I am not a ufologist. I've never investigated a UFO sighting, nor a crop circle, cattle mutilation, or an abduction. Nor,
to the best of my conscious knowledge, am I an "experiencer." Twice, when I was young and again a few years ago,
I've observed flying objects that didn't fit any categories with which I'm familiar.[1] But I've never had a significant
"missing time" episode or other indication that I've been a "guest" aboard an alien ship.
Yet for more decades than I care to remember, I've watched the serious UFO literature--including works by
investigators such as Jacques Valleé, Budd Hopkins, John Mack, David Jacobs, Timothy Goode, Linda Moulton Howe,
Jenny Randles, Raymond Fowler, Stanton Friedman, Bruce Maccabee, the late Allen Hynek, and Don Ecker of UFO
Magazine, to mention a few--grow into an impressive body of data and theory. It is a literature that can no longer be
ignored by responsible social scientists, including cultural anthropologists like myself. Thus, I've decided to "come out
of the closet," as it were, and assert my belief that the UFO phenomenon is real--despite the carefully orchestrated
attempts by our own and other governments to deny its existence, and the skeptics and debunkers who do their
best to make persons who take the phenomenon seriously appear ridiculous.
The implications of the UFO phenomenon for anthropologists--or for anyone who would make rational sense out of
the human condition--are profound. If Valleé, et al. are correct, humans have been the genetically exploited "lab rats"
of one or more extraterrestrial civilizations, whose technological sophistication (evincing Sir Arthur C. Clarke's
assertion that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic") has allowed them to maintain a
clandestine hegemony over this planet for at least the past 13,000 years.[2]
With apologies to the "British Raj," which held hegemony over India from the late seventeenth century to 1947, I've
come to conceive of this extraterrestrial presence as the "Alien Raj." Yet that may be a grossly oversimplified picture
of the nature of human-alien interaction, especially in ancient times. The "Alien Raj" seems not to have been--and
may still not be--monolithic, any more than was the British Raj, even in its nineteenth-century heyday.
to the best of my conscious knowledge, am I an "experiencer." Twice, when I was young and again a few years ago,
I've observed flying objects that didn't fit any categories with which I'm familiar.[1] But I've never had a significant
"missing time" episode or other indication that I've been a "guest" aboard an alien ship.
Yet for more decades than I care to remember, I've watched the serious UFO literature--including works by
investigators such as Jacques Valleé, Budd Hopkins, John Mack, David Jacobs, Timothy Goode, Linda Moulton Howe,
Jenny Randles, Raymond Fowler, Stanton Friedman, Bruce Maccabee, the late Allen Hynek, and Don Ecker of UFO
Magazine, to mention a few--grow into an impressive body of data and theory. It is a literature that can no longer be
ignored by responsible social scientists, including cultural anthropologists like myself. Thus, I've decided to "come out
of the closet," as it were, and assert my belief that the UFO phenomenon is real--despite the carefully orchestrated
attempts by our own and other governments to deny its existence, and the skeptics and debunkers who do their
best to make persons who take the phenomenon seriously appear ridiculous.
The implications of the UFO phenomenon for anthropologists--or for anyone who would make rational sense out of
the human condition--are profound. If Valleé, et al. are correct, humans have been the genetically exploited "lab rats"
of one or more extraterrestrial civilizations, whose technological sophistication (evincing Sir Arthur C. Clarke's
assertion that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic") has allowed them to maintain a
clandestine hegemony over this planet for at least the past 13,000 years.[2]
With apologies to the "British Raj," which held hegemony over India from the late seventeenth century to 1947, I've
come to conceive of this extraterrestrial presence as the "Alien Raj." Yet that may be a grossly oversimplified picture
of the nature of human-alien interaction, especially in ancient times. The "Alien Raj" seems not to have been--and
may still not be--monolithic, any more than was the British Raj, even in its nineteenth-century heyday.
DIVINE REBELS, ALIEN DISSIDENTS! ARE 'LUCIFER, PROMETHEUS & QUÉTZALCOATL' A PRO-HUMAN
FACTION IN THE "ALIEN RAJ"? by C. Scott Littleton
FACTION IN THE "ALIEN RAJ"? by C. Scott Littleton
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C. SCOTT LITTLETON is a
Professor of
Anthropology, Emeritus,
at Occidental College, Los
Angeles, CA.
