Home Architecture Talk

Modern Residential Architecture...What is your opinion? Do urban planners have no flare anymore like the Victorians did? Why are most new build developments a labyrinth of dull flimsy looking clones. I don't mean the master pieces of Richard Rogers etc but the ghastly modern estates mushrooming up all over the country. Will people look back in 100 years time and cringe at this period of design with the same contempt as they do now at the horrid 60's high rise apartment blocks ? Why can't we build magnificent solid white pillared terraced mansions anymore with a modern twist. Is creative brickwork, tall ceilings a thing of the past? Surely it cannot always be down to cost and being green ?

help with english writting? Which of the following sentences uses the active voice? A. Medieval architects developed new techniques to build cathedrals. B. Architecture was developed in the ancient world. C. The pyramids were designed by Egyptian architects. D. At first, modern architecture was rejected by many. E. Pre-fab houses were designed to make building cheap and easy.

Do you like the older flicks better? The old B&W movies of yesteryear seem to possess a quality seldom seen in modern movies. What is it? Do you agree that the old movies had something that the modern ones don't? Is this merely a subjective and biased opinion, based on an element of nostalgia, or is my sentiment fairly widespread? A handy comparative analogy: old movies are to the old architecture as new movies are to the new building designs. The new buildings are more efficient and have some bells and whistles missing not seen in the old magnificent edifices. But they had so much charm. As did the old flicks.

What are four good examples of buildings that would help in choosing a deisgn for a museum? You are a member of and advisory board who answers to a public figure; someone who is in control of, and makes decisions concerning the architectural development of the city where you reside. It has been established that there is a need for a new museum to house the historic art and artifacts of the city and surrounding region. You have been given the responsibility to begin the search for the appropriate architect as well as inform the said public figure of the reasons why a particular architect/architecture is suitable for the charge of the museum. Your research begins with understanding historical models for museums and similar institutions. In your paper you must select four examples that programmatically fit your idea of “museum” and explain why you have chosen these buildings (note that the chosen buildings do not necessarily need to be museums). You must then present your findings to the board for review. It is your responsibility to explain why these models are good precedents, and then you must explain why, even though these where suitable at the time, they may not be suitable now. Also, you must reference four contemporary museums that you feel are appropriate in order to foster a connective historical understanding of your choices to your audience: the board. Essentially, you will be selecting buildings that can perform as a museum “type.” You will explain the positive, and potentially negative, attributes of the building as an historic model. The selection of the contemporary – modern – buildings is to reinforce both positive and negative elements. Remember, in the end, you are not selecting a “building.” You are educating a group of people in order for them to make the appropriate decisions on hiring an architect. You will not suggest an architect. The ideas in your paper are general. You should use thoughts discussed in the lectures as well as your individual research. Remember that notions of program, formal design, materials, structure and contemporary ideas are all constituents that should be used in your paper. Any suggestions?

TODAY`S NEWS>>>>>>>>CLICK IT? Digital cloud plan for city skies By Jonathan Fildes Technology reporter, BBC News The inflatable elements of the building would sit on top of thin, lightweight towers A giant "digital cloud" that would "float" above London's skyline has been outlined by an international team of architects, artists and engineers. The construction would include 120m- (400ft-) tall mesh towers and a series of interconnected plastic bubbles that can be used to display images and data. The Cloud, as it is known, would also be used an observation deck and park. The unconventional structure was originally envisaged as a centre piece of the city's Olympic village. The building draws inspiration from the work of Tomas Saraceno Its designers plan to raise the funds to build it by asking for micro-donations from millions of people. "It's really about people coming together to raise the Cloud," Carlo Ratti, one of the architects behind the design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) told BBC News. "We can build our Cloud with £5m or £50m. The flexibility of the structural system will allow us to tune the size of the Cloud to the level of funding that is reached." The size of the structure will evolve depending on the number of contributions, he said. Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York who has seen the design described it as a "sculptural spectacle" and "a celebration of technology". 'Data streams' The Cloud was shortlisted in a competition set-up by London Mayor Boris Johnson. The mayor has committed to build a tourist attraction in the Olympic Park "with a legacy for the east end [of London]". Other finalists are thought to include the former Turner prize winner Anish Kapoor and Antony Gormley, the designer of the Angel of the North. The mayor is still in the "process of deciding" which design will be commissioned, according to a spokesperson. However, the team, which also includes the writer Umberto Eco and engineers from Arup, has decided to push ahead and publish details of its design. The structure draws on work by artist Tomas Saraceno, a German-based designer who has previously shown off huge inflatable sculptures. It is envisaged that the spheres would be made of a plastic known as Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), the material used to build the Beijing Aquatic Centre. The different spheres would act as structural elements, habitable spaces, decoration and LCD screens on which data could be projected. "We could provide a custom feed of… searches made by Londoners during the Olympics to give a real time 'barometer' of the city's interests and mood," said Google, one of the supporters of the project, which has also offered to provide the information feeds. The team also envisage projecting weather information, spectator numbers, race results or even images of the Olympic Torch on to the building. Ramps, stairs and lifts would carry people to the top of the structure to look out over the city. 'Zero power' The inflatable elements of the building would sit on top of slender, lightweight towers, stabilised by a net of metal cables. Damping technology, similar to that used in Japanese skyscrapers to resist earthquakes, would prevent the towers being buffeted by the wind. The Killesberg Tower in Germany is built using similar principles "Many tall towers have preceded this, but our achievement is the high degree of transparency, the minimal use of material and the vast volume created by the spheres," said professor Joerg Schleich, the structural engineer behind the towers. Professor Schleich was responsible for the Olympic Stadium in Munich as well as numerous lightweight towers built to the same design as the Cloud. The structure would also be used to harvest all the energy it produces according to Professor Ratti. "It would be a zero power cloud," he said. As well as solar cells on the ground and inside some of the spheres, the lifts would use regenerative braking, similar to that in some hybrid cars. That way, the designers say, potential energy from visitors to the top of the tower can be harnessed into useful electricity. The team have launched a fundraising website called raisethecloud.org and are now looking for a site for the tower. Google has already offered to provide free advertising for the so-called "cloud-raising" effort. The firm has offered a sponsored link at the top of the page advertising a "£1 for 1 pixel" concept to people who search for terms relevant to London 2012. "It will be a monument to crowd-sourcing," said Professor Ratti.

what do you think about my idea? in history we're studying about the great population boom that took place in the U.S. between the 1820s and 1860s. Isn't it incredible how in 40 years places that had no europeans in sight became great cities. in 40! i'm thinking, what if in 40 from now some other new cities would appear just like that? seeing as how now we're facing pollution problems, resource shortage danger, ecology issues, we could build a whole new, ecologic city, with a nice modern design, and a well-thought architecture and infrastructure! or maybe seeing as how the economy is going to hit rock bottom, it's not the best time?

Would you like to correct my ENGLISH essay please? The topic is : The government is responsible for protecting a nation’s cultural identity. Thus, some people believe new buildings should be built in traditional styles. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Here is my essay: It is universally acknowledged that the unique style of constructions plays an essential role of the cultural identity of a country. Therefore, increasingly people are convinced that all new buildings should be constructed in traditional ways. From my perspective, I believe that the styles of architecture could be diversity. Admittedly, restricting the models of buildings may contribute to prevent the cultural inherent from being obsolete. Especially, local inhabitants could obtain the sense of pride by living in traditional buildings. However, if constructions of the entire city are designed similarly, it is unavoidable that citizens would feel boring and monotonous. Besides, as the constructing skills of our ancestor were by no means sophisticated, it is common that there are numerous defects or potential risks in the old designs. Consequently, without promoting the traditional styles, those defects would be blind imitated by generations rather than be improved. By contrast, it is manifest that allowing the innovations in architecture renders people a vast of benefits. To begin with, modern buildings are compact and economy. Particularly, compared with the old-style buildings, modern-style tall ones, which occupy only small area while providing lots of floor space for people to live and work in, have inherent advantages in terms of saving land. Furthermore, in some cases, modern-style constructions could be the new landmarks of nations or cities, which could in turn promote the identity of culture. A recent survey conducted on a global basis by IGRC indicated that, more than 50% metropolises are representing by constructions built in a modern way over these half centuries. In conclusion, concededly, preserving the traditional styles of construction is one of effective measures that can protect the cultural identity. However, considering the potential drawbacks, as well as taking the advantages brought about by modern style buildings into account, it is an evitable fact that building all constructions in traditional way is pointless and justified, and would be the last step governments should address.

What career should I choose? Well to begin, i'm in love with science, I definitely want a science oriented career( to be specific, Bio,technology/computers/electronics). I'm also thinking about architecture but i'm not sure if thats the right career for me, considering the amount they make, and you don't necessarily get to design those big structure right away, anyway. I don't want to sit in a lab all day and do research I actually want to make things and design new concepts,build "things" science related, etc.....So can anyone give me a couple of suggestion's on what careers I should consider? Thank you in advance :) P.S My favorite type of math is geometry & favorite science is Bio and technology(if thats science) Hobbies include: Programming(java/python/some c++) ,computer tech business, Robotics, and Drawing modern structures and theoretical architectures.

Under Floor heating system; do you have experience installing / finding an expert on the korean system? I am considering installing a heating system while designing a new house with some greener & cost efficient building materials. And I'm gathering info on people with some knowledge here before goggling on until my but is tired. Any help is dearly appreciated. Wikipedia... An Ondol, also called Gudeul, in Korean traditional architecture, is underfloor heating which utilizes direct heat transfer from wood smoke to the underside of a thick masonry floor. In modern usage it refers to any type of underfloor heating, or a hotel or sleeping room in Korean (as opposed to Western) style. Where I live, it is common for most households to have a small mettal chomeney to cook and heat the house; and the suply of lumber / as fuel is plenty, so it souds viable to adapt the traditional korean system... Where I live, it is common for most households to have a small metal chimeney to cook and heat the house; and the suply of lumber / as fuel is plenty, so it feels viable to adapt the traditional korean system...

why if asia doesn't build futuristically they are stupid ? asia is the new power of the world. people want to come to your country because you are greater then the country they live in. shouldn't your architecture be more futuristic and modern. a lot more then the west is currently. it makes no sense to build homes like the west and buildings like the west. people aren't going to be excited about traveling to your country to see that same old crap we can see in the west. the idea is to be better. that is what america did. america designed homes that where a lot better then homes and buildings where in europe. that was apart of the package that sold america to the rest of the world. its the same as dressing in a suit to impress. you have to look the part. your cities have to look the part as well. .

why is it stupid not to build futuristic homes & buildings in asia ? asia is the new power of the world. people want to come to your country because you are greater then the country they live in. shouldn't your architecture be more futuristic and modern. a lot more then the west is currently. it makes no sense to build homes like the west and buildings like the west. people aren't going to be excited about traveling to your country to see that same old crap we can see in the west. the idea is to be better. that is what america did. america designed homes that where a lot better then homes and buildings where in europe. that was apart of the package that sold america to the rest of the world. its the same as dressing in a suit to impress. you have to look the part. your cities have to look the part as well.

ECO FRIENDLY HOUSING INVENTION, is it any good? worthy of investment? I had an idea for a new kind of eco friendly Architecture, that generates electricity through the movment of the envirnment and temperature changes by using a HYDROLIC DYNAMO on the end of a steel cable, its an idea that may sound crazy at first, but please bare with me, I call it PRESSURE TENSION ARCHITECTURE, it basically involves two elements to build an entire house, esp. good for fast emergency housing, ..... 'INFLATABLE CLEAR PRESSURE BRICKS' with holes down the center of the them are threaded onto 'TENSION CABLE'' (steel cable) ,,, threaded like beads on a necklace, and pulled tight to create a solid wall, very solid created through pressure of bricks and tension of cable... any shapes of wall or house could be made, the technological advances mean modern strong materials are available to make such Architecture feasible, but any old materials could be recycled and used,,old plastic bags could be melted down to make the infltabale bricks,,and or string or old wire could be used as tension cable,,or modern new materials, but essentially cheap fast eco friendly housing, air tight, water tight, warm, lets in light, adaptable, extendable, inflatable, deflatable, weather resistant, earth quake resistant due to pressure tension structure, tsunami resistant, tornadoe resistant, as any lost pieces can easily be put back together... EVERY MOVEMENT GENERATES ENERGY Eventually eco skyscrapers could be made real fast, i have all the designs for this, superfast bridges accross water, oceans ice, easy build,,,etc etc..... Even emergency bridges i.e. superfast inflation bricks, like car air bags could be attached to steel cable that is shot from one side of the water to the other, and the car air bags instantly inflate, creating an instant emergency bridge, superstrong superfast..... Source(s): REF; Uni studies, environment documentarys, science books . I'm an inventor, I come up with about 2 new inventions per week, I have a surplus of inventions, i just give away the ones that help people, and the not so good inventions,,,, I have also invented a room temp superconducting wire, and built prototype and patented,and anti grav but all need funding, did have a promise of funding but investor broke promise, and stole invention for the sake of money over saving the environment,, but i don't care about the money, but would be nice to get some funding so i can build prototypes of inventions...

