Feeling the utterly unnecessary urge to explain the huge stack of books in my arms, I told the librarian at the counter last summer that I was writing a book. I hoped to finish by Winter.
Obviously accustomed to warding off the locals, she whipped out a mantra about not being able to take most new books into her little library, even from authors nearby. I hadn't asked. I didn't care. I told her it really didn't matter to me.
And then she said something rather unexpected and deep, a knowing look in her eyes: "Have you fallen out of love with your book yet?"
Speechless, I can't remember what I said in response.
Yet the weight of her words remained. Long after the weight of those books. I carried the weight of those words for several weeks. I carry their weight in this moment.
As anyone stopping by this blog knows, this project has been a long time in development, with many promises and pauses in between.
Have I fallen out of love? Obviously...yes...
I used to only talk about Mother Shipton at events (and not about other prophetesses)...until I began to realize much of what has been written about her is false (see Facing the Forgeries).
As I said months ago, I finally had to come to terms with the truth.
Fallen out of love? I'd say so. I all but omitted Mother Shipton from my Expo presentations when I used to dedicate the entire hour.
And then it happened last summer. An unannounced gift, the web domain name MotherShipton.com magically fell into my hands. So did all the related names (.org, .net, .info, you name it). They all came to me effortlessly, without even asking, without even looking, without even giving it a thought. And of course they arrived by Design.
And so I have a responsibility.
I must be true to the words I choose to write...for her sake...for the memory of the real Mother Shipton...as truthful, open and balanced as I can possibly be, on the very site that bears her name.
Meanwhile, it's not the first roadblock I've encountered, as "The Prophetess Legacy" project goes far beyond Mother Shipton.
"Have you fallen out of love with your book yet?" The words hang upon my heart.
Yes, I have fallen out of love. I have fallen out of love with the darkness.
When you take it upon yourself to study prophecy, you had better be prepared (I wasn't). It is brutal. It is bloody. It is graphic. It is death, destruction and damnation in just about every imaginable way.
Do I want to write a book filled with blood and death? Obviously...No.
I would call that definitely falling out of love with a book, a book so very heavy it fell into the abyss.
But what about the Love? And the Light? Ah, yes, they do exist in prophecy. And in fact, perhaps that is precisely the point.
So what kind of book exactly is re-emerging in my hands? What kind of web site and blog? Let me just say none of it will be what I expected...
And I'm writing here, right now, in this very moment. That's a good sign.
My last Expo presentation a few weeks ago had the most raptly attentive audience yet. I didn't focus on the darkness at all. I focused on the Light.
Yes, I'd say that's a sign I'm falling back into Love.
Perhaps soon I'll take you with me...
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Facing the Forgeries
The delay in getting more information out about Mother Shipton is not just about my busy schedule. The true delay has to do with coming to terms with the probable conclusion that many of the most popular and intriguing prophecies attributed to Mother Shipton are likely forgeries.
This does not negate the existence of Mother Shipton, which I feel was proven quite convincingly by
historian Arnold Kellett (see the History section of ShiptonProphecy.com), but it does require intellectual integrity to honestly evaluate the likely forgery of what are some of the most fascinating words attributed to her.
Many of the prophecies in question were published in a 1995 edition of Nexus magazine (referenced here), with a statement that they were carefully transcribed 30 years previously by a woman who said she discovered them in what is now the State Library of New South Wales in Australia. Some of the prophecies published in Nexus had been previously released in the 1800's by Charles Hindley, with many new additions given in Nexus.
Historian Arnold Kellett insists the Nexus prophecies originated in "a tract issued by an extreme fundamentalist and puritanical sect in the U.S.A." in the 1930's, and I do place credence in Dr. Kellett's research. I will say, however, that if they were all written in the 1930's, then they exhibit some interesting prophetic qualities of their own, a possible case of prophetic gifts inspired by Mother Shipton, but not necessarily originating with Mother Shipton herself.
What we know with certainty is that none of these prophecies have been referenced in print prior to the 1930's, and even the tract Dr. Kellett mentions is not findable, leaving Nexus as the only source for now. Just because they have been repeated far and wide all over the internet, even on "The History Channel", doesn't mean they have been proven to be authentic. Dr. Kellett expressed his dismay at their repetition in his book Mother Shipton: Witch and Prophetess.
