#not the ancient aliens conspiracies

[dadizz]

Aw scoots we were supposed to go for ice cream and now we're at a strangers house

[creature-wizard]

Looks like it's time to talk about starseeds and the New Age movement again.

Since I'm seeing more starseed content being posted, I'm gonna make another post on why the whole starseed thing and the surrounding New Age belief system are... not good.

So for those who don't know, New Age mythology is essentially a hodgepodge of cherrypicked and distorted myths from various cultures, racist pseudohistory, and far right conspiracy theories. To put it very briefly, starseeds are supposedly here to help Earth resist the reptilians, a race of politics-manipulating, war-starting, media-controlling blood-drinking aliens. For those who don't recognize the tropes here, these are basically all antisemitic canards. The reptilian alien myth as most know it today comes from David Icke, who ultimately cribbed a bunch of his material from The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, a Russian hoax created to justify violence against Jews. He was also influenced by the work of people like Fritz Springmeier, a hateful crank who based much of his work on other hateful cranks.

(David Icke, by the way, also claims that transgender is an evil reptilian conspiracy. You'll never find just one form of bigotry with these people.)

There are supposedly numerous alien races out there, and one of the most prominent among them are the Pleiadians, AKA Nordics. While modern depictions of the Pleiadians give them more variety in skintone, there's no denying that older Pleiadian mythology basically pictured them as Aryans In Space, even associating them with the swastika.

You see what's going on here? "Good" swastika-loving Aryan aliens versus "evil" Jewish aliens? Sound familiar?

Racism isn't just a tangential part of the starseed myth, either. It lies at its very core. It's inextricably tied in with the ancient astronaut hypothesis, which has a history of racist motivation behind it. The TL;DR is that a bunch of white people couldn't believe that non-white people had built a bunch of things they couldn't figure out how to build themselves (EG, the Great Pyramids), so they proposed that the real builders were anyone from Atlanteans to aliens. (Atlantis, by the way, never existed; it was a literary device created by Plato.)

One supposed purpose of starseeds is to help the world "wake up to the truth," which basically just means "convert people to New Age spirituality." New Age believes that world peace is contingent on a majority of the world being converted to New Age belief, and that resistance against their belief system is ultimately the work of the aforementioned reptilian aliens.

To put it another way, New Agers think they understand other cultures' spiritual traditions better than the actual members of said cultures, and think that anyone who disagrees with them is being manipulated by the conspiracy, or is an agent of the conspiracy. This includes Indigenous cultures which are already endangered from white Christian colonialism.

Essentially, endangered cultures cannot speak up for themselves and resist New Agers' efforts at cultural assimilation without being labeled a problem and an enemy. It's basically white Christian colonialism repackaged as "spiritual, not religious."

Again - if you heard from these people that some ancient text or myth describes extraterrestrial beings visiting our planet for one reason or another, you heard misinformation. They twist and misrepresent literally every myth and text they get their hands on. For example, you may have heard that the vimanas from Hindu traditions were actually alien spacecraft. They were no such thing. Or maybe you heard that the Book of Enoch describes aliens performing genetic experimentation on humans. It literally does not. At best, all of the stories they cite just kind of sound like aliens if you ignore most of their content and pay no attention to their cultural contexts.

The starseed movement preys on alienated people, especially autistic people and people with ADHD. You can look up nearly any list of signs that you're supposedly a starseed, and many of them will align perfectly with characteristics associated with autism and/or ADHD, or that people with these conditions commonly report. Some people within the movement even go so far as to claim that ADHD and autism don't even exist, but were actually made up by the conspiracy as a cover to suppress and control starseeds, which is some yikes-as-hell ableism.

So basically, people are being told that if they have these certain characteristics or symptoms, that means it's their job to spread New Age spirituality to defeat the conspiracy and help others ascend to the fifth density.

And what's the fifth density, you might ask? It's supposedly humanity's next evolutionary level, because New Age is also based on biological misconceptions. Supposedly once everyone's DNA "upgrades," they'll essentially morph into an aetheric form. Supposedly, this is preceded by a number of "ascension symptoms," including depression, headache, gastrointestinal issues, and any number of other symptoms that could indicate almost anything, including stress.

What many of these people don't realize is, this prediction has already failed. Back in the 2000s and 2010s, experiencing "ascension symptoms" was supposed to precede ascension to 5D beginning December 21, 2012. One lady, Denise Le Fay, was convinced that the hair loss she was experiencing in 2008 was an ascension symptom. As we can see by looking her up, she's very much still with us on the 3D plane these days, repeating the same tired old scripts New Agers recycle endlessly.