eco friendly invention? ECO FRIENDLY HOUSING INVENTION, is it any good? worthy of investment? I had an idea for a new kind of eco friendly Architecture, that generates electricity through the movment of the envirnment and temperature changes by using a HYDROLIC DYNAMO on the end of a steel cable, its an idea that may sound crazy at first, but please bare with me, I call it PRESSURE TENSION ARCHITECTURE, it basically involves two elements to build an entire house, esp. good for fast emergency housing, ..... 'INFLATABLE CLEAR PRESSURE BRICKS' with holes down the center of the them are threaded onto 'TENSION CABLE'' (steel cable) ,,, threaded like beads on a necklace, and pulled tight to create a solid wall, very solid created through pressure of bricks and tension of cable... any shapes of wall or house could be made, the technological advances mean modern strong materials are available to make such Architecture feasible, but any old materials could be recycled and used,,old plastic bags could be melted down to make the infltabale bricks,,and or string or old wire could be used as tension cable,,or modern new materials, but essentially cheap fast eco friendly housing, air tight, water tight, warm, lets in light, adaptable, extendable, inflatable, deflatable, weather resistant, earth quake resistant due to pressure tension structure, tsunami resistant, tornadoe resistant, as any lost pieces can easily be put back together... EVERY MOVEMENT GENERATES ENERGY Eventually eco skyscrapers could be made real fast, i have all the designs for this, superfast bridges accross water, oceans ice, easy build,,,etc etc..... Even emergency bridges i.e. superfast inflation bricks, like car air bags could be attached to steel cable that is shot from one side of the water to the other, and the car air bags instantly inflate, creating an instant emergency bridge, superstrong superfast..... Source(s): REF; Uni studies, environment documentarys, science books I have patents on other inventions, the reason why i didn't patent this one, is because its a gift to everyone who needs emergency housing....... Yes i could make someone very rich with my inventions, but would rather save lives and the planets environment than save money

Can you correct this essay? THE ARCHITECTURE IN THE CITIES _Introduction: Throughout the time the cities are evolving, grow. This growth generates many changes. It is looked that the cities are focus of attraction, places that all the people are interested in it, to benefit from the tourism. For it be necessary to invest in the cities, not only restoring and supporting his own monuments but it generate others more modern than they to attract to all kinds of public. Events and exhibitions are created they need a place to be housed and is there where emerging "architectures author". Tha fact is interesting to create a a theater,a museum, but to create a museum that also houses exhibitions, in itself is an exhibitions, is more interesting still. Architects like Norman Foster, Peter Einsenman,Oscar Niemeyer contributed to this phenomenon. Some of these singular buildings that have the capacity to regenerate the degradated areas of the city. This singular buildings use to be museums, exhibition halls...That are made to be used and enjoyed by the people.These buildings are an attraction in themselves so people are not only interested in the exhibitions but also in these singular buildings.These buildings are designed by famous architects so they become in interesting places of the city and milestone. When these buildings turn into the opposite they don´t generate city, it means they become isolated forms that don´t have relationship with the rest of the urban desings. We have choosed this matter because we think it is very interesting not only in the point of view of architectur but also in a social point of view. So now we are going to talk about some examples of the matter we have exposed previously . _Examples: Expo Sevilla 92: Expo'92 was organized to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus (1492-1992).Placed in the island of La Cartuja.His duration was 6 months. Many architects designed the pavillion that they were representing to the different countries, nevertheless they not all have survived. The celebration of the event transformed the tonw planing, built new roads new highways and ring roads, a new central train station and expanded the airport, was a boost for Sevilla. The implementation in a record period of two years with the addiction of nearly 25000 tree speciments , this proyect became a reference for future exhibitions and its influence on the developmen of new tonws and neighborhoods still exists despite the deterioration and desappearance of many of the proyected spaces. Although he supposed a big impulse for the city, they did not take advantage of the created pavillions. Only some spaces were used, staying the rest in desuetude and left. The problem is that they are big containers to which it is difficult to give them a use. They don´t generate city, because to the being so many pavilions isolate themselves in if same, to the being so many square meters. I need it for tomorrow. Obviously English is not my mother language. I'll give you 5 stars!! Thanks!!

Under Floor heating system; do you have experience installing / finding an expert on the korean system? I am considering installing a heating system while designing a new house with some greener & cost efficient building materials. And I'm gathering info on people with some knowledge here before goggling on until my but is tired. Any help is dearly appreciated. Wikipedia... An Ondol, also called Gudeul, in Korean traditional architecture, is underfloor heating which utilizes direct heat transfer from wood smoke to the underside of a thick masonry floor. In modern usage it refers to any type of underfloor heating, or a hotel or sleeping room in Korean (as opposed to Western) style.

art history help plzzz? 1. It is considered that ancient history ends and modern history begins in _________. (1 point) Greece Rome Egypt New York 2. The Romans were considered masters of ___________________. (1 point) Architecture and engineering Literature Art All of the above 3. The road that connects Rome to Capua, built in ancient Roman times, can still be travelled today. What is that road called? (1 point) The Roman Way The Great Road to Rome The Capua Way The Appian Way 4. What is a channel that brings water to a city from nearby hills? (1 point) An amphitheater A bath A plinth An aqueduct 5. Which is not an architectural feature of Roman construction? (1 point) The arch The dome The pyramid The vault 6. Roman architecture began as a form of ___________. (1 point) Art Worship Expression Intimidation 7. Early Roman temples were designed and decorated to be viewed from ___________ perspective(s). (1 point) A single Two Three All 8. Romans built on a scale and in qualities that were _____________. (1 point) Usual for the times Small for their time Never seen in any civilization before theirs Unsophisticated for their times 9. Roman conquests encouraged and accelerated the spread of Roman innovations throughout the _____________ world. (1 point) Mediterranean European Far Eastern None of the above 10. What features of Roman architecture can be seen in modern-day structures? (1 point) The arch The dome The vault All of the above

CCA English Final Help PLEASE! Part 2? ANY help would be great, if your not going to help, please dont make rude comments. Thanks ! 15. The tone of Marge Piercy’s and Walt Whitman’s poems can best be described as _______. (1point) A) ironic B) hopeful C) celebratory D) contemplative 16. Which of the following statements is NOT true? (1 point) A) "The Cask of Amontillado" takes place during the carnival season in Italy. B) Annabel Lee is a beloved dead maiden. C) Poe's poems are known for the way in which they avoid conventional poetic techniques. D) According to "The Bells," sleigh bells carry a "Runic rhyme." 17. _____ is the repetition of a consonant sound or sounds at the beginning of a series of words. (1 point) A) Onomatopoeia B) Alliteration C) Consonance D) Assonance Identify the sentence in which the underlined verb does NOT agree with its subject for questions 23–24. 23. (1 point) A) Neither of the twins are interested in sports. (are) B) Both of them have many other activities. (have) C) One of their cousins is a professional hockey player. (is) D) Everyone enjoys watching him play. (enjoys) Identify the degree of comparison of the underlined word for questions 25–26. 25. This new magazine about computers is very colorful. (colorful) (1 point) A) positive B) comparative C) superlative D) none of the above 26. The article on Web design is longer than the one on games. (longer) (1 point) A) positive B) comparative C) superlative D) none of the above 38. A ____ includes all the works an author consulted but did not necessarily cite in the actual report. (1 point) A) works cited page B) bibliography C) footnote D) parenthetical citation 40. Choose the topic that best limits the broad subject, architecture. (1 point) A) famous architects B) historic building in Europe C) modern architectural marvels D) the history of the Golden Gate Bridge

I want to design and build modern homes like in Dwell Magazine, what are good books for modern architecture? I love the homes I see in Dwell magazine. I really want to learn how to build a home like the ones I see there. Please tell me how I can learn how to build my own modern home.

Looking for building plans for modern style architecture home? Supposing you have 5 million dollars to spend on building a very unique, modern style home. Like the ones you see on movies, essentially built up of glass panels from exterior, and insides have white tiles and walls made of stone like in a futuristic laboratory or something like this. where can i get the practical design layouts/plans for this to actually build it? Can you recommend me a magazine of sort? Thank you.

why modern building architecture is different form past centuries architecture? Give the advantages, design, structural chages, difference What r the change in material constranins

Which of these Japanese cities has the best architecture?? TOKYO, OSAKA, YOKOHAMA, KOBE, NAGOYA? Which city do you think has the best architecture in terms of modern building designs. There are some very great buildings in Japan but which would you say has the best designed buildings. I think the national art centre in tokyo looks very cool. http://www.artknowledgenews.com/files2007/TheNationalArtCenterTokyo.jpg

Does anyone know of any good examples of buildings designed and built from 2000 - today? I'm doing an art essay and need examples of good modern architecture built in this decade! Thanks!

Architecture: Unique Building in Continental Europe? I am trying to find the name and architect of a building i saw a photo of some time ago: it has all unique salvaged windows (a few hundred, none alike), very un-symmetrical design, apartments + retail on ground floor (i think). Its a very impressive unique modern building (its not gaudi btw). anyone any ideas??

Can anyone tell which country is good for immigration to live Australia or Canada ? Can some one advise out of the which country is best to live in Immigration Australia or Canada ???...Which country one is best in context of Free child education, Free health care, Good atmosphere & Good weather seasons conditions, Best Immigrants law for immigrants, Secure life future and Job prospects, Great Transportation systems, Great Infrastructure & Modern Architecture Building and Cities , Scope of growth also tell me Which country is good for IT jobs Australia or Canada ?... Which country has best economy Australia or Canada ?. Which country has best Houses design and low accommodation Australia or Canada ?. Which country has best good places, parks, shopping malls, traveling etc Australia or Canada ?. Please guide me and answers my question in detail i would be Great Thankful to him.

Which religion has contracted the best examples of architecture? Who's builds are most breathtaking, both in art and engineering? ...In ancient architectural design? ...In modern architecture?

Does anyone know of any good examples of buildings built in the 1970's? I'm doing an art essay on modern architecture and need good examples of buildings built and designed in the 1970's! Thanks!

Improving future architecture? I am currently doing a college project based on 'how would you go about designing a building?' to answer this question I was wondering if you could help me out by answering the questions the below. 1.What do you believe makes a good modern building in Britain? 2.Name a building that shows a good example of modern buildings in Britain and why do you think that is? 3.Why do you think modern buildings are not advancing dramatically? 4.In the future how do you think Modern Buildings will advance? 5.Do you think modern buildings in Britain need to exist to develop the world and why? 6.Do you think the area influences whether a modern building is built and why? This is open to anyone so please write your answer below.

Who designed the Beijing National Indoor Stadium? I'm doing an art project on modern architecture and I would really like to use this building. However, I cannot find who designed it and when construction was started/finished. I've tried Wikipedia, but I came up with nothing, and the Beijing Olympics site tells me nothing either.

I have a 1888 Italianate and Second empire building that I would like to turn into a house.? What Kind of home design should I look into ? I like the modern contemporary clean line design furnishing and style but still wanna keeps the elegant and the beauty of its old Victorian era architecture, what do you think I should do?

Help building / designing a dream house.? I am beginning to put my dream of beginning to design/build my dream house. My ideal is to have a "castle" like architecture in a reasonable size of a 2 story house with a 3rd story level for stargazing... etc etc. I have taken drafting and design throughout middle school and high school on the good ol' T-squares, but I have yet to use AutoCAD. Should I buy a copy of it? Also, who makes "castle" like houses? I want to mix medieval with modern. Please help me get started on realizing my dreams =) On a side note, I do realize this does not happen over night. I do realize I have to go to an actual architect engineer and more processes to finalize my design, and other guidelines, but I am open to what else I have to do.

Could you edit this please..........? Could u edit these paragraphs. Check if everything makes sense Thank u 6. I am very open to ideas or influences to inspire myself to be an architect. I do appreciate many architects work and value how we the students can take them as role model to our future careers. I always been liked the modern architecture and unique structures. I believe we can broke rules in Architecture, but not to dare the impossible. For these reason, I admire Frank Gehry’s work because he had broken rules with his unique designs. This architect had influenced me even more to pursue architecture. 7. I feel motivated about that once I have finished my career, I will be able to solve design problems by myself or in a team with other people who will be sharing the same interests than me. Also, I feel motivated to see one day one of my designs built in real life, to say: I designed this! I think it’s a very special moment when an architect completes his or her first project. Because she or he saw the process, the drawings and the trophy obviously will be the building.

what kind of architecture is your house designed in? do you know what special kind of architectural style the building you are in right now was designed in? right now i think im in a modern international style building

Does this sentence contain an ARGUMENT? 3. Some design shows fetishize houses and ignore the residents; others, like Extreme Makeover, are all about tear-jerking stories. But Architecture School, in which Tulane students build a home for Katrina victims, is a captivating look at how modern design works and the real lives it might change.

