William Cooper's Mystery Babylon: Part 24 - America's Assignment Part 1

Transcribed by frizshizzle/luckee1 (edited/formatted by wakingup72 @ http://www.waronyou.com/forums)

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Once again, you're listening to the Hour of the Time. I'm your host, William Cooper.


(opening music: possibly theme music from the movie Blade Runner, written by Vangelis)


Are you one of the people who believe that everything that’s happened through history is an accident? And that, while one or two things that have been planned, that most of history had no intelligent direction forming it, driving it? Well, listen to this folks and listen very carefully.


[reading from America's Assignment with Destiny, written by Manly P. Hall]:


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Those desiring substantial evidence of the unfoldment of the Great Plan should follow the suggestion inscribed upon the monument to Christopher Wren in Saint Paul's Cathedral, and gaze about them. The rapid advancement in the social and political states of man, the increasing richness of human living, and the broadening vision toward individual and collective responsibility herald, with auroral colors, the rising [of the] sun of truth. There is much yet to be accomplished, but already the achievement is impressive. Even the most devout humanist cannot survey the orderly progress of the race and at the same time deny the existence of a well-integrated program.

The light of the ancient Vedas is slowly but surely illuminating the whole world. The vision of man's noble destiny and the sacred sciences which made possible the realization of that vision have been guarded and served by "the Silent Ones of the earth." The priesthoods of the sacerdotal colleges, the hierophants of the Mystery Schools, and the adept-masters of the Secret Societies have been the guardians of man's noblest purpose -- the perfection of his own kind. It is the inalienable right of every honorable person to be grateful for the opportunities which progress bestows. With this appreciation comes also an appropriate measure of resolution. The past proves the future, which is but the extension of good works toward their fullness.

The Mystery Schools neither restrained nor limited the unfoldment of human institutions. Man fashioned his civilization according to his natural instincts and convictions. [And] this process must continue, for growth is not hastened by the interference of authority. Man substantiates with his mind and heart that which he fashions with his hands. The esoteric tradition ensouls "the ordinary works," revealing the larger purposes through the smaller ones. Not so long ago, ninety percent of the population of the earth was in physical slavery. Having liberated his body, the audacious creature must now free his heart and mind. Thus, pressed on by a sovereign necessity, the world conqueror becomes the self-conqueror.

Under a democratic concept of living, the responsibilities for progress pass to the keeping of the people. The powers vested in the governing body functioning with the consent of the governed include not only provisions for collective security, but also the advancement of such religions, philosophers, arts, and sciences as contribute to the essential growth of human character. An administrative system which ignores ethics, culture, and morality cannot survive as a dominant political organism. Democratic institutions must accept the task for which they were fashioned and become the conscious custodians of the democratic destiny.

Progress demands the most from those with the largest spheres of influence. Vast organizations, industrial, political, social, and educational, have been made possible by the modern life-way. These have become the molders of public opinion, feared or respected according to the measure of integrity revealed in their management. The future of human society is intimately associated with the destinies of these vast enterprises which have inherited, along with physical success, the duty or, more correctly, the privilege of world guardianship. Even the continuance of the economic theory now demands the strengthening of ethical convictions. Prominence of any kind, whether bestowed by wealth or authority, carries with it priestly obligations. The leader, whatever be his field, is looked upon for intelligent guidance. His convictions inspire his followers, his words influence their lives, and his policies dominate their activities.

There is every indication that the esoteric tradition will next function through that complex of vast interrelated organisms of production and distribution which now dominates human imagination. While this structure may appear to the superficial-minded as heartless and soulless, it is also the largest and most powerful potential instrument for the advancement of mankind ever yet devised. Education, science, and economics are today indivisible. They have already formed a partnership for their mutual advancement. Equipped with knowledge, skill, and the necessary physical resources, this huge combine awaits the destiny for which it was intended.

There is no virtue in burdening the future with the conclusions of today. To prophecy is to restrict, not the will of heaven, but the mind of man. Old principles, as they reveal more of themselves, will be given new names; and progress is always an adjustment of concepts, each of which is in a constant state of change. Assuming, however, that the term democracy, with its numerous imponderable overtones, conveys a conviction of natural unfoldment, it is reasonable to infer that the democratic motion will continue until all of its potentials have become potencies.