He applies his
anthropological
knowledge to speculate
about an alien dissident
falling in love with her
abductee in his new
novel, Phase Two.
He is also author or editor
of such scholarly books
as:
From Scythia to Camelot:
A Radical Reassessment
of the Legends of King
Arthur, the Knights of the
Round Table, and the Holy
Grail
Shinto: Origins, Rituals,
Festivals, Spirits, Sacred
Places
Mythology: The
Illustrated Anthology of
World Myth and
Storytelling
The New Comparative
Mythology: An
Anthropological
Assessment of the
Theories of Georges
Dumezil
Eastern Wisdom: An
Illustrated Guide to the
Religions and
Philosophies of the East
(Henry Holt Reference
Book)
The Sacred East:
Hinduism, Buddhism,
Confucianism, Daoism,
Shinto
Understanding Shinto:
Origins, Beliefs,
Practices, Festivals,
Spirits, Sacred Places
His website is
faculty.oxy.edu/yokatta/
and his email is
yokatta@oxy.edu.
Professor of
Anthropology, Emeritus,
at Occidental College, Los
Angeles, CA.
He applies his
anthropological
knowledge to speculate
about an alien dissident
falling in love with her
abductee in his new
novel, Phase Two.
He is also author or editor
of such scholarly books
as:
From Scythia to Camelot:
A Radical Reassessment
of the Legends of King
Arthur, the Knights of the
Round Table, and the Holy
Grail
Shinto: Origins, Rituals,
Festivals, Spirits, Sacred
Places
Mythology: The
Illustrated Anthology of
World Myth and
Storytelling
The New Comparative
Mythology: An
Anthropological
Assessment of the
Theories of Georges
Dumezil
Eastern Wisdom: An
Illustrated Guide to the
Religions and
Philosophies of the East
(Henry Holt Reference
Book)
The Sacred East:
Hinduism, Buddhism,
Confucianism, Daoism,
Shinto
Understanding Shinto:
Origins, Beliefs,
Practices, Festivals,
Spirits, Sacred Places
His website is
faculty.oxy.edu/yokatta/
and his email is
yokatta@oxy.edu.
| Copyright © 2009 JFS |
Almost every ancient mythology includes at least one
rebellious deity, one who willfully violates the divine "rules."
For the most part, such figures are what anthropologists call
"tricksters," that is, gods or heroes who gain their ends by
cleverness, stealth, and liberal applications of magic rather
than by sheer divine power. Tricksters are typically
reprimanded and/or severely punished for their actions,
which, more often than not, involve efforts to transmit
elements of divine wisdom or "technology" to mortals.
This article focuses on three trickster deities: (1) The Old
Testament figure Lucifer, the "Light-Bearer," who, in
defiance of Yahweh, brought self-awareness to Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden; (2) the Greek deity Prometheus,
who rebelled against the authority of Zeus and gave fire to
mankind; and (3) the ancient Mesoamerican god
Quétzalcoatl, the "Feathered Serpent," known to the Maya
as Kukulkan, who was forced into exile because of his
efforts on behalf of mankind.
rebellious deity, one who willfully violates the divine "rules."
For the most part, such figures are what anthropologists call
"tricksters," that is, gods or heroes who gain their ends by
cleverness, stealth, and liberal applications of magic rather
than by sheer divine power. Tricksters are typically
reprimanded and/or severely punished for their actions,
which, more often than not, involve efforts to transmit
elements of divine wisdom or "technology" to mortals.
This article focuses on three trickster deities: (1) The Old
Testament figure Lucifer, the "Light-Bearer," who, in
defiance of Yahweh, brought self-awareness to Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden; (2) the Greek deity Prometheus,
who rebelled against the authority of Zeus and gave fire to
mankind; and (3) the ancient Mesoamerican god
Quétzalcoatl, the "Feathered Serpent," known to the Maya
as Kukulkan, who was forced into exile because of his
efforts on behalf of mankind.