What is your favorite kind of architecture? If you had to choose any kind of architecture, what would it be? It doesn't matter whether it's Victorian, Gothic, Classical, Arabian, Baroque, Asia, Renaissance, Greek Revival, Ancient Roman, or modern. What would be your first selection of architecture for you? What design would you decide in if you were the engineer in charge of constructing a building? Would anyone mind answering this one? It's worth an easy two (possibly even ten) points. You've got nothing to lose, but something to gain. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqT5Tlumg24VithP_iwApGTty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090511004940AAhfc4R

Anyone Familiar With Mid-Century Modern Style Homes .....? This is William Krisel http://media.dwell.com/images/478*718/william-krisel-archive-dwell-on-design.jpg - http://www.preservationnation.org/assets/photos-images/preservation-magazine/2009/may-june/william-krisel_mj09.jpg (He built more than 30,000 Mid-Century Modern style homes in his career!) http://www.dougnewby.com/dmh/midcentury/midcentury-collage.jpg Please tell me what you think of these types of homes. I'm interested in renting/buying and want to know what others think. http://www.marinmodern.com/images/Mill%20Valley%20Modern2.png I drive for Fedex Express and was sent to pick up a package on a street called Pueblo Way here in Las Vegas, Nevada. The street is just off Eastern Ave and the moment I turned onto the street I was shocked. The entire street is lined with these types of homes. None of them looked anywhere near each other in design and the majority of them were beautiful while the rest were nice. Not one of them were ugly in anyway. http://www.psmodernhouse.com/website/agent_pictures/2327/mid-century2.jpg The man I picked the package up from was remodeling his home (these homes were built in 1963 and still look gorgeous!) from top to bottom and was turning it into something which would basically be efficient enough to keep your energy bill around zero in cost. I don't understand that part but it seems that your home is so well designed you won't pay a bill if it's done right as far as the power consumed. Huh ... ??? ... sign me up! (smiling) Anyway have you looked at or do you live in a Mid-Century Modern type home? http://www.essential-architecture.com/IMAGES2/Mid%20century%20modern2_thumb.jpg Thanks and thumbs up to all who answer! Just give me time to get back and read the answers. http://www.dallasmidcenturymodernhomes.com/images/midcentury-collage.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2044/2422535853_097bdb8977.jpg http://www.ratioblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/mid-century-modern-home-near-indianpolis.jpg virgin 4ever : Ha .. ha .. ha .. It's okay lady! We each have our own tastes. You just wait till you get my age. (laughing) When you do get older you will understand how important it is to build your nest egg and have a nice and quiet place to enjoy the rest of your life. Good luck in school and track ... OK??? (smiling)

Who would like to check some of these out? Advertisement 21 candidates for new Wonders of World list 18/11/2006 7:39:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Printer-friendly page GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) - Here are descriptions of the 21 candidates in the "New 7 Wonders of the World" competition. The public may vote at www.new7wonders.com. Acropolis, Greece: A million people come here each year to see the marble temples - including the ruins of the columned Parthenon - and statues of Greek gods and goddesses dating from the fifth century BC. Alhambra, Spain: The palace and citadel, perched above Granada, was the residence of the Moorish caliphs who governed southern Spain in splendour until 1492, when the city was conquered by the Christian forces of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, ending 800 years of Muslim rule. Stunning features include mosaics, arabesques and mocarabe, or honeycomb work. Angkor, Cambodia: The archeological site in Siem Reap was the capital of the Khmer (Cambodian) empire from the ninth to 15th centuries. It served as administrative centre and place of worship for a prosperous kingdom that stretched from Vietnam to China and the Bay of Bengal. The 12th-century ruins include Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Christ Redeemer Statue, Brazil: The 38-metre statue of Christ the Redeemer with outstretched arms overlooks Rio de Janeiro from atop Mount Corcovado. The statue was built in pieces in France starting in 1926, and shipped to Brazil. A railway carried it up the 714-metre mountain for the 1931 inauguration. Colosseum, Italy: The 50,000-seat amphitheatre in Rome was inaugurated in AD 80. Thousands of gladiators duelled to the death here, and Christians were fed to the lions. The arena has influenced the design of modern stadiums. Easter Island, Chile: Hundreds of massive stone busts, or Moais, are all that remains from the prehistoric Rapanui culture that crafted them between 400 and 1,000 years ago to represent deceased ancestors. Some statues are over 20 metres tall. They gaze out on the south Pacific Ocean more than 1,600 kilometres off the Chilean mainland. Eiffel Tower, France: The 300-metre tower, built in 1889 for the International Exposition, symbolizes Paris. Made almost entirely of open-lattice wrought iron and erected in only two years with a small labour force, the tower - Paris's tallest structure - demonstrated advances in construction techniques, but some initially criticized it as unesthetic. Great Wall of China: The 6,700 kilometre barricade running from east to west is the world's longest manmade structure. The fortification was built to protect various dynasties from invasion by Huns, Mongols, Turks and other nomadic tribes. Construction took place over hundreds of years, beginning in the seventh century BC. Hagia Sophia, Turkey: The soaring cathedral, also called the Church of Holy Wisdom, was built in 537 BC at Constantinople, today's Istanbul. In 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, it became a mosque with minarets. When Turkish President Kemal Ataturk turned it into a museum in 1935, Christian mosaics covered up by the Muslims were revealed. Kiyomizu Temple, Japan: Kyoto's Kiyomizu-dera, which means Clear Water Temple, was founded by a Buddhist sect in 798 and rebuilt in 1633 after a fire. Drinking from its three-stream waterfall is believed to confer health, longevity and success. Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral, Russia: Onion domes with golden cupolas surrounded by red brick walls are at the heart of Moscow's Kremlin, a medieval fortress converted into the centre of Russian government. The Kremlin once symbolized Soviet communism. The Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed on adjacent Red Square features nine towers of different colours. It was built by Czar Ivan the Terrible in the mid-16th century. Machu Picchu, Peru: Built by the Incan Empire in the 15th century, Machu Picchu's walls, palaces, temples and dwellings are perched in the clouds at 2,400 metres above sea level in the Andes overlooking a lush valley 500 kilometres from Lima. Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany: The inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, Neuschwanstein is a creation of "Mad King" Ludwig II of Bavaria, who had it built in the 19th century to indulge his romantic fancies. Perched on a peak in the Bavarian Alps, the grey granite castle rises to towers, turrets and pinnacles and contains many paintings with scenes from Richard Wagner operas admired by Ludwig. Petra, Jordan: This ancient city in southwestern Jordan, built on a terrace around the Wadi Musa or Valley of Moses, was the capital of the Arab kingdom of the Nabateans, a centre of caravan trade, and continued to flourish under Roman rule after the Nabateans' defeat in AD 106. The city is famous for water tunnels and stone structures carved in the rock, including Ad-Dayr, "the Monastery," an uncompleted tomb facade that served as a church during Byzantine times. Pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico: This step pyramid surmounted by a temple was part of a sacred site in an important Mayan centre on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. It is built according to the solar calendar. Shadows at the fall and spring equinoxes are said to look like a snake crawling down the steps, similar to the carved serpent at the top. An older pyramid inside features a jade-studded, red jaguar throne. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt: The only surviving structures of the original seven wonders, the three pyramids were built as tombs for pharaohs 4,500 years ago. Nearby is the Great Sphinx statue, with a man's face and a lion's body. Statue of Liberty, New York: The 93-metre statue in New York Harbor has welcomed immigrants and symbolized freedom since 1886, when it was dedicated as a gift of the French government. Stonehenge, Britain: How and why this circular monument of massive rocks was created between 3,000 and 1,600 BC is unknown, but some experts say the stones were aligned as part of a sun-worshipping culture or astronomical calendar. Today it is a major tourist attraction. Druids and New Age followers gather here every June 21 to celebrate summer solstice. Sydney Opera House, Australia: Situated on Bennelong Point reaching into Sydney's harbour, the opera house was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon and opened in 1973 by Queen Elizabeth. Its roof resembles a ship in full sail and is covered by over one million white tiles. The building has 1,000 rooms. Taj Mahal, India: The white marble-domed mausoleum in Agra was built by a 17th-century Mogul emperor for his favourite wife, who died in childbirth. The architecture combines Indian, Persian and Islamic styles. The complex houses the graves of the emperor, his wife, and other royalty. Timbuktu, Mali: Two of West Africa's oldest mosques, the Djingareyber, or Great Mosque, and the Sankore mosque built during the 14th and early 15th centuries, can still be seen here in the northern Sahara Desert. Founded about AD 1,100, Timbuktu was a flourishing caravan centre in the Arabic world and a leading spiritual and intellectual centre in the 15th and 16th centuries, with one of the world's first universities. It is a bit long... My appologies, but there are some interesting sights. P.S. I got the info off MSN.

City to live like European Style? City to live like European Style? Hi: This is Fire Fox. I'm glad that I'm a member in Yahoo Answer. In fact I have a question. Soon in December I'm going to move to the US. Last 5 years I studied in Europe Architecture and Design. I like European style in Building, Malls and Squares. Therefore, my question is: Is there any city look like European Style and safety? Note: 1- I'm fan of cold weather. 2- I prefer a city with 100000 populations or more. 3- I hope it is not that expensive like Santa Monika, Boston, .etc 4- I'm not interested in night clubs. You can say I'm kind of religious guy. 5- Big public library. 6- There is university. 7- Modern and quit city. 8- Goood Economy

Could someone critique my essay? Could someone please critique my essay? I am currently a freshman in college and its a final essay in an indroduction to western civilization class. The topic is what is Western Civilization and which civilization we learned about contributed the most to Western Civilization. Some of the most important cultures into the development of Western Civilization are the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Middle Ages. They have all added onto what Western Civilization is. Anyone who is living in a western civilized area live in a cultural of evolution. One that instead of staying in a traditional community it is one that is always trying to improve, trying to be the most modern society. Western Civilization isn’t a time period but more of a culture that no matter how old will exist. People that don’t want to live like their ancestor were but instead want to create new technology and new innovations for the world are what make up Western Civilizations. They are what Western Civilizations are, always being the most modern, the most technologically and intellectually advanced and being one of the most powerful places in the world. Many of these places have a background linked to Christianity and Europe. Since the beginning of time the world has seen many different civilizations develop and then decline. Many of these last a few centuries and then go away by being destroyed or being taken over by another and having to adopt the other people’s culture. Each one of these civilizations has made some contribution to today’s world. Ancient Egypt was able to tell that there are 365 days in a year, Ancient Greece created the Olympics and theater, the Romans were able to create roads and architecture that is still standing and Medival Times brought Romanesque buildings that are found in areas thoughout the world. Although, all of the civilizations had their own contributions to Western Civilization in my opinion the group that has arguably contributed the most towards west civilization would be the Romans. The Romans progressed what people thought of government, architecture, religion, the design of military systems and many other areas of society at the time. These people were able to dominate the Mediterranean for over 1,000 years. At one point The Roman Empire stretched out over 2 million miles. They changed the landscape of the Mediterranean in several of ways that are still able to be seen. The smartest mind in Rome had ideas that no one ever had thought or heard of before. Before Rome became the mighty empire that it ended up being, it was once ruled by the Etruscans. According to legend the prince of the Etruscans raped a wife of a Roman named Lacretia. After this happened the Romans rebelled against the Etruscans and won their independence. Once they were independent the Romans decided that they would never again be under rule of a king and they created a new form of government. They called their new form of government a democracy. As opposed to the monarchy rule that they lived under in the past democracy let the people give their say on how Rome and the government should be ran. They took democracy from the Greeks but changed it up a little. Instead of just having elected representatives make decisions for the people the Romans directly made their decisions. Democracy is run by three branches. One of these branches had two people in charge called consuls who took the place of a king. Consuls were only allowed to rule for one year and then new Consuls were chosen. They were able to veto each other and controlled the army, served s judges and had various religious duties. The second branch was the Senate. The Senate had control over the spending and taxation. In the beginning the Senate had 300 members. In times of war the Senate could choose one person to be a dictator over Rome for 6 months at a time. After a Consul’s year was up they then became Senate members until death. The third branch was The Assembly which was broken up into The Assembly of Centuries and The Assembly of Tribes. The Assembly of Centuries was made up of the whole army and they elected the consuls. The Assembly of Tribes would approve of reject laws and decide issues of war and peace. The Romans were able to build things that no one was able to do in at the time. They were the first people to figure out how to create the arch. Once they were able to do this they had the ability to make large arched monuments like the Arch of Titus. Besides arches the Romans were also able to create a system of aqueducts that went throughout Rome so that the cities would have enough water for its citizens. They also constructed roads that went all over the Empire. At one point all of the roads in Europe lead to Rome. Much of the European cities that were under Roman rule had amphitheaters which were used for their gladiatorial games. In the center of Rome the Coliseum was built to hold the largest gladiatorial games. The Coliseum was ab