Progress is not bound inevitably to any nation or people. Social and political structures are instruments for the advancement of the Great Work only to the degree that they keep the faith. If ambition or selfishness breaks the bond, the privilege of guardianship is forfeited. This does not mean that the project fails; rather, that which fails the project loses the privilege of leadership. The Plan then passes to the keeping of other groups and other ages. Man cannot destroy or pervert the works of destiny. He can only divide himself from those works, and by so doing cease to share in the essential vitality of progress. Thus it is that unreasonable doubts and fears concerning providence are philosophically unsound. Failure is always regrettable, but principles do not fail, and that which is foreordained perfects itself.

Although empires may collapse, great teachers be martyred, schools and systems perish, and enlightened leaders remain unhonored, the substance of the Great Work remains unchanged and unchangeable. New vehicles appear, even as the older ones are betrayed by human selfishness. The Eternal Commonwealth is an assignment of destiny, and spiritual progress, symbolized by the fabled phoenix, rises victoriously from the ashes of the human ruin. The adept tradition has always available social instruments waiting to be ensouled with the larger vision. All things created by men are mortal and destructible, but the way destined by heaven is immortal and indestructible. Universal enlightenment and universal fraternity are the natural ends which reward the social struggle. The world and all that inhabits it are moving triumphantly toward peace and security. At any given time the vision may be obscured, but in the larger dimensions of time, all things work together for the fulfillment of the greater good.

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Is that a piece of excellent, retrospective writing, looking back on history? No, ladies and gentlemen it is not, for this was written by Manly P. Hall in Los Angeles, California in April of 1951. What he predicted is what is happening. A wedding, a marriage between the corporate world and the state, which is coming. He's talking, here, about Socialism under a democratic concept of living; the responsibilities for progress passed to the keeping of the people. The powers vested in the governing body functioning with the consent of the governed include not only provisions for collective security, but also the advancement of such religions, philosophies, arts, and science as contribute to the essential growth of human character.

Humanism: the concept that man will become god, and the new religion will change with the needs of man -- not man conforming to the laws of God. Democratic institutions must accept the task for which they were fashioned and become the conscious custodians of the democratic destiny, and so on and so forth. Manly P. Hall was an adept, a highly degreed -- in fact, he was a 33rd degree Freemason...may of held many, many other degrees in the Secret Societies of Mystery Babylon. He was a priest of the Order.

Now, get comfortable. Make sure that you have everything that you need, folks, because I'm going to take you with me on a journey back to the beginning of all that is. And we are going to come forward from that point to the present, so that you will finally have an understanding of America's Assignment with Destiny.


(Music playing: possibly theme music from the movie Blade Runner, written by Vangelis)


[continuing reading from America's Assignment with Destiny]:


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Three great culture heroes were associated with the origin of Mayan civilization: Votan, who founded the Votanic Empire seated at Palanque; Itzama (Zamna), the Yucatecan hero; and Kulkulkan, whose worship extended throughout the Central American area. All three came from a remote region lying eastward, introduced arts and sciences, and founded religious cults or Mysteries. From the legendary histories of these persons, they should be included as adepts or initiates of ancient Secret Schools, possibly Atlantean.

In a book written in the Quichean language and attributed to Votan, the great one declared himself "a snake," a descendent of Imos of the line of Chan. He came to America, by the command of God, from a distant place. He ultimately founded Palanque, and built a temple with many subterranean chambers, which was called the House of Darkness. Here he deposited the records of his nation in the keeping of certain aged men called guardians. There is a legend[, folks,] that this Votan was the grandson of Noah. The original book containing this report was in the possession of Nunex de la Vega, Bishop of Chiapas, but he destroyed it with the other native manuscripts which he was able to accumulate. Fortunately, however, it had been copied by Aguilar.

Itzamna, according to Cogullodo, was a priest who came with the migrations from the east. He was the son of the supreme deity, Hunab-Ku ([or] the holy one). Itzamna is pictured as an ancient man with a very prominent and strangely shaped nose, either toothless or with one crooked fang. Likenesses of him have been found indicating his birth from a plant growing from the earth. He is also shown rising from the mouth of a serpent or a turtle, to symbolize that he came from the sea. He healed the sick and restored the dead to life. He lived, according to the records, to a great age, and was said to have been buried at Izamal ([or] Itzamal), where his tombs became places of pilgrimages. Itzamna was sometimes called "the Skillful Hand." [And] after his death, his body was divided. His skillful hand was placed in one temple, his heart in another, and the rest of his remains in a third. One of the best known of his emblems was a Tau or T cross.

