By Daniil Norin, Pravda

In those days in June of 1944 the whole of Paris saluted the liberators v General Leclerc's division and Anglo-American troops. Intelligence officers and sappers of the allies were the only who didn't participate in the general exultation. They were searching buildings one after another for storehouses of weapons, mines and Nazis escaping from retribution.

The English came across something extraordinary in a disable peoples shelter. They saw an old fantastically shaped bowl in the center of a large round table. There were chairs with high Gothic backs standing around the table. Knight's armor, helmets, mantles embroidered with crosses, arm-bands with swastikas on them and black SS service caps were scattered everywhere.

An aged colonel from intelligence department immediately came to the building and slowly inspected the hall. A young lieutenant asked him what had happened in the room and supposed: "It looks like a performance, sir." And the aged colonel introduced himself: "Sir Arthur". Then the man carefully drew the bowl up and smelt the contents. He said: "Well, lieutenant. This is not a performance, but a mystery. There was a session of the Teutonic order knights. There is blood mixed with wine in the bowl, the Saint Grail."
 
Since very beginning, philosophy of the Nazi Reich's top was based upon a magically irrational, occult basis. And the sign of swastika was a symbol that Nazis borrowed from the old cultures and further re-interpreted with the great aspirations of the Third Reich. In the Ancient Egypt and in Babylon the image known as Nazi swastika embodied solar energy; it was connected with the female generating principle. In the Ancient India it was an emblem of the Hinduism gods of Vishnu, Ganesha, Shiva, Brahma, Agni, Surya; in Greece the emblem of the gods of Zeus, Helios, Hera and Artemis; in Scandinavia of the high god of Thor; and in the early Christian catacomb church the emblem of Jesus Christ. Thousands of years ago the sign could be seen everywhere, but never before Hitler it was interpreted as a division of mankind into Aryans and all the rest who mustn't live on the Earth.

Everything was more or less clear to experienced intelligence officer Sir Arthur. Everything with one exception: how the knife with a bronze dragon-shaped handle appeared in the center of Paris. That was a Japanese knife meant for hara-kiri.  

And Sir Arthur recollected an old story. At the end of the 1930s, right before beginning of WWII, he was working in the British Embassy in Tokyo and during some official reception he met some Hausshofer, a colleague from the German Embassy. Relations between Britain and Germany were already rather tense at that period, however, this very fact made for particular interest of the intelligence officers to each other. 

As it turned out, Hausshofer wonderfully spoke Japanese, was an expert in history and traditions of Japan; besides, it was rather strange but the man was a member of the Green Dragon society. This secret and strictly conspiratorial organization consisted of influential Japanese politicians, those who were extremely inimical to the West.  Why did they admit a European? Probably, the English intelligence officer understood it was because the ideology of Samurai traditions have something in common with Hitler-s occult ideas. 
 
Sir Arthur immediately inquired London for a complete dossier on the German colleague. In the years of WWI Karl Hausshofer was the youngest general in the Kaiser army and was famous for his foresight talent. It was said that he mentioned exactly not only the moment of a forthcoming attack, but even the place where a shell was to fall. After the war, the general became a scientist, professor of  the Munich University specializing in the Far East problems.

  Then Hausshofer suddenly abandoned the chair, took a great interest in magic, occultism, and was one of the two founders of the Thule society. Dietrich Eckart, one more admirer of occultism, was the second founder of the society; the man was an unknown playwright and poet, Hausshofer's brother-officer in the Western front.

 The legend about Thule was in the origins of German and Scandinavian legends saying that the island, like Atlantis, used to be the center of a magician civilization. Members of the Thule society (by the way it was not less caste than the Green Dragon society) believed that a strong medium could establish connection with the lost civilization. In the early 1920s, some Adolph Hitler was picked out as a candidate to the role of the medium. Probably, aristocratic members of the society were attracted by the readiness of this hysterical plebeian to earn popularity practically on everything, and his psychical unbalance and excitability were just a reverse side of a medium talent. It is significant that members of the society appointed the first meeting with the future Fuhrer in the house of their idol Richard Wagner. The medium was initiated within three years. Eckart, who died in 1923, told the brothers-in-arms: "Follow Hitler. I composed the music, but he will conduct the dance."
 
