THE ONE AND ONLY

QUESTCON05

ALTERNATIVE HISTORY,
FORBIDDEN ARCHAEOLOGY

5 November 2005

KENNEDY HALL, CECIL SHARP HOUSE ,2 REGENTS PARK ROAD, LONDON NW1

Sponsored by
NEXUS magazine


- PROGRAMME -


10am - ANDREW COLLINS - WELCOME ADDRESS

Andrew Collins will welcome delegates to Questcon05, and preview the day ahead.


10. 10 - ANDREW COLLINS - TEMPLES OF EDEN

In his groundbreaking book FROM THE ASHES OF ANGELS (1996), Andrew demonstrated that the Watchers are the memory of a shamanic elite who in early Neolithic times promoted the cult of the dead, which focused around the process of excarnation. Here bodies are denuded of their flesh by scavenger birds such as the vulture after being placed on wooden platforms located in isolated charnel areas. Central to early Neolithic beliefs was the idea that the spirit of the vulture accompanied the soul of the dead into the afterlife. Furthermore, communication with otherworldly intelligences could be achieved by adopting the mantle of a bird associated with the soul's transmigration during shamanic practices, making sense of the Watchers and Nephilim's description as birdmen in the Book of Enoch and other similar Enochian texts. It was this priestly elite that Collins proposed was behind the creation of civilisation in the land which became known in Semitic-Hebrew mythology as the earthly paradise, the Garden of Eden.
In May 2004, Andrew, in the company of his wife Sue, was finally given permission to visit newly-discovered megalithic stone temples in Southeast Turkey, which are situated close to the ancient cities of Edessa and Harran - the latter being the home to the Sabian star-worshippers, whose living descendants, the angel-worshipping Yezidi tribes still inhabit the region today. Exactly what Andrew discovered on his fascinating tour, and where it took him next, will be revealed for the first time. Yet over and above all this has come unparalleled evidence that those who founded the Neolithic revolution were more technologically advanced than anyone has previously understood.

Andrew Collins was born in 1957. He is the author of several key books that challenge our view of the past including FROM THE ASHES OF ANGELS (1996), GODS OF EDEN (1998), GATEWAY TO ATLANTIS (2000), TUTANKHAMUN: THE EXODUS CONSPIRACY (2002) and TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY GRAIL (2004). Andrew lectures worldwide, and is the organiser of QuestCon, Britain's most popular annual event on revisionist history, forbidden archaeology and ancient mysteries. He lives with his wife Sue in the Essex seaside town of Leigh-on-Sea. Andrew's website is www.andrewcollins.com.


11.05 - SHORT BREAK

Teas, coffees and light refreshments will be sold in the café downstairs throughout the day.


11.10 - PHILIP GARDINER AND GARY OSBORN - SECRETS OF THE SERPENT GRAIL

Philip Gardiner, author of the best-selling book THE SHINING ONES (2002), and co-writer Gary Osborn, began their research for new book THE SERPENT GRAIL (Watkins, 2005) by tracing the extent and influence of the snake cult worldwide, both in ancient and more modern times. This revealed that its central rite involved snake venom being mixed with animal blood in a ceremonial vessel, which in European tradition came to be known as a 'grail'. Moreover, it can be shown that this powerful concoction was alluded to in ancient texts as the Elixir of Life, which was said to contain healing properties that prolonged life.
Modern science is now investigating snake venom as a means to treat life-threatening diseases, and to prolong life. Indeed, it has been medically proven to enhance cell replication. Yet Gardiner and Osborn provide compelling evidence that ancient shamans masked any knowledge they held concerning snake venom in myth and symbolism. The remarkable findings of Gardiner and Osborn, which feature in THE SERPENT GRAIL, have dramatic repercussions for our understanding not only of shamanic experience and human consciousness, but also for the story of the Watchers and Nephilim as presented in the Book of Enoch. Don't miss this fascinating and highly original presentation.