It is now generally admitted that the Quetzalcoatl of the Nahuatlan people the Gucumatz of the Quiches, and the Kulkulkan of the more southern Mayas were one person. In each language, the word signifies feathered, plumed, or winged serpent. This title may have resulted from Quetzalcoatl casting his lot among, or gathering his first followers from, the descendants of Votan. This tribal group had the serpent as its heraldic device. At a remote time this semi-mystical, semi-divine priest-initiate Quetzalcoatl came from the fabled land of the "seven colors" and established his rite at Tulla and Cholula.

Quetzalcoatl was the initiate-philosopher and teacher of the Nahuatlan tribes of Central Mexico. Among the appelations of this priest-prophet-king are "he who was born of the virgin," "Lord of the Winds," and "the Divine Incarnation." Quetzalcoatl was the son of the universal creator-god and the virgin Sochiquetzal, and his conception was made known by an ambassador from the god of the Milky Way.

Torquemada, in his Indian Monarchies, described a band of people who came from the north dressed in long black robes. Arriving at Tulla, these strangers were well received; but finding the region already thickly Populated, they continued to Cholula. These wanderers were great artists, and skilled in working metals. Quetzalcoatl was their leader. Mendieta, in his Ecclesiastical History, described Quetzalcoatl as a white man with a strong formation of body, broad forehead, large eyes, and a flowing beard. He wore a miter on his head, and was dressed in a long white robe reaching to his feet, and covered with a design of red crosses. In his hand he held a sickle. His habits were ascetic; he never married, and was most chaste and pure in his life, and is said to have endured penance in a neighboring mountain, not for its effect upon himself, mid you, but as an example to others. He condemned sacrifices, except of fruit or flowers, and was known as the god of peace; for when addressed on the subject of war, he is reported to have stopped his ears with his fingers.

Fray Bernardino de Sahagun described Quetzalcoatl as very homely, with a long head and a very long beard. There was a recumbent statue of him in the temple at Tulla which was always covered with blankets. "His vassals," writes the good Fray, "were all workmen in the mechanic arts and skillful in cutting the green stones called Chalchivites, also in the art of smelting silver and making other objects. All these arts had their origin and commencement with Quetzalcoatl, who had houses made with these precious green stones called Chalchivites and others made of silver, still others made of red and white shells, others all made of boards, and again others of turquoises, and some all made of rich plumes...

"Quetzalcoatl also owned all the wealth of the world in gold, silver, and the green stones called Chalchivites, and other precious things; and had a great abundance of cocoa-trees of different colors, which are called xochicacatlao. The said vassals of Quetzalcoatl were also very wealthy, and did not lack anything at all; they never suffered famine or lack of corn; [in fact] they never ate even the small ears of corn, but rather heated their baths with them, using them instead of firewood. They also say that the said Quetzalcoatl did penance by pricking his limbs and drawing blood, with which he stained the maguey points; that he bathed at midnight in a spring called xicapaya."

The interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis said that Quetzalcoatl was created by the breath of Tonacatecotli. Quetzalcoatl was born on the day of Seven Canes, and disappeared or died on the day of One Cane. He was identified with the planet Venus. The Codex Vaticanus A. says that the hero founded four temples: the first for the princes; the second for the people; the third, the House of Fear or Serpents; and the fourth, the Temple of Shame. The Codex Chimalpopca says that Quetzalcoatl was born as a nine-year-old child. When he resolved to leave Mexico, he reached the seashore, and, removing his clothing and his snake mask of turquoise, destroyed himself by fire. His ashes changed into birds, and his heart became the morning star. He remained four days in the underworld and four days as a corpse. After that he ascended to heaven as a god.