I posit that these and other trickster deities (e.g. the Old Norse god Loki, who built Valhalla but later turned against
the supreme god Odin, and the pan-Polynesian god Maui, for whom the island is named) are mythological reflections
of one or more extraterrestrial dissidents who rebelled against the Alien Raj's "Prime-Directive"-type policy of non-
interference in human affairs--except when it suits the aliens' immediate agenda--and were punished for their actions
by the Raj.
* Lucifer
The best-known, albeit most misunderstood, of my three examples is Lucifer, the "Fallen Angel" who rebelled against
the divine authority of Yahweh and was exiled from Heaven. Soon thereafter, disguised as a serpent, he tricked
Adam and Eve into becoming fully sentient, that is, over and above an immediate awareness of their sexual natures.
This violated God's policy of "non- interference" in the newly-created humans' affairs, and Lucifer remained an outcast
as far as the supreme--and eventually monotheistic--Hebrew deity was concerned.
I suspect that in this story's earliest version, Lucifer, like Prometheus, also gave Adam and Eve the secret of
fire-making, as is suggested by his name. Note, although they were eventually conflated, Lucifer should be
distinguished from Satan, who entered the Hebrew tradition much later and is derived from the ancient Zoroastrian
entity Angra Mainyu, the "Lord of Darkness," who was believed to be in permanent conflict with Ahura Mazda, the
"Lord of Light and Goodness." (This latter conflict may also reflect the alien presence, more specifically a conflict
between two or more ET species who, some 6,000-7,000 year ago, seem to have fought what amounted to a colonial
war for possession of Earth.[3])
In the fully developed Hebrew religious tradition, the sexual aspect of Lucifer's "gift," together with the defiance of
divine authority, assumed a disproportionate importance, and thus, unlike Prometheus, the Hebrew "Light-Bearer"
remained a negative figure, an exile deserving his fate. Thus, ironically, the ancient Hebrews came to interpret the
mythology surrounding this pro-human figure in much the same way the Alien Raj regarded the behavior of the
dissident who inspired it: a clear violation of the rules that could not go unpunished.
* Prometheus
A member of the Titans (the elder dieties in ancient Greek tradition), Prometheus defected and sided with the younger
Olympian gods, headed by Zeus. (Again, we have the theme of an ancient conflict that probably has alien overtones.)
But after the Olympians defeated the Titans and banished their leader (Zeus's father Kronos) to subterranean
Tartaros, Prometheus (whose name means "Forethought") grew uneasy with Zeus's intentions toward the
newly-created humans. Zeus, the chief Olympian, forbade Prometheus from carrying fire from Heaven and teaching
mortals how to use it. Prometheus defied his sovereign and did so anyway. As a result, humans became more than
mere dumb animals, just as Lucifer's "gift" permitted Adam and Eve to emulate their creator, at least to a degree.
Enraged, Zeus chained the rebellious god to a mountain top, where an eagle pecked his liver. A colleague, Elizabeth
Barber, suggests that this is a metaphor for a volcanic eruption in which the eagle's black wings are the spreading
plume of smoke and the god's blood is the red-hot lava flowing down the mountain side. Her interpretation may also
be correct, as most mythology is multi-layered; once it was clear that the rebellious gift-giver from the sky was
punished, human imagination took over, and the symbolic association of Prometheus's torment with a particularly
devastating volcanic eruption took shape.
In time, Zeus's rage abated, and Prometheus came to occupy a heroic position in ancient Greek religion as humanity's
chief divine benefactor. This is in stark contrast to the Lucifer myth, nevertheless, the tales are strikingly similar.
Indeed, together with R. J. Werblowksi and several other scholars, I suspect there is a historical connection between
these two figures, and that they reflect a common Near Eastern account of a rebellious, "light-bearing" pro-human
deity who descended from the sky bearing knowledge--technological and otherwise--and was punished and/ or exiled
by his "divine"--that is, alien--superiors for his actions on behalf of humanity.