Are men naturally more artistically creative than women? Are men naturally more artistically creative than women? People are always saying how women are more in touch with their emotions, express emotions better, etc. But, I can't think of a more humanly ingenius form of emotional expression, than the arts. And, virtually all artforms today and throughout history are & have been dominated by men. Painters/Sculpters - Impressionists like Van Gogh and Monet. Renaissance painters like Da Vinci and Michaelangelo. Modern pop artists like Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. And even today, in a post-feminist world where women now have more opportunities than men -- men still dominate painting, with artists like Shepard Fairey, graffiti artists like Saber, Banksy, Retna, Mear, Cope2, etc. Architecture - Take a look at this site, of the greatest 20th-century architects & building designers. http://architect.architecture.sk/ ALL MEN. And the top architects today are all men. Don't say "women don't have opportunities" because a woman is more likely to go to college than a man. So, even with the advantage & privilege society gives women, men still dominate. Acting/Theater - The top-10 paid actors in the world: Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Leonardo Dicaprio, Bruce Willis, Adam Sandler, Nicolas Cage, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell. As you can see, no women made the list. The top producers, directors, and writers are also men. The creative geniuses behind the vast majority of movies, TV shows, and theatrical plays you see are men. Fashion - Yes, even fashion. Although this industry caters mainly to women, the brains and top designers behind most of these lines are men. Firstly, most women's clothing was originally invented by men (and at one time, originally worn by men). My girlfriend has her own fashion blog, where she talks about all the latest fashions. And I notice that at least half of all the women's fashions she features about on her blog are clothing items designed by men. The list of top fashion designers are as follows: Yves St. Laurent, Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein, Russell Simmons, Marc Ecko, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Sean Combs, Hugo Boss, Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana, Salvatorre Ferragamo, Guccio Gucci, Dov Charney Music - Virtually all music genres are dominated by men. Everyone from classical masters of Beethoven, Bach, & Mozart, to rock bands like Aerosmith, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, & Metallica, to Hip Hop artists like Jay-Z, Ludacris, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, 2Pac, & KRS-One, to Soul/R&B greats of Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, etc... other genres dominated by men: Jazz, Blues, Country, Techno, Heavy Metal, Reggae, Funk, Disco, Salsa, Reggaeton. The best-selling album of all time is "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. And besides the artists & lead singers being dominated by men, most of the backup musicians that play instruments are male. And I can venture in to other artforms, like magicians, circus performers, dance, etc. -- all where men dominate. And I know one of the feminist responses will be "yeah but women didn't have access to the schooling/instruction that men had to learning the mediums, etc." You do realize that many of these men were self-taught geniuses? Beethoven did not have a teacher or go to any schools. Da Vinci was also self-taught. Rappers do not go to "rap school" either. If we were to assume that women & men are equal when it comes to artistic creativity, then we should've seen just as many self-taught female geniuses as we do male geniuses, without schooling. But we don't. Are males more artistically creative than women? scottishguy: Exactly! As I said before, women now have more opportunity and privilege than men... more women are going to school and are encouraged to go to school. Yet, they are still behind men in the "real world" despite all of this. And men actually score higher on SAT's than women, for the record. Capone: Yes, but eccentricity amongst artists is not exclusive to men. The women that are brilliant in these fields tend to be eccentric as well. Dracula: LOL@ Paris Hilton. Please tell me you're not serious. She's not an "artist". She's a heiress socialite & bimbo, that got famous for giving a guy a blowjob. Oprah is also not an artist, she's a talk show host and a business mogul. Half of your list is of people I've never heard of. But, you should read "The Mrs." post. She said that feminists would begin to list artists -- but for every female artist you list, I can list 10 or more. And all 10 males will be greater artists than the one female artist you listed. So what's your point? Oh yeah the top comedians are male too. Forgot about that one. Men are funnier than women. Dracula: Rap is an art. It takes skill and is a form of expression. You just never really tried listening & understanding it. Kate: Tommy Hilfiger, Puff Daddy and Dov Cheney have multi-million dollar companies. I consider them serious fashion moguls. Donatella's relationship with Gianni is why she became known. She used his name (literally) to get to where she is. And, Yves St. Laurent has been far more influential than Coco Chanel. You said "Gianni is dead", but what difference does it make? So is Coco Chanel. NEXT. Dracula: Oprah is more known for her businesses and show than her acting. Yes, she did do some acting bits, but, if you were to just focus on that -- she is not considered one of the "top" actors in Hollywood. She hasn't done enough to be considered that. As far as Paris Hilton -- I didn't know being in reality TV made you an "artist". She's mainly famous for being a heiress & socialite; her "artist" ventures like that failed pop-album are considered side-ventures. Spuddy: I never once said anyone "invented" fashion. Find where I supposedly said this. I said most of the most notable fashion designers have been men. Are you assuming I know nothing about fashion because I'm a male? How sexist of you. And, Jimmy Choo is a male. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Choo I FORGOT CULINARY ARTS! THE TOP CHEFS ARE MALE TOO! I FORGOT ABOUT THAT! Spuddy: Whoever once said there weren't other designers on the Jimmy Choo's line? I only mentioned Jimmy Choo because he was the originator and he is a fashion designer. You then brought up a woman designer on the line as if that somehow contradicts whether or not Jimmy Choo is a designer. It doesn't. According to my sources, Jimmy Choo still designs. Whether it's for his original line or not is irrelevant. The fact is, he's a fashion designer. You still didn't show where I claimed anyone "invented" fashion. And, why would you assume I know nothing of it? Must be because I'm a male. My girlfriend is majoring in fashion merchandising, so I've gained quite a bit of knowledge from her.

wht do u think bout this ppl? From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Muslim world has given us many innovations that we in the West take for granted. Here are 20 of their most influential innovations: (1) The story goes that an Arab named Khalid was tending his goats in the Kaffa region of southern Ethiopia, when he noticed his animals became livelier after eating a certain berry. He boiled the berries to make the first coffee. Certainly the first record of the drink is of beans exported from Ethiopia to Yemen where Sufis drank it to stay awake all night to pray on special occasions. By the late 15th century it had arrived in Makkah and Turkey from where it made its way to Venice in 1645. It was brought to England in 1650 by a Turk named Pasqua Rosee who opened the first coffee house in Lombard Street in the City of London. The Arabic “qahwa” became the Turkish “kahve” then the Italian “caffé” and then English “coffee”. (2) The ancient Greeks thought our eyes emitted rays, like a laser, which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th-century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obscura (from the Arab word “qamara” for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one. (3) A form of chess was played in ancient India but the game was developed into the form we know it today in Persia. From there it spread westward to Europe — where it was introduced by the Moors in Spain in the 10th century — and eastward as far as Japan. The word “rook” comes from the Persian “rukh”, which means chariot. (4) A thousand years before the Wright brothers, a Muslim poet, astronomer, musician and engineer named Abbas ibn Firnas made several attempts to construct a flying machine. In 852 he jumped from the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba using a loose cloak stiffened with wooden struts. He hoped to glide like a bird. He didn’t. But the cloak slowed his fall, creating what is thought to be the first parachute, and leaving him with only minor injuries. In 875, aged 70, having perfected a machine of silk and eagles’ feathers he tried again, jumping from a mountain. He flew to a significant height and stayed aloft for ten minutes but crashed on landing — concluding, correctly, that it was because he had not given his device a tail so it would stall on landing. Baghdad international airport and a crater on the Moon are named after him. (5) Washing and bathing are religious requirements for Muslims, which is perhaps why they perfected the recipe for soap which we still use today. The ancient Egyptians had soap of a kind, as did the Romans who used it more as a pomade. But it was the Arabs who combined vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatics such as thyme oil. One of the Crusaders’ most striking characteristics, to Arab nostrils, was that they did not wash. Shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim who opened Mahomed’s Indian Vapour Baths on Brighton seafront in 1759 and was appointed Shampooing Surgeon to Kings George IV and William IV. (6) Distillation, the means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, was invented around the year 800 by Islam’s foremost scientist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, who transformed alchemy into chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and apparatus still in use today — liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation and filtration. As well as discovering sulphuric and nitric acid, he invented the alembic still, giving the world intense rosewater and other perfumes and alcoholic spirits (although drinking them forbidden, in Islam). Ibn Hayyan emphasised systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry. (7) The crank-shaft is a device which translates rotary into linear motion and is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, not least the internal combustion engine. One of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind, it was created by an ingenious Muslim engineer called al-Jazari to raise water for irrigation. His Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (1206) shows he also invented or refined the use of valves and pistons, devised some of the first mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, and was the father of robotics. Among his 50 other inventions was the combination lock. (8) Quilting is a method of sewing or tying two layers of cloth with a layer of insulating material in between. It is not clear whether it was invented in the Muslim world or whether it was imported there from India or China. However, it certainly came to the West via the Crusaders. They saw it used by Saracen warriors, who wore straw-filled quilted canvas shirts instead of armour. As well as a form of protection, it proved an effective guard against the chafing of the Crusaders’ metal armour and was an effective form of insulation — so much so that it became a cottage industry back home in colder climates such as Britain and Holland. (9) The pointed arch so characteristic of Europe’s Gothic cathedrals was an invention borrowed from Islamic architecture. It was much stronger than the rounded arch used by the Romans and Normans, thus allowing the building of bigger, higher, more complex and grander buildings. Other borrowings from Muslim genius included ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques. Europe’s castles were also adapted to copy the Islamic world’s — with arrow slits, battlements, a barbican and parapets. Square towers and keeps gave way to more easily defended round ones. The architect of Henry V’s castle was a Muslim. (10) Many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognisable to a modern surgeon. It was he who discovered that catgut used for internal stitches dissolves away naturally (a discovery he made when his monkey ate his lute strings) and that it can be also used to make medicine capsules. In the 13th century, another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it. Muslim doctors also invented anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes in a technique still used today. (11) The windmill was invented in 634 for a Persian caliph and was used to grind corn and draw up water for irrigation. In the vast deserts of Arabia, when the seasonal streams ran dry, the only source of power was the wind which blew steadily from one direction for months. Mills had six or 12 sails covered in fabric or palm leaves. It was 500 years before the first windmill was seen in Europe. (12) The technique of inoculation was not invented by Jenner and Pasteur but was devised in the Muslim world and brought to Europe from Turkey by the wife of the English ambassador to Istanbul in 1724. Children in Turkey were vaccinated with cowpox to fight the deadly smallpox at least 50 years before the West discovered it. (13) The fountain pen was invented for the Sultan of Egypt in 953 after he demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes. It held ink in a reservoir and, as with modern pens, fed ink to the nib by a combination of gravity and capillary action. (14) The system of numbering in use all round the world is probably Indian in origin but the style of the numerals is Arabic and first appears in print in the work of the Muslim mathematicians al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi around 825. Algebra was named after al-Khwarizmi’ s book, Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah, much of whose contents are still in use. The work of Muslim maths scholars was imported into Europe 300 years later by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci. Algorithms and much of the theory of trigonometry came from the Muslim world. And Al-Kindi’s discovery of frequency analysis rendered all the codes of the ancient world soluble and created the basis of modern cryptology. (15) Ali ibn Nafi, known by his nickname of Ziryab (Blackbird) came from Iraq to Cordoba in the 9th century and brought with him the concept of the three-course meal — soup, followed by fish or meat, then fruit and nuts. He also introduced crystal glasses (which had been invented after experiments with rock crystal by Abbas ibn Firnas). (16) Carpets were regarded as part of paradise by mediaeval Muslims, thanks to their advanced weaving techniques, new tinctures from Islamic chemistry and highly developed sense of pattern and arabesque which were the basis of Islam’s non-representationa l art. In contrast, Europe’s floors were distinctly earthly, not to say earthy, until Arabian and Persian carpets were introduced. In England, as Erasmus recorded, floors were “covered in rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for 20 years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned”. Carpets, unsurprisingly, caught on quickly. (17) The modern cheque comes from the Arabic “saqq”, a written vow to pay for goods when they were delivered, to avoid money having to be transported across dangerous terrain. In the 9th century, a Muslim businessman could cash a cheque in China drawn on his bank in Baghdad. (18) By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, “is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth”. It was 500 years before that realisation dawned on Galileo. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they reckoned the Earth’s circumference to be 40, 253.4km — less than 200km out. Al-Idrisi took a globe depicting the world to the court of King Roger of Sicily in 1139. (19) Though the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, and used it in their fireworks, it was the Arabs who worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use. Muslim incendiary devices terrified the Crusaders. By the 15th century they had invented both a rocket, which they called a “self-moving and combusting egg”, and a torpedo — a self-propelled pear-shaped bomb with a spear at the front which impaled itself in enemy ships and then blew up. (20) Mediaeval Europe had kitchen and herb gardens, but it was the Arabs who developed the idea of the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. The first royal pleasure gardens in Europe were opened in 11th-century Muslim Spain. Flowers which originated in Muslim gardens include the carnation and the tulip

What, how could Islam?? 9 The pointed arch so characteristic of Europe's Gothic cathedrals was an invention borrowed from Islamic architecture. It was much stronger than the rounded arch used by the Romans and Normans, thus allowing the building of bigger, higher, more complex and grander buildings. Other borrowings from Muslim genius included ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques. Europe's castles were also adapted to copy the Islamic world's - with arrow slits, battlements, a barbican and parapets. Square towers and keeps gave way to more easily defended round ones. Henry V's castle architect was a Muslim. 10 Many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognisable to a modern surgeon. It was he who discovered that catgut used for internal stitches dissolves away naturally (a disc (a discovery he made when his monkey ate his lute strings) and that it can be also used to make medicine capsules. In the 13th century, another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it. Muslims doctors also invented anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes in a technique still used today. Any haters will be reported