It is specifically mentioned by Sahagun that Quetzalcoatl created and built houses under the earth. [Now] traces of subterranean grottoes and rooms have been discovered in the vicinity of most of the architectural monuments of the Nahuas. There is a vast complex of such apartments near the Pyramid of the Sun at San Juan Teotihuacan. The Amerindians believed the serpent to be an earth dweller, and it is quite possible that the accounts implied these subterranean and secret places to be chambers of initiation into the mysteries of the cult. According to de Bourbourg, the Mexican demigod Votan made a journey through a subterranean passage which, running under ground, terminated at the root of heaven. This passage was "a snake's hole," and Votan was admitted because he was himself "a son of the snake."

Quetzalcoatl appeared as the great sorcerer, magician, or necromancer. He performed miracles, and upon his departure his secrets were entrusted to an Order of priests governed by a hierophant or Master. This priesthood practiced the arts and sciences, treated the sick, administered sacraments, and were diviners and prophets. Landa gives some consideration to the activities of these religious Orders.

Lucien Biart summarizes the available data [thusly]: "The most contradictory ideas have been current in regard to this divinity, who, now considered of celestial origin, and now regarded as a man who had acqu...He certainly belonged to a race other than the one he civilized; of that there can be no doubt, but what was his country? He died, announcing that he would return at the head of white-faced men; and we have seen that the Indians believed his prophecy fulfilled when the Spaniards landed on their shores [and of course we have seen the consequences of that action.] According to Sahagun, the most usual ornaments of the images of Quetzalcoatl were a miter spotted like the skin of a tiger, a short embroidered tunic, turquoise earrings, and a golden collar supporting fine shells. The legs of these images were encased in gaiters of tiger-skins, and on their feet were black sandals. A shield hung from the left arm, and in the right hand was a scepter ornamented with precious stones, an emblem which terminated in a crook like a bishop's crosier."

Quetzalcoatl is credited with the invention of the pictorial or hieroglyphical method of writing, and especially is his name associated with the Tonalamatl, or Book of Fate. This was more than a civil calendar and was reserved for the calculation of human destiny and prophecies concerning the future of the State. It was used by "master magicians," the chief of whom was an astrological adept credited with extraordinary occult powers. While it is likely that Quetzalcoatl brought the Tonalamatl back to Mexico after his journey among the Mayas, a people already advanced in such matters, the Aztecan legend has been summarized by Mendieta. The gods had created a man, Oxomoco, and a woman, Cipactonatl, as the progenitors of the human race. They [according to the legend] dwelt in a cave at Cuernavaca, and in order to regulate their lives these two resolved to devise a calendar. Cipactonatl felt that her descendant, Quetzalcoatl, should be invited to participate in the project. Because she was the mother of all the living and a great prophetess, Cipactonatl was privileged to select and write the first sign or day-symbol of the calendar. The others followed until the thirteen signs were completed.

Sahagun, in his General History, gave a number of details of the struggle between Quetzalcoatl, the civilizer, and Tezcatlipoca, who apparently signified the primitive and sanguine religious cult of Mexico. The old priesthood, which practiced human sacrifice and adhered to a policy of war and destruction, resented the peaceful and gentle faith brought by Quetzalcoatl. In the end, Tezcatlipoca, the personification of the sorcerers, contrived to poison the god-king, which implies that his doctrines were corrupted by false teachings and interpretations.

The poison worked slowly and insidiously, until Quetzalcoatl, realizing that he could not combat successfully the old perverted priesthood, left Tulla, ordering his palaces of gold and silver, turquoise and precious stones to be set afire. Accompanied by a procession of musicians, youths, and maidens bearing flowers, and flocks of singing birds, the old adept journeyed to Cholula, where the great pyramid was built in his honor.

It was written that the Cholulans deeply admired the great priest because of the purity of his life, the kindliness of his manner, and his doctrines of peace and brotherhood. He remained with them for nearly twenty years, slowly sickening from the poison which was destroying his body. At last he realized that his ministry was coming to an end, so he continued his long journey toward the mysterious city of Tlapallan from which he had come. He turned toward the east and proceeded to the sea, which he reached at a point a few miles south of Veracruz. Here he blessed the four young men who had accompanied him and bade them return to their homes, with his promise that one day in the future he would return and restore his kingdom among them.


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It's time for our break, folks. Don't go away. I'll be right back, after this very short pause.


