Introduction
Walter Cruttenden is the author of the 340-page book, Lost Star of Myth and Time, which is a grand synthesis of the world history that occurred over the past 14000 years (Cruttenden 12). The author used the book to condemn the millennia of human progress and to search for their spirituality. The main audiences of the book are the historians, archaeologists and the spiritual lot.
Cruttenden has also written another book, The binary Theory of Precession. The author is an executive director of the Binary Research Institute. He is a historian by nature since he studies history of the universe and the people’s cultures. The author is qualified in his field and since he is head of the Binary Research Institute, this shows that he is well educated in the field.
The author has managed to perform some research on the celestial mechanics of the precession of the equinox. He uses scientific evidence to argue out his position and with his experience in the field of archaeoastronomy, the sources of the book can be considered quite reliable. Basing on other studies, however, the studies do not match up other existing scientific evidences.
Summary
The book suggests that the best part of the human civilization took place between 8000 and 14000 years ago. It also predicts that such a time will be repeated in the next six or seven thousand years. The author uses the information from the vedic manuscripts which are present in the Yuga Cycle. The Yuga Cycle provides four timelines.
They include Satya, which is the Golden Age, Treta, which is the Silver Age, Dwapara, which is the Bronze Age and Kali, which is the Iron Age. These eras have been listed in a descending order, which is also known as the descending Yuga Cycle.
Cruttenden believes that gold is better than iron. When one considers the list, it would appear that the best moments for the humans was when they were primarily hunters and gatherers. However, he criticizes the civilizations that followed that period since he argues that the human race fell out of cosmic favor when they began building the towns.
Cruttenden argues in his book that long ago, there existed a very sophisticated culture and many scientists have not known about or studied it. He argues that this occurred between 8000 and 14000 years ago. He argues that despite not being based n materialism but spiritualism, it was still advanced.
He acknowledges the existence of advanced science and engineering that has not been attained today. Cruttenden argues that the inaccurate dating techniques are the causes of the lack of scientific evidences for the sophisticated civilization mentioned in the book. Therefore, he suggests that the pyramids are much older than the scientists think.
The author also mentions about the missing binary star of the sun. Cruttenden believed that there was some truth in the myths and folklore about the solar system. The myths suggested that there was a repeating cycle of the dark ages and golden ages. He explains this by stating that there is an alteration of the stellar forces on the earth as the solar system experience motion in a binary orbit of 24,000 years.
Critique
The book that Cruttenden wrote is based on a selection of disparate sources that have been used to establish a wobbly argument to support the existence of an advanced civilization over 8000 years ago. It is weird that many of the knowledgeable scientists have not discovered such a great historical piece. It is unrealistic that he could be the first – in the many years of research in archaeology and history – to discover the lost civilization.
The author points out that some research has recently discovered some of the previously unknown advanced civilizations. He gives an example of the Caral Supe in Peru. This civilization was discovered less than five years ago. This discovery fails to fit into the category of a new discovery since the civilization resembles the one that is in existence now. There is no difference and this discredits that discovery.
The expression of the optimism and the longing for some spiritual core in the book show some of the failings of humans as a race and it tries to build a purpose for the existence of human beings on the planet. This is central to many people today who believe that there is a lack of spirituality in modern society.
Conclusion
This book would be very important to the archaeologists and other scientists since it poses a challenge of the existence of another civilization that had not been mentioned in existing literature. This would drive them to do more research to ascertain the truthfulness or the incorrectness of these allegations.
The book would also favor the religious people since it would awaken them to the reality of the lack of spirituality in the current society. The historians would also develop an interest in this book since it goes back over 8000 years ago to discover about some of the hidden truths.
Works Cited
Cruttenden, Walter. Lost Star of Myth and Time. Pittsburgh: St. Lynn’s Press, 2006. Print.