Table Of ContentAndrew Collins is a popular writer of history, archaeology and science. For over
30 years he has explored the relationship between archaic religious beliefs and the
cosmos, examining the origins of human civilization, the development of
technology and the inspirations behind magic and religion. His discoveries have
led to several thought-provoking books that challenge the way we think about
the past. Andrew is also the organizer of the Questing Conference, Britain’s
premier event on revisionist history, forbidden archaeology and ancient wisdom.
Born in 1957, he lives with his wife Sue in Essex.
www.andrewcollins.com
Also by Andrew Collins
From the Ashes of Angels
Gods of Eden
Gateway to Atlantis
With Chris Ogilvie-Herald
Tutankhamun: The Exodus Conspiracy
THE CYGNUS MYSTERY
Unlocking the Ancient Secret of Life’s
Origins in the Cosmos
ANDREW COLLINS
Contents
List of illustrations
list of plates
PICTURE CREDITS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Oldest Temple in the World
In the Garden of Eden
The Direction of Heaven
The Circle of Cygnus
On the Wolf Trail
Maya Cosmogenesis
Pathway to the Gods
The Winged Serpent
Goddess of the Swan
The Waters of Life
Swan Knights and Swan Maidens
The Key to Ascension
In Search of Sokar
The Road to Rostau
The Well of Souls
The Swan-Goose of Eternity
The First Astronomers
The Point of Creation
The Secret of Life
Cosmic Swansong
Children of the Swan
The True God Star
Postscript: April 2006
The Dogon Mystery
Plates
List of illustrations
1. Map of Egypt and the Near East.
2. Mural of Neolithic excarnation tower from Çatal Hüyük, southern Turkey.
3a and 3b. Two 19th-century impressions of the Yezidi sanjak.
4. Neolithic stone totem pole crowned by vulture, from Nevali Çori, southeast
Turkey.
5. The northern sky as viewed from southeast Turkey, c.9400 .
BC
6. Yezidi symbol representing the game bird identified in Arabian lore with
Cygnus.
7. Graeco-Roman magical gem depicting the crucified Orpheus.
8. The precession of the poles, showing previous pole stars.
9. The Blackfoot ‘Wolf Trail’, representing the Milky Way and, probably,
Cygnus.
10. Great Circle enclosing Eagle Mound, Newark, Ohio.
11. The Milky Way rising to reach Cygnus before midsummer dawn, as viewed
from Great Circle, Newark, 100 .
BC
12. Ancient Native American petroglyphs of the ‘Bird’s Foot’, compared with the
stars of Cygnus.
13. Wooden swans on ‘sky-poles’ erected by Reindeer Tungus shamans.
14. Rock engravings from Lake Onega, Russia, showing swans and a ‘shaman’ on
a sky-pole.
15. The northern sky as viewed from Mexico at midnight on midsummer’s night,
2000 .
BC
16. Plan of the Olmec city of La Venta.
17. Olmec votive axe in the form of the were-jaguar, with faint ‘crossed bands’
symbol on chest.
18. Olmec image of a serpent with crossed bands symbol as an eye.
19. The Maya cosmic bird at the top of the World Tree, representing the Milky
Way from Scorpio to Cygnus.
20. Cuzco as the City of the Puma, symbol of the axis mundi, linked to Cygnus.
21. Avebury monument by William Stukeley, 1743.
22. Artist Alan Sorrell’s impression of Avebury.
23. The northern sky as viewed from Avebury, 2600 .
BC
24. Avebury stone # 25S with carved image of a swan-like creature.
25. Artist’s impression of carving on Avebury stone # 25S, after Wakefield.
26. Wine jug from a Roman temple of Isis, London.
27. Panel from the Franks Casket (c.AD 700–750), with Æegil catching swans for
his brother Völand.
28. The ‘bird’s foot’ rune eolhx signifying a Valkyrie swan-maiden.
29. Aerial view of Callanish from the north.
30. The northern sky as viewed from Callanish in 3000 .
BC
31. The northern constellations, including Cygnus and Ursa Major, from the
tomb of Senmut in Western Thebes, Egypt, c.1490–c.1468 .
BC
32. Graeco-Egyptian magical gem showing the Phoenix as the Benu bird.
33. The god Sokar, underworld guardian of ancient Rostau (Giza), from the
tomb of Thutmose III (c.1490–c.1436 ), Western Thebes.