(William Cooper does commercial for Swiss America Trading Corporation)


(break music: possibly theme music from the movie Blade Runner, written by Vangelis)


Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you a young man who has come to be my right-hand, my assistant, who has come to learn as much as he can. And, of course, I am going to learn as much I can from him. His official title around here is Research Assistant. Mr. Tom Swift will continue with the rest of tonight’s program.

[Tom Swift]: Where we left off:


[Tom Swift reading from America's Assignment with Destiny]:


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[Quetzalcoatl had just promised] the four young men...that one day in the future he would return and restore his kingdom among them.

Then the old and weary man called to the sea, and out of the waters came a raft of serpents. He stepped upon this strange craft and was carried away into the land of the sun's beginning. He left behind him a priesthood that perpetuated with esoteric rites the Mysteries of the Feathered Serpent. There is every indication that the cult of Quetzalcoatl was kept secret, a precaution necessary in the face of the opposition of the primitive indigenous sects.

There are several accounts of the death or departure of Quetzalcoatl. The conflict is due in part to the legends being derived from different tribes, and in part to the Spanish methods of gathering the reports. These invaders took slight interest in the native traditions, until they had destroyed most of the available sources of information. Later, even the converted Indians were uncertain of their tribal history. There is reason to believe, however, that some sacred records were intentionally suppressed and were never available to the missionaries. The people of Mexico claim to have sacred accounts of the mysteries of their religion and the origin of their race. There is mention of the Divine Book written by Tezcucan, a wise man or wizard, whose name means Lord of the Great Hand. This was supposed to contain the account of the migration of the Aztecs from Asia. Baron de Waldeck claimed that the book had once been in his possession. De Bourbourg thought it was the Dresden Codex, and Bustamante wrote that native historians had a copy in their possession at the time of the fall of Mexico. There is good probability that manuscripts of great value survived the Spanish colonial period and are still available to certain qualified persons.

Augustus LePlongeon, known to the Yucatecans as Great Black Beard, was one of the few Americanists to be accepted into the confidence of the ever-reticent Indians. They told him enough to convince a thoughtful man of the existence of Esoteric Schools in the Mayan area. "That sacred mysteries," writes LePlongeon, "have existed in America from times immemorial, there can be no doubt.” Even setting aside the proofs of their existence, that we gather from the monuments of Uxmal, and the descriptions of the trials of initiation related in the sacred book of the Quiches, we find vestiges of them in various other countries of the Western Continent.

"The rites and ceremonies of initiation were imported to Peru by the ancestors of Manco Capac, the founder of the Inca dynasty, who were colonists from Central America, as we learn from an unpublished Manuscript, written by a Jesuit father, Rev. Anello Oliva, at the beginning of the year 1631, in Lima; and now in the library of the British Museum in London."

A number of authors have tried to prove that Quetzalcoatl was a foreigner who, reaching the shores of the New World at an early time, attempted the civilization of the aboriginal tribes. Lord Kingsborough favored the possibility that this wanderer was the Apostle Thomas, and that the ancient Central American Indians came under Christian or Jewish influence.

Always deeply concerned with the possibilities of linking the worship in the Americas with the religions of the Near East, his lordship writes: "The Messiah is shadowed in the Old Testament under many types; such as those of a lion, a lamb, a rose, the morning star (or the planet Venus, otherwise called Lucifer), the sun, light, a rock, a stone, the branch, the vine, wine, bread, water, life, the way, and he is recognized in the triple character of a king, a priest, and a prophet. It is very extraordinary that Quetzalcoatl, whom the Mexicans believed equally to have been a king, a prophet, and a pontiff, should also have been named by them Seyacatl, or the morning star; Tlavizcalpantecutli, or light; Mexitli, or the vine (for Torquemada said that the core of the aloe, from which the Mexicans obtained wine, was so called); Votan, or the heart, metaphorically signifying life; and Toyliatlaquatl, 'manjar de nuestra veda,' bread (for his body made of dough was eaten by the Mexicans)."

Las Casas, quoting Padre Francisco Hernandez, says that an old Yucatecan described the ancient religion of his people thus: "That they recognized and believed in God who dwells in heaven, and that this God was Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and that the Father was called Icona, who had created men and all things, that the Son was called Bacab, and that he was born of a virgin called Chibirias, who is in heaven with God; the Holy Spirit they termed Echuac." The son Bacab was scourged and crowned with thorns, was tied upon a cross with extended arms, where he died; but after three days he arose and ascended into heaven to be with his father. Dr. Alexander, who reports this story in his book, is inclined that it is confused and probably distorted by the Spanish recorder. On the other hand, the universal distribution of this basic theme may be explained another way.

