QUESTCON06

THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY

QUESTING CONFERENCE

Saturday, 28th October

Cecil Sharp House, London WC1

10 AM - 6 PM

 

TABLE OF EVENTS

 

10.00 - ANDREW COLLINS WELCOMES SPEAKERS, GUESTS AND DELEGATES

10.10 - ANTHONY MURPHY - NEWGRANGE AND THE CYGNUS ENIGMA

The gigantic passage grave encircled by a stone circle to be seen at Newgrange in Ireland's Boyne Valley is famous for its alignment towards the midwinter solstice. Each year the first sunlight penetrates a long, narrow corridor before entering a womb-like chamber at the heart of the monument, built c. 3000 BC. Legend speaks of Newgrange being a sidhe, house or palace of the Tuatha de Danaan, the mythical race that first inhabited Ireland. In this role, it features in 'The Dream of Angus', a tale concerning a chieftain named Angus Mac Og, who marries a swan maiden.

It was with such knowledge that two Irish earth mysteries researchers, Anthony Murphy (speaking today) and Richard Moore, saw the connection between Newgrange and the flocks of migrating whooper swans that settle each winter on the flooded plains that surround the River Boyne. From this began a fantastic investigation which spurred what became known as the 'Cygnus enigma'. This demonstrates the clear relationship between this Neolithic ritual landscape and Cygnus, the constellation of the celestial swan, expressed through monuments such as Newgrange and nearby Fourknocks, another key passage grave located on the famous midwinter sunrise line. Their website - complete with a Cygnus enigma e-documentary - is found at www.mythicalireland.com. Anthony's new book is ISLAND OF THE SETTING SUN - IN SEARCH OF IRELAND'S ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS.

11.05 - Tea break. Light refreshments available downstairs from the café.

11.15 - GEOFF STRAY - BEYOND COSMOGENESIS 2012

In 1975, psychedelic author, explorer and philosopher Terence McKenna, used an inspired mathematical formula to determine when the current human behavioral cycle would reach its 'Zero Point'. It turned out to be at the end of 2012, and only afterwards did he realise it corresponded with the culmination of the Mayan Long Count calendar on 21 December 2012.

At this same time the new sun will align not only with the Milky Way's Great Rift, which emerges from the Cygnus region, but also with the point in the sky that corresponds with the visual centre of our galaxy, located some 26,000 lights years away. It is the opinion of a number of well-informed writers that the upcoming galactic alignment is something that the Maya not just planned for 2,300 years ago, but preserved in the Quiche Maya epic the Popol Vuh. The eschatological implications of the 2012 alignment are immense for everyone in the new age movement, and Geoff Stray will tell you everything you need to know or avoid as we approach this all-important moment in human history.

Geoff Stray has been examining the phenomena surrounding 2012 for the past 23 years, and is the author of the highly informative and essential tome BEYOND 2012 (2005). He brings this knowledge to the Questing Conference audience in order that they are fully aware of what is going to happen, how it will happen, and whose word we can trust regarding the greater implications of an event that is now just six years away.

For more information on Geoff Stray and his book BEYOND 2012 click here.

12.10 pm - Tea break

12.20 pm - ANDREW COLLINS - STARS, STONES AND THE CYGNUS MYSTERY

Cygnus, the celestial swan of classical mythology, is perhaps the oldest constellation in the world. It was represented as a bird on a pole, symbolising the cosmic axis, within the Lascaux cave complex in southern France some 17,000 years ago, while Göbekli Tepe - a megalithic stone temple complex 11,500 years old in southeast Turkey - is aligned to this same star group, seen by its builders as a celestial vulture.

It is the same story with ancient stone and earthen structures worldwide, from the bird effigy mounds of North America to the Olmec centres of Mexico. From the Incan sacred city of Cuzco, to the Egyptian Pyramids of Giza, the Hindu temples of India, and even Avebury, the largest stone circle in Europe - all reflect an age-old interest in Cygnus. Why was this constellation singled out as so important by our ancestors? Now new evidence suggests that the arrival of unique cosmic particles from the Cygnus constellation might help explain not only why we gained a strange fascination for this star system, once seen as the cosmic source of life and death, but also why the human race experienced an accelerated evolution in Upper Palaeolithic times. It is a story told by Andrew today, and revealed also in his new book THE CYGNUS MYSTERY (Duncan Baird Publishers, 2006), available by clicking here.

"THE CYGNUS MYSTERY is an intellectual adventure that considers shamanism and the influence of the Cygnus constellation on the minds of our Neolithic ancestors. Andrew Collins takes readers into deepest, darkest caves in search of the sound of the universe, making a compelling case for Palaeolithic CERNs, and showing how a knowledge of subtle astronomical events is necessary to understand human prehistory."