Philip Gardiner has worked in the printing and marketing industry the majority of his life, and is a director and co-owner of a midlands marketing, design and print group named Phase, as well as a co-owner of William Ernest Publishing Ltd. Gardiner regularly gives seminars to large organisations, including the British Government, regarding marketing strategy and the history of propaganda. He has worked as a ghostwriter for different journals, and is the author of the book PROOF (1994), an investigation into the existence of God, re-released in October 2002.
In 2002, Gardiner self-published his highly successful book THE SHINING ONES. He has a career also in media-management and graphic design, who in his spare time is a portrait artist and semi-professional jazz-rock musician and composer. His websites are radicalbooks.com and serpentgrail.com.

Gary Osborn has co-written several articles for the respected journal SHAMAN'S DRUM, covering subjects related to ancient mysteries, esoteric traditions, alchemy, mysticism, ancient shamanism and the nature of human consciousness. He has also been involved in various projects related to members of the Esalen Physics of Consciousness Group - having been a daily contributor to a forum, which included theoretical physicists, Jack Sarfatti and Hal Puthof, astronaut Edgar Mitchell, author Colin Wilson and psychic Uri Geller. For further information online, go to gardinerosborn.com.


12.05 - Short Break


12. 15 - PHILIP COPPENS -THE TRUTH ABOUT EGYPT'S SKY RELIGION

For over a decade the world of ancient mysteries has come to accept that the constellation of Orion, the Hunter, played a powerful role in the development of Egypt's sky religion. It has been identified as the Egyptian star cluster known as Sah, or Sahu, and is supposed to have determined the basic layout of the Giza monuments. Moreover, Orion has repeatedly been seen as the god Osiris, Lord of death and resurrection in the underworld, just as Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, reflected the light of his sister-wife Isis. Orion's role in ancient Egypt has inspired a generation of writers and researchers to investigate mythologies worldwide looking for and finding Orion correlations with respect to ceremonial landscapes and archaic star lore, elevating this asterism to that of the highest importance among our earliest ancestors.
Yet today there is clear evidence that the modern interpretation of Egyptian cosmology hinges on false assumptions. What if a total reassessment of the evidence presented in Ancient Egyptian accounts leads us to conclude that Orion is not the image of Osiris, but that of the falcon-headed god Horus? Belgian writer and mythologist Philip Coppens' decade of research into this fascinating subject has led him to identity Osiris not with Sahu-Orion, but with Canopus, the Southern polar star of the ancient Egyptians, the premise of his important book THE CANOPUS REVELATION (Adventures Unlimited Press/Frontier Publishing, 2004). Philip Coppens' presentation will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about Orion, Sirius, and the ancient minds behind the construction of the Great Pyramid.

Philip Coppens was born in 1971. He started his career as an investigative journalist, specialising in the subjects of world politics and intelligence agencies. As a result, material uncovered on the life of President John F. Kennedy's alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was used by a US government enquiry in 1994. In 1995, he established FRONTIER MAGAZINE (formerly FRONTIER 2000) together with Herman Hegge, a newsstand magazine in the Netherlands and Belgium, creating a series of scoops such as confirmation of the existence of pyramids in China. These and other often groundbreaking investigations have resulted in a series of articles appearing in various magazines, both in the UK (FORTEAN TIMES, NEXUS) and abroad, as well as appearances on radio and television.
He is the author of two Dutch-language books. One was published in 1994, on the megalithic civilisation of Western Europe, a synopsis of which was worked into a German 1996 publication (Sind wir allein? - Ulrich Dopatka, editor). In 2004, he wrote DE DA VINCI CODE ONTCIJFERD, a high-level introduction to the mysteries incorporated in Dan Brown's THE DA VINCI CODE. In 1999, he was the principal researcher for Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince's THE STARGATE CONSPIRACY, which investigated current politician's apparent obsession with ancient Egypt. He is the author of THE STONE PUZZLE OF ROSSLYN CHAPEL (2002), on the enigmatic Scottish chapel and its relationship with freemasonry and the Knights Templar, and THE CANOPUS REVELATION (2004), on the lore of the star Canopus in ancient cultures. He has edited SAUNIÈRE'S MODEL AND THE SECRET OF RENNES-LE-CHÂTEAU (2001), by André Douzet, detailing the existence of a scale model of an enigmatic landscape that might unveil the true secret of the enigmatic priest. Together, they have written THE SECRET VAULT (2005), on the existence of an underground complex in Notre-Dame-de-Marceille, first discovered by Jos Bertaulet, a friend of Philip until Jos' death in 1995. He lives today in North Berwick. His website is philipcoppens.com.