How many of you can't read this? The Unthinkable Thought "Jesus said, 'It is to those who are worthy of my Mysteries that I tell my Mysteries.'" The Gospel of Thomas On the site where the Vatican now stands there once stood a Pagan temple. Here Pagan priests observed sacred ceremonies which early Christians found so disturbing that they tried to erase all evidence of them ever having been practised. What were these shocking Pagan rites? Gruesome sacrifices or obscene orgies perhaps. This is what we have been led to believe. But the truth is far stranger than this fiction. Where today the gathered faithful revere their Lord Jesus Christ, the ancients worshipped another godman who, like Jesus, had been miraculously born on 25 December before three shepherds. In this ancient sanctuary Pagan congregations once glorified a Pagan redeemer who, like lesus, was said to have ascended to heaven and to have promised to come again at the end of time to judge the quick and the dead. On the same spot where the Pope celebrates the Catholic mass, Pagan priests also celebrated a symbolic meal of bread and wine in memory of their saviour who, just like Tesus, had declared: "He who will not eat of my body and drink of my blood, so that he will be made one with me and I with him, the same shall not know salvation." When we began to uncover such extraordinary similarities between the story of Jesus and Pagan myth we were stunned. We had been brought up in a culture which portrays Paganism and Christianity as entirely antagonistic religious perspectives. How could such astonishing resemblances be explained? We were intrigued and began to search further. The more we looked, the more resemblances we found. To account for the wealth of evidence we were unearthing we felt compelled to completely review our understanding of the relationship between Paganism and Christianity, to question beliefs that we previously regarded as unquestionable and to imagine possibilities which at first seemed impossible. Some readers will find our conclusions shocking and others heretical, but for us they are merely the simplest and most obvious way of accounting for the evidence we have amassed. We have become convinced that the story of Jesus is not the biography of an historical Messiah, but a myth based on perennial Pagan stories. Christianity was not a new and unique revelation but actually a Jewish adaptation of the ancient Pagan Mystery religion. This is what we have called 'the Jesus Mysteries Thesis.' It may sound farfetched at first, just as it did initially to us. There is, after all, a great deal of unsubstantiated nonsense written about the 'real' Jesus, so any revolutionary theory should be approached with a healthy dose of scepticism. But although this book makes extraordinary claims, it is not just entertaining fantasy or sensational speculation. It is firmly based upon the available historical sources and the latest scholarly research. Whilst we hope to have made it accessible to the general reader, we have also included copious notes giving sources, references and greater detail for those who wish to analyse our arguments more thoroughly. Although still radical and challenging today, many of the ideas we explore are actually far from new. As long ago as the Renaissance, mystics and scholars saw the origins of christianity in the ancient Egyptian religion. Visionary scholars at the turn of the nineteenth century also made com-paxable conjectures to our own. In recent decades, modern academics have repeatedly pointed towards the possibilities we consider. Yet few have dared to boldly state the obvious conclusions which we have drawn. Why? Because to do so is taboo. For 2,000 years the West has been dominated by the idea that Christianity is sacred and unique, whilst Paganism is primitive and the work of the Devil. To even consider that they could be parts of the same tradition has been simply unthinkable. Therefore, although the true origins of Christianity have been obvious all along, few have been able to see them, because to do so requires a radical break with the conditioning of our culture. Our contribution has been to dare to think the unthinkable and to present our conclusions in a popular book rather than some dry academic tome. This is certainly not the last word on this complex subject, but we hope it may be a significant call for a complete reappraisal of the origins of Christianity. THE PAGAN MYSTERIES In Greek tragedies the chorus reveals the fate of the protagonists before the play begins. Sometimes it is easier to understand the journey if one is already aware of the destination and the terrain to be covered. Before diving deeper into detail, therefore, we would like to retrace our process of discovery and so provide a brief overview of the book. We had shared an obsession with world mysticism all our lives which recently had led us to explore spirituality in the ancient world. Popular understanding inevtitably lags a long way behind the cutting edge of scholarly research and, like most people, we initially had an inaccurate and out-dated view of Paganism. We had been taught to imagine a primitive superstition which indulged in idol worship and bloody sacrifice, and dry philosophers wearing togas stumbling blindly towards what we today call 'science.' We were familiar with various Greek myths which showed the partisan and capricious nature of the Olympian gods and goddesses. All in all, Paganism seemed primitive and fundamentally alien. After many years of study, however, our understanding has been transformed. Pagan spirituality was actually the sophisticated product of a highly developed culture. The state religions, such as the Greek worship of the Olympian gods, were little more than outer pomp and ceremony. The real spirituality of the people expressed itself through the vibrant and mystical 'Mystery religions.' At first underground and heretical movements, these Mysteries spread and flourished throughout the ancient Mediterranean, inspiring the greatest minds of the Pagan world, who regarded them as the very source of civilization. Each Mystery tradition had exoteric Outer Mysteries, consisting of myths which were common knowledge and rituals which were open to anyone who wanted to participate. There were also esoteric Inner Mysteries, which were a sacred secret only known to those who had undergone a powerful process of initiation. Initiates of the Inner Mysteries had the mystical meaning of the rituals and myths of the Outer Mysteries revealed to them, a process which brought about personal transformation and spiritual enlightenment. The philosophers of the ancient world were the spiritual masters of the Inner Mysteries. They were mystics and miracle-workers, more comparable to Hindu gurus than dusty academics. The great Greek philosopher Pythagoras, for example, is remembered today for his mathematical theorem, but few people picture him as he actually was a flamboyant sage who was believed to be able to miraculously still the winds and raise the dead. At the heart of the Mysteries were myths concerning a dying and resurrecting godman, who was known by many different names. In Egyp he was Osiris, in Greece Dionysus, in Asia Minor Attis, in Syria Adonis, in Italy Bacchus, in Persia Mithras. Fundamentally all these godmen are the same mythical being. As was the practice from as early as the third century BCE, in this book we will use the combined name "Osiris-Dionysus" to denote his universal and composite nature, and his particular names when referring to a specific Mystery tradition. From the fifth century BCE philosophers such as Xenophanes and Empedocles had ridiculed taking the stories of the gods and goddesses literally. They viewed them as allegories of human spiritual experience. The myths of Osiris-Dionysus should not be understood as just intriguing tales, therefore, but as a symbolic language which encodes the mystical teachings of the Inner Mysteries. Because of this, although the details were developed and adapted over time by different cultures, the myth of Osiris-Dionysus has remained essentially the same. The various myths of the different godmen of the Mysteries share what the great mythologist Joseph Campbell called 'the same anatomy', just as every human is physically unique yet it is possible to talk of the general anatomy of the human body, so with these different myths it is possible to see both their uniqueness and fundamental sameness. A helpful comparison may be the relationship between Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Bernstein's West Side Story. One is a sixteenth-century English tragedy about wealthy Italian families, whilst the other is a twentieth-century American musical about street gangs. On the face of it they look very different, yet they are essentially the same story. Similarly, the tales told about the godmen of the Pagan Mysteries are essentially the same, although they take different forms. The more we studied the various versions of the myth of Osiris-Dionysus, the more it became obvious that the story of Jesus had all the characteristics of this perennial tale. Event by event, we found we were able to construct Jesus' supposed biography from mythic motifs previousl3 relating to Osiris-Dionysus: - Osiris-Dionysus is God made flesh, the saviour and 'Son of God'. - His father is God and his mother is a mortal virgin. - He is born in a cave or humble cowshed on 25 December before three shepherds. - He offers his followers the chance to be born again through the rites ot baptism. - He miraculously turns water into wine at a marriage ceremony. - He rides triumphantly into town on a donkey while people wave palm leaves to honour him. - He dies at Eastertime as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. - After his death he descends to hell, then on the third day he rises from the dead and ascends to heaven in glory. - His followers await his return as the judge during the Last Days. - His death and resurrection are celebrated by a ritual meal of bread and wine which symbolize his body and blood. These are just some of the motifs shared between the tales of Osiris-Dionysus and the 'biography' of Jesus. Why are these remarkable similarities not common knowledge? Because, as we were to discover later, the early Roman Church did everything in its power to prevent us perceiving them. It systematically destroyed Pagan sacred literature in a brutal programme of eradicating the Mysteries -- a task it performed so completely that today Paganism is regarded as a 'dead' religion. Although surprising to us now, to writers of the first few centuries CE these similarities between the new Christian religion and the ancient Mysteries were extremely obvious. Pagan critics of Christianity, such as the satirist Celsus, complained that this recent religion was nothing more than a pale reflection of their own ancient teachings. Early 'Church fathers,' such as Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Irenaeus, were understandably disturbed and resorted to the desperate claim that these similarities were the result of 'diabolical mimicry.' Using one of the most absurd arguments ever advanced, they accused the Devil of 'plagiarism by anticipation,' of deviously copying the true story of Jesus before it had actually happened in an attempt to mislead the gullible! These Church fathers struck us as no less devious than the Devil they hoped to incriminate. Other Christian commentators have claimed that the myths of the Mysteries were like pre-echoes of the literal coming of Jesus, somewhat like premonitions or prophecies. This is a more generous version of the'diabolical mimicry' theory, but seemed no less ridiculous to us. There was nothing other than cultural prejudice to make us see the Jesus story as the literal culmination of its many mythical precursors. Viewed impartially, it appeared to be just another version of the same basic story. The obvious explanation is that as early Christianity became the dominant power in the previously Pagan world, popular motifs from Pagan mythology became grafted onto the biography of Jesus. This is a possibility that is even put forward by many Christian theologians. The virgin birth, for example, is often regarded as an extraneous later addition that should not be understood literally. Such motifs were 'borrowed' from Paganism in the same way that Pagan festivals were adopted as Christian saints' days. This theory is common amongst those who go looking for the 'real' Jesus hidden under the weight of accumulated mythological debris. Attractive as it appears at first, to us this explanarion seemed inadequate.We had collated such a comprehensive body of similarities that there remained hardly any significant elements in the biography of Jesus that we did not find prefigured by the Mysteries. On top of this, we discovered that even Jesus' teachings were not original, but had been anticipated by the Pagan sages! If there was a 'real' Jesus somewhere underneath all this, we would have to acknowledge that we could know absolutely nothing about him, for all that remained for us was later Pagan accretions! Such a position seemed absurd. Surely there was a more elegant solution to this conundrum. THE GNOSTICS Whilst we were puzzling over these discoveries, we began to question the received picture of the early Church and have a look at the evidence for ourselves. We discovered that far from being the united congregation of saints and martyrs that traditiona! history would have us believe, the early Christian community was actually made up of a whole spectrum of different groups. These can be broadly categorized into two different schools. On the one hand there were those we will call 'Literalists', because what defines them is that they take the Jesus story as a literal account of historical events. It was this school of Christianity that was adopted by the Roman Empire in the fourth century CE, becoming Roman Catholicism and all its subsequent offshoots. On the other hand, however, there were also radically diffejent Christians known as 'Gnostics.' These forgotten Christians were later persecuted out of existence by the Literalist Roman Church with such thoroughness that until recently we knew little about them except through the writings of their detractors. Only a handful of original Gnostic texts survived, none of which were published before the nineteenth century. This situation changed dramatically, however, with a remarkable discovery in 1945 when an Arab peasant stumbled upon a whole library of Gnostic gospels hidden in a cave near Nag Hammadi in Egypt. This gave scholars access to many texts which were in wide circulation amongst early Christians, but which were deliberately excluded from the canon of the New Testament -- gospels attributed to Thomas and Philip, texts recording the acts of Peter and the 12 disciples, apocalypses attributed to Paul and James, and so on. It seemed to us extraordinary that a whole library of early Christian documents could be discovered, containing what purport to be the teachings of Christ and his disciples, and yet so few modem followers of Jesus should even know of their existence. Why hasn't every Christian rushed out to read these newly discovered words of the Master? What keeps them confined to the small number of gospels selected for inclusion in the New Testament? It seems that even though 2,000 years have passed since the Gnostics were purged, during which time the Roman Church has split into Protestantism and thousands of other alternative groups, the Gnostics are still not regarded as a legitimate voice of Christianity. Those who do explore the Gnostic gospels discover a form of Christianity quite alien to the religion with which they are familiar. We found ourselves studying strange esoteric tracts with titles such as Hypostasis of the Archons and The Thought of Norea. It felt as if we were in an episode of Star Trek -- and in a way we were. The Gnostics truly were 'psychonauts' who boldly explored the final frontiers of inner space, searching for the origins and meaning of life. These people were mystics and creative free-thinkers. It was obvious to us why they were so hated by the bishops of the Literalist Church hierarchy. To Literalists, the Gnostics were dangerous heretics. In volumes of anti-Gnostic works -- an unintentional testimony to the power and influence of Gnosticism within early Christianity -- they painted them as Christians who had 'gone native.' They claimed they had become contaminated by the Paganism that surrounded them and had abandoned the purity of the true faith. The Gnostics, on the other hand, saw themselves as the authentic Christian tradition and the orthodox bishops as an 'imitation church.' They claimed to know the secret Inner Mysteries of Christianity which the Literslists did not possess. As we explored the beliefs and practices of the Gnostics we became convinced that the Literalists had at least been right about one thing: the Gnostics were little different from Pagans. Like the philosophers of the Pagan Mysteries, they believed in reincarnation, honoured the goddess Sophia, and were immersed in the mystical Greek philosophy of Plato. 'Gnostics' means 'Knowers', a name they acquired because, like the initiates of the Pagan Mysteries, they believed that their secret teachings had the power to impart 'Gnosis' -- direct experiential 'Knowledge of God.' Just as the goal of a Pagan initiate was to become a god, so for the Gnostics the goal of the Christian initiate was to become a Christ. What particularly struck us was that the Gnostics were not concerned with the historical Jesus. They viewed the Jesus story in the same way that the Pagan philosophers viewed the myths of Osiris-Dionysus -- as an allegory which encoded secret mystical teachings. This insight crystallized for us a remarkable possibility. Perhaps the explanation for the similarities between Pagan myths and the biography of Jesus had been staring us in the face the whole time, but we had been so caught up with traditional ways of thinking that we had been unable to see it. THE JESUS MYSTERIES THESIS The traditional version of history bequeathed to us by the authorities of the Roman Church is that Christianity developed from the teachings of a Jewish Messiah and that Gnosticism was a later deviation. What would happen, we wondered if the picture were reversed and Gnosticism viewed as the authentic Christianity, just as the Gnostics themselves claimed? Could it be that orthodox Christianity was a later deviation from Gnosticism and that Gnosticism was a synthesis of Judaism and the Pagan Mystery religion? This was the beginning of the Jesus Mysteries Thesis. Boldly stated, the picture that emerged for us was as follows. We knew that most ancient Mediterranean cultures had adopted the ancient Mysteries, adapting them to their own national tastes and creating their own version of the myth of the dying and resurrecting godman. Perhaps some of the Jews had likewise adopted the Pagan Mysteries and created their own version of the Mysteries which we now know as Gnosticism. Perhaps initiates of the Jewish Mysteries had adapted the potent symbolism of the Osiris-Dionysus myths into a myth of their own, the hero of which was the Jewish dying and ~surreeting godman Jesus. If this was so, then the Jesus story was not a biography at all but a consciously crafted vehicle for encoded spiritual teachings created by Jewish Gnostics. As in the Pagan Mysteries, initiation into the Inner Mysteries would reveal the myth's allegorical meaning. Perhaps those uninitiated into the Inner Mysteries had mistakenly come to regard the Jesus myth as historical fact and in this way Literalist Christianity had been created. Perhaps the Inner Mysteries of Christianity, which the Gnostics taught but which the Literalists denied existed, revealed that the Jesus story was not a factual account of God's one and only visit to planet Earth, but a mystical teaching story designed to help each one of us become a Christ. The Jesus story does have all the hallmarks of a myth, so could it be that that is exactly what it is? After all, no one has read the newly discovered Gnostic gospels and taken their fantastic stories as literally true; they are readily seen as myths. It is only familiarity and cultural prejudice which prevent us from seeing tlae New Testament gospels in the same light. If those gospels had also been lost to us and only recently discovered, who would read these tales for the first time and believe they were historical accounts of a man born of a virgin, who had walked on water and returned from the dead? Why should we consider the stories of Osiris, Dionysus, Adonis, Attis, Mithras and the other Pagan Mystery saviours as fables, yet come across essentially the same story told in a Jewish context and believe it to be the biography of a carpenter from Bethlehem? We had both been raised as Christians and were surprised to find that, despite years of open-minded spiritual exploration, it still felt somehow dangerous to even dare think such thoughts. Early indoctrination reaches very deep. We were in effect saying that Jesus was a Pagan god and that Christianity was a heretical product of Paganism! It seemed outrageous. Yet this theory explained the similarities between the stories of Osiris-Dionysus and Jesus Christ in a simple and elegant way. They are parts of one developing mythos. The Jesus Mysteries Thesis answered many puzzling questions, yet it also opened up new dilemmas. Isn't there indisputable historical evidence for the existence of Jesus the man? And how could Gnosticism be the original Christianity when St Paul, the earliest Christian we know about, is so vociferously anti-Gnostic? And is it really credible that such an insular and anti-Pagan people as the Jews could have adopted the Pagan Mysteries? And how could it have happened that a consciously created myth came to be believed as history? And if Gnosticism represents genuine Christianity, why was it Literalist Christianity that came to dominate the world as the most influential religion of all time? All of these difficult questions would have to be satisfactorily answered before we could wholeheartedly accept such a radical theory as the Jesus Mysteries Thesis. THE GREAT COVER UP Our new account of the origins of Christianity only seemed improbable because it contradicted the received view. As we pushed further with our research, the traditional picture began to completely unravel all around us. We found ourselves embroiled in a world of schism and power straggles, of forged documents and false identities, of letters that had been edited and added to, and of the wholesale destruction of historical evidence. We focused forensically on the few facts we could be confident of, as if we were detectives on the verge of cracking a sensational 'whodunnit', or perhaps more accurately as if we were uncovering an ancient and unacknowledged miscarriage of justice. For, time and again, when we critically examined what genuine evidence remained, we found that the history of Christianity bqueathed to us by the Roman Church was a gross distortion of the truth. Actually the evidence completely endorsed the Jesus Mysteries Thesis! It was becoming increasingly obvious that we had been deliberately deceived, that the Gnostics were indeed the original Christians, and that their anarchic mysticism had been hijacked by an authoritarian institution which had created from it a dogmatic religion - and then brutally enforced the greatest cover-up in history. One of the major players in this cover-up operation was a character called Eusebius, who, at the beginning of the fourth century, compiled from legends, fabrications and his own imagination the only early history of Christianity that still exists today. All subsequent histories have been forced to base themselves on Eusebins' dubious claims, because there has been little other information to draw on. All those with a different perspective on Christianity were branded as heretics and eradicated. In this way falsehoods compiled in the fourth century have come down to us as established facts. Eusebius was employed by the Roman Emperor Constantine, who made Christianity the state religion of the Empire and gave Literalist Christianity the power it needed to begin the final eradication of Paganism and Gnosticism. Constantine wanted 'one God, one religion' to consolidate his claim of 'one Empire, one Emperor.' He oversaw the creation of the Nicene creed -- the article of faith repeated in churches to this day -- and christians who refused to assent to this creed were banished from the Empire or otherwise silenced. This 'Christian' Emperor then returned home from Nicaea and had his wife suffocated and his son murdered. He deliberately remained unbaptized until his deathbed so that he could continue his atrocities and still receive forgiveness of sins and a guaranteed place in heaven by being baptized at the last moment. Although he had his 'spin doctor' Eusebius compose a suitably obsequious biography for him, he was actually a monster -- just like many Roman Emperors before him. Is it really at all surprising that a 'history' of the origins of Christianity created by an employee in the service of a Roman tyrant should turn out to be a pack of lies? Elaine PageIs, one of the foremost academic authorities on early Christianity, writes: "It is the winners who write history -- their way. No wonder, then, that the traditional accounts of the origins of Christianity first defined the terms (naming themselves "orthodox" and their opponents "heretics"); then they proceeded to demonstrate -- at least to their own satisfaction -- that their triumph was historically inevitable, or, in religious terms, "guided by the Holy Spirit." But the discoveries [of the Gnostic gospels] at Nag Hammadi reopen fundamental questions." History is indeed written by the victors. The creation of an appropriate history has always been part of the arsenal of political manipulation. The Roman Church created a history of the triumph of Literalist Christianity in much the same partisan way that, two millennia later, Hollywood created tales of 'cowboys and Indians' to relate 'how the West was won' not 'how the West was lost.' History is not simply related, it is created. Ideally, the motivation is to explain historical evidence and come to an accurate understanding of how the present has been created by the past. All too often, however, it is simply to glorify and justify the status quo. Such histories conceal as much as they reveal. To dare to question a received history is not easy. It is difficult to believe that something which you have been told is true from childhood could actually be a product of falsification and fantasy. It must have been hard for those Russians brought up on tales of kindly 'Uncle Joe' Stalin to accept that he was actually responsible for the deaths of millions. It must have strained credibility when those opposing his regime claimed that he had in fact murdered many of the heroes of the Russian revolution. It must have seemed ridiculous when they asserted that he had even had the images of his rivals removed from photographs and completely fabricated historical events. Yet all these things are true. It is easy to believe that something must be true because everyone else believes it. But the truth often only comes to light by daring to question the unquestionable, by doubting notions which are so commonly believed that they are taken for granted. The Jesus Mysteries Thesis is the product of such an openness of mind. When it first occurred to us, it seemed absurd and impossible. Now it seems obvious and ordinary. The Vatican was constructed upon the site of an ancient Pagan sanctuary because the new is always built upon the old. In the same way Christianity itself has as its foundations the Pagan spirituality that preceded it. What is more plausible than to posit the gradual evolution of spiritual ideas, with Christianity emerging from the ancient Pagan Mysteries in a seamless historical continuum? It is only because the conventional history has been so widely believed for so long that this idea could be seen as heretical and shocking. RECOVERING MYSTICAL CHRISTIANITY As the final pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, we came across a small picture tucked away in the appendices of an old academic book. It was a drawing of a third-century CE amulet. We have used it as the cover of this book. It shows a crucified figure which most people would immediately recognize as Jesus. Yet the Greek words name the figure 'Orpheus Bacchus,' one of the pseudonyms of Osiris-Dionysus. To the author of the book in which we found the picture, this amulet was an anomaly. Who could it have possibly belonged to? Was it a crucified Pagan deity or some sort of Gnostic synthesis of Paganism and Christianity? Either way it was deeply puzzling. For us, however, this amulet was perfectly understandable. It was an unexpected confirmation of the Jesus Mysteries Thesis. The image could be that of either Jesus or Osiris-Dionysus. To the initiated, these were both names for essentially the same figure. The 'chance' discovery of this amulet made us feel as though the universe itself was encouraging us to make our findings public. In different ways the Jesus Mysteries Thesis has been proposed by mystics and scholars for centuries, but has always ended up being ignored. It now felt like an idea whose moment had come. We did, however, have misgivings about writing this book. We knew that it would inevitably upset certain Christians, something which we had no desire to do. Certainly it has been hard to be constantly surrounded by lies and injustices without experiencing a certain amount of outrage at the negative misrepresentation of the Gnostics, and to have become aware of the great riches of Pagan culture without feeling grief that they were so wantonly destroyed. Yet we do not have some sort of anti-Christian agenda. Far from it. Those who have read our other works will know that our interest is not in further division, but in acknowledging the unity that lies at the heart of all spiritual traditions -- and this present book is no exception. Early Literalist Christians mistakenly believed that the Jesus story was different from other stories of Osiris-Dionysus because Jesus alone had been an historical rather than a mythical figure. This has left Christians feeling that their faith is in opposition to all others -- which it is not. We hope that by understanding its true origins in the ongoing evolution of a universal human spirituality, Christianity may be able to free itself from this self-imposed isolation. Whilst the Jesus Mysteries Thesis clearly rewrites history, we do not see it as undermining the Christian faith, but as suggesting that Christianity is in fact richer than we previously imagined. The Jesus story is a perennial myth with the power to impart the saving Gnosis which can transform each one of us into a Christ, not merely a history of events that happened to someone else 2,000 years ago. Belief in the Jesus story was originally the first step in Christian spirituality -- the Outer Mysteries. Its significance was to be explained by an enlightened teacher when the seeker was spiritually ripe. These Inner Mysteries imparted a mystical Knowledge of God beyond mere belief in dogmas. Although many inspired Christian mystics throughout history have intuitively seen through to this deeper symbolic level of understanding, as a culture we have inherited only the Outer Mysteries of Christianity. We have kept the form, but lost the inner meaning. Our hope is that this book can play some small part in reclaiming the true mystical Christian inheritance. The Pagan Mysteries "Blest is the happy man Who knows the Mysteries the gods ordain, And sanctifies his life, Joins soul with soul in mystic unity, And, by due ritual made pure Enters the ecstasy of mountain solitudes; Who observes the mystic rites Made lawful by the Great Mother; Who crowns his head with ivy, And shakes his wand in worship ot Dionysus." Euripides Paganism is a 'dead' religion -- or more accurately an 'exterminated' religion· It did not simply fade away into oblivion. It was actively suppressed and annihilated, its temples and shrines desecrated and demolished, and its great sacred books thrown onto bonfires. No living lineage has been left to explain its ancient beliefs. So, the Pagan worldview has to be reconstructed from the archaeological evidence and texts that have survived, like some giant metaphysical jigsaw puzzle. 