The Ark of the Covenant: A Fictional Fact

When in the late 70's George Lucas came up with the idea for his trilogy Indiana Jones, he was too busy working on Star Wars, and so offered the script to his good friend Steven Spielberg. What Spielberg then did was to turn these scripts into three of the greatest action movies of all time- Raiders of the Lost Arc, Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade staring Harrison Ford as the original, all action, whip-cracking archaeologist, Indiana Jones.
The stories centre around university lecturer Dr. Indiana Jones who, in his spare time, goes looking for some of the most valuable lost relics in the world including the Arc of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. Unfortunately for him, the Nazis are also after them, because Hitler believes with the power of God on his side, he will become unstoppable…
But these are all just Hollywood movies, right? - mere Fiction; but then again-are they?
Anyone who has seen the Raiders of the Lost Ark or has read the book may think that the Ark of the Covenant, the ancient and dangerous shrine of the presence of God, was safely tucked away in a U.S. government warehouse. But that's what you gather from a fictional story. The facts are different…According to a United Press International story published in the One World magazine, the Ark may in fact be located in Axum, Ethiopia. An archbishop of the Ethiopian Coptic Church confirms this. Now a famous book 'The Sign and the Seal' is the very account of the journey made to Ethiopia by the modern Indiana- Graham Hancock, who gives the true story of his conversation with the Archbishop.
The Ark of the Covenant was the most famous object in the Tabernacle and Temple of the ancient Hebrews. The Ark contained the two replacement tablets of the Ten Commandments, the rod of Aaron that budded, and a vessel of manna from the wilderness of Sinai.
The Ark was the center of a yearly ritual performed by the high priest of Israel. Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, he had to enter the Holy of Holies in the temple with the blood of a goat, sacrificed in the scapegoat ritual, which was to atone for the sins of all Israel. Other than during this ritual, no one was allowed to see the Ark.
It was thought to be the location of the direct presence of God, and as such posed a hazard to mere mortals. To touch the Ark meant instant death, even for an innocuous purpose like preventing it from falling out of an ox-cart. It may be for this reason that the Patriarch of Ethiopia is not eager to make the Ark into a tourist attraction. The Ark of the Covenant is also renowned for its mysterious powers against the enemies of Israel.
The Ethiopians say that Menelik (which in Tigrigna means- the son of the wise man) son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba brought the Ark to Ethiopia. Menelik went on to become the founder of a long dynasty of Ethiopian kings.
As Hancock described this part of his talk with the Archbishop in the book-
Hancock: I have heard of an Ethiopian tradition that the Ark of the Covenant is kept here... in this chapel. I have also heard that you are the guardian of the Ark. But in other countries nobody believes these stories. Few know about your traditions anyway, but those who do say that they are false.
The Monk: People may believe what they wish. People may say what they wish. Nevertheless we do possess the sacred Tabot, that is to say the Ark of the Covenant, and I am its guardian.
Hancock: Are you referring to the original Ark of the Covenant - the box made of wood and gold in which the Ten Commandments were placed by the prophet Moses?
The Monk: Yes. God Himself inscribed the ten words of the law upon two tablets of stone. Moses then placed these tablets inside the Ark of the Covenant, which afterwards accompanied the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness and their conquest of the Promised Land. It brought them victory wherever they went and made them a great people. At last, when its work was done, King Solomon placed it in the Holy of Holies of the Temple that he had built in Jerusalem. And from there, not long afterwards, it was removed and brought to Ethiopia.
Hancock: What I know of your traditions is only that the Queen of Sheba is supposed to have been an Ethiopian monarch. The legends I have read say that when she made her famous journey to Jerusalem she was impregnated by King Solomon and bore him a son - a royal prince - who in later years stole the Ark…
The Monk (with a sigh): The name of the prince you are speaking of was Menelik. Although he was conceived in Jerusalem he was born in Ethiopia where the Queen of Sheba had returned after discovering that she was carrying Solomon's child. When he had reached the age of twenty, Menelik himself traveled from Ethiopia to Israel and arrived at his father's court. There he was instantly recognized and accorded great honor. After a year had passed, however, the elders of the land became jealous of him. They complained that Solomon showed him too much favor and they insisted that he must go back to Ethiopia. This the king accepted on the condition that the first-born sons of all the elders should also be sent to accompany him. Amongst these latter was Azarius, son of Zadok the High Priest of Israel, and it was Azarius, not Menelik, who stole the Ark of the Covenant from its place in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Indeed the group of young men did not reveal the theft to Menelik until they were far away from Jerusalem. When at last they told him what they had done he understood that they could not have succeeded in so bold a venture unless God had willed it. Therefore he agreed that the Ark should remain with them. And it was thus that it was brought to Ethiopia, to this sacred city... and here it has remained ever since.
Hancock: And are you telling me that this legend is literally true?
The Monk: It is not a legend. It is history.
And thus, history has kept itself secluded in such a way that it almost seems fictional. Perhaps that is what makes eras of Indiana's take the dangerous journey into the unknown and uninvited chapel of Axum- just to make sure its still there. But what makes the Ark supernatural is it's spiritual (rather than historical) value.
Archaeologists have been awed the most by the Ark's architecture. Its dimensions are described by the bible as 2.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits (62.5 inches by 37.5 inches by 37.5 inches). Curiously, this is the exact volume of the stone chest or porphyry coffer in the King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid in Egypt. This coffer was the only object within the King's Chamber, as the Ark was the single sacred object within the Holy of Holies, in the Temple. It also had the same volume as the molten sea of water on the Temple Mount as prepared by King Solomon.
Since the Pyramid was built and sealed long before the days of Moses, when he built the Ark and the Holy of Holies, and had remained sealed for over twenty-five centuries until the ninth century after Christ, there is no natural explanation for the phenomenon of both structures having identical volume measurements.
The pyramid itself possessed its own force centers: the heart of the King's Chamber, its most vital and sacred points, where divine energy was concentrated and especially powerful. And other chambers haven't yet been discovered. The candidate undergoing initiation was placed in the great granite sarcophagus in the King's Chamber at the august moment of the initiation rites (Note: the purpose of Initiation is to bestow upon the disciple certain molecular changes in the body to handle higher energy) because the sarcophagus was in direct alignment with the down pouring ray of cosmic light through the Ark in the Third Eye capstone. The voltage of such a fiery light ray could only be endured by one in whom the physical, emotional and spiritual forces were completely aligned and purified.
Upon the chest were two cherubim of beaten gold, looking towards each other, and spreading their wings so that both sides of the propitiatory were covered. Wings are a metaphor for ascension or the return to higher levels of frequency consciousness.
What exactly these cherubim were is impossible to determine; however, from the analogy with Egyptian religious art, it may well be supposed that they were images, kneeling or standing, of winged persons. It is worth noticing that this is the only exception to the law forbidding the Israelites to make carved images, an exception so much the more harmless to the faith of the Israelites in a spiritual God because the Ark was regularly to be kept behind the veil of the sanctuary.
The Ark was first destined to contain the testimony, that is to say the Tables of the Law. Later, Moses was commanded to put into the tabernacle, near the Ark, a golden vessel holding a gomor of manna (source of light energy)- and the rod of Aaron which had blossomed. Rods are a metaphor for poles, polarity & duality, the electromagnetic energies that create our reality grid programs. They are used to created magic and illusion within reality. They are the tools of the Magician, the Trickster, Hermes, and The Emerald Tablets of Thoth.
The Ark is a metaphor for a vessel, which contains a source of creational light or energy, a consciousness that looks like a sphere of pulsating white light. As explained, there are many metaphors here; all needed to help us remember who we are as soul sparks. We exist inside the box- the virtual reality grid program created by this consciousness. We are created by that energy of light. We are each a soul spark that spirals into 3D consciousness (Phi Ratio or Sacred/Creational Geometry). When we enlighten we begin to think outside of the box.
Many of you may be thinking by now- Gees, what a psychopath! But as far as the books go it is all true. Many have quested after the Ark of the Covenant in ancient and modern times. It is the thrill of the quest and moreover the belief that he may be the one to unfold the secrets of the creation of the planet and the direct linkage to God.

