Secret_History

Chapter 3: In Quest Of the Past 119
trappings are stripped away, the chief point of argument is this: which conception
of Time is being utilized as the foundation of the myth, cyclical or linear?
There are those who say that the mythical/religious formulas and images through
which the “primitives” expressed their reality seem childish and absurd. Eliade,
however, sees in religious myths a “desperate effort not to lose contact with being”
(justification of existence in the face of the cruel world) and to find meaning—an
archaic ontology.
Again, I would like to suggest that this archaic ontology is a remnant of the high
and different science and technology of man “before the fall”. Again we
hypothesize that the myths, rituals and ceremonies of the ancient religions are but
surviving fragments of a technology from which the true significance has
vanished. Further, we might think that it is in discovering the secrets of this
“technology” that mankind has a chance to become free of the Terror of History.
What is the secret technology? It is nothing less than the Holy Grail the Ark of
Noë, and the Philosopher’s Stone.
In the present time there is a lot of talk about time because we are rumored to be
heading toward the End of Time—and the World itself. Can this be true? And, if
so, what implication does such an idea suggest regarding the nature of our
universe? If this is not true, then where did such an idea originate, and why is it so
popular?
In working with, and testing, our hypothesis that there was a “former time”, a
Golden Age from which man “Fell”, we need to examine carefully this issue of
time.
Time: The framework in which we live and move and have our being.
There is the question of BEing and DOing—Free Will—, which implies the
context of Time. Yes, it is possible to conceive of BEing outside of Time, but in
order to DO, one must have a context. This may be an assumption, but let’s work
with it for the “time being”.
A Few Words About Radiometric Dating
If we are going to investigate time, we will be confronted with the issue of dates,
those markers of time, and of how these dates are established.
The most widely used method for determining the age of fossils is to date them
by the “known age” of the rock strata in which they are found. At the same time,
the most widely used method for determining the age of the rock strata is to date
them by the “known age” of the fossils they contain. In this “circular dating”
method, all ages are based on uniformitarian assumptions about the date and order
in which fossilized plants and animals are believed to have evolved. Most people
are surprised to learn that there is, in fact, no way to directly determine the age of
any fossil or rock. The so called “absolute” methods of dating (radiometric
methods) actually only measure the present ratios of radioactive isotopes and their
decay products in suitable specimens - not their age. These measured ratios are
then extrapolated to an “age” determination.
The problem with all radiometric “clocks” is that their accuracy critically
depends on several starting assumptions, which are largely unknowable. To date a
specimen by radiometric means, one must first know the starting amount of the