BOOK REVIEW
Author: Genevieve Von Petzinger
Publisher: Atria Books
Length: ~20 hours 47 minutes
Sessions: 18 (took 5 days b/w 24/12/16 and 28/12/16)
I am using written symbols (alphabets) to have experiences, via books; without knowing the origin of these symbols (e.g. alphabets), I may miss certain experiences which may be impossible for me to conceive—and these may cause certain problems or disable me to use them effectively or even create them when in need of it—because of them being composed of more elemental experiences than I have or because of its difficulty of conception from the elemental experiences I have. I took the decision of having experience on the origin of symbols, and even language (the next hunting ground).
I chose this book, as it posed to give experiences on the early symbols, which it did. It is a small length book and a dilute one. If we see the structure of book, it is driven by two principles, first—following the origin of humans from Africa using the archeological evidence, second—giving a real time experience felt by the author in the cave sites she visited, to look into the evolution of symbols. This book doesn't really "unlock" the mysteries of those symbols. Because of not much existing evidence on the meanings of the symbols, author tries hard on thinking their meanings. The book concentrates mainly on Europe and Africa's cave sites.
It would be easy to feel the reality of caves expressed in the book, if an initial general experience of it is had from this documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams.
Book's main value is in the set of ancient symbols collected by the author, whose motivation is driven by the principle of seeing patterns; the collected symbols are the same ones found repeatedly in many cave sites in the world. The SAME symbols, engraved or painted with red ochre or with any other colored paint, in many sites (mainly between 40,000 to 10,000 years ago!), did the symbols have meaning? This is the question which the author asks, and has no answer for it, with a proof. At the end of the book, she says on some of these symbols being used in Vinca proto-writing, which are not yet deciphered. And another important thing is on the find of cross signs running over the body of figurines of mammoth, lion, etc.
Contents : 1.Two Red Dots | 2.Once Upon A Time in Africa | 3.Glimmers of A Modern Mind | 4.Intermittent Signals | 5.Welcome to Ice Age | 6.Venuses, Lion-Men, and Signs Beyond the Mundane World | 7.Life and Death in the First Villages | 8.How to Make Cave Art | 9.Signs Across the Age: The Many Styles of The Oldest Art | 10.Of Animals and Humans and Storage Tableaux | 11. Patterns: Trading Signs and Sharing Symbols | 12.Chicken or Egg: A Brief History of Language, Brains, and Writing | 13.The Lady of St.Germain-la-Riviere and Her Mysterious Necklace | 14.Through the Eyes of the Ancestors: A Rock Art Epiphany | 15.Feather or Weapon: The Real-World Meanings of Cave Signs | 16.Seeing The Unseen World: Visions, Shamans and the Seven Signs
On the side, I was not aware of first known burials made by our ancestors in around 1,20,000 to 1,00,000 years ago (by dating techniques); bone needles used by them to make their wearings; teeth and sea shells used by them to make necklace (specifically St. Germain-la-Riviere's necklace with the symbols engraved in them); ostrich eggs usage (as like today some tribes using them as containers, to store water ); ceramic utensils used by them to heat the soft engravings; head wears (can be seen in the paintings made by them), artifacts created by them (lion-man , Venus figurines) and mainly the ROCK art, and paintings (Bison, Deer, Horse, Rhino, etc). Much more, the stone lamp (pour the animal fat into the stone depression! and using moss or other plant as wick), and clothing dye for the wear created from plants.
Other than the symbols, the art paintings, and some of the astonishing archeological evidence on burials, figurines, book is full of speculations. Some times I felt sloppy nature of argument, and pre-first-casual thinking done in the book (could have been avoided), which seemed to degrade it.
It seems that the complete past and future can be known only when we know the elemental principles of this world, the working of each and every element through which this world is composed of. Can we know those principles, which will help us travel back?
I now have this experience on the earliest stage of the representation, but paid lot more time.
Author: Genevieve Von Petzinger
Publisher: Atria Books
Length: ~20 hours 47 minutes
Sessions: 18 (took 5 days b/w 24/12/16 and 28/12/16)
I am using written symbols (alphabets) to have experiences, via books; without knowing the origin of these symbols (e.g. alphabets), I may miss certain experiences which may be impossible for me to conceive—and these may cause certain problems or disable me to use them effectively or even create them when in need of it—because of them being composed of more elemental experiences than I have or because of its difficulty of conception from the elemental experiences I have. I took the decision of having experience on the origin of symbols, and even language (the next hunting ground).
I chose this book, as it posed to give experiences on the early symbols, which it did. It is a small length book and a dilute one. If we see the structure of book, it is driven by two principles, first—following the origin of humans from Africa using the archeological evidence, second—giving a real time experience felt by the author in the cave sites she visited, to look into the evolution of symbols. This book doesn't really "unlock" the mysteries of those symbols. Because of not much existing evidence on the meanings of the symbols, author tries hard on thinking their meanings. The book concentrates mainly on Europe and Africa's cave sites.
It would be easy to feel the reality of caves expressed in the book, if an initial general experience of it is had from this documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams.
 |
| Rough Sketch of Some of The Main Symbols Collected By Petzinger |
Contents : 1.Two Red Dots | 2.Once Upon A Time in Africa | 3.Glimmers of A Modern Mind | 4.Intermittent Signals | 5.Welcome to Ice Age | 6.Venuses, Lion-Men, and Signs Beyond the Mundane World | 7.Life and Death in the First Villages | 8.How to Make Cave Art | 9.Signs Across the Age: The Many Styles of The Oldest Art | 10.Of Animals and Humans and Storage Tableaux | 11. Patterns: Trading Signs and Sharing Symbols | 12.Chicken or Egg: A Brief History of Language, Brains, and Writing | 13.The Lady of St.Germain-la-Riviere and Her Mysterious Necklace | 14.Through the Eyes of the Ancestors: A Rock Art Epiphany | 15.Feather or Weapon: The Real-World Meanings of Cave Signs | 16.Seeing The Unseen World: Visions, Shamans and the Seven Signs
On the side, I was not aware of first known burials made by our ancestors in around 1,20,000 to 1,00,000 years ago (by dating techniques); bone needles used by them to make their wearings; teeth and sea shells used by them to make necklace (specifically St. Germain-la-Riviere's necklace with the symbols engraved in them); ostrich eggs usage (as like today some tribes using them as containers, to store water ); ceramic utensils used by them to heat the soft engravings; head wears (can be seen in the paintings made by them), artifacts created by them (lion-man , Venus figurines) and mainly the ROCK art, and paintings (Bison, Deer, Horse, Rhino, etc). Much more, the stone lamp (pour the animal fat into the stone depression! and using moss or other plant as wick), and clothing dye for the wear created from plants.
Other than the symbols, the art paintings, and some of the astonishing archeological evidence on burials, figurines, book is full of speculations. Some times I felt sloppy nature of argument, and pre-first-casual thinking done in the book (could have been avoided), which seemed to degrade it.
It seems that the complete past and future can be known only when we know the elemental principles of this world, the working of each and every element through which this world is composed of. Can we know those principles, which will help us travel back?
I now have this experience on the earliest stage of the representation, but paid lot more time.
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