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CHAPTER TWO (partial)

WE’RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD, BUT FIRST …

“How do I start for Emerald City?”–Dorothy

“It’s always best to start at the beginning…”–Glinda in ‘The Wizard of Oz’

An old German proverb asks the question, “What is the use of running if we are not on the right road?” In our travels to search for answers to the primordial questions of life, we must first make sure that we are on the right road. Finding the right road requires accurate, understandable directions. Obviously, in order to understand the directions, we must understand the language of the people who are giving us the directions.

In the words of Confucius (551-479 BC), “If language is not correct, then what I said is not what is meant and what ought to be done remains undone. If this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate. If justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence, there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.”

To ensure that we understand the directions along the road, we must define a few words in the language being spoken. The most important reason to get our definitions straight is that  INFORMATION IS ONLY AS VALUABLE AS ONE IS ABLE TO UNDERSTAND AND USE IT TO CREATE A WORKABLE SOLUTION.

In a strange, foreign land like Oz, Dorothy is suddenly presented with an overwhelming number of unfamiliar sights, sounds, places, creatures, cultures, technology and politics which she has never before encountered. It’s a place very much like planet Earth during the “Information Age”.

Every new technology has its own language. With any new technology, there is a lot of new, unfamiliar language to learn.

Most information we receive is in the form of words. If you don’t know what each one of the words mean, you can’t understand the information. (It’s a very fortunate coincidence that Glinda and the Munchkins spoke English, or Dorothy might still be stuck in Munchkinland trying to figure out directions to the Emerald City.)

However, real life is not like a Hollywood movie in which all the Munchkins, witches, scarecrows, trees and lions just happen to speak perfect English. When we crash-land on an alien planet or into another Universe, we will usually run into language we do not understand.

So, to make sure we’re getting ourselves onto the right “Yellow Brick Road”, we need to know the definitions of the words in languages like Munchkinese or Ozian; or on planet Earth, the languages of technology like computers or biological engineering or astrophysics or any other “foreign” language we encounter. This will help us understand the signs along our “Yellow Brick Road” leading to our “Emerald City” of answers to the primordial questions of life.

A–WHAT’S SO WONDERFUL ABOUT WIZARDS?

“If ever a Wonderful Wiz there was, the Wizard of Oz is one because, because, because, because, because, because … because of the wonderful things he does.”–The Munchkins singing in ‘The Wizard of Oz’

The song says the Wizard is a wizard because of the “wonderful” things he does. When Dorothy asks the Munchkins how to get back to Kansas, they tell her to go see the Wizard to get the answer to her question. The Munchkins assume that the Wizard will have a workable solution to her problem.

If Dorothy had crash-landed her house somewhere else, she might have said, “Take me to your leader.” (Had she crash-landed on Earth, she would have found that very few of our leaders, if any, are either “wizards” or “wonderful”.)

Let’s check the dictionary and find out exactly what a wizard is and what makes one so wonderful.

Wizard–(noun) [derived from the Old Norse word viskr, meaning: clever, knowing: originally, a sage; a magician.

The song from the movie could be literally translated to mean: “We’re off to see the clever, knowing magician and sage of Oz”.

Okay, so what’s a “sage”? Sage–(noun) [derived from the Latin word sapiens, wise] a very wise man.

What is a “magician”? Magician–(noun) an expert in magic [derived from the Greek word magikos, of the Magi; (see Magi)

Magi–(noun plural) [derived from the Old Persian word, magu, member of a priestly caste, 1/ the priestly caste in ancient Media and Persia, supposedly having occult powers. 2/ in the Bible, the wise men from the East who came bearing gifts to the infant Jesus: Matthew 2:1-13.

Now, let’s get back to the original word, “wonderful”–(adjective), to fill with wonder.

Wonder–1/ a person, thing or event that causes astonishment, and admiration; marvel (as in “Professor Marvel”); 2/ The feeling of surprise, admiration and awe aroused by something strange, unexpected, incredible, etc; 3/ a miracle.