'Pagan' was originally a derogatory term meaning 'country-dweller,' used by Christians to infer that the spirituality of the ancients was some primitive rural superstition. But this is not true. Paganism was the spirituality which inspired the unequalled magnificence of the Giza pyramids, the exquisite architecture of the Parthenon, the legendary sculptures of Phideas, the powerful plays of Euripides and Sophocles, and the sublime philosophy of Socrates and Plato. Pagan civilization built vast libraries to house hundreds of thousands of works of literary and scientific genius. Its natural philosophers speculated that human beings had evolved from animals. Its astronomers knew the Earth was a sphere which, along with the planets, revolves around the sun. They had even estimated its circumference to within one degree of accuracy? The ancient Pagan world sustained a population not matched again in Europe until the eighteenth century. In Greece, Pagan culture gave birth to the concepts of democracy, rational philosophy, public libraries, theatre and the Olympic Games, creating a blueprint for our modern world. What was the spirituality that inspired these momentous cultural achievements? Most people associate Paganism with either rustic witchcraft or the myths of the gods of Olympus as recorded by Hesiod and Homer. Pagan spirituality did indeed embrace both. The country people practised their traditional shamanic nature worship to maintain the fertility of the land and the city authorities propped up formal state religions, such as the worship of the Olympian gods, to maintain the power of the status quo. It was, however, a third, more mystical, expression of the Pagan spirit which inspired the great minds of the ancient world. The thinkers, artists and innovators of antiquity were initiates of various religions known as 'Mysteries.' These remarkable men and women held the Mysteries to be the heart and soul of their culture. The Greek historian Zosimos writes that without the Mysteries "life for the Greeks would be unlivable" for "the sacred Mysteries hold the whole human race together." The eminent Roman statesman Cicero enthuses: "These Mysteries have brought us from rustic savagery to a cultivated and refined civilisation. The rites of the Mysteries are called "initiations" and in truth we have learned trom them the first principles of life. We have gained the understanding not only to live happily but also to die with better hope." Unlike the traditional rituals of the official state religions, which were designed to aid social cohesion, the mysteries were an individualistic form of.spirituality which offered mystical visions and personal enlightenment. Initiates underwent a secret process of initiation which profoundly trans-r formed their state of consciousness. The poet Pindar reveals that an initiate into the Mysteries "knows the end of life and its God-given beginning." Lucius Apuleius, a poet-philosopher, writes of his experience of initiation as a spiritual rebirth which he celebrated as his birthday, an experience for which he felt a "debt of gratitude" that he "could never hope to repay." Plato, the most influential philosopher of all time, relates: "We beheld the beatific visions and were initiated into the Mystery which may be truly called blessed, celebrated by us in a state of innocence. We beheld calm, happy, simple, eternal visions, resplendent in pure light." The great Pagan philosophers were the enlightened masters of the Mysteries. Although they are often portrayed today as dry 'academic' intellectuals, they were actually enigmatic 'gurus.' Empedocles, like his master Pythagoras, was a charismatic miracle-worker. Socrates was an eccentric mystic prone to being suddenly overcome by states of rapture during which his friends would discover him staring off into space for hours. Heraclitus was asked by the citizens of Ephesus to become a lawmaker, but turned the offer down so that he could continue playing with the children in the temple. Anaxagoras shocked ordinary citizens by completely abandoning his farm to fully devote his life to "the higher philosophy." Diogenes owned nothing and lived in a jar at the entrance of a temple. The inspired playwright Euripides wrote his greatest tragedies during solitary retreats in an isolated cave. All of these idiosyncratic sages were steeped in the mysticism of the Mysteries, which they expressed in their philosophy. Olympiodorus, a follower of Plato, tells us that his master paraphrased the Mysteries everywhere. The works of Heraclitus were renowned even in ancient times for being obscure and impenetrable, yet Diogenes explains that they are crystal clear to an initiate of the Mysteries. Of studying Heraclitus he writes: "It is a hard road to follow, filled with darkness and gloom; but if an initiate leads you on the way, it becomes brighter than the radiance of the sun." At the heart of Pagan philosophy is an understanding that all things are One. The Mysteries aimed at awakening within the initiate a sublime experience of this Oneness. Sallustius declares: "Every initiation aims at uniting us with the World and with the Deity." Plotinus describes the initiate transcending his limited sense of himself as a separate ego and experiencing mystical union with God: "As if borne away, or possessed by a god, he attains to solitude in untroubled stillness, nowhere deflected in his being and unbusied with self, utterly at rest and become very rest. He does not converse with a statue or image but with Godhead itself. And this is no object of vision, but another mode of seeing, a detachment from self, a simplification and surrender of self, a yearning for contact, and a stillness and meditation directed towards transformation. Whoever sees himself in this way has attained likeness to God; let him abandon himself and find the end of his journeying ." No wonder the initiate Sopatros poertcally mused, "I came out of the Mystery Hall feeling like a stranger to myself." THE SACRED SPECTACLE AT ELEUSIS What were these ancient Mysteries that could inspire such reverent awe and heartfelt appreciation? The Mystery religion was practised for thousands of years, during which time it spread throughout the ancient worid, taking on many different forms. Some were frenzied and others meditative. Some involved bloody animal sacrifice, while others were presided over by strict vegetarians, At certain moments in history the Mysteries were openly practised by whole populations and were endorsed, or at least tolerated, by the state. At other times they were a small-scale and secretive affair, for fear of persecution by unsympathetic authorities. Central toall of these forms qf the Mysteries, however, was the myth of a dying and resurrecting godman. The Greek Mysteries celebrated at Eleusis in honour of the Great Mother goddess and the godman Dionysus were the most famous of all the Mystery cults. The sanctuary of Eleusis was finally destroyed by bands of fanatical Christian monks in 396 CE, but up until this tragic act of vandalism the Mysteries had been celebrated there for over 11 centuries. At the height of their popularity people were coming from all over the then known world to be initiated: men and women, rich and poor, slaves and emperors -- even a Brahmin priest from India. Each year some 30,000 Athenian citizens embarked on a 30-kilometre barefoot pilgrimage to the sacred site of Eleusis on the coast to celebrate the autumn Mysteries of Dionysus. For days they would have been preparing for this important religious event by fasting, offering sacrifices and undergoing ritual purification. As those about to be initiated danced along the 'Sacred Way' to Eleusis, accompanied by the frenzied beat of cymbals and tambourines, they were accosted by masked men who abused and insulted them, while others beat them with sticks. At the head of the procession was carried the statue of Dionysus himself, leading them ever onward. After ritual naked bathing in the sea and other purification ceremonies the crowd reached the great doors of the Telesterion, a huge purpose-built initiation hall. Only the chosen few who were already initiated or about to be initiated into the secret Mysteries could enter here. What awesome ceremony was held behind these closed doors that touched the great philosophers, artists, statesmen and scientists of the ancient world so deeply? All initiates were sworn to secrecy and held the Mysteries so sacred that they kept this oath. From large numbers of hints and clues, however, we know that they witnessed a sublime theatrical spectacle. They were awed by sounds and dazzled by lights. They were bathed in the blaze of a huge fire and trembled to the nerve-shattering reverberations of a mighty gong. The Hierophant, the high priest of the Mysteries, was quite literally a 'showman' who orchestrated a terrifyingly transformative dramatic reenactment of sacred myth. He himself was dressed as the central character - the godman Dionysus. A modern scholar writes: "A Mystery Religion was thus a divine drama which portrayed before the wondering eyes of the privileged observers the story of the struggles, sufferings, and victory of a patron deity, the travail of nature in which life ultimately triumphs over death, and joy is born of pain. The whole ritual of the Mysteries aimed especially at quickening the emotional life. No means of exciting the emotions was neglected in the passion-play, either by way of inducing careful predispositions or of supplying external stimulus. Tense mental anticipations heightened by a period of abstinence, hushed silences, imposing processions and elaborate pageantry, music loud and violent or soft and enthralling, delirious dances, the drinking of spirituous liquors, physical macerations, alternations of dense darkness and dazzling light, the sight of gorgeous ceremonial vestments, the handling of holy emblems, auto-suggestion and the promptings of the Hierophant -- these and many secrets of emotional exaltation were in vogue." This dramatization of the myth of Dionysus is the origin of tragedy and theatre. But the initiates were not a passive audience. They were participants who shared in the passion of the godman whose death and rebirth symbolically represented the death and spiritual rebirth of each one of them. As a modern authority explains: "Dionysus was the god of the most blessed ecstasy and the most enraptured love. But he was also the persecuted god, the suffering and dying god, and all whom he loved, all who attended him, had to share his tragic fate." By witnessing the awesome tragedy of Dionysus, the initiates at Eleusis shared in his suffering, death and resurrection, and so experienced a spiritual purification known as 'catharsis.' The Mysteries did not offer religious dogmas to simply be believed, but a myth to be entered into. Initiation was not about learning something, but about experiencing an altered state of awareness. Plutarch, a Pagan high priest, confesses that those who had been initiated could produce no proof of the beliefs that they acquired. Aristotle maintains, "It is not necessary for the initiated to learn anything, but to receive impressions and to be put in a certain frame of mind." The philosopher Produs talks of the Mysteries as evoking a "sympathy of the soul with the ritual in a way that is unintelligible to us and divine, so that some of the initiates axe stricken with panic, being filled with divine awe; others assimilate themselves to the holy symbols, leave their own identity, become at home with the gods, affd experience divine possession." Why did the myth enacted by the Mysteries have such a profound effect? ENCODED SECRET TEACHINGS In antiquity the word mythos did not mean something 'untrue't as it does ( for us today. Superficially a myth was an entertaining story, but to the initiated it was a sacred code that contained profound spiritual teachings. Plato comments, "It looks as if those also who established rites of initiation for us were no fools, but that there is a hidden meaning in their teachings." He explains that it is "those who have given their lives to true philosophy" who will grasp the "hidden meaning" encoded in the Mystery myths, and so become completely identified with the godman in an experience of mystical enlightenment. The ancient philosophers were not so foolish as to believe that the Mystery myths were literally true, but wise enough to recognize that they were an easy introduction to the profound mystical philosophy at the heart of the Mysteries. Sallustius writes: "To wish to teach all men the truth of the gods causes the foolish to despise, because they cannot learn, and the good to be slothful, whereas to conceal the truth by myths prevents the former from despising philosophy and compels the latter to study it." It was the role of the priests and philosophers of the Mysteries to decode the hidden depths of spiritual meaning contained within the Mystery myths. Heliodorus, a priest of the Mysteries, explains: "Philosophers and theologians do not disclose the meanings embedded in these stories to laymen but simply give them preliminary instruction in the form of a myth. But those who have reached the higher grades of the Mysteries they initiate into clear knowledge in the privacy of the holy shrine, in the light cast by the blazing torch of truth." The Mysteries were divided into various levels of initiation, which led an initiate step by step through ever deepening levels of understanding. The number of levels of initiation varied in different Mystery traditions, but essentially the initiate was led from the Outer Mysteries, in which the myths were understood superficially as religious stories, to the Inner Mysteries, in which the myths were revealed as spiritual allegories. First the initiate was ritually purified. Then they were taught the secret teachings on a one-to-one basis. The highest stage was when the initiate understood the true meaning of the teachings and finally experienced what Theon of Smyrna calls "friendship and interior communion with God." THE INTERNATIONAL MYSTERIES The Mysteries dominated the Pagan world. No other deity is represented on the monuments of ancient Greece and Italy as much as Dionysus, godman of the Eleusinian Mysteries. He is a deity with many names: Iacchos, Bassareus, Bromios, Euios, Sabazius, Zagreus, Yhyoneus, Lenaios, Eleuthereus, and so the list goes on. But these are just some of his Greek names! The godman is an omnipresent mythic figure throughout the ancient Mediterranean, known in different ways by many cultures. Five centuries before the birth of Christ, the Greek historian Herodotus, known as 'the father of history', discovered this when he travelled to Egypt. On the shores of a sacred lake in the Nile delta he witnessed an enormous festival, held every year, in which the Egyptians performed a dramatic spectacle before "tens of thousands of men and women," representing the death and resurrection of Osiris. Herodotus was an initiate into the Greek Mysteries and recognized that what he calls "the Passion of Osiris" was the very same drama that initiates saw enacted before them at Eleusis as the Passion of Dionysus. The Egyptian myth of Osiris is the primal myth of the Mystery godman and reaches back to prehistory. His story is so ancient that it can be found in pyramid texts written over 4,500 years ago! In travelling to Egypt Herodotus was following in the footsteps of another great Greek. Before 670 BCE Egypt had been a closed country, in the manner of Tibet, or Japan more recently, but in this year she opened her borders and one of the first Greeks who travelled there in search of ancient wisdom was Pythagoras. History remembers Pythagoras as the first 'scientist' of the Western world, but although it is true that he brought back many mathmatical theories to Greece from Egypt, to his contemporaries he would have seemed anything but 'scientific' in the modern sense. A wandering charismatic sage dressed in white robes and crowned with a gold coronet, Pythagoras was part scientist, part priest and part magician. He spent 22 years in the temples of Egypt, becoming an initiate of the ancient Egyptian Mysteries. On returning to Greece he began to preach the wisdom he had learned, performing miracles, raising the dead and giving oracles. Inspired by Pythagoras, his disciples created a Greek Mystery religion modelled on the Egyptian Mysteries. They took the indigenous wine god Dionysus, who was a minor deity all but ignored by Hesiod and Homer, and transformed him into a Greek version of the mighty Egyptian Osiris, godman of the Mysteries. This initiated a religious and cultural revolution that was to transform Athens into the centre of the civilized world. The followers of Pythagoras were models of virtue and learning, regarded as puritans by their neighbours. Strict vegetarians, they preached non-violence towards all living things and shunned the temple cults that practised the sacrifice of animals. This made it impossible for them to participate in the traditional Olympian religion of Athens. Forced to live on the fringes of acceptability, they often organized themselves into communities that shared all possessions in common, leaving them free to devote themselves to their mystical studies of mathematics, music, astronomy and philosophy. Nevertheless, the Mystery religion spread quickly amongst the ordinary people and within a few generations the Egyptian Mysteries of Osiris, now the Mysteries of Dionysus, inspired the glory of Classical Athens. In the same way that Osiris was synthesized by the Greeks with their indigenous god Dionysus to create the Greek Mysteries, other Mediterranean cultures which adopted the Mystery religion also transformed one of their indigenous deities into the dying and resurrecting Mystery godman. So, the deity who was known as Osiris in Egypt and became Dionysus in Greece was called Attis in Asia Minor, Adonis in Syria, Bacchus in Italy, Mithras in Persia, and so on. His forms were many, but essentially he was the same perennial figure, whose collective identity was referred to as Osiris-Dionysus. Because the ancients recognized that all the various Mystery godmen were essentially the same mythic being, elements from different myths and rites were continually combined and recombined to create new forms of the Mysteries. In Alexandria, for example, a charismatic sage called Timotheus consciously fused Osiris and Dionysus to produce a new deity for the city callled Serapis. He also gave an elaborate account of the myth of the Mystery godman Attis. Lucius Apuleius received his initiation into theMysteries from a high priest named after the Persian godman Mithras. Coins were minted with Dionysus represented on one side and Mithras on the other? One modern authority tells us that "possessed by the knowledge of his own secret rites," the initiate of the Mysteries "found no difficulty in conforming to any religion in vogue." Like the Christian religion which superseded it, the Mysteries reached across national boundaries, offering a spirituality which was relevant to all human beings, regardless of their racial origins or social status. Even as early as the fifth century CE philosophers such as Diogenes and Socrates called themselves "cosmopolitans' -- "citizens of the cosmos" -- rather than of any particular country or culture, which is testimony to the international nature of the Mysteries. One modern scholar, commenting on the merging and combining of different mystery traditions, writes: "This went a long way towards weaning the minds of men from the idea of separate gods from the different nations, and towards teaching them that all national and local deities were but different forms of one great Power. But for the rise of Christianity and other religions, there can be little doubt but that the whole of the Graeco-Roman deities would continually have merged into Dionysus." OSIRIS-DIONYSUS AND JESUS CHRIST Osiris-Dionysus had such universal appeal because he was seen as an 'Everyman' figure who symbolically represented each initiate. Through understanding the allegorical myth of the Mystery godman, initiates could become aware that, like Osiris-Dionysus, they were also 'God made flesh.' They too were immortal Spirit trapped within a physical body. Through sharing in the death of Osiris-Dionysus initiates symbolically 'died' to their lower earthly nature. Through sharing in his resurrection they were spiritually reborn and experienced their eternal and divine essence. This was the profound mystical teaching that the myth of Osiris-Dionysus encoded for those initiated into the Inner Mysteries, the truth of which initiates directly experienced for themselves. Writing of the Egyptian Mystery godman Osiris, Sir Wallis Budge, who was keeper of antiquities in the British Museum, explains: "The Egyptians of every period in which they are known to us believed that Osiris was of divine origin, that he suffered death and mutilation at the hands of the power of evil, that after great struggle with these powers he rose again, that he became henceforth the king of the underworld and judge of the dead, and that because he had conquered death the righteous might also conquer death. "He represented to men the idea of a man who was both God and man, and he typified to the Egyptians in all ages the being who by reason of his sufferings and death as a man could sympathise with them in their own sickness and death. The idea of his human personality also satisfied their cravings and yearnings for communion with a being who, though he was partly divine, yet had much in common with themselves. Originally they looked upon Osiris as a man who lived on the earth as they lived, who ate and drank, who suffered a cruel death, who by help of certain gods triumphed over death, and attained unto everlasting life. But what Osiris did they could also do." These are the key motifs that characterize the myths of all the Mystery godmen. What Budge writes of Osiris could equally be said of Dionysus, Attis, Adonis, Mithras and the rest. It also describes the Jewish dying and resurrecting godman Jesus Christ. Like Osiris-Dionysus, he is also God Incarnate and God of the Resurrection. He also promises his followers spiritual rebirth through sharing in his divine Passion. CONCLUSION The Mysteries were clearly an extremely powerful force in the ancient world. Let's review what we've discovered about them: - The Pagan Mysteries inspired the greatest minds of the ancient world. - They were practised in different forms by nearly every culture in the Mediterranean. - They comprised Outer Mysteries which were open to all and secret Inner Mysteries known only to those who had undergone a powerful process of mystical initiation. - At the heart of the Mysteries was the myth of a dying and resurrecting godman - Osiris-Dionysus. - The Inner Mysteries revealed the myths of Osiris-Dionysus to be spiritual allegories encoding spiritual teachings. The question which intrigued us was whether the Mysteries could have somehow influenced and shaped what we have inherited as the "biography" of Jesus? Unlike the various Pagan Mystery godmen, Jesus is traditionally viewed as an historical rather than a mythical figure, literally a man who was an incarnation of God, who suffered, died and resurrected to bring salvation to all humankind. But could these elements of the Jesus story actually be mythical stories inherited from the Pagan Mysteries? We began investigating the myths of Osiris-Dionysus more closely, searching for resemblances with the Jesus story. We were not prepared for the overwhelming number of similarities that we uncovered. Diabolical Mimicry "Having heard it proclaimed through the prophets that the Christ was to come and that the ungodly among men were to be punished by fire, the wicked spirits put forward many to be called Sons of God, under the impression that they would be able to produce in men the idea that the things that were said with regard to Christ were merely marvellous tales, like the things that were said by the poets." Justin Martyr Although the remarkable similarities between the myths of Osiris-Dionysus agd the supposed "biography" of Jesus Christ are generally unknown today, in the first few centuries CE they were obvious to Pagans and Christians alike. The Pagan philosopher and satirist Celsus criticized Christians for tryingto pass off the Jesus story as a new revelation when it was actually an inferior imitation of Pagan myths. He asks: "Are these distinctive happenings unique to the Christians -- and if so, how are they unique? Or are ours to be accounted myths and theirs believed? What reasons do the Christians give for the distinctiveness of their beliefs? In truth there is nothing at all unusual about what the Christians believe, except that they believe it to the exclusion of more comprehensive truths about God." The early Christians were painfully aware of such criticisms. How could Pagan myths which predated Christianity by hundreds of years have so much in common with the biography of the one and only saviour Jesus? Desperate to come up with an explanation, the Church fathers resorted to one of the most absurd theories ever advanced. From the time of Justin Martyr in the second century onwards, they declared that the Devil had plagiarized Christianity by anticipation in order to lead people astray? Knowing that the true Son of God was to literally come and walk the Earth, the Devil had copied the story of his life in advance of it happening and created the myths of Osiris-Dionysus. The Church father Tertullian writes of the Devil's "diabolical mimicry" in creating the Mysteries of Mithras: "The devil, whose business is to pervert the truth, mimics the exact circumstances of the Divine Sacraments. He baptises his believers and promises forgiveness of sins from the Sacred Fount, and thereby initiates them into the religion of Mithras. Thus he celebrates the oblation of bread, and brings in the symbol of the resurrection. Let us therefore acknowledge the craftiness of the devil, who copies certain things of those that be Divine." Studying the myths of the Mysteries it becomes obvious why these early Christians resorted to such a desperate explanation. Although no single Pagan myth completely parallels the story of Jesus, the mythic motifs which make up the story of the Jewish godman had already existed for centuries in the various stories told of Osiris-Dionysus and his greatest prophets. Let's make a journey through the 'biography' of Jesus and explore some of these extraordinary similarities. SON OF GOD Despite Christianity's claim that Jesus is the "only begotten Son of God." Osiris-Dionysus, in all his many forms, is also hailed as the Son of God. Jesus is the Son of God, yet equal with the Father. Dionysus is the "Son of Zeus, in his full nature God, most terrible, although most gentle to mankind." Jesus is "Very God of Very God." Dionysus is "Lord God of God born." Jesus is God in human form. St John writes of Jesus as "the Word made flesh." St. Paul explains that "God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh? Dionysus was also known as Bacchus, hence the title of Euripides' play The Bacchae, in which Dionysus is the central character. In this play, Dionysus explains that he has veiled his "Godhead in a mortal shape" in order to make it "manifest to mortal men.. He tells his disciples, "That is why I have changed my immortal form and taken the likeness of man." Like Jesus, in many of his myths the Pagan godman is born of a mortal virgin mother. In Asia Minor, Attis' mother is the virgin Cybele. In Syria, Adonis' virgin mother is called Myrrh. In Alexandria, Aion is born of the virgin Kore. In Greece, Dionysus is born of a mortal virgin Semele who wishes to see Zeus in all his glory and is mysteriously impregnated by one of his bolts of lightning. It was a popular tradition, recorded in the most quoted non-canonical text of early Christianity, that Jesus spent only seven months in Mary's womb. The Pagan historian Diodorus relates that Dionysus' mother Semele likewise was said to have also had only a seven-month pregnancy. Justin Martyr acknowledges the similarities between Jesus' virgin birth and Pagan mythology, writing: "In saying that the Word was born for us without sexual union as Jesus Christ our teacher, we introduce nothing beyond what is said of those called the Sons of Zeus." Nowhere was the myth of the 'Son of God' more developed than in Egypt, the ancient home of the Mysteries. Even the Christian Lactantius acknowledged that the legendary Egyptian sage Hermes Trismegistus had "arrived in some way at the truth, for on God the Father he had said everything, and on the Son." In Egypt, the Pharaoh had for thousands of years been regarded as an embodiment of the godman Osiris and praised in hymns as the Son of God. As an eminent Egyptologist writes, "Every Pharaoh had to be the Son of God and a human mother in order that he should be the Incarnate God, the Giver of Fertility to his country and people." In many legends the great prophets of Osiris-Dionysus are also portrayed as saviours and sons of God. Pythagoras was said to be the son of Apollo and a mortal woman called Parthenis, whose name derives from the word parthenos, meaning "virgin." Plato was also posthumously believed to be the son of Apollo. Philostratus relates in his biography of Apollonius that the great Pagan sage was regarded as the "Son of Zeus." Empedocles was thought to be a godman and saviour who had come down to this world to help confused souls, becoming "like a madman, calling out to people at the top of his voice and urging them to reject this realm and what is in it and go back to their own original, sublime, and noble word." Mythic motifs from the Mysteries even became associated with Roman Emperors who, for political reasons, cultivated legends about their divine nature which would link them to Osiris-Dionysus. Julius Caesar, who did not himself even believe in personal immortality, was hailed as "God made manifest, the common saviour of human life." His successor, Augustus, was likewise the "saviour of the universal human race." and even the tyrannical Nero is addressed on an altar piece as "God the deliverer for ever." In 40 BCE, drawing on Mystery myths, the Roman poet and initiate Virgil wrote a mystical 'prophesy' that a virgin would give birth to a divine child. In the fourth century CE Literalist Christians would claim that it foretold the coming of ]esus, but at the time this myth was interpreted as referring to Augustus, said to be the "Son of Apollo," preordained to rule the Earth and bring peace and prosperity. In his biography of Augustus, Suetonius offers a cluster of 'signs' that indicated the Emperor's divine nature. One modern authority writes: &am