By the way, everything you near New Agers saying today about old systems being dismantled, dark forces being arrested or kicked off the planet, and new economic systems on the horizon? They've been recycling these scripts for years now. Take a look at this page written back in 2012. You got stuff about the complete dismantling of an enormous network of sinister forces," "the arrest and removal of a world-wide cabal," and a "new economic system."

("Cabal," by the way, is a dogwhistle term for "Jews.")

Furthermore, people in this movement are often encouraged to try and access past life memories through dreams or hypnosis, which makes the whole thing feel even more real to them. But the thing is, you can have incredibly vivid experiences about literally anything you put your mind to - the people in the reality shifting having vivid experiences of living another life in the Harry Potter universe are a great example of this. Just because you have vivid experiences, doesn't mean they have any bearing on anything happening in this reality.

So yeah, the starseed movement and the larger New Age movement are both extremely harmful. They promote racist pseudohistory, medically-irresponsible pseudoscience, conspiracy theories that target numerous marginalized groups, and functionally target aliened people with ADHD and autism to convince them that spreading its beliefs is their job.

[daydreamerwonderkid]

Gotten a few asks about this so let me clarify:

Atlantis the Lost Empire is NOT Nazi propaganda nor is it an endorsement of Nazi beliefs.

It's another example of a piece of media that has taken inspiration from a conspiracy theory which unfortunately has ties to the Nazis' obsession with proving their bonkers Aryan race theory.

The Nazis were obsessed with finding and creating ANY sort of historical/traditional link to validate their agenda, no matter how utterly ridiculous or entirely separate from reality that link was. They were obsessed with the mystical and the occult. Pseudo-science and pseudo-archaeology were their literal bread and butter.

In this instance, Plato's story of a sunken ancient city is not special for being co-opted for the Nazi's purposes. What has lead Atlantis to becoming a popular conspiracy theory in modern times is due in part to the steady popularization of pseudo-science as well as bad faith actors promoting a racist conspiracy theory as genuine fact.

The majority of conspiracy theories you hear about today actually have roots in fiction. For example, the Hollow Earth conspiracy theory finds it's origins from science fiction novels dating back to the 1800s. The Philadelphia Project can also trace its origins to a UFO writer who claims he was receiving secret confidential intel from a former US mariner. And yet there are are people who genuinely believe there is a secret world hidden in the center of the earth and that the US government was experimenting with and succeeded in creating a portal to another dimension.

So is the case with Atlantis. Atlantis: The Antediluvian World was written by Ignatius Donnelly in 1882 as a means to express his desires for a populist government and world. He was extremely misguided in his belief that Plato's story was factual and he employed the use of hyperdiffusion-a popular method used in countless conspiracy theories-to argue that all ancient societies were basically all descended from one even more ancient people.

Or in the Nazi's own terms: "An ancient master race."

Bad actors like Graham Hancock and Ancient Aliens further popularized the Nazi's conspiracy theory (as well as many others) and Donnelly's books by spreading mass disinformation across a global scale and we are all suffering for it.

As I've already stated before, Atlantis the Lost Empire takes superficial inspiration from the conspiracy theory in the same way that Stranger Things takes inspiration from the Montauk Project. Many popular sci-fi films, tv shows, books, and video games are littered with references and nods to conspiracy theories. Everything from Men in Black to The X Files to the SCP Foundation.

If you are interested in seeing how convincing conspiracy theories can get and their very real ability to destroy actual lives, I recommend watching American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders. It perfectly showcases how conspiracy theories can suck you in and how people can easily take advantage of you once they break down your ability to distinguish fiction from reality.

My only caveat with the documentary is that I really wish the creators had emphasized even more plainly to the audience that the Octopus Murders is an actual conspiracy theory instead of leaving the question somewhat open ended. Especially in regards to Danny Casolaro's death.

I would also highly recommend watching Milo Rossi aka miniminuteman's videos as his channel is dedicated solely to debunking various archaeological conspiracy theories as well as providing fascinating education on a variety of historical topics. I really cannot overstate how wonderful his Awful Archaeology series is.

I'm going to link a few of my favorites here:

This is the first of a multiseries debunking Graham Hancock's Ancient Apocalypse series.