* Quétzalcoatl
My third example of a "pro-human" deity that seems to derive from a dissident alien prototype is the Mesoamerican
"feathered-serpent" god Quétzalcoatl, called Kukulkan by the Maya, who is described as a culture- bearer. A relatively
benign deity, at least by the bloody standards of Mesoamerican mythology, Quétzalcoatl, like Lucifer and Prometheus,
came to earth to teach his human devotees all manner of useful arts and wisdom.[4] Like the other two divine rebels,
by doing so, he angered his fellow gods and was forced into exile, although vowing to return at some future time--a
motif implicit in the other two mythologies (Prometheus returned after Zeus pardoned him, and Lucifer's eagerness to
return, albeit negatively valued, permeates the Judeo-Christian tradition).
Two elements of the Quétzalcoatl mythology are relevant. First, his "feathered-serpent" image. Several UFO
abductees, including Nebraska Highway Patrolman Herbert Schirmer and Betty Andreessen-Luca, have reported
seeing winged serpents emblazoned on the abductors' uniforms. Although this element is absent in the Lucifer and
Prometheus mythology, Lucifer's reptilian alter ego in the Garden of Eden is noteworthy, and the winged-serpent
figure does exist in ancient Greek tradition in the image of the Caduceus (although it's associated with Asclepias, god
of medicine, rather than with Prometheus).
Nevertheless, I suspect the image of a winged or feathered serpent is an important and deep-rooted alien symbol,
one that may reflect a very ancient extraterrestrial totemic identification that predates the Alien Raj. Thus, one may
expect both dissidents, like the prototype of Quétzalcoatl, and the more "establishment" type aliens who abducted
Schirmer and Andreasson-Luca, to display it.
The second relevant element in the Quétzalcoatl mythology is the idea that he is fair-skinned. This was one reason
Moteczuma initially accepted Hernándo Cortes as Quétzalcoatl redux.[5] (Among the alien physical types reported by
abductees are the so-called "Nordics": blond, blue-eyed humanoids who sometimes appear in charge.[6]) Although
Cortes and his fellow Spaniards didn't entirely match this human type, the dissident alien prototype of Quétzalcoatl
could have been a Nordic, and the fact that the Europeans were generally fairer than Mexicans may have led
Mocteczuma and his people to believe that the god had returned. Of course, they soon realized that Cortes and his
rapacious comrades were far from divine, but by then it was too late; the Conquest was a fait accompli.
This may be a lesson for us humans, especially for those "New-Agers" who have seen fit to deify our alien colonial
masters.
* Rebel God and Alien Prototype(s)
We have a pattern: A divine being (Lucifer, Prometheus, Quétzalcoatl, and other trickster figures) defies his superiors
in the pantheon (Yahweh, Zeus, Huitzilopochitli) and attempts to assist humans. After transmitting some divine lore
(self-awareness, the secret of fire-making, writing, etc.) he is punished by his superiors, either physically or by exile.
It seems extremely probably that this widespread theme reflects an actual event (or series of events) of some
5,000-odd years ago, one that involved an abortive rebellion against the non-interference policy of the Alien Raj.
Do alien dissidents still exist? One can only wonder, although some abductees/contactees do report being given
information that has proven useful. My friend Jack Sarfatti, a post-quantum physicist, asserts that he received an
alien "phone call" in 1953 which predicted that he'd make an important breakthrough in 1973. And it happened.
Could this phone call have been made by an heir to Prometheus or Quétzalcoatl?
If a dissident movement persists within the Alien Raj, we must contact it and obtain some of that magical technology,
and the science behind it. It would appear to be the only realistic way to consider overthrowing the Raj's oppressive
hegemony. Only when we discard the notion that our extraterrestrial "visitors," as Whitley Strieber has dubbed
them, exist on some higher "spiritual plane" than ourselves can we make rational sense of a phenomenon that has
such a profound, albeit clandestine, impact on our existence.
As yet, no hard, incontrovertible evidence exists that my three divine "suspects" were mythological reflexes of ancient
alien dissidents. But I submit that the "soft" evidence supporting both the presence of an Alien Raj, and my above
hypothesis, is persuasive enough to warrant close collaboration between anthropologists specializing in comparative
mythology and folklore, and serious students of the UFO phenomenon.