HD 4850 or 9800GTX+? Hi all, im thinking of buying a HD 4850 or a 9800GTX+. The cheapest price i found for both of them are: Force3D HD 4850 $313 Glaxy 9800GTX+ $318 as you can see they're both very close in price. I've done my fair bit of research and it seems they're both on par, however many ppl from forums suggested that 4850 is better.....i want to play modern high performance games like Crysis, Call of Duty World at War, FarCry 2 etc on high settings and i want to play at 1330*648 or something like that. I know that the 4850 supports HDTV very well as i currently have a 3870 and it works great. Also, the 4850 has a built in 7.1 channel so that's great too. People have said that it runs pretty hot at 80 degrees on idle but that's easily fixed by increasing the fan speed to 35%. As for the 9800GTX+, it's slightly better in most benchmark tests but not too much different that can make it more superior to 4850, in fact, with anti aliasing and anti filtering (or something like that) turned on, 4850 performs better than 9800GTX+. Also, it seems 9800GTX+ requires 2 PCIE connectors.....other than that, not much different than 4850, but it runs cooler & quieter. Basically im kinda stuck, a lot of people have said 4850 is better whereas some said 9800GTX+ is better.....also it seems that Nvidia used bad underfill which causes the solder to crack lowering the lifespan of the graphics cards, so i don't know if that applies to 9xxx series or not, but a friend told me about it and suggested i should go for the 4850 instead....i know most games are designed maily for Nvidia architectures, but it's kinda even, some games lean towards ATI whereas some towards Nvidia, and plus AA & AF seems to perform better on 4850, e.g. Maxed out settings in Crysis with 4x AA and 8x AF turned on and runs at a faster FPS than 9800GTX+.... anyway please give me some advice. OH BTW, the HD4830 is only different to the HD4850 by maybe 10% but it performs really well too, i just want to play most games on high settings and i'm happy. The 4830 is $250 so that's at least $70 cheaper, should i go for that instead? @Bear, the prices i listed are in NZD which is about the same if you convert that to USD. @Matt M, that's what some people say, and those forums i've been to, like Tom's Hardware, Tech Powerup etc, all the big forums, they all say that 4850 is on par against 9800GTX+, not 9800GTX. I know for sure that 4850 owns 9800GTX but i'm talking about people saying it's better than 9800GTX+ in most cases........they're seriously on par man, especially with the AA and AF turned on, 4850 performs better........do ur research and u'll see what i mean.