Interests of Sir Arthur and Hausshofer turned out to be mutual. Very soon, "quite accidentally" they met in a hotel in Kyoto. The city was smothered with the white and rose sakura haze. And Hausshofer dressed in a black with green dragons kimono, with his hair in a bun and looked an essential part of the scenery.

The German man suggested that Sir Arthur could ask him questions. The latter asked: "How you, clever and educated man treat Hitler?"
 
The blue-eyed Samurai laughed: "I knew you would ask the question. My opinion is that the Fuhrer is a wild, semi-literate nonentity. But he is a genius medium for us, and this is the most important fact."

Hausshofer was sure that Sir Arthur had already made inquiries about him. Sir Arthur said: "We know quite a lot. It was you who offered Hitler to make swastika the emblem of his movement, and you also contributed into his Mein Kampf. By the way, the book is primitive and contains much lies."

Hausshofer agreed that it was so. "But the book mustn't be different as it completely corresponds intellectual capabilities of the author and awakes the darkest instincts of the mass conscience. It is through Hitler's medium genius that we managed to imbue masses with a very strong occult energy. And the energy was so strong that the whole nation accepted swastika unconditionally. Look, the Aryan archetype is determining the collective unconscious of the whole nation."

Sir Arthur objected it was nonsense. "Not at all", was response of Karl Hausshofer. "Swastika will join and alloy Kami, the old Japanese gods, and Germany-s ancient gods called Ases. As a result of it, a new, incredible archetype will arise."

The Samurai added: "I agree that we will lose the war. However, it is not that awful in fact. WWIII will break out. During WWI Russians were together with British and French; in WWII, no matter how fanatic it may sound for you, they will be once again with you (the British) and Americans. But WWIII will be quite different. A transformed Germany will also join the general coalition. And we, the hell and the darkness, will resist all of you. And your armies, with the super-strong weapons will be helpless all the same. This is because nobody of you will know from where our next attack will be, from where a kamikadze will come."

The prophecy could be considered ravings of a madman. But it is well known that no madmen are adopted into intelligence, especially on top positions. Besides, much of what was said in Kyoto in the second part of the 1930s, seems to be realized in the very beginning of the 21st century.

God on the Brain

By Liz Tucker BBC Horizon

Why do people experience religious visions? BBC Two's Horizon suggests that in some cases the cause may be a strange brain disorder.

Controversial new research suggests that whether we believe in a God may not just be a matter of free will. Scientists now believe there may be physical differences in the brains of ardent believers.

Inspiration for this work has come from a group of patients who have a brain disorder called temporal lobe epilepsy. In a minority of patients, this condition induces bizarre religious hallucinations - something that patient Rudi Affolter has experienced vividly.

Despite the fact that he is a confirmed atheist, when he was 43, Rudi had a powerful religious vision which convinced him he had gone to hell.

"I was told that I had gone there because I had not been a devout Christian, a believer in God. I was very depressed at the thought that I was going to remain there forever."

Clinical evidence

Gwen Tighe also has the disorder. When she had a baby, she believed she had given birth to Jesus. It was something her husband Berny found very difficult to understand.

"She said, isn't it nice to be part of the holy family? I thought, holy family? It then turned out she thought I was Joseph, she was Mary and that little Charlie was Christ."

Professor VS Ramachandran, of the University of California in San Diego, believed that the temporal lobes of the brain were key in religious experience. He felt that patients like Rudi and Gwen could provide important evidence linking the temporal lobes to religious experience.

So he set up an experiment to compare the brains of people with and without temporal lobe epilepsy. He decided to measure his patients' changes in skin resistance, essentially measuring how much they sweated when they looked at different types of imagery.

What Professor Ramachandran discovered to his surprise was that when the temporal lobe patients were shown any type of religious imagery, their bodies produced a dramatic change in their skin resistance.

The activity of specific neural circuits makes these patients more prone to religious belief
Prof VS Ramachandran, University of California

"We found to our amazement that every time they looked at religious words like God, they'd get a huge galvanic skin response."