We anthropologists must overcome the "they shouldn't exist, therefore they don't exist" skeptical mindset frequently
encountered in academia, and systematically examine UFO abductee accounts and their congruence with mythology
and folklore.
the supreme god Odin, and the pan-Polynesian god Maui, for whom the island is named) are mythological reflections
of one or more extraterrestrial dissidents who rebelled against the Alien Raj's "Prime-Directive"-type policy of non-
interference in human affairs--except when it suits the aliens' immediate agenda--and were punished for their actions
by the Raj.
* Lucifer
The best-known, albeit most misunderstood, of my three examples is Lucifer, the "Fallen Angel" who rebelled against
the divine authority of Yahweh and was exiled from Heaven. Soon thereafter, disguised as a serpent, he tricked
Adam and Eve into becoming fully sentient, that is, over and above an immediate awareness of their sexual natures.
This violated God's policy of "non- interference" in the newly-created humans' affairs, and Lucifer remained an outcast
as far as the supreme--and eventually monotheistic--Hebrew deity was concerned.
I suspect that in this story's earliest version, Lucifer, like Prometheus, also gave Adam and Eve the secret of
fire-making, as is suggested by his name. Note, although they were eventually conflated, Lucifer should be
distinguished from Satan, who entered the Hebrew tradition much later and is derived from the ancient Zoroastrian
entity Angra Mainyu, the "Lord of Darkness," who was believed to be in permanent conflict with Ahura Mazda, the
"Lord of Light and Goodness." (This latter conflict may also reflect the alien presence, more specifically a conflict
between two or more ET species who, some 6,000-7,000 year ago, seem to have fought what amounted to a colonial
war for possession of Earth.[3])
In the fully developed Hebrew religious tradition, the sexual aspect of Lucifer's "gift," together with the defiance of
divine authority, assumed a disproportionate importance, and thus, unlike Prometheus, the Hebrew "Light-Bearer"
remained a negative figure, an exile deserving his fate. Thus, ironically, the ancient Hebrews came to interpret the
mythology surrounding this pro-human figure in much the same way the Alien Raj regarded the behavior of the
dissident who inspired it: a clear violation of the rules that could not go unpunished.
* Prometheus
A member of the Titans (the elder dieties in ancient Greek tradition), Prometheus defected and sided with the younger
Olympian gods, headed by Zeus. (Again, we have the theme of an ancient conflict that probably has alien overtones.)
But after the Olympians defeated the Titans and banished their leader (Zeus's father Kronos) to subterranean
Tartaros, Prometheus (whose name means "Forethought") grew uneasy with Zeus's intentions toward the
newly-created humans. Zeus, the chief Olympian, forbade Prometheus from carrying fire from Heaven and teaching
mortals how to use it. Prometheus defied his sovereign and did so anyway. As a result, humans became more than
mere dumb animals, just as Lucifer's "gift" permitted Adam and Eve to emulate their creator, at least to a degree.
Enraged, Zeus chained the rebellious god to a mountain top, where an eagle pecked his liver. A colleague, Elizabeth
Barber, suggests that this is a metaphor for a volcanic eruption in which the eagle's black wings are the spreading
plume of smoke and the god's blood is the red-hot lava flowing down the mountain side. Her interpretation may also
be correct, as most mythology is multi-layered; once it was clear that the rebellious gift-giver from the sky was
punished, human imagination took over, and the symbolic association of Prometheus's torment with a particularly
devastating volcanic eruption took shape.
In time, Zeus's rage abated, and Prometheus came to occupy a heroic position in ancient Greek religion as humanity's
chief divine benefactor. This is in stark contrast to the Lucifer myth, nevertheless, the tales are strikingly similar.
Indeed, together with R. J. Werblowksi and several other scholars, I suspect there is a historical connection between
these two figures, and that they reflect a common Near Eastern account of a rebellious, "light-bearing" pro-human
deity who descended from the sky bearing knowledge--technological and otherwise--and was punished and/ or exiled
by his "divine"--that is, alien--superiors for his actions on behalf of humanity.
