In sacred Scripture, Daniel mentions the Watchers four times, even revealing that King Nebuchadnezzar’s curse was “by the decree of the watchers” (Daniel 4:17). The Watchers are widely attested in intertestamental Jewish literature. The most famous example is the “Book of the Watchers” (1 Enoch 1–36), where the term is used for the fallen immortals, the sons of God, who fathered the Nephilim in Genesis 6, amongst other acts of debauchery against the created order. A variant version of the story in the Book of Jubilees has the Watchers come down to teach men holiness (Jubilees 3:15), but they are subsequently corrupted when they lust after human women (Jubilees 5:1). In Jubilees, the evil immortals have a leader named Mastema, who persuades God to let one-tenth of the evil spirits remain with him on earth to corrupt and lead humankind astray.
In a document fragment found in Cave 4 among the Dead Sea Scrolls, Amram, the father of Moses, sees the chief angel of darkness (a Watcher named Melkiresha) in the form of a reptilian (bracketed suspension points represent scroll damage/irretrievable text):
I saw Watchers in my vision, a dream vision, and behold two (of them) argued about me and said […] and they were engaged in a great quarrel concerning me. I asked them: “You, what are you […] thus […] about me?” They answered and said to me: “We have been made masters and rule over all the sons of men.” And they said to me: “Which of us do you choose […]
I raised my eyes and saw one of them. His looks were frightening like those of a viper, and his garments were multi-colored and he was extremely dark […]
And afterwards I looked and behold […] by his appearance and his face was like that of an adder [a venomous snake], and he was covered with […] together, and his eyes […]”[i]
This reptilian Watcher seems to be an entirely different sort of creature than the human-looking messenger angels one encounters in the New Testament.
In the Bible, the Cherubim usually serve in one of two functions: as guardians of a sacred tree (Genesis 3:24) or as guardians and carriers of a throne (Psalm 18:10). While they have human features, Cherubim are chimeras, “the Israelite counterpart of the sphinx.”[ii] Ezekiel offers the most elaborate description (Ezekiel 1:10, 9:3; 10:15–22) in which they have the “likeness of a man” but “had four faces, and every one had four wings” (Ezekiel 1:6). In Revelation, they, or a similar creature, are also described as “beasts full of eyes before and behind” (Revelation 4:6). Minor differences in the descriptions might suggest a subjective element in mystical visions like the examples recorded by Ezekiel and John, or perhaps it indicates some variety in Cherub attributes. Stranger still, we believe these entities are “shape shifters” who can morph their physical forms. Whatever the case may be, the point we are driving at is that Cherubim are fearsome creatures, not the putti—plump rosy-cheeked winged babies seen in Renaissance and Baroque art—that they are commonly mixed up with.[iii]
Even more, it seems likely that the Prince of Darkness himself is of the Cherub family. Ezekiel likens the downfall of the proud king of Tyre to the fall and curse on the serpent (Genesis 3:14–15) in an amazing lament (Ezekiel 28:11–19). It sees through the proud human despot to the evil power behind him. It harkens back to the immortal “anointed cherub,” in the “garden of God” and on the “mountain of God” (Ezekiel 28:13–14). That ancient serpent (Hebrew Nachash) who fell and deceived the first humans in the garden is later positively identified as the devil or Satan (Revelation 12:9).
Fiery flying serpents are recorded around the world as having visited Earth in ancient time with promises they will return through the portals in the End Times.
Hebrew Bible scholar Michael Heiser argues that the so-called serpent in the Garden of Eden was no snake. The noun spelled Nachash in Hebrew can mean “snake or serpent”[iv] or, as a verb, “to practice divination,”[v] but as an adjective, it means “bright, brazen.”[vi] In Hebrew grammar, it is common for adjectives to be used as nouns or substantivized.[vii] Thus, it is a valid option to translateNachash as a noun meaning “shining one.” Heiser concludes, “Eve was not talking to a snake. She was speaking to a bright, shining upright being who was serpentine in appearance, and who was trying to bewitch her with lies.”[viii] This makes the Genesis account seem all the more plausible; after all, snakes do not have vocal cords and Eve was not immediately taken aback as one would expect, given a talking snake, suggesting that perhaps she was even accustomed to seeing such entities.