Among the Lacandones, Quetzalcoatl is still represented as a snake with many heads. There is an account that this snake was killed and eaten at times of great national peril, especially at eclipses, which were regarded as portents of disaster. It was believed by the Mayas that Kulkulkan descended invisibly from the sky and personally received the offerings during certain great feasts held in his honor.

Daniel Brinton, in his Essays of an Americanist, devoted some thought to the magical powers attributed to the priests of Central America. He mentioned Father Baeza and an English priest, Thomas Gage, who reported cases of sorcerers transforming themselves into animals, and performing miracles. De Bourbourg was not entirely convinced that ventriloquism, animal magnetism, or the tricks familiarly employed by conjurers explained the mysteries of nagualism, as the black art of these Indians is called. Brinton quotes from the Popul Vuh: "Truly this Gucumatz Quetzalcoatl became a wonderful king. Every seven days he ascended to the sky, and every seven days he followed the path to the abode of the dead; every seven days he put on the nature of a serpent and he became truly a serpent; every seven days he put on the nature of an eagle and again of a tiger, and he became truly an eagle and a tiger;..." It is evident from available authorities that the Mayas and Aztecs had an extensive body of legendary and lore, which originated in the mysteries of their religions and proves the existence of an elaborate system of secret rites and ceremonies.

In the form of a feathered snake, Quetzalcoatl overshadowed a dynasty of rulers and priests, some of whom later assumed his name and even his mask-symbol. These later Quetzalcoatls have been confused, like the several Zoroasters of Persia, into one person, with the resulting conflict in dates. Recent excavations would indicate that the cult of the feathered serpent was established before the beginning of the Christian Era and did not arise in the tenth or eleventh century A.D. as held by some modern archaeologists. It is more likely that the ancient hero was said to have been reborn or to have overshadowed a later leader of the nation.

All the accounts imply that the religious Order which served the Mysteries of Quetzalcoatl was long established. Those who followed in the way which he had prescribed lived most severe lives. Children were consecrated to his temples from their birth and were marked by a special collar. At the end of the second year the child was scarified in the breast. When it was seven years old it entered a seminary where it took vows covering personal conduct and public duties, including prayers for the preservation of its family and its nation. There were many of these priestly Brotherhoods, and the Spanish missionaries, in spite of their theological prejudices and intolerances, were forced to admit that the Aztecan priests were excellent scholars and lived austere and pure lives. It was said of these missionaries that "in Quetzalcoatl, who taught charity, gentleness, and peace, they thought they saw a disciple of Jesus Christ."

The kings of the Mexican nations, like those of ancient Egypt, were also initiates of the State Mysteries. Torquemada described the attainments of Nazahualpilli, the king of Texcuco. This learned man gathered about him masters of the sciences and arts, and gained a wide reputation as an astrologer and seer. When Montezuma was elected to rule over the complex of Nahuatlan nations, King Nazahualpilli stood before the young man and congratulated the entire nation for having selected such a ruler: "Whose deep knowledge of heavenly things insured to his subjects his comprehension of those of an earthly nature." The interpreter of the Collection of Mendoza described Montezuma as: "By nature wise, an astrologer and philosopher, and skilled and generally versed in all of the arts, both in those of the military, as well as those of a civil nature, and from his extreme gravity and state, the monarchy under his sway began to verge towards empire."

The great serpent clothed in quetzal plumes certainly belonged to another race and came from an unknown country. Lucien Biart says: "It is an incontestable fact that Quetzalcoatl created a new religion, based upon fasting, penitence, and virtue." In skillful trades and in metalworking, this Amerindian savior reminds one of the craftsman of Tyre who cast the ornaments for Solomon's Temple. As a benefactor of his people, as a liberator of men's minds and hearts, this Nahuatlan demigod certainly revealed the attributes of the "Master Builder."