So, what the song really means is: “He is a wonderful Wiz because, because we are surprised, astonished and filled with awe and admiration at the strange, unexpected and incredible things he does…”

This doesn’t translate into very good song lyrics, but it does describe the feeling that Dorothy and her friends had when they finally met the Wizard in the Emerald City.

Now for the last of our definitions: Miracle–(noun) [derived from the Greek word “mirari”, to wonder at, wonderful], an event or action that apparently contradicts known scientific laws and is hence thought to be due to supernatural causes, especially an act of God.

There are numerous actual and/or mythical people throughout history, in every part of the world, who easily fit the above definition, current leaders notwithstanding. And, while miracles come in many forms, a miracle ultimately depends upon the viewpoint of the observer.

An example of a “wonderful”, “miraculous” event might be an airplane, equipped with all the electronic trappings we take for granted in our twentieth century civilization, including batteries, various electric appliances, radios, radar, cigarette lighters, flashlights, guns, synthetic fabrics, etc, landing in a never-before-contacted aboriginal jungle setting. To the native inhabitants of the area, still living in a Stone Age, the aboriginal explanation of these alien objects might be that they are the works of a god or a wizard. They would think that the airplane and modern electrical devices are a miracle and magic and wonderful.

As another example, a great deal of evidence uncovered in recent archaeological excavations of Sumeria, Egypt, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia and elsewhere contains “wonderful” anomalies and exhibits evidence of civilizations which demonstrate “miraculous” technical ability.

Furthermore, dates for the construction of some of the sites being investigated have been revised considerably. For example, a date of 10,400 BC for the construction of the Sphinx in Egypt is a concept which many scientists consider to be “incredible”, “surprising”, “awesome” or “astonishing” and therefore, a “miracle”, yet, that is what the evidence seems to show.

Miracles aside, the tools of geology, astronomy, astrophysics, engineering, forensics and many other independent methods through which to observe the universe, give us a more profound understanding of the languages of our universes. The same archaeological evidence mentioned above, seen under the magnifying glass of these technologies results in a more complete understanding of problems or questions that “scientific theories” have not yet been able to resolve.

Wizards and miracles can only be understood in the context of the level of understanding on the part of the observer. Since we have yet to fully answer the primordial questions of life, perhaps:

1/ we are on the wrong road altogether.

2/ we are trying to answer questions which are based on assumptions, scientific theories or personal viewpoints which are incorrect.

3/ we don’t understand the questions.

4/ there are other factors, as yet unknown, which prevent our observation and understanding of what we see and experience in the Physical Universe and in Your Own Universe.

B–THE OZ FACTORS

“There, there, lie quiet now. You just had a bad dream.” – Aunt Em

“But it wasn’t a dream. It was a place. And you – and you – and you – and you were there.” – Dorothy

“Oh, we dream lots of silly things when we…” – Aunt Em

“No, Aunt Em, this was a real, truly live place. And I remember that some of it wasn’t very nice – but most of it was beautiful.” -Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz’

The term “Oz Factor” was originally coined by the British UFO researcher Jenny Randles in reference to a peculiar, almost dreamlike state of silence that sometimes precedes UFO encounters. Jenny Randles supposed the Oz Factor to be an altered state of consciousness induced by the “persons” behind the UFO phenomenon. She conceived that this influence originated from beings of another planet, capable of reaching across space to influence human behavior. She postulated that these beings are physically present in the vicinity of the affected person. Jenny describes this experience as “not really happening, yet it is far more than a mere hallucination.”

Randles uses the term to describe a variety of phenomena:

“What I wanted to do was to anchor this state of mind very firmly in real experience. I have surveyed what witnesses say in this wide range of paranormal phenomena, both obviously time related (such as time-slips) and not so obviously related (such as near-death or UFO close-encounter visions). The pattern is the same and you can readily build up this portrait of the state of consciousness which seems to facilitate their occurrence.