This is Part 1 of 2 of him debunking one of the most notorious TikTokers who makes a living off of spreading mass disinformation.

I would be remiss not to mention Atun-Shei Film's amazing channel as well as Lady of the Library.

I would also recommend Kaz Rowe's channel as they provide stellar information on a wide variery of historical topics.

Tldr; Atlantis the Lost Empire and the films creators' did not set out to promote Nazi beliefs. They simply took inspiration from a popular conspiracy theory and made it something entirely unique and separate from the Aryan race agenda.

[relaxedstyles]

Humans ain't real, brother.

[troythecatfish]

[ancientcosmicsecrets]

The Ancient Gods of Egypt

Step into the captivating world of ancient Egypt, where colossal pyramids, majestic pharaohs, and mystical gods have fascinated humanity for centuries. The pantheon of Egyptian deities weaves a rich tapestry of stories and powers. Let's delve into a few of the most prominent figures:

Osiris: The god of the underworld, Osiris embodies the themes of death, resurrection, and the Nile floods that sustained Egypt's fertile lands. His myth is a gripping tale of betrayal, dismemberment, and the unwavering efforts of his wife, Isis, to bring him back to life.

Isis: Revered as a devoted wife and mother, Isis played a pivotal role in Osiris's resurrection and cared for the deceased in the underworld. Her influence extended far beyond Egypt, reaching as far as Great Britain and Afghanistan during the Greco-Roman period.

Horus: The falcon-headed god, Horus, symbolized kingship, protection, and divine justice. His "Eye of Horus" represented healing and restoration, making him a figure of immense significance.

Ra: The sun god Ra, with his hawk head, was a central and compelling figure in Egyptian mythology. He sailed across the sky in his solar boat, bringing light and life to the world.

Anubis: The jackal-headed Anubis oversaw mummification and guided souls to the afterlife, crucial in ensuring a safe passage for the departed.

The Sphinx: Guardian of Secrets

Now, let's shift our focus to the Sphinx, the enigmatic creature standing sentinel near the pyramids of Giza. The Great Sphinx, with its lion body and human face, has captivated scholars and adventurers for generations. But did you know that similar sphinxes existed beyond Egypt?

Egyptian Sphinx: The iconic Egyptian Sphinx, carved from limestone, embodies mystery and wisdom. It gazes eastward, possibly modeled after Pharaoh Khafre, and served as a protector associated with the sun god Ra, standing as a sentinel near royal burials and temple entrances.

Sumerian Sphinx: In ancient Mesopotamia, the Sumerians revered the sphinx, depicting it with the body of a lion and the head of a man or a ram. These Sumerian sphinxes stood guard at temples and city gates, symbolizing strength and intellect.

The Nibiru Connection: Cosmic Threads

Ah, Nibiru—the elusive planet that has sparked countless theories and debates. According to Babylonian astronomy, Nibiru was associated with crossings and transitions. Some even speculate that it could be a hidden planet or brown dwarf in our solar system.

But what if Nibiru's influence extended beyond astronomy? Ancient Egyptian texts hint at celestial connections. The five visible planets—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn—played roles in Egyptian religion. For instance:

Horus was linked to Venus, known as the morning and evening star.

Osiris had ties to Venus's father.

Mercury was associated with Seth, Osiris's brother and murderer.

Could Nibiru be a cosmic bridge between worlds, influencing gods and civilizations alike? Perhaps it's a key to unlocking hidden truths.

Atlantis: Sunken Echoes of the Past

And now, let's turn our attention to the pièce de résistance: Atlantis! Plato's dialogues, "Timaeus" and "Critias," introduced us to this lost city. According to Critias, Atlantis existed around 9,600 BCE, beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar). It was a mighty civilization, but catastrophe struck, submerging it in a single day and night.

Some speculate that Atlantis echoes the volcanic eruption of Thera (modern Santorini) around 1500 BCE. Could this cataclysmic event have inspired Plato's tale? And what if Atlantis's legacy lives on, hidden beneath the waves?

So, dear reader, as we embark on this journey through myth and history, remember that truth often lies in the spaces between legend and reality. Atlantis, Nibiru, and the Sphinx—they beckon us to explore, question, and dream. Who knows what secrets lie submerged in the depths of time? Keep your eyes open, for the past whispers mysteries to those who dare to listen.