Scattered through the jungle of Yucatan and extending northward into Chiapas and southward into Honduras and Guatemala are the remains of ancient cities and the ruins of old cultural centers, religious or educational, dedicated to scientific research and the investigation of the spiritual mysteries of human life. These shrines and temples are adorned with numerous religious emblems and figures, and closely resemble the temples and schools of the esoteric tradition which were scattered through the Mediterranean countries, North Africa, and the Near East.

The Aztecs inhabiting the valley of Mexico certainly derived much of their cultural impetus from the more highly civilized Mayas. These Nahuas practiced elaborate rites and ceremonies, and recognized a large pantheon of divinities. It seems unlikely that the Aztecs patterned their religious concepts from some inferior cultural tradition. There are positive indications that the tribes of Central Mexico had received an important intellectual stimulus from the Mayas, and even found it expedient to acknowledge this indebtedness.

The physical remains of the Mayan civilization are sufficiently impressive to indicate a highly advanced people, whose religious institutions and rites had reached a considerable degree of refinement. Most early writers, in an attempt to estimate the cultural attainments of these nations, have been over influenced by the early theologians and scientific enthusiasts who invaded the field with a variety of concepts and preconceptions.

The empires of the Mayas and Aztecs were resplendent with edifices dedicated to their faiths. There were magnificent shrines, temples, and altars, some to sanguinary deities, and others to benign and kindly gods. The State Mysteries, however, were seldom performed in the sanctuaries of popular worship. Neophytes traveled to remote places, and if they went uninvited, seldom returned. Throughout the jungles are the ruins of extraordinary buildings constructed for unknown purposes. The Mysteries of Xibalba, as recorded in the Popul Vuh, and traditionally associated with the culture-hero Votan, were given in such an architectural complex, which served as an entrance to a mysterious world beyond the dimensions of the material mind.

Such "gateways" existed in all the old countries where the Mystery religion originally flourished. Obviously, archaeologists cannot discover the secret rites merely by grubbing among the overturned and broken stones. As the priesthoods were not considerate enough to label their monuments, there is little left today even to excite curiosity. Fortunately, however, the esoteric tradition survives in the racial subconscious, and its violated schools and colleges need not be physically restored. When such restoration is attempted, the buildings usually reveal that they were designed as symbols of the cosmos.

If the Mystery system actually existed in the Western Hemisphere, as the landmarks seem to indicate, it must have produced by its initiates and by its adepts. These, in turn, became the leaders and saviors of their peoples. The wonder-working hero, whose deeds enriched all tribal traditions, always and everywhere performed the exact same miracles, possessed the exact same powers, and made the exact same personal sacrifices. The Mystery School required not only a hierarchy for its maintenance and perpetuation, but also appropriate places of initiation partly underground or adjacent to grottoes and caverns. It required also a body of lore peculiarly significant, participation in which conferred special rights and privileges. A people which had reached this mental platform of the Mayas would not have accepted a philosophy of life that was without profound and significant values. Pagan priesthoods did not initiate those of feeble mind, but selected for spiritual advancement persons of high attainment and mature judgment.

Albert Reville, in the Hibbard Lectures, 1894, notes of the religion of the plumed serpent: "There was something mysterious and occult about the priesthood of this deity, as though it were possessed of divine secrets or promises, the importance of which it would be dangerous to undervalue."

It is fortunate, indeed, that at least one manuscript relating to the religious Mysteries formerly practiced in the Mayan area has been recovered. The Popul Vuh, or The Senate Book of the Quiches, the Record of the Community, has survived the numerous vicissitudes which have conspired to prevent the perpetuation of the literary monuments of Central America. It was tolerated by the early missionaries who, observing certain similarities to their own Scriptures, preserved the work as a means of persuading the Indians to a more speedy baptism. In the seventeenth century, it was rescued from a fate worse than oblivion by the Dominican monk, Don Ramon de Ordonez y Aguiar, dean and chancellor of the archbishopric of Ciudad Real. This work was deposited in the library of the convent at Chichicastenango by its scholiast, Ximenes, where it remained until they year 1830.


