Product Description

It was a universal belief in ancient civilizations that life came originally from the cosmos and ultimately would return there after death. The shamanic journey was always to this sky-world - and it appears that it was always located in the direction of the stars of Cygnus - also known as the Northern Cross - and was accessed either via the Milky Way or an imagined cosmic axis. Andrew Collins has found that this ancient belief is based on an early astronomy which is about 17,000 years old. All over the world, standing stones, temples and monuments are orientated towards the rising and setting of the stars of the Cygnus constellation or the "entry point" of the Milky Way.Collins has discovered that the use of deep caves by Palaeolithic man was essential to the rise of religious thought and the belief in life's stellar origins. Science has now confirmed the existence of high-energy particles in the caves - particles that come from a binary star known as Cygnus X3. Therefore it would seem that these ancient people were aware of what science is now telling us - that the DNA of life came originally from deep space.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54521 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Andrew Collins is a historical writer and the author of several ground-breaking books, including From the Ashes of Angels, Gods of Eden, Gateway to Atlantis, and Tutankhamun: The Exodus Conspiracy co-authored with Chris Ogilvie-Herald. He is the organiser of the annual Questing Conference, Britain's largest conference on alternative history.

Customer Reviews

The Cygnus Mystery
I absolutely LOVED this book. I made sure I got my copy early, as I have been waiting for another book from Mr Collins, since loving his last book, too.
Mr Collins has a habit of writing books that give you a unique goosebump effect, found nowhere else. This book is somewhere between Robert Graves and Stephen Hawking.
It's a rare type of book for the subject matter, too. I've read plenty of books on the topics covered, shamanism, stone age culture, Avebury, and astrophysics, and have to say that The Cygnus Mystery covers them all with a degree of smartness you don't usually find. Andrew's book stands on its own, as is, with very good, solid research, and a real depth of grounded information, rather than a whole bunch of conjecture and jargon. You know from reading it that he really knows his stuff. So many authors nowadays don't do enough research, or use previous ideas and rehash them. Andrew's done something new and challenging and unique, and that has been a pattern for him throughout his long career as a writer.
His writing style is great, very unputdownable. I found in The Cygnus Mystery a book I am sad to finish, and can't wait for his next effort, which I'm sure will be just as good.
I'm sure Andrew will be thought of in years to come as a real ground-breaker in a number of different fields.

Must reading for archeo-astronomy fans
The Cygnus Mystery sits in the series of The Sirius and Orion Mystery. Much less than those two attempts, Andrew Collins does not try to hammer the point continuously that he is right and this is what we have to believe. Instead, he presents an overview of starlore around Cygnus, within various cultures, from across the world. It presents a powerful case (eg Inca towns like Cuczo and its Sacred Valley and Newgrange) that several ancient monuments were aligned specifically with this constellation in mind. Evidence that it therefore might be part of a Paleolithic astronomical framework, which Collins is able to confirm when he analyses some of the Southern French cave drawings.
Why Cygnus? Perhaps because Cygnus has recently been found to be the location of a more than bizarre and unexplainable astronomical phenomenon, labelled "cygnets", which would best be described as some type of energy sent from this location into the rest of the universe, but apparently specifically aligned towards our Earth.
Collins has tried to map Cygnus within the ancient astronomical lore and it should be seen as a powerful primer: presenting the evidence that Cygnus was important. Required reading for anyone interested in archaeo-astronomy... and a book upon which several others hopefully will be based.

Swan Soup for the Psychopomp Soul!
This is a truly impressive book. The story that Andrew Collins tells is as gripping and thrilling as anything I have read to date.

The amount of research and effort behind this work ensures the reader can reach intelligent conclusions. It is not sensationalist, or gimmicky,
but truly a work of art. A challenging piece of writing that easily escorts the reader from the popular to the technical.

As a person who has been involved in a great deal of reseach, I appreciate the effort and care taken to handle what is going to be a controversial subject.

Instead of being dry and boring, it is warm, engaging and human - almost impossible to put down and without doubt will be picked up over and over again.

For a real education buy this book!