[knightofhylia]

Milo Rossi's lecture of the dangers of Pseudoscience and Pseudoarcheology

[kenobihater]

man. i looked up a tarot deck i remember being interested in a while back and clicked on the creator's site. i got distracted from her shop link by her "health tips" link and suddenly remembered why i did not buy anything from this lady years ago. she deserves a world record for the number of bat shit new age health conspiracy theories she crusades for. there's some harmless medical habits and dietary beliefs, the typical antivax bullshit, the ol' pineal gland calcification spiel, but then i saw mention of ingesting both Miracle Mineral Supplement (bleach) AND colloidal silver (heavy metal suspension) and it just went downhill from there

and my personal favorite:

[kermit-the-hag]

tiktok from original poster

This is what I mean when I say anyone who believes in ancient alien theories is a racist and supports white supremacy. Educate yourselves.

[iguessyouregonnamissthepantyraid]

not necessarily related to trump conspiracies (although he's for sure a trumper), but I had a very weird interaction with the security guard at work yesterday.

he came into the office and asked my coworker and I if we wanted to hear something scary about monster energy. I thought it would be health related cause he's said before that the one time he tried monster energy it caused him to go blind for 15 minutes. but uh. no. apparently he was listening to the joe rogan podcast 🙄 and he heard that the M on the can is made up of the Hebrew number 6, so it spelled out 666 (it doesn't, it's just meant to look like claw marks). and that the cross in the logo is upside down when you're taking a drink. and the motto or whatever is something like Release the Beast? so now he's convinced that his temporary blindness was caused by a demon...

I like totally checked out when he got to that point I put my earbuds in and let my coworker nod and continue the conversation cause I just couldn't handle it lmao

BROOOOO LMAO holding your hands because my actual father, the man who raised me, earnestly believes in ancient aliens so like i feel your pain hjshdjhdkjhk

the monster energy conspiracy is. fucking hilarous. have you seen the lady that went semi-viral a few years back because someone filmed her giving like a whole speech about how monster is from the devil? cracks me up every time

also, side note because you mentioned joe rogan: i fucking HATE joe rogan and it has nothing to do with anything he's actually ever said (i've never even heard the man's voice so i haven't heard enough to hate him for it) but it's because my spotify home page has a list of "podcasts you might like" (i don't even listen to podcasts! tf) and one of them is the joe rogan experience which is just like. a picture of him sneering at the camera. and he has thee most punchable face i've ever seen. it makes me not want to open spotify anymore dude it's nuts

[herebecritters]

Y’all have no idea how much I love ancient history, prehistory and natural history like hhhhghhh

You also have no idea how much I loathe ancient alien theories and young earth creationist theories it’s the stupidest ass shit ever

[creature-wizard]

How conspiracy peddlers and cult recruiters make you *feel* like you're "thinking for yourself" when you're actually not.

I run into a lot of people who proudly insist that they didn't get into conspiratorial or woo belief through brainwashing, but through thinking for themselves!

Yeah, yeah, it sure felt that way, didn't it?

But is that really what happened, though? People who are really good at indoctrination and brainwashing won't tell you what to believe. Instead, they'll tell you that they're just going to show you the evidence and let you make up your own mind. And then, they show you the "evidence" they want you to see, curated and presented in a way so that the only conclusion you can make is the one they wanted you to make all along.

Let's say, for example, you have someone trying to convince you that ancient mythologies describe extraterrestrial beings visiting Earth. They might tell you that many ancient mythologies and texts describe beings coming down from the sky, and try to claim these beings are extraterrestrial aliens.

You might not notice that they're pulling a rhetorical slight-of-hand if you're unaware that:

"Sky god" can mean a lot of things, from a god of rain to a personification of the sun or even the very sky itself.

Not all gods are sky gods in any sense; EG, vegetation deities are very much associated with the earth.

Ancient beliefs were often rooted in animist worldviews and many deities actually embody aspects of nature, including the many of the gods they're trying to pass off as extraterrestrial aliens.

Myths and beliefs were constantly evolving and changing; just because some people believed things a certain way 2000 years ago, doesn't mean people believed the same things 5000 years ago, let alone 10,000 years ago. (Look up the differences between the gods of Classical Greece and the gods of Mycenaean Greece, for example.)

A text they're referencing reflects a very specific set of beliefs that have nothing to do with aliens, genetic engineering, or whatever they're on about. (The Book of Enoch has angels being horny, not conducting genetic experiments.)