“That is the first step. Giving it a neutral name to capture its essence of magical transportation was the next move forward, hence the Oz Factor.

“We must move on from here. It helps a little to say that the Oz factor is a set of symptoms denoting an altered state of consciousness in which the normal bonds of time are freed and the mind senses the universe as it really is and can wander through those corridors of forever.”

Illusion, hallucination, imagination and reality: universes can be created by each of us individually and/or collectively.

Our purpose here is not to speculate on the relative validity of universes. Like Jenny Randles, we are traveling on a “Yellow Brick Road” toward the resolution of primordial questions. The road may be a reality or it may be an hallucination. Our journey is to examine some of the factors that may adversely effect our ability to discover workable solutions–the differences between reality and hallucination–in any universe.

Unlike Dorothy in the Land of Oz, we do not have Ruby Slippers and a Good Witch to lead us or protect us. We are on our own in our travels through the Land of Oz, Kansas, planet Earth, the Physical Universe and Your Own Universe.

Like a scarecrow who can’t decide which way to go, the twists and turns of the road which have been charted by western science, have not resolved our primordial questions. Some people, who don’t have any more brains than a scarecrow, do an awful lot of talking but we still have no reliable road map–we have no proven sign posts. Therefore, we must draw our own map and post signs to guide ourselves and mark the way for others who may follow.

Our journey must define a new map through uncharted universes. Our map must not only help to choose the right road, but it must also protect us from the perils of lions and tigers and bears (oh, my!), witches, flying monkeys, great and powerful Ozes, and other distractions, along the way.

Every time we take a wrong turn, every time we encounter a perilous barrier to understanding, we must post a new sign. We call each one of these sign posts, an “Oz Factor”.

DEFINITION OF “OZ FACTOR”: A COMMON DENOMINATOR OF WESTERN LOGIC WHICH PREVENTS OBSERVATION, UNDERSTANDING, AND THE ATTAINMENT OF A WORKABLE SOLUTION.

Each of the Oz Factors represents a kind of fork in the road of logic.

One is confronted with a nearly infinite number of possible forks or turning points along the road. As the Scarecrow tells Dorothy, there are a lot of different roads one CAN follow.

Although Western science has chosen a fork in the road which is very physical, rather than spiritual, many people considered themselves and all of life to be defined by a spiritual essence.  All life forms, including plants, animals and man are motivated by and  share the common denominator of a life essence we call spirit.

The predominant viewpoint of Western science is that Man is ONLY a physical entity. The logic of Western science is that the spirit can not be measured or weighed in the physical universe. Science has chosen the physical universe fork in the road: the spirit does not exist! In other words, there is only ONE UNIVERSE, the physical universe.         Consequently, the map of the Yellow Brick Road which has been drawn for us by Western science has largely determined our view of universes. Our logic has been defined by the laws of the physical universe which seem to dictate that Man is only a physical universe animal.

Where has the map drawn by Western sciences taken us as a civilization and as individual beings in our search for answers to the primordial questions of life? How will the road we are following effect the future of our planet? What about other forks in the road that could be followed?

Let’s examine the sign posts along this road–the Oz Factors. There are currently twelve Oz Factors which have been identified:

1/ WE’VE GOT TO VERIFY IT

” … we’ve got to verify it legally, to see if she (the Wicked Witch of the East) is morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely, undeniably and reliably dead.”–The Mayor of Munchkin City in ‘The Wizard of Oz’

Archaeological evidence of ancient civilizations is, literally, in ruins. Our understanding of what remains is muddled by missing information. Artifacts have been long since stolen. Parts of ancient monuments have been dismantled by local residents and used in new construction. Books have been burned by jealous priests and greedy tyrants. Ancient languages and writing can no longer be read or understood.

Missing information leads to incorrect assumptions, unproven hypotheses and unworkable solutions.