National Historic Place Register...could my house be on it? ok so my house was originally built in 1825 and was supposedly a stop on the underground railroad. throughout its history, some noteable people and families have lived there (maybe not ntl. names, but def local for my city) it was also designed by a famous architect in my city in 1900, after it burned down. since then, the interior style has remained much the same, with some exeptions including the kitchen (modern appliances, style and the paint and architecture throughout the house, which isnt anywhere close to what the original color scheme would be. also, the exterior is painted an olive green, as opposed to the original white. do you think that it could possibly be added to the nhpr (dont know if thats even what its called but u kno what i mean right??) o ya and when it burned down in 1900 the walls still stayed in tact so the original 1825 walls are still there, they just changed the style and built a 2nd floor.... o yess and also the first governor of my state (unnamed for privacy reasons) most likely brought the gingko tree in our back yard over from china...and general lafayette (from rev. war) visited our house at one point

Looking for building plans for modern style architecture home? Supposing you have 5 million dollars to spend on building a very unique, modern style home. Like the ones you see on movies, essentially built up of glass panels from exterior, and insides have white tiles and walls made of stone like in a futuristic laboratory or something like this. where can i get the practical design layouts/plans for this to actually build it? Can you recommend me a magazine of sort? Thank you.

Anyone Familiar With Mid-Century Modern Style Homes .....? This is William Krisel http://media.dwell.com/images/478*718/william-krisel-archive-dwell-on-design.jpg - http://www.preservationnation.org/assets/photos-images/preservation-magazine/2009/may-june/william-krisel_mj09.jpg (He built more than 30,000 Mid-Century Modern style homes in his career!) http://www.dougnewby.com/dmh/midcentury/midcentury-collage.jpg Please tell me what you think of these types of homes. I'm interested in renting/buying and want to know what others think. http://www.marinmodern.com/images/Mill%20Valley%20Modern2.png I drive for Fedex Express and was sent to pick up a package on a street called Pueblo Way here in Las Vegas, Nevada. The street is just off Eastern Ave and the moment I turned onto the street I was shocked. The entire street is lined with these types of homes. None of them looked anywhere near each other in design and the majority of them were beautiful while the rest were nice. Not one of them were ugly in anyway. http://www.psmodernhouse.com/website/agent_pictures/2327/mid-century2.jpg The man I picked the package up from was remodeling his home (these homes were built in 1963 and still look gorgeous!) from top to bottom and was turning it into something which would basically be efficient enough to keep your energy bill around zero in cost. I don't understand that part but it seems that your home is so well designed you won't pay a bill if it's done right as far as the power consumed. Huh ... ??? ... sign me up! (smiling) Anyway have you looked at or do you live in a Mid-Century Modern type home? http://www.essential-architecture.com/IMAGES2/Mid%20century%20modern2_thumb.jpg Thanks and thumbs up to all who answer! Just give me time to get back and read the answers. http://www.dallasmidcenturymodernhomes.com/images/midcentury-collage.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2044/2422535853_097bdb8977.jpg http://www.ratioblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/mid-century-modern-home-near-indianpolis.jpg