It is rather satisfying to know that even in light of what we have learned from Ugaritic and Egyptian texts concerning the ancient context of Scripture, the controversial Hebrew Bible passages (Genesis 3, Isaiah 14, and Ezekiel 28) classically used to describe the devil of New Testament theology (often to the disapproval of scholars) can now be rigorously reconciled. Heiser addresses all three passages as a composite sketch:
- Genesis 3: The Nachash (“Shining One”) is “put down on the ground” (denoted by the “eating dust” reference in 3:14).
- Isaiah 14: Helel (“Shining One”) is “brought down to Sheol” (v. 11); “cut down to the earth [erets]” (v. 12); “thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit” (v. 15).
- Ezekiel 28: The brilliant, shining Cherub is “cast from the [cosmic] mountain of God” (v. 16) and “cast to the ground [erets]”(v. 17).
Heiser explains: “All three have a shining supernatural being in Eden who rebelled against God, who sought to usurp the headship of the divine council, who was cast from God’s presence, and who was placed beneath the created things he vowed to rule, sentenced to the domain of the Underworld.”[ix] We believe that the time draws near when the final aspect of Satan’s sentence will be executed and all hell will break loose on earth when the portal to the abyss is opened. In fact, Tom Horn will be arguing in media everywhere starting in May that this is “the most overlooked aspect of end-times prophecy. Gateways of the earth are about to open and a vast array of entities will erupt upon earth, causing men’s hearts to fail them for fear. We have filmed the increase in activity in case locations, and will be providing this evidence very soon.”
What Is a Portal?
Doorways, gates, and portals to untold realms are a familiar yet fantastic topic. The subject is esoteric, not because it is not discussed, but rather because it is seldom handled seriously outside of a reductionist scientific worldview. For our purposes within, the term “portal” can be defined in two senses as “any entrance to a place,” or “any means of access to something.”[x] In the first sense, a portal is a technological or supernatural doorway that connects two places, dimensions, or points in time—for example, a wormhole in a science-fiction movie or the wardrobe in C. S. Lewis’ The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. In the supernatural sense, a “portal” may entail a prayer, a ritual, or an altered state of consciousness. Illustrations might even include an Ouija board as a “doorway of communication” with the spirit realm. A portal might link to a different spot within a universe (teleportation portal); a parallel world (interdimensional portal); the past or the future (time portal); and other planes of existence, such as Heaven, Hell, or other afterworlds (preternatural portals). Most of us learn about them in kindergarten.
Lewis Carroll popularized the idea with his 1871 Through the Looking Glass, a story (later adapted to Alice in Wonderland) about a girl who steps through her mirror and enters a different world. In 1930, Frank L. Baum’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz launched Dorothy over the rainbow into another realm of reality. In 1950, C. S. Lewis introduced the above-mentioned Christian allegory, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, in which the characters travel through a portal hidden in a wardrobe to a fantastic alternate reality with talking animals, the land of Narnia. Of course, this famous Christian allegory became a series of books known as the “Chronicles of Narnia.” In the series, Aslan the lion is a type of Christ, aptly described as “good,” but not necessarily “safe.” In book 6,The Magician’s Nephew, the “wood between the worlds” served as a portal within a dynamic multiverse, including the land of Narnia.
The existence of portal gateways logically follows from the existence of these other realms. Do such fantastic constituencies exist? Belief in some sort of Heaven is nearly universal, so the interface between our “this-worldly,” experiential space-time and the transcendent heavenly realm is a proper item for theological probing. In Scripture, portals to Heaven entail altered states of consciousness like dreams and visions. After dreaming about angels ascending and descending, Jacob declared Bethel “the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17). The first verse of Isaiah describes the book as the “vision of Isaiah,” meaning a message from God given in symbolic form (1 Samuel 3:1; Ezekiel 7:26). Also, it is interesting that Paul wasn’t sure if he was in his body or outside of it when he journeyed to the Third Heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2). In chapter 8 “The Science of Portals” in the upcoming book On the Path of the Immortalswe explain why science has been forced to acknowledge that consciousness affects physical matter. Otherworldly gates feature prominently in religious structures worldwide.
