakes (frozen H2O). Katie and I ponder concepts like these each and every day.
The ancient Egyptians were not stupid. We would argue they had deep insights and understandings of the working and interconnections of the cosmos, nature, and humanity, and specifically the nature of consciousness -- understandings that we (our modern societies) lack, or are only just beginning to rediscover. And Egyptian worship (or recognition) of the Sun as God (or the supreme diety) was not mere superstition. With hydrogen being demonstrated to have the capacity it does, to enclode and transmit information, one must question whether or not the entire universe is conscious and whether or not plasma is the conscious web that binds everything together.
In one exquisite ancient statue a central universal truth is encoded. However, we see this message elsewhere.
Reiteration
Like the concept of the birdman, allusions and references to plasma, the Sun, and our connections to the cosmos are found
throughout the ancient world. Examples occur on the pillars of Göbekli Tepe. Among the later Anatolian Hieroglyphs,
which appear to preserve some of the symbols found at Göbekli Tepe, the symbol known to modern scholars as Laroche number 360
is the symbol for God. In the center of the illustration above is a plasma scar from our Sun, as identified by Dr. Peratt.
And the Australian Aboriginal on the right is literally wearing this symbol. Perhaps this can be read as God and the Universe
are within
. This certainly brings to mind the hermetic concept As above, so below
. (For more elaboration on these
thoughts, see the article
God and the Sun: The Writing at Göbekli Tepe.)
Our Sun and Its Outbursts
On one of the pillars of Göbekli Tepe we see broken bird parts. Perhaps this is a message from the artist(s) that, as I have determined happened at the end of the last ice age, our Sun undergoes outbursts, or breaks apart. It is a scarey thought, but this is where the research leads, and to back away does not seem wise. Artists and craftspeople took great time and care to encode these messages. Their work, in our view, is precious.
Final Comments
Ultimately, in the imagery of the birdman a central universal truth is encoded. We are part of the cosmos, we can return to the stars once this finite mortal existence has passed, and this is the promise of eternal life.
An important sidenote: The Khafre Statue was found in a pit in the Valley Temple,
adjacent to the Sphinx Temple, which sits just in front of the paws of the Great Sphinx. In the early 1990s, working
on the Plateau with John Anthony West and Dr. Thomas Dobecki, we seismically located a large cavity (a chamber) beneath
the Sphinx's left front paw. Could this be the legendary chamber, described by some as a Hall of Records
, that was
supposedly created and left to us by the high civilization of Atlantis? Could this statue
with its profound message have originated in this chamber? Did ancient people, who knew what Earth was facing
(the sands of SIDA, a Solar-Induced Dark Age, setting in for millennia), try to rescue this statue for humanity?
I believe it is essential that this chamber, which I helped locate over thirty years ago, be excavated, or at least peered
into in some manner, before it is too late. (For more on this topic, see the 1993 Emmy-winning documentary
The Mystery of the Sphinx.
This external link is to the original NBC broadcast posted to an archival website; others versions of the documentary
shared on YouTube have been re-edited to contain extraneous material that detracts from the strong science originally presented.)
About Us
For more information on both Katie and me, please feel free to peruse our website. We appreciate your interest in our work. Here is the direct link to my personal page, and here is Katie's page. In glancing at Katie's page, you may find it eerily interesting that in 2007, when we met – before she knew of Dr. Peratt, Dr. Montagnier, plasma Z-Pinches, and all that we have presented on this page – she had a hunch that hydrogen was the key to the ancient Egyptian assertion regarding life among the stars after death. She presented the concept in a short paper she wrote, which she shared with me at the conference in 2007 at which we met. We are oftentimes both humbled and awed at how the universe works, bringing seemingly disparate threads together into a unified whole.
In case you might be interested in our new children's book, Adriana and the Ancient Mysteries: The Great Sphinx, there is information about it on the Publications page of this website.
With the posting of this article on 14 December 2024, we wish everyone a blessed holiday season and joy in the new year.