Next, they might tell you that certain feats of engineering (for example, the pyramids) would have been impossible for "primitive" people to accomplish, and therefore must have required alien assistance. This might seem compelling if you don't know a lot about ancient construction methods, let alone how the ancient Egyptians were quite good at math, and how they experimented with and refined the designs of pyramids over the years. (The step pyramid and the bent pyramid are pretty much always left out by ancient alien theorists.) "Aliens built it" also sounds a lot more believable when you aren't aware that archaeologists actually found the villages the workers lived in while they were building the pyramids, and found actual graffiti left by workers inside the pyramids. At some point they might show you a set of hieroglyphs that supposedly depict flying aircraft. What they aren't telling you is that these are literally just two sets of normal hieroglyphs superimposed over each other because they filled in the original hieroglyphs and carved over them, and then the fillings fell out. Yep, it's really that simple. So this whole time, you feel like you're thinking for yourself when what you're actually doing is thinking on the rails they set out for you. You don't even realize you're being railroaded toward a specific conclusion because you're only seeing what they want you to see, the way they want you to see it. There are, of course, other tactics to make you feel like you're thinking for yourself when your thoughts are actually being railroaded. For example, you might be presented with a slurry of assertions, cryptic statements, and questions that are all designed to guide you toward a pre-determined conclusion. Here's an example I thought up off the cuff: Ancient pagans worshiped the sun. Secret societies know ancient truths. Why does Grandma Helen plant yellow marigolds? Just a coincidence? What does the name "Helen" mean? What other "coincidences" are there? Look for yourself. Think for yourself. Yellow. Where else can you find yellow? Grandma Helen could be the most run-of-the-mill Christian ever, but this rhetoric encourages people to see Grandma Helen, plus anyone who ever does anything with yellow ever, as some kind of cryptopagan. You aren't being directly told that Grandma Helen is a cryptopagan. Instead, you're being conditioned to perceive her as one by being presented with a limited set of assertions (some with actual truth behind them!), plus a means of continually reinforcing this perception if you accept the premise. The piece I wrote was inspired by QAnon, whose MO has been compared to an alternate reality game and noted to be that of a fictional plot device rather than a real whistleblower. This is an extremely good article on the mechanics of QAnon and how it tricks people into believing they're thinking for themselves when they're actually thinking exactly what Q wants them to think; I really recommend giving it look. So yeah, people who are genuinely competent at brainwashing or indoctrination won't make you feel indoctrinated or brainwashed - they'll make you feel as if you came to these conclusions on your own by simply manipulating what you're allowed to see and how you see it.

[beardedmrbean]

[bananonbinary]

its wild to me when people debate how problematic a show is with this or that odd implication, when im out here watching corny scifi comedy eureka, which is bald-faced eugenics. sometimes a thing can be enjoyable and have loveable characters and fun family friendly plots and also be deeply deeply offensive.

[derdave]

This has to be one of my favorite moments in futurama

[ancientcosmicsecrets]

The Legend Of Atlantis

The legend of Atlantis has captured people's imagination for centuries. According to the lore, this mythical island nation, first mentioned by Plato, was a prosperous and technologically advanced kingdom that existed around 9,000 years before his time.

The story goes that Atlantis, named after its first king Atlas, the son of Poseidon and the mortal woman Cleito, was located beyond the "Pillars of Hercules," known today as the Strait of Gibraltar. The Atlanteans were described as a powerful and noble people, blessed with abundant natural resources and knowledge. They were known for their magnificent palaces, temples, and docks, showcasing their architectural prowess. However, their society met a tragic end due to moral and ethical decay.

This decay, often attributed to their indulgence and hubris, led to a disregard for the gods and the natural order, ultimately angering the divine and leading to the island's swift submersion into the sea. The religion of Atlantis, although not extensively detailed, is believed to have been polytheistic, with a pantheon of gods similar to that of the Greeks, with Poseidon as the primary deity.

The Atlanteans had a profound connection with the sea, which played a central role in their culture and spirituality. The possible connection between Atlantis and ancient Egypt, particularly the land of Kem, is a subject of fascination and debate.

Some theories propose that survivors of Atlantis may have migrated to Kem, influencing the development of the Egyptian civilization with their advanced knowledge. Whether Atlantis was a natural place or a mythological parable, the legend intrigues people worldwide. It is a timeless enigma, inviting each generation to ponder its truths and mysteries. What do you think about the legend of Atlantis? Do you believe it was a real place, or do you see it as a symbolic tale? I'd like you to join the conversation and share your perspectives on this captivating piece of our past.