In the West, the lost knowledge of portals once featured prominently in the art and architecture of sacred spaces. Medieval cathedral and church entrances were designed to be spiritual transformation portals. Back then, the church was seen as an allegory for the voice of Christ. The entry portal was interpreted in light of Jesus’ figure of speech: “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:9). Medieval scholar Calvin Kendall observed that cathedrals often aligned the figure of Christ with the vertical access of the door to symbolize this typology. Kendall states, “The portal was designed to assist the medieval Christians in experiencing the church as a mystical space that was both the dwelling place of God and the place where one entered into his or her better nature.”[xi] Like a wormhole to another universe, ecclesiastical doors served as a transition between the profane ordinary world and the sacred space.
In the East, the ancient name “Babylon” comes from the Hellenized form of the Akkadian Bab-Ilu, meaning “the gate of god.” In chapter 7of the upcoming book, we delve into Babylon and its gates. Babylonian astrology was the first organized system of astrology, arising in the second millennium BC.[xii] In India, Vedic astrology holds that twenty-seven constellations—identified as “Nakshatras” or cosmic energy portals—influence human destiny rather than the twelve zodiacal star signs.[xiii] The founder of Chinese Taoism, Lao Tzu, allegedly mastered techniques for out-of-body travel, and in some Taoist sects, an adept acquires the ability to “take flight and wander freely through enchanted islands, sacred mountains or celestial spheres.”[xiv]
Located east of Japan between Iwo Jima and Marcus Island, the Devil’s Sea boasts a comparably inexplicable record of vanishing ships and planes to its infamous counterpart in Bermuda. Apparently, it is serious enough that the Japanese government has officially labeled the area a danger zone.[xv] Stranger yet, the Aokigahara Forest at the base of Mount Fuji, Japan, has become notorious throughout the world as the “Suicide Forest”—effectively, it’s a portal to Hades.
The East has influenced the West through theosophy and later the New Age movement, but the Native Americans were similarly pantheistic and animistic. Mount Shasta in California has Indian legends about little people and giants. The Apache creation myth includes giants and owl-like creatures among numerous other “monsters,” as does the Navajo and related tribes. Sedona, Arizona, is internationally heralded for its vortex sites. More than one author has suggested theses vortices are portals to other worlds or dimensions. In view of Sedona being the most well-known dimensional portal location in America, we visited the Sedona vortices, and we could not miss the opportunity to explore the nearby Superstition Mountains, which, according to Native American tradition, are the former home of superhuman giants. The Superstitions also host an ancient medicine wheel called Circlestone, which attracts quite a bit of UFO activity. About.com lists the Superstitions and Sedona as the top two paranormal hotspots in the US.[xvi] If portals to other realms exist, we would expect to find them there (and it seems we did).
Because all religious traditions and even materialist science acknowledge alternate realms, On the Path of the Immortals assumes that they exist, but critically evaluates them as well as various ideas about how they interface with the everyday world. After taking the reader along on our adventures in the American Southwest, we delve into earth mysteries, megalithic monuments, and places of power. We also explore alignments, ley lines, and the world grid. These concepts are evaluated in terms of various claims to dimensional portals and alternate realities. Such an investigation is multidisciplinary, requiring a broad range of topics—from hard science to religion and occultism.
Beginning with science, we show that portals are feasibly interconnecting black holes establishing a wormhole to another realm. After taking you along on a research trip to Sedona, Arizona, we explore biblical sites like Bethel and Babylon, as well as earth mysteries—pyramids, megalithic monuments, stone circles, and energy vortices. We look into the murky world of the occult and mysticism where portals feature prominently. While we endeavor to explain these items within a biblical supernatural worldview, reader be warned: The literature on the subject runs from cryptic theoretical physics to outright metaphysical lunacy. We have sifted through thousands of pages and, as expected, examples of the latter are ubiquitous. Nevertheless, the existence of counterfeit says nothing about the reality of the genuine article.
We explore the hypothesis that not only are such portals a reality, but they are positioned in a geometrical design when mapped as a grid. We dare ask if the ancient Book of Enoch, conservatively dated to 250 BC, defining twelve heavenly portals (Enoch 77:1), onlyseems like Ivan Sanderson’s twelve vortices (including the famous Bermuda Triangle)—or is it more than coincidence? Pioneering paranormal researcher John Keel called dimensional portals “windows.”[xvii]
Thus there are many “haunted” places all over the world, shunned by ancient man or made sacred by him. These are precise geographical locations, and anyone digging into the history and lore of such locations will find thousands of accounts of ghosts, demons, monsters, and flying saucers pinpointed within a few square miles and covering a thousand years or more of time. To UFO cultists such places are Windows: entry points for spaceships front some distant planet. Occultists teach that these are Gateways: weak spots in the Earth’s etheric envelope through which beings from other space-time continuums seep through into our reality.… There are literally thousands of these weak spots all over our planet. Paranormal and supernatural activities in these areas seem to be controlled by complicated cyclic factors. Periodically, all hell breaks loose in all these places simultaneously, and then we have a flap, or wave, of UFO sightings, apparitions, poltergeists, sudden inexplicable disappearances of animals and human beings, mysterious fires, and even a form of mass madness.[xviii]
Today, these areas are inevitably labeled “paranormal hot spots” or “interdimensional portals.” Keel’s most famous work, The Mothman Prophecies, focused on sightings of a six-foot, winged humanoid in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Hollywood produced a feature film starring Richard Gere in 2002, but what is less known is that Point Pleasant area had a marked increase in UFO sightings and many other paranormal phenomena around the same period (1966–1967).
Pastor Larry Gray was an early Mothman eyewitness. He saw the creature inside his home near Point Pleasant in 1966 and identified it as one of the immortals:
I looked over to my right and there, beside the bed, stood a six-foot dirty lunar or light gray colored figure with its wing-like arms extended and something like hands pointing downward. It had a glow, not illustrious, but a dirty glow. Its eyes were back in its head. I knew the thing was looking at me. I could feel evil communicating something horrible. It definitely was a non-human being. It just stood there staring at me, discharging evil in the room. My mind and body felt as if they were paralyzed. I could not speak. It was the devil. I knew it. The devil cannot stand against the power of the blood of Jesus, so in my mind, I kept repeating, “Jesus by the power of Your blood protect me. Jesus by the power of your blood.…” Little by little, the “Thing” disappeared. It vanished like pouring salt onto a snail. It was the devil; I know it was the devil.”[xix]
Cris Putnam at the Mothman statue in Point Pleasant, West Virginia
In the course of researching On the Path of the Immortals, I visited Point Pleasant to research the Mothman legend. The local Mothman museum displays handwritten notes from John Keel, as well as yellowed newspaper articles from the time of the events preserved under sheets of glass. Interestingly, the UFO flap in the area at the same time as the Mothman sightings was reported in theHerald Dispatch on March 16, 1967. In addition, during the same brief window of time, a huge, pterodactyl-like cryptid known as a thunderbird was seen hovering in the skies.
The most fascinating aspect of the case is that all of the activity ceased when the Silver Bridge collapsed on December 15, 1967, killing forty-six motorists who were stuck in holiday shopping traffic. A few witnesses even reported seeing the Mothman in the vicinity of the bridge when it collapsed, leading to one theory that the Mothman was warning the residents of the impending disaster. Of course, the alternate theory is that the monster caused the tragedy. We suggest that the Mothman is one of the fallen immortals. From this curious history, it seems fair to explore Keel’s hypothesis, which is the fantastic notion that a portal or “window” opened over Point Pleasant, one that subsequently closed the day the Silver Bridge collapsed.
Keel theorized that every state within the continental United States has from two to ten “windows.”[xx] While a claim like that is extremely hard to justify, most states do have an example. Even so, it is a tricky proposition to decide which areas qualify and which do not. InZones of Strangeness: An Examination of Paranormal and UFO Hot Spots,parapsychologist Peter McCue laments the difficulties associated with identifying such regions:
When it comes to deciding whether an area is, or was, a hot spot, it would be helpful to have reliable data about the frequency of anomalous events elsewhere, thereby enabling statistical comparisons to be carried out. However, so far as I’m aware, this sort of information isn’t available. Therefore, some areas might be wrongly regarded as hot spots, whereas others, more deserving of that status, might be overlooked.[xxi]
In the next entry to this online series, we will look at examples of some of the portal locations within the United States we investigated and continue to scrutinize and where history says doors opened once before and those who are now prophesied to return once came through.
Credit to Skywatchtv.com
Tom Horn
in an up close and personal manner.
in an up close and personal manner.
