Earth Under Fire:
Humanity's Survival of the Ice Age

The work of Paul LaViolette has really important implications. It is a synthesis of evidence for effects on Earth of past intense cosmic ray particle bombardments from the center of our galaxy, with known geologic features showing evidence of rapid earth changes, and an examination of ancient legends about disastrous climatic events. But it is even more than that. The author proposes that our long-ago progenitors may have coded a message -- a warning -- about a physical danger that can quickly destroy a civilization. Have we just recently become knowledgeable enough about the universe to understand this message?

ZODIAC POINTERS TO COMING DISASTER

The author proposes that the Zodiac constellations and the Tarot cards, both of which go back to antiquity, are really pointers to a past event that ended the last ice age, causing sudden changes in earth's climate and a world-wide deluge as water was released from glaciers. These changes happened as the Earth became engulfed in dust coming from explosions in the galactic center. These "superwaves" affect our solar system, causing the sun to get hotter and release huge bursts of plasma which in turn melt ice formations on Earth and on Mars.

This book gives a lot of information which is difficult at times to take in because of its complexity and novelty. The implications of the contents are breathtaking, including a real possibility that another of these Galactic blasts is even now on its way toward us. Remember, the last one caused rapid climate changes and wiped out existing civilizations.

CHALLENGING ORTHODOX SCIENCE

The author sometimes adds little pieces of speculation (based on pretty good evidence) on completely new ideas challenging scientific orthodoxy. For instance, evolution is possibly not just about "survival of the fittest" but has to do with physical mutations that occur quickly in all species when the Earth's atmosphere changes with the arrival of cosmic dust, speeding up evolution and advancing man forward (physically and/or spiritually?). Or that the galactic center is a violent place periodically emitting powerful blasts of rays and dust, but is also a place of creation, where matter is constantly created.

TALES OF THE FLOOD

Dr. LaViolette switches easily between heavy science and detailing of ancient legends from societies, past and present, all over the world, that tell of huge catastrophes that wiped out human and animal life. The most common are the tales of a flood that rushed over all land, drowning the inhabitants and destroying whatever they had built. Noah from the Bible is not the only hero emerging from these stories, which often include tales of survivors who hid in caves or climbed to mountaintops or who, like Noah, built a boat or raft and rode out the storm.

Obviously, humanity DID survive, and so did many species of animals, and we have again built a high level of civilization that understands that our planet is part of something much bigger: a galaxy of stars with us way out on a spiral arm, located in a universe too vast to chart. The galaxy moves through space and our solar system goes with it. Along the way we meet with particles that come from elsewhere in our galaxy or from other regions of space that we pass through. Mostly, we take no notice, but sometimes -- with thousands of years intervening -- we pass through foreign particles and cosmic rays that can have an enormous effect, both on our world and on ourselves.

The author examines the many theories of past civilizations like the Maya, Aztec, Hindu, Chinese and others that speak of "ages" of the world. Each "age" has a beginning and an end, the end usually coming from some disaster that destroys the civilization. He relates some of these to the zodiac positions of star constellations and what they represent and what they may be telling us. This is the most extensive recounting of these stories that I have seen in any book, and they come from all parts of the world. The last destruction must have been world-wide.

He also has the most unique theory about Atlantis, mention of which is usually toxic for scientists. Dr. LaViolette goes right out on a limb and says Atlantis was really... a giant ice island in the Atlantic ocean! This would have existed in the last ice age, but would have melted and disappeared rapidly (just as Plato said in the Critias!) during the cosmic superwave of 10,700 years ago!

CYCLES OF EARTH HISTORY

Other books exploring mankind's hidden past have shown that knowledge of "cycles" existed in the remote past. The 26,000 year circuit of the zodiac constellations around the horizon, known as the precession, was encoded in many of the old stories and legends. This is a time span way beyond the survival of most cultures, and the movement of these stars is not discernable within a lifetime. How did the ancients learn of it and why did they attach importance to it?

Dr. LaViolette's book picks up the same idea, tracing the zodiac arrangement back to antiquity, but also noting where it ties into a zodiac sign's relationship to the galactic center. The zodiac constellations become markers for the path a superwave would follow to enter our solar system. The last mass extinction of species occurred 10,750 years ago, when the sun rose on the vernal equinox in the constellation of Leo the Lion. The great Sphinx of Egypt gazes toward the horizon where the constellation would have been at that time. A pointer toward the location of zodiac constellations when important events happen can indicate when they happened.

Could an advanced civilization have existed before the last destruction and have they tried to warn us via stories that are metaphors for the approach and destructive (but also creative) effects of cosmic dust storms?

Even if we have a warning, what can we do about it? Turns out, not much. A cosmic blast from the galactic center would come without much warning. The author says we would first see a "blue light" or blue star that would be matter coming our way from the center of the galaxy; the blast of cosmic dust that could send our sun into a very violent and hot phase and to darken it as the dust envelops everything in its path would come next.

SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

Despite the author's careful gathering of facts, using ice core information, geologic evidence and evidence in the sky, he has had a difficult time getting other scientists to listen. He has had some journal publications, but because of the spectacular implications of his work, universities and government agencies have been slow to assist or help.

He undoubtedly earns the disapproval of his astrophysics colleagues by looking at unorthodox sources, such as "channeled" information from a psychic pertaining to the apparitions at Fatima Portugal in 1916, which have been considered by the Catholic Church as an appearance by the Virgin Mary. The "source" provides information which relates the message and what happened ("miracle of the sun') to an enactment of a past natural catastrophe which the author interprets as a possible galactic superwave. The apparition could thus be considered a warning about the future.

But, in the case of the Fatima apparitions, exactly who is issuing the warning? And why did the message come 100 years ago, before we had solid knowledge of our own galaxy? Many of the sources with religious origins talk about a catastrophe that can be avoided if mankind will turn from his evil ways. Could the world of spirit actually be involved in somehow deflecting a superwave? The author doesn't quite go down that path, but he seems very willing to consider all sources in seeking answers.

I think Dr. LaViolette has packed a bit too much into this book, giving the reader a lot to absorb. He does refer us to his other books for more details on his theories, and for me, reading this one does make me want to know more. His intelligence, intensity, persistence, painstaking research and desire to find the truth shine through this book. You can find more about him at the website for the Starburst Foundation, the organization he founded to further his research.

There are many theories of alternative history, postulating past civilizations, ancient astronauts, visitors from outer space, etc. But this book brings a scientific framework for the theories presented, and loads of illustrations and charts with data backing up all claims. You can hardly read it and not conclude that the author has done the work, paid his dues and has something to say. His words are worth your consideration.

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