Jeremy Narby, anthropologist and author of THE COSMIC SERPENT.

1.15 pm - Lunch break - light meals and refreshments will be served from the café.

2pm - LYNN PICKNETT AND CLIVE PRINCE - LEONARDO DA VINCI AND THE SION REVELATION

Everyone who has read Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince's monumental work THE TEMPLAR REVELATION (1997) will know that this was the true inspiration behind Dan Brown's global bestseller and movie THE DA VINCI CODE, a fact admitted in court during the high profile court case against Dan Brown earlier this year.

Now they uncover the truth behind the origins of the modern-day Priory of Sion, and its reverberations back into the murky past of secret societies and hidden cabals involving illustrious historical figures such as the artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci.

Lynn and Clive reveal also new evidence that lends weight to their earlier hypothesis outlined in THE TURIN SHROUD - IN WHOSE IMAGE (1994). Here they argue that the famous image of Christ on the Turin Shroud was created using basic photographic processes in the fifteenth century by the artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci, and in fact was a self portrait. This sensational evidence is included in a new, extensively revised and updated edition of their book, now titled THE TURIN SHROUD: HOW LEONARDO DA VINCI FOOLED HISTORY.

Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince are historians, writers and authors of various books which, in addition to those mentioned here, include THE STARGATE CONSPIRACY(1998), DOUBLE STANDARDS: THE RUDOLF HESS COVER-UP (2001) and WARS OF THE WINDSORS (2003). Lynn is also the author of MARY MAGDALENE: CHRISTIANITY'S HIDDEN GODDESS (2003) and THE SECRET HISTORY OF LUCIFER (2004). THE TEMPLAR REVELATION's sequel THE SION REVELATION, published in 2006, continues the story begun in 1997. Lynn and Clive's informative new website is at www.picknettprince.com.

2.55 pm - Tea break

3.10pm - JOHN REID - EGYPT'S PRECISION TECHNOLOGY IN THE PYRAMID AGE

The precision technology of the Pyramid Age was first explored in the nineteenth century by British Egyptologist W Flinders Petrie, and it is a matter pursued today by acoustics engineer John Reid. He has not just dedicated his life to exploring the evidence first hand, but has also successfully recreated the drills and tools that might have been used by our distant ancestors. This fascinating research project has shown that the Pyramid Builders really did have an amazing stone-cutting technology unequalled even in our own day.

Fresh back from Egypt, where he has accumulated even more evidence of this extraordinary technology, John will present a breathtaking audio-visual show that will leave the audience speechless.

John Reid retired from business in 1999 in order to follow a career in specialist acoustics research. He is the inventor of CymaScope, a machine with worldwide patents which exhibits the complex structure of sound in a visual medium. The CymaGlyph patterns, which appear on a membrane, are then analysed mathematically. John has a booklet EGYPTIAN SONICS, which provides a detailed account of his sonics research in Egypt.

4.10 pm - Tea break

4.30 pm - GREG LITTLE - ATLANTIS AND THE GREAT BIMINI HOAX

In a totally original presentation, based on the first ever proper study of prehistoric underwater archaeology in the Bahamas, psychologist Dr Greg Little offers compelling evidence that the sun-kissed archipelago supported a series of prehistoric breakwaters, jetties and quays, where ancient stone anchors have been discovered and recorded. Working with his wife Lora and Californian underwater archaeologist Bill Donato, Greg has confirmed the existence off Bimini's North island, Andros Island and Anquilla Island of underwater stone structures resembling harbour formations built by the Maya in the Yucatan, as well as more sophisticated constructions found in ancient Mediterranean quays. Who exactly was responsible for these prehistoric harbours, and how they relate to Plato's myth of Atlantis is the subject of Greg's fascinating talk.

In addition to this, Greg will show beyond all doubt that the principal marine geologist who in the 1970s dismissed as natural beach rock the Bimini Road - a J-shaped stone feature over one kilometre in length - deliberately fabricated his findings.

Dr Greg Little is a psychologist, prehistorian, and author of nearly 30 books including PEOPLE OF THE WEB, THE MOUND BUILDERS, and the recently released EDGAR CAYCE's ATLANTIS. He and his wife Lora are editors of ANCIENT MYSTERIES, the official journal of the ARE, the public face of the Edgar Cayce Foundation. For more on the research of Greg and Lora Little visit www.mysterious-america.net.

6pm - Conference ends

SUNDAY, 29 OCTOBER. SUNDAY WALKABOUT with Andrew Collins.

Explore THE CYGNUS MYSTERY in the City of London. Details of where to meet and when will be announced during the day.

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