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(end of quote)


[William Cooper speaking]:

Thank you, Tom. Ladies and gentlemen, that was his first time ever speaking over radio around the world. Of course, he's called into talk shows before, but this is different when you're sitting at the microphone and it's your thing. When you know that one slip could cause a flood of letters and protest. Tom sat here and performed admirably while we were experiencing a terrible wind storm. You may have heard strange noises in the background. Those were pieces of trees, and wood, and lawn furniture, and just about everything that you could think of flying through the air hitting the house. So he had an awful lot of competition vying for his attention and it took a great effort, along with his natural nervousness, in doing this for the first time, took a great effort to maintain, keep his attention on what he was doing, and complete that half of the Hour of the Time.


(William Cooper talks about mailing letters.)


Tonight’s broadcast, ladies and gentlemen, came from a book entitled America's Assignment with Destiny by Manly P. Hall. Some of you may be able to find this in your library or any used book store. It has been out of print for may years. It was copyrighted in 1951, printed by the Philosophical Research Society, which was headed by Manly P. Hall at that time. Now, you may not realize this, but Manly P. Hall has died in the last several years and, bit by bit, the unbelievably huge library that he had accumulated over his years that made up the bulk of the Philosophical Research Society has disappeared.

Good night, and God bless you all.


(closing music: possibly theme music from the movie Blade Runner, written by Vangelis)


[additional recording after closing music - Tom Swift reading from America's Assignment with Destiny]:


(start of quote)
========================================

...the wings of a bat.

Naturally, the account is clothed in the culture symbolism of the Mayas, but it is certainly to be compared with such productions as the Finnish Kalavala and the Icelandic Eddas. Guthrie presents a number of important parallelisms to the Mysteries of the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, and the Greeks. According to him, the twelve trials, or tests through which the neophytes pass are analogous with the signs of the zoidac. It goes so far as to hazard the speculation that the twelve princes of Xibalba were the rulers of the Atlantean empire, and their final destruction referred to the tragic end of Atlantis.

The Popul Vuh follows the traditional form by involving its principle characters in a series of superhuman and supernatural adventures. The work is certainly an account of the "perilous journey," which is the usual means employed to veil thinly the story of initiation. By comparison with the oral traditions of the Northern Amerindian tribes, the legend unfolds what Dr. Paul Radin beautifully calls "the road of light." Medicine priests have freely acknowledged that in dreams and trances they could leave their bodies and travel to the abodes of the gods and of the dead. To make this journey while still living is initiation, for it is conscious participation in the fact of immortality.

In some cults the neophyte was given sacred drugs to intensify his psychic faculties, as in the case of the notorious Peyote sect, or was subjected to hypnotic influence, like the followers of the ghost-shirt religion. By some means a condition of death was simulated and the consciousness or superior self passed through certain internal experiences, of which at least a partial memory was preserved.


========================================
(end of quote)

[William Cooper speaking]:

Thank you, Tom. Ladies and Gentlemen, this was Tom’s first experience at speaking on radio, and especially on a show that’s listened to as this one is, all over the world, with several million people nightly. And, of course, he was nervous. We also experienced a windstorm during his portion of the broadcast there were boards and pieces of wood hitting the house. Lawn furniture hitting the house and the patio furniture blew away down the mountain somewhere...going to have to go get it. Under these adverse circumstances, and with all of this competing for his attention, I think Tom performed admirably. And I think over time, he is going to get much, much better. I certainly appreciate his coming to help me. And the work that he has done already has been an absolutely wonderful, he is very good at everything he attempts to do. And you are going to be hearing a lot more from Tom Swift.

Now, tonight’s program, folks, was taken from a book entitled America's Assignment with Destiny by Manly P. Hall. It was copyrighted in 1951. And it’s difficult to find in many areas of the country, and that’s why we are going to bring you the entire text of that book on these programs over the next few nights. So if you can get a copy, that's fine. Get it and read it because then you can study it, underline it and pay close attention to what you're doing. If you can’t find the book, then stay tuned to the Hour Of The Time, and we are going to bring it to you in its entirety.

As you can already begin to discern, there is a tremendous parallel, and in some cases, exact duplication, of what happened in the early history in the Middle East and in Europe. Specifically, with the ancient religions, the Mystery Schools, the priesthood and the teachings of these ancient religions. As we go along, you are going to find that it becomes even more similar and there was probably a direct connection between the ancient Mystery Schools and the Indians of both continents of North and South America.

Folks, I hope you enjoyed tonight’s broadcast. Good night, and God Bless you all.


(closing music: unknown instrumental music)