The likely forgeries discuss women wearing pants and cutting their hair, references to occurrences in 1926 (making it even more likely at least some were written in the 1930's),
moving pictures, submarines and airplanes, and a rather detailed series of brutal End Times catastrophes (wars, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes) after Gabriel "blows his wondrous horn". They also include intriguing prophetic references to what could be meteorites, solar flares, UFOs, Indigo children and a Golden Age.
It is these latter references which make these prophecies particularly interesting if indeed they were written in the 1930's as Dr. Kellett claims. Without being able to find the evangelical tract to which Dr. Kellett refers, something I very much would like to locate, we don't yet know if what was published in Nexus contains any additions from the tract. The book Mother Shiption: The Missing Prophecies suggests that some may have originated with Miss Frances Yule in the early 1980's, who wrote other prophecies of her own as well.
I will be analyzing the mystery surrounding some of these prophecies soon in more detail on ShiptonProphecy.com, including how they relate to some interesting occurrences in history and today, as promised in my last blog entry. I will also be updating some of my conclusions regarding the Charles Hindley prophecies from the 1800's, yet another set that show a fascinating prescience, yet must be called into question as authentic Mother Shipton prophecies.
The Nexus prophecies end with Mother Shipton's alleged prediction of some day being burned at the stake. There is no record of such a death, and it's very possible she lived to a contented old age, loved and respected by her neighbors, a rare prophetess they chose to heed instead of burn.
This does not negate the existence of Mother Shipton, which I feel was proven quite convincingly by
historian Arnold Kellett (see the History section of ShiptonProphecy.com), but it does require intellectual integrity to honestly evaluate the likely forgery of what are some of the most fascinating words attributed to her.Many of the prophecies in question were published in a 1995 edition of Nexus magazine (referenced here), with a statement that they were carefully transcribed 30 years previously by a woman who said she discovered them in what is now the State Library of New South Wales in Australia. Some of the prophecies published in Nexus had been previously released in the 1800's by Charles Hindley, with many new additions given in Nexus.
Historian Arnold Kellett insists the Nexus prophecies originated in "a tract issued by an extreme fundamentalist and puritanical sect in the U.S.A." in the 1930's, and I do place credence in Dr. Kellett's research. I will say, however, that if they were all written in the 1930's, then they exhibit some interesting prophetic qualities of their own, a possible case of prophetic gifts inspired by Mother Shipton, but not necessarily originating with Mother Shipton herself.
What we know with certainty is that none of these prophecies have been referenced in print prior to the 1930's, and even the tract Dr. Kellett mentions is not findable, leaving Nexus as the only source for now. Just because they have been repeated far and wide all over the internet, even on "The History Channel", doesn't mean they have been proven to be authentic. Dr. Kellett expressed his dismay at their repetition in his book Mother Shipton: Witch and Prophetess.
The likely forgeries discuss women wearing pants and cutting their hair, references to occurrences in 1926 (making it even more likely at least some were written in the 1930's),
moving pictures, submarines and airplanes, and a rather detailed series of brutal End Times catastrophes (wars, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes) after Gabriel "blows his wondrous horn". They also include intriguing prophetic references to what could be meteorites, solar flares, UFOs, Indigo children and a Golden Age.It is these latter references which make these prophecies particularly interesting if indeed they were written in the 1930's as Dr. Kellett claims. Without being able to find the evangelical tract to which Dr. Kellett refers, something I very much would like to locate, we don't yet know if what was published in Nexus contains any additions from the tract. The book Mother Shiption: The Missing Prophecies suggests that some may have originated with Miss Frances Yule in the early 1980's, who wrote other prophecies of her own as well.
I will be analyzing the mystery surrounding some of these prophecies soon in more detail on ShiptonProphecy.com, including how they relate to some interesting occurrences in history and today, as promised in my last blog entry. I will also be updating some of my conclusions regarding the Charles Hindley prophecies from the 1800's, yet another set that show a fascinating prescience, yet must be called into question as authentic Mother Shipton prophecies.
The Nexus prophecies end with Mother Shipton's alleged prediction of some day being burned at the stake. There is no record of such a death, and it's very possible she lived to a contented old age, loved and respected by her neighbors, a rare prophetess they chose to heed instead of burn.
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