* Quétzalcoatl
My third example of a "pro-human" deity that seems to derive from a dissident alien prototype is the Mesoamerican
"feathered-serpent" god Quétzalcoatl, called Kukulkan by the Maya, who is described as a culture- bearer. A relatively
benign deity, at least by the bloody standards of Mesoamerican mythology, Quétzalcoatl, like Lucifer and Prometheus,
came to earth to teach his human devotees all manner of useful arts and wisdom.[4] Like the other two divine rebels,
by doing so, he angered his fellow gods and was forced into exile, although vowing to return at some future time--a
motif implicit in the other two mythologies (Prometheus returned after Zeus pardoned him, and Lucifer's eagerness to
return, albeit negatively valued, permeates the Judeo-Christian tradition).
Two elements of the Quétzalcoatl mythology are relevant. First, his "feathered-serpent" image. Several UFO
abductees, including Nebraska Highway Patrolman Herbert Schirmer and Betty Andreessen-Luca, have reported
seeing winged serpents emblazoned on the abductors' uniforms. Although this element is absent in the Lucifer and
Prometheus mythology, Lucifer's reptilian alter ego in the Garden of Eden is noteworthy, and the winged-serpent
figure does exist in ancient Greek tradition in the image of the Caduceus (although it's associated with Asclepias, god
of medicine, rather than with Prometheus).
Nevertheless, I suspect the image of a winged or feathered serpent is an important and deep-rooted alien symbol,
one that may reflect a very ancient extraterrestrial totemic identification that predates the Alien Raj. Thus, one may
expect both dissidents, like the prototype of Quétzalcoatl, and the more "establishment" type aliens who abducted
Schirmer and Andreasson-Luca, to display it.
The second relevant element in the Quétzalcoatl mythology is the idea that he is fair-skinned. This was one reason
Moteczuma initially accepted Hernándo Cortes as Quétzalcoatl redux.[5] (Among the alien physical types reported by
abductees are the so-called "Nordics": blond, blue-eyed humanoids who sometimes appear in charge.[6]) Although
Cortes and his fellow Spaniards didn't entirely match this human type, the dissident alien prototype of Quétzalcoatl
could have been a Nordic, and the fact that the Europeans were generally fairer than Mexicans may have led
Mocteczuma and his people to believe that the god had returned. Of course, they soon realized that Cortes and his
rapacious comrades were far from divine, but by then it was too late; the Conquest was a fait accompli.
This may be a lesson for us humans, especially for those "New-Agers" who have seen fit to deify our alien colonial
masters.
* Rebel God and Alien Prototype(s)
We have a pattern: A divine being (Lucifer, Prometheus, Quétzalcoatl, and other trickster figures) defies his superiors
in the pantheon (Yahweh, Zeus, Huitzilopochitli) and attempts to assist humans. After transmitting some divine lore
(self-awareness, the secret of fire-making, writing, etc.) he is punished by his superiors, either physically or by exile.
It seems extremely probably that this widespread theme reflects an actual event (or series of events) of some
5,000-odd years ago, one that involved an abortive rebellion against the non-interference policy of the Alien Raj.
Do alien dissidents still exist? One can only wonder, although some abductees/contactees do report being given
information that has proven useful. My friend Jack Sarfatti, a post-quantum physicist, asserts that he received an
alien "phone call" in 1953 which predicted that he'd make an important breakthrough in 1973. And it happened.
Could this phone call have been made by an heir to Prometheus or Quétzalcoatl?
If a dissident movement persists within the Alien Raj, we must contact it and obtain some of that magical technology,
and the science behind it. It would appear to be the only realistic way to consider overthrowing the Raj's oppressive
hegemony. Only when we discard the notion that our extraterrestrial "visitors," as Whitley Strieber has dubbed
them, exist on some higher "spiritual plane" than ourselves can we make rational sense of a phenomenon that has
such a profound, albeit clandestine, impact on our existence.
As yet, no hard, incontrovertible evidence exists that my three divine "suspects" were mythological reflexes of ancient
alien dissidents. But I submit that the "soft" evidence supporting both the presence of an Alien Raj, and my above
hypothesis, is persuasive enough to warrant close collaboration between anthropologists specializing in comparative
mythology and folklore, and serious students of the UFO phenomenon.
We anthropologists must overcome the "they shouldn't exist, therefore they don't exist" skeptical mindset frequently
encountered in academia, and systematically examine UFO abductee accounts and their congruence with mythology
and folklore.
| TODAY IS |