Our personal and collective unfamiliarity with past events prevents our clear understanding of what we see in the present.

Our need to handle the demands of solving present time survival problems often makes us forget the past.

Specialization in the sciences is a primary cause of missing information. In the science of medicine, for example, there are now so many specialists that one cannot be treated for any ailment without consulting a doctor who specializes in the diseases of a specific body part. As a result, a problem in one area of the body can remain undetected while the specialist is treating another body part.

This method may have its practical uses and certainly contributes to the advancement of detailed study. However, the problem with specialization is that each specialized science excludes information that is not specific to the very narrow field of its own particular study.

When science is confronted with the problem of developing a comprehensive understanding of an entire subject, it is often missing information from other sciences.

A dermatologist is not likely to fix your broken leg. Likewise, archaeology or paleontology, being very limited sciences, are not likely to come up with workable solutions to our primordial origins.

Any study that requires a comprehensive understanding of a very broad body of information in order to solve mysteries, such as the “origin of man” or “where did life come from”, or “how to get back to Kansas” must include ALL of the information available.

2/ ARE YOU A GOOD WITCH?

“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”–Glinda

“Who? Me? Why, I’m not a witch at all! I’m Dorothy Gale from Kansas.” –Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz’

One well-known, but now extinct, assumption of a few hundred years ago was that “sickness is caused by ill-humors residing in the blood”. Based on this wonderfully unproved theory, doctors and psychiatrists attempted, with a uniformly resounding lack of success, to cure sickness by bleeding someone; i.e., stabbing them with a knife in a vein and letting out what they considered to be enough blood to affect a “cure”. This resulted, in fact, in the murder of a countless number of innocent patients, including the first President of the United States, George Washington, who merely suffered from the common cold, yet was bled to death by his doctor.

A current example of an unproved assumption is the notion that man is an animal, who evolved on planet Earth from primitive single cells which are further assumed to have arisen spontaneously from a sea of chemicals. This process of evolution is presumed to have advanced randomly, yet in a highly precise interaction, through a process of natural selection, which has resulted in all life forms on Earth.

Another assumption, commonly acted upon by traditional Western “thinkers” such as certain ancient Greek philosophers, the Holy Inquisition, newspaper reporters and psychiatrists, is that Man is basically evil. Obviously, this theory is based on the personal opinion of those whose vested interests prevent them from observing that Man may, quite arguably, be basically good.

Sadly, these marvelous deductions of “modern science” have led to the justification of such atrocities as the atomic bomb, the institutionalization of psychiatric drugs and the use of “therapeutic” electric shock in an attempt to control human behavior.  Such unfounded, illogical assumptions fill many textbooks, and the minds of their witless readers.

3/ THE HOUR GLASS

“You see that (hour glass)? That’s how much longer you have to live! And it isn’t long, my pretty, it isn’t long … “–The Wicked Witch of the West in ‘The Wizard of Oz’

THE DATING GAME OF RELATIVES

Theoretically, a very practical and useful investigative tool used by some scientific disciplines to gather and evaluate information is to establish the age of an artifact.

Carbon-14, the most commonly used dating method in archaeology and paleontology, works only on organic material. It is supposed to measure the relative rate of deterioration of a Carbon-14 atom as a standard for organic matter. At best, it is useful in dating organic materials no older than 80,000 years. Since one atom does not equal all other atoms, the technology does not work on stone or any other non-organic material. Based on such a limited technology, trying to assign an age to a stone pyramid, for instance, is bound to provide wrong answers.

Similarly, a relatively new dating method called uranium-lead isotope analysis is supposed to date rocks as old as two billion years, give or take a few million.

However, there is a flaw in the logic of these dating methods which invalidates the information they provide, namely, all dating methods are based on the assumption that matter is destructible! In fact, there exists no slightest shred of evidence that matter is anything other than utterly indestructible.