1.15 - LUNCHTIME

Food will be on sale in the café downstairs, and hopefully the bar will be open. However, there are pubs within five minutes walking distance of the venue.


14. 10 - COLIN WILSON - Atlantis and the Old Ones

In his previous book, THE ATLANTIS BLUEPRINT (2002), Colin attempted to bring together our current understanding of the archaic origins of human civilisation. That was three years ago. So much has come to light since then that Colin felt compelled to write a sequel, entitled ATLANTIS AND THE KINGDOM OF NEANDERTHAL MAN (Inner Traditions 2005), which demonstrates that Neanderthal man was responsible for augmenting the sudden advance in human development sometime around 100,000 years ago. From the origins of mining in Africa to ancient evidence of the smelting of metals, maritime exploration and knowledge of the geodetic values of the earth and its relationship to the heavens - all argue the existence of advanced souls going back tens of thousands of years before the accepted appearance of modern humans.

Colin Wilson is the author of over 120 books, and arguably even as many as 150 - he has lost count himself! From books such as A BOOK OF BOOZE (1974) (he is today tee-total) to ALIEN DAWN (1998) and seminal classic THE OCCULT: A HISTORY (1971), Colin excels in the field of writing like no other British author. He is also a regular contributor to THE MAIL newspaper, where he writes on everything from mass murderers to the mind of terrorists. He lives with his wife Joy in a cottage in Cornwall where they set up home after fleeing from London following the worldwide media circus created by the publication of his first book THE OUTSIDER in 1956.


15.10 - SHORT BREAK


15.25 - GRAHAM PHILLIPS - THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MERLIN

Merlin the Magician is arguably the most written about wizard of all time, if we exclude Gandalf, who was probably based on him anyway. Born during an age of darkness in British history, Merlin's meddling magic caused the conception of King Arthur, whom the magician watched over until the royal child came of age, and won the right of kingship by removing the sword Excalibur from the stone. Immortalised in legend and myth, Merlin keeps alive the belief of magic and sorcery having motivated the destiny of our distant ancestors. Yet scholars and historians scoff at the mere idea of his physical existence in Dark Age history, when the Britons fought and won a series of decisive battles against the invading Saxons.
Who exactly was Merlin? Did he even know Arthur of the Britons, and what exactly was his fate? Most important of all, where is he buried? These were the questions which historical writer Graham Phillips sought to answer when he embarked on a historical quest in search of the real Merlin. In the first primary research to be conducted into this enigmatic figure of Dark Age history for a long time, Phillips uncovers persuasive evidence that Merlin was a British warrior and learned advisor to kings who lived and breathed during the last turbulent days of the Roman Empire.
According to ancient legends, recorded during medieval times, Merlin ended his life on Avalon. Although a number of British islands were associated with Avalon in the Middle Ages, such as Glastonbury in southwest England and Anglesey in Wales, Phillips finds evidence that the original Avalon was based on stories of another island, much further away. A 1,500-year-old saga called 'The Voyage of Merlin' tells how Merlin finally left Britain on a boat bound for a mysterious island, far across the Atlantic, where the waters of a magical spring, guarded by two giant serpents, could cure all ills and grant eternal youth. This story, long thought by historians to be fictitious, was, Phillips argues, based on accounts of a real journey to the New World.
The mythical places visited during Merlin's titanic voyage appear to have been provided by someone who had journeyed to North America, making landfall in New England. Here, off the coast of Maine, Graham investigated and found an island that matches the descriptions given of the Isle of Avalon. Native American legends talk of a sacred spring that holds curative and life-preserving properties lying in a valley flanked by two rocky headlands known as the twin serpents.
Supporting Phillips' extraordinary hypothesis is fresh archaeological evidence of early island-hopping trading voyages between Britain and what is today New England. He discovers both Native American graves in northern Europe and European graves in North America - one of which, he offers, is perhaps the grave of Merlin. Remarkably, this astonishing secret was preserved for centuries, Phillips discovers, in the coded writings of William Shakespeare and in the mysterious works of the early Freemasons.

Graham Phillips is another regular speaker at QuestCon. He is the author of a large number of historical works, including KING ARTHUR: THE TRUE STORY (1992), THE SEARCH FOR THE GRAIL (1995), ACT OF GOD (1998), THE TEMPLARS AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT (2004) and MERLIN, AVALON AND THE NEW WORLD (2005). He regularly lectures at colleges and universities worldwide, and is currently working with Shropshire County Council to create a King Arthur trail of sites associated locally with his life and times. Graham's website is grahamphillips.net.


16.20 - SHORT BREAK


16.40 - MICHAEL CARMICHAEL - PSYCHEDELIC SHAMANISM

Michael Carmichael is an historian of science. Following years of field research in the shamanic use of many of the world's major mind-altering plants, he studied directly with R. Gordon Wasson and Weston La Barre who were founding fathers of the scientific approach to shamanism and the mysticism of the psychedelic experience. Under the tutelage of Wasson and La Barre, Carmichael became a specialist in the history and archaeology of altered states of consciousness. Michael appeared in the Channel 4 series, Sacred Weeds, an investigation into the prehistoric and ancient cultures that used plants to gain access to higher levels of consciousness.
His presentation today will be a wide-ranging survey of evidence that will trace the use of psychedelic substances from their origins in pre-history to the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. Carmichael will outline the broad spectrum of altered states of consciousness and their manifold shamanic purposes.

Michael Carmichael is a British-American scholar who read history at the University of North Carolina. He studied Anthropology with La Barre of Duke University, ethnobotany with Wasson of the Harvard Botanical Museum and Chinese Alchemy with Joseph Needham of Cambridge. He is the author of WONDERLAND REVISITED, which was published in Psychedelia Britannica. For the past twenty years, Carmichael has lived in Oxford where he conducts research at all of the major libraries and museums. He is writing a book on the history and archaeology of the mind and consciousness that traces the impact of mind-altering substances from prehistoric humans to the modern era.
Michael Carmichael's website is michaelcarmichael.com.


17.40 - A SHORT BREAK


18.00 - JEREMY NARBY - BEYOND THE COSMIC SERPENT

Anthropologist Jeremy Narby is the author of the quite extraordinary, ground-breaking book THE COSMIC SERPENT (1995). In this he describes the remarkable wisdom of the native tribes of the Upper Amazon, which includes a vast pharmaceutical knowledge of over 50,000 plants. When asked where this knowledge came from, they said the spirits of the plants. Confused, and not believing what he had heard, Narby lived with these native peoples for some while, and eventually consented to take part in a shamanic initiation in which he ingested the complex hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca, said to aid communication with the spirit world. As a miasma of psychedelic imagery overtook him, he saw before him twin serpents, which somehow conveyed information to him concerning their greater significance. The experience confounded Narby, and led to years of study into the nature of human consciousness. Finally, he was forced to conclude that the twin serpents seen by him, and present in primitive and religious art worldwide, signified the consciousness of DNA. Furthermore, he felt sure that they represented the subtle communication taking place during shamanic states between our DNA and that of the plant world. If this were possible, then it made sense of the various tribes' immense pharmaceutical knowledge accumulated across countless generations.
Narby has travelled the world speaking to shamans and scientists, further refining his thesis, and he will exclusively reveal his findings here today.

Jeremy Narby Ph. D., grew up in Canada and Switzerland. He studied history at the University of Canterbury, and received his doctorate in anthropology from Stanford University. He is the author of THE COSMIC SERPENT: DNA AND THE ORIGINS OF KNOWLEDGE" (1998) and co-editor of SHAMANS THROUGH TIME (2001). His latest findings are discussed in his new book INTELLIGENCE IN NATURE: AN INQUIRY INTO KNOWLEDGE (Tarcher/Penguin, 2005).


20.00 - Break


20.15 - IAN LAWTON - SHAMANISM AND THE JOURNEY OF THE SOUL

Ian Lawton - author of GIZA:THE TRUTH (co-authored with Chris Ogilvie-Herald) and GENESIS UNVEILED - has been examining the compelling evidence for the reality of life after death, and in particular the state known as the 'interlife', the period between one life and the next. A number of pioneering hypnotherapists have conducted research into this subject, yet their findings have never been properly collated and compared, and then analysed alongside comparable research into near-death experiences (NDEs). These provide a remarkably consistent view of what occurs after death - encountering the white light, meeting spiritual entities, undergoing life assessment and evaluation, and choosing your next life. The results of Ian's extensive research are given in his critically-acclaimed new book, THE BOOK OF THE SOUL (2004).
Since Palaeolithic times shamanic trances have been induced through the use of powerful hallucinogens. These trigger altered mental states that share a number of similarities with NDEs and interlife regressions. Under the assumption that such experiences have a universal validity, they can tell us much about the nature of shamanism, and in particular the shaman's ability to enter 'nonphysical realms' in order to bring back knowledge and wisdom. It is this fascinating topic that Ian Lawton will discuss in his presentation for QuestCon05.

Ian Lawton was born in 1959. Formerly a chartered accountant and IT consultant, he turned his back on the commercial world in his mid-thirties to become a full-time writer-researcher on ancient civilizations, esoterica and spirituality. His first two books, GIZA: THE TRUTH and GENESIS UNVEILED, were published by Virgin Books and have gained widespread acclaim, selling over 30,000 copies worldwide. He has an established reputation for thorough scholarship and for adopting a logical and scientific approach even to spiritual matters. Ian has lectured about his work extensively. His third book, THE BOOK OF THE SOUL was published at the end of 2004 and has received significant critical acclaim from peers and students alike. His website is ianlawton.com.


11am - SUN 06 NOV 05 - LONDON WALKABOUT
With CAROLINE WISE and ANDREW COLLINS

Join us as on our pilgrimage to the temple sites of the gods and goddesses once venerated in our capital city. These deities are no mere archaeological fossils, but living forces that are interwoven in the fabric, history, and foundation legends of London. They can be called upon and worked with and are as relevant to us today as they were in the past.
We shall be visiting the places of Isis, Diana, Elen, Mithras, Brigid, and acknowledging the guardians and legendary founders of the City along the way. We'll hear of their mystery and their very real history at their temple sites. We'll conduct short attunement meditations at each site for those who wish to take part.
The tour will be lead by Caroline Wise, a dealer in esoteric books who is a priestess of the Goddess, having worked regularly with Isis, Sekhmet, Elen and Bride in London for eighteen years. Andrew Collins will be giving us his latest research into London's Roman-British Temple of Isis. We will be walking - and talking - for about two hours so please wear comfortable shoes and bring water. We will end our tour at Treadwells esotereic secondhand bookshop for browsing and a glass of wine. Meeting place will be announced during the day. Only for people attending the conference.

Keep up to date on a very special QuestCon06 planned for October. You will not want to miss out on it. andrewcollins.com and questcon.org.

The organisers wish to thank all the speakers, guests, staff and delegates in making QuestCon05 a fantastic success. Now that's a psychic prediction!

Questing Conference 2005 Main Page