By Bonhomie

The Era of Fried Chicken

The FC mania has hit Dhaka. If you are wondering what FC stands for well then let me tell you that FC stands for Fried Chicken. Everywhere you go, you are bound to find a fast food shop with an ending "Fried Chicken". And if you do see a fast food without the ending of FC, then go inside and you will see that their specialty is fried chicken.
Fried Chicken, the most devoured food in the world. Some people even acknowledge it as the world's favorite food. Well, I don't know about the world, but I do know that it is definitely Dhaka's favorite food. Check out some of the popular fast food joints, Helvetia, Best Fried Chicken, Southern Fried Chicken, American Fried Chicken, London Fried Chicken, Kings Fried Chicken, Chicken King… and that ain't the end of the list.
But do you know how the concept of fried chicken came into existence? The man to be credited for this sensational discovery is Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of the famous Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Colonel Sanders was born on September 9, 1890 and actively began franchising his business at the age of 65. When he was 40 years old, the Colonel used to operate a service station and used to cook for hungry travelers who used to stop in his station. He didn't have a restaurant then but served folks on his own dining table in the living quarters of his service station.
Sander's fame grew. Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine. And in 1939, his establishment was first listed in Duncan Hines' "Adventures in Good Eating."
Confident of the quality of his fried chicken, the Colonel devoted himself to the chicken franchising business that he started in 1952. He traveled across the country by car from restaurant to restaurant, cooking batches of chicken for restaurant owners and their employees. If the reaction was favorable, he entered into a handshake agreement on a deal that stipulated a payment to him of a nickel for each chicken the restaurant sold. By 1964, Colonel Sanders had more than 600 franchised outlets for his chicken in the United States and Canada.
Seeing this growing love fame for fried chicken other restaurant owners started making their own versions of fried chicken, which had passed from cities to cities and from countries to countries. KFC soon began opening their outlets in other parts of the world, and the fame spread over there too. There is no doubt about the fact that fried chicken is the most popular food in the world and to think that it all began with a 65-year-old gentleman who used his $105 Social Security check to start a business.

By Gokhra