While it is observable that the action of energy or force against matter can alter the form of matter, it does not ever really destroy it.

Example: Stone is turned to dust by beating it with a hammer. Buildings can be torn down with explosives. Water can be vaporized with heat. Sand can melt and turn into glass. Granite cliffs can be sliced up into one-hundred ton blocks to build pyramids. But, none of these actions do anything other than alter the form of the matter.

Whether matter is in the form of a solid, liquid, gas or energy, it is still composed of the same subatomic particles that existed at the instant of its creation. The most that Mother Nature, or any life form, can do with matter is alter its form. Humans can create a temporary illusion by changing matter from one form into another. However, that illusion will eventually return to the same basic particles from which it is composed. The particles themselves persist timelessly.

HOW OLD IS “FATHER TIME”?

Time is a subject that is far from absolute. The measurement of time is the activity of monitoring the movement of matter or energy particles through space. In order to establish the passage of time, one must establish an agreed-upon reference point for beginning the period of time to be measured. Then, the increments of measurement must be uniformly consistent throughout the period of time being quantified. This set of qualifying factors, however, applies only to the Physical Universe.

Does time (as the Munchkins would say) morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely, undeniably and reliably actually, really exist?

Imagine that you are completely isolated, unable to observe any physical motion whatsoever–no sun, moon and stars, night or day. If you were isolated from your own body such that you could not detect any breathing rhythm or heartbeat or cellular motion of any kind to use as a reference point, would time exist?

People who have been locked in solitary confinement, whether in a prison or in an isolation chamber, have experienced the phenomenon of “no time”.

Since many people seem to have an innate, built-in time sense, or a “biological clock”, there may be a subjective awareness of time. But, even so, time is determined by measuring some motion in the physical universe.

How can the dates of something for which you have no starting point be measured? How can the age of our planet, our galaxy, or the entire physical universe be determined? How can the age of something which does not exist in the physical universe, such as a spirit, be calculated?

Logically, an arbitrary unit of measurement must be chosen. Then a particle or object which can move through space must exist. This particle would have to travel at a uniformly predictable rate of speed. The unit of measurement would depend on the magnitude or size of the motion of the particle relative to a fixed point in space, or a fixed point of view.

Here is a simple example: let’s imagine a theoretical COSMIC TIME CLOCK in which ONE SECOND equals ONE EARTH YEAR.

If you counted the ticks of the second hand of this cosmic clock in “normal” time increments of 24 hour days, every day, how long would it take you to measure the recent history of planet Earth?

2 years and 22 days ago would equal the end of the Dinosaur Age (75 million BC)

1 hour, 14 minutes,6 seconds ago equals 2,450 BC– Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu

53 minutes, 36 seconds ago equals 1220 BC–Moses’ Exodus from Egypt

42 minutes 39 seconds ago equals 563 BC–Buddha is born

33 minutes 16 seconds ago equals “year zero” the calendar in use throughout most of the world, sponsored by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582

8 minutes 24 seconds ago equals 1492 AD, Columbus “discovers” America

3 minutes 40 seconds ago equals 1776 AD, the United States of America is founded

One human average lifetime (70 years) equals 1 minute, 10 seconds on the Cosmic Time Clock.

Time is a relative measurement of the motion of particles in the Physical Universe. The order of magnitude of the unit of measurement may vary according to the point of view of the observer.

To venture a guess as to the age of the physical universe, based on a supposed decay of matter is another example of “scientific theory” based on assumption and personal viewpoint.

According to some authorities, mainly from the non-physical sciences, such as philosophy, there is reason to believe that the physical universe may have existed for many trillions of years or perhaps for a nearly infinite period of time. However, since time is a relative factor, it’s importance as a tool for evaluating other information is also relative.

CHAPTER TWO IS CONTINUED.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ THE REST OF CHAPTER TWO OF THE OZ FACTORS, YOU CAN GET A COPY OF THE BOOK HERE: