Debra
I'm skeptical of these cards. Of course many decks draw on mythology. I'm uneasy about those that try to insist the mythology is...really real, right now.
Doris Lessing, who won a Nobel Prize in Literature for her skills and imagination, wrote five science fiction books in the late 1970's-80's about "Sirian experiments," the manipulation of earth history by beings from Sirius. She's a wonderful writer and I enjoyed the books greatly.
So she made up some stories about Sirians. I'm not sure but aren't these the orgin of the new age belief in Sirian aliens with an active interest and involvement in human affairs?
Unlike L. Ron Hubbard, though, Lessing clearly did not intend her science fiction to be taken as revelations or hints at a great secret behind human existence.
Here's more information about Lessing's books at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sirian_Experiments and also there's a good entry under her name. She calls the series "space fiction" rather than "science fiction."
eta: I forgot about "The Sirius Mystery" in 1975 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sirius_Mystery
The idea here is that the Dogon people of Africa have a myth about Sirius that "seems" to "know" more about it than is visible to the naked eye, so of course their myth must contain knowledge passed down by actual Sirians. I don't know if Lessing used that as inspiration.
Doris Lessing, who won a Nobel Prize in Literature for her skills and imagination, wrote five science fiction books in the late 1970's-80's about "Sirian experiments," the manipulation of earth history by beings from Sirius. She's a wonderful writer and I enjoyed the books greatly.
So she made up some stories about Sirians. I'm not sure but aren't these the orgin of the new age belief in Sirian aliens with an active interest and involvement in human affairs?
Unlike L. Ron Hubbard, though, Lessing clearly did not intend her science fiction to be taken as revelations or hints at a great secret behind human existence.
Here's more information about Lessing's books at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sirian_Experiments and also there's a good entry under her name. She calls the series "space fiction" rather than "science fiction."
eta: I forgot about "The Sirius Mystery" in 1975 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sirius_Mystery
The idea here is that the Dogon people of Africa have a myth about Sirius that "seems" to "know" more about it than is visible to the naked eye, so of course their myth must contain knowledge passed down by actual Sirians. I don't know if Lessing used that as inspiration.