BC
34. Giza, Ausim (Letopolis) and el-Matariyeh (Heliopolis) in relation to the
meridian and the rising and setting of Cygnus and Ursa Major, 2600 .
BC
35. The Dendera round zodiac, showing the ‘mace-man’ Cygnus, after Aubourg.
36. The sky goddess Nut and the Earth god Geb, with the ‘Great Cackler’, from
the Papyrus of Tameniu, c.1000 .
BC
37. Nut pouring liquid from the sacred sycamore tree, from the Papyrus of Ani,
c.1300 .
BC
38. Ronald A Wells’ concept of the Milky Way representing the goddess Nut.
39. The goddess Saraswati, personification of the Milky Way, on her swan
vehicle.
40. The river systems of India and Pakistan, showing the possible course of the
ancient Saraswati River.
41. The four beasts of Chinese astronomy, with constellations.
42. Cygnus as Tianjin, the Ford of the Sky.
43. The Weaver Princess on the Magpie Bridge, represented in Chinese
astronomy by Tianjin (Cygnus).
44. Rock art of dancers holding ‘mushrooms’ from the Tassili-n’Ajjer region,
southern Algeria, c.7000–c.5000 .
BC
45. Tassili-n’Ajjer figure with mushrooms in his hands and around his body.
46a and 46b. Neolithic inscribed tablets from Jerf el-Ahmar, northern Syria,
c.8000–c.7300 , showing mushroom imagery.
BC
47. Stone head from Nevali Çori, Turkey, showing snake-like ponytail.
48. Standing pillar at Göbekli Tepe, Turkey, showing mushroom-headed serpents
and mushroom interlace, c.9500-c.7300 .
BC
49. Palaeolithic bone ‘swan pendant’ from Malta, Siberia, c.15,000 BP.
50. Artist’s impression of a high-mass X-ray binary system like Cygnus X-3.
51. Micrograph of a cosmic ray tracked on emulsion.
52. (Appendix) The Dogon ‘Fork of Space’, seat of the creator god, overlaid with
the principal stars of Cygnus.
list of plates
1. Göbekli Tepe, designated the oldest temple in the world, southeast Turkey.
2. Göbekli Tepe looking south.
3. Interior of Göbekli Tepe’s lower cult building.
4. Stone pillar from Göbekli Tepe with leonine carving.
5. Stone pillar from Göbekli Tepe with relief of fox.
6. Carved vulture head found at Göbekli Tepe.
7. The Astronomical Tower at Harran, southeast Turkey.
8. The author at the entrance to Harran’s Astronomical Tower.
9. Unexcavated stone row, Karahan Tepe, southeast Turkey.
10. Mushroom-shaped stone pillar, Karahan Tepe.
11. Cygnus as the celestial swan.
12. Cygnus as Christ crucified.
13. Ind Raymi, the Festival of the Sun, at Cuzco, Peru.
14. The Avebury monument, Wiltshire, England.
15. Wayland Smithy long barrow, Berkshire, England.
16. Callanish stone circle, Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
17. Banner and stuffed swan associated with the Swan Upping ceremony on the
Thames.
18. The Giza pyramids from the southwest.
19. The principal stars of Cygnus and Orion overlaid on the Giza pyramid field.
20. The Giza plateau, looking south from the Great Sphinx towards the hill Gebel
Ghibli.
21. The holy well of Beer el-Samman, Giza.
22. The Hindu creator-god Brahma riding the swan-goose Hamsa.
23. Stone relief from Göbekli Tepe of a barren female with mushroom-shaped
hair.
24. The ‘Well Scene’ at the cave of Lascaux, France.
25. Creswell Crags, site of Britain’s first Palaeolithic cave art.
26. Carved ibis head, Church Hole, Creswell Crags.
27. Carved swan-bittern chimeras, Church Hole, Creswell Crags.
28. Image of the high-mass X-ray binary system Cygnus X-3.
29. Artist’s impression of a microblazar like Cygnus X-3.
30. Image of a relativistic jet from the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87.
31. Marcel Griaule’s 1931 photo of Dogon rock art possibly showing the Milky
Way.
32. Snake emerging from the mouth of a head, Rouffignac cave, France.