This was the very first piece of clinical evidence revealing that the body's response to religious symbols was definitely linked to the temporal lobes of the brain.

"What we suggested was that there are certain circuits within the temporal lobes which have been selectively activated in these patients and somehow the activity of these specific neural circuits makes them more prone to religious belief."

Scientists now believe famous religious figures in the past could also have been sufferers from the condition. St Paul and Moses appear to be two of the most likely candidates.

During her life, Ellen had hundreds of dramatic religious visions which were key in the establishment of the church, helping to convince her followers that she was indeed spiritually inspired. But Professor Holmes believes there may be another far more prosaic explanation for her visions. 

Head trauma ?

He has discovered that at the age of nine, Ellen suffered a severe blow to her head. As a result, she was semi-conscious for several weeks and so ill she never returned to school.

Following the accident, Ellen's personality changed dramatically and she became highly religious and moralistic.

And for the first time in her life, she began to have powerful religious visions.

Professor Holmes is convinced that the blow to Ellen's head caused her to develop temporal lobe epilepsy.

"Her whole clinical course to me suggested the high probability that she had temporal lobe epilepsy. This would indicate to me that the spiritual visions she was having would not be genuine, but would be due to the seizures."

Professor Holmes' diagnosis is a shattering one for the Seventh-day Adventist movement. Their spokesman, Dr Daniel Giang, is a neurologist as well as a member of the church.

Ellen White's visions lasted from 15 minutes to three hours or more - that's quite unusual for seizures
Dr Daniel Giang, Seventh-day Adventist Church

He dismisses the claims, insisting the visions started too long after the accident to have been caused by it. He goes on to say: "Ellen White's visions lasted from 15 minutes to three hours or more. She never apparently had any briefer visions - that's quite unusual for seizures."

We will never know for sure whether religious figures in the past definitely did have the disorder but scientists now believe the condition provides a powerful insight into revealing how religious experience may impact on the brain.

They believe what happens inside the minds of temporal lobe epileptic patients may just be an extreme case of what goes on inside all of our minds.

For everyone, whether they have the condition or not, it now appears the temporal lobes are key in experiencing religious and spiritual belief.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/2865009.stm

Published: 2003/03/20 14:19:25

© BBC MMIII

While the pope didn't name any sins, his reference to divorce was unmistakable since the Church considers remarried Catholics living in a state of continued sin, and experts said his intent was clear.

"That is what the Vatican is saying for years about the non-admission of public sinners to the Eucharist whether they be divorced or Mafia or people who are notorious criminals," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of America, a Jesuit magazine.

The pontiff is "articulating a general principle of not admitting public sinners to the Eucharist, while not necessarily getting into the details of each person's life," said Reese, based in New York.

John Paul also expressed concern about parishes which are without priests. But while he said it was "praiseworthy" that nuns or laity in these communities lead the other faithful in prayer, only priests can celebrate Mass.

The pope also warned against loose interpretations by those hoping to foster closer relations among various Christian denominations.

Specifically, he ruled out as "unthinkable" the practice of substituting obligatory Sunday Mass with celebrations of prayer with Christians from other faiths "or even participation in their own liturgical services."

John Paul expressed dismay that sometimes the Eucharist "is celebrated as if it were simply a fraternal banquet."

He also wrote that Catholics "while respecting the religious convictions of these separated brethren, must refrain from receiving the communion distributed in their celebrations."

Roman Catholics maintain that they receive the blood and body of Christ in communion, but many other Christians view communion as a symbolic re-creation of the Last Supper.

Many Protestants believe that sharing in communion can help bring about unity.

But the pope wrote that that "it is not possible to celebrate together the same Eucharist liturgy until those bonds are fully re-established."

John Paul said, however, that under special circumstances, communion can be given to Christians outside the Catholic church to meet "a grave spiritual need for the eternal salvation of an individual believer," and that in similar special circumstances, Catholics could ask that communion, confession or final rites be given by ministers from other faiths which also have "valid" sacraments.

Associated Press