by Eric Huber | Aug 1, 2016 | Books, Writing
Revised Intro to “Dragon”
2022 rewrite of the intro.
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A low rasping moan echoed through the dark dank entombed ruins causing sleeping bat wings to flutter as well as small rodents and thousand-footed insects to scatter back into holes for safety. No light had reached this place in a millennium and no living soul had entered in at least a quarter as many years. And yet, as frequently happened, the rhythmic sound of shambling footsteps paired with the dragging of wood on stone began to rise in the darkness. Even though the cave dwellers that lived in the pitch black of the ruins could not see, they recognized the smell of death and could hear its scuffling progression as it passed them by in their hidden burrows.
They waited, as those that survived over the years had learned to do, until the sounds faded into the distance until even the occasional rasping moan could not be heard. Only then did the normal sounds of the underground return.
One small rodent scampered out to sniff out the path of the creature in search of any morsels to eat. In a short time, it finally patted out far enough to discover a bit of dried flesh. If anyone could have seen in the darkness, it was obvious that with a twitch of its nose and a turn of its head, the discovery was not pleasant at all. It scampered a good distance away from the droppings and came to a quick stop.
The rodent lifted his chin up and its ears rotated hearing something unusual. It scampered quickly away just as part of the ceiling collapsed with a cascade of water, rain, dirt, rocks, wood, and a flailing body that was screaming as it fell some twenty feet down into the ruins.
The screaming stopped as it hit the ground with a muffled thud.
“Kaelyn! Are you okay?” a panicked voice called down from a gaping hole where the first light in ages came flooding down onto Kaelyn’s motionless body. “Hold on, cousin! We’re coming down!”
Up above, one of two young Elves hurriedly unpacked a rope.
“Over here!” Paddy yelled at her younger brother and waved for him to toss the rope to her.
Terrell quickly spooled out a few feet of rope and tossed it to his sister, “Here!”
While Paddy tied off the rope to a nearby tree, Terrell created a loop on the other end, “I’ll have this ready in a second and you can go in after him. You’re lighter than me and faster.”
Paddy wasn’t about to disagree. As she finished tying off the rope, she rushed over to the hole grabbing the other end as Terrell tossed it to her and began securing it around her waist and upper thighs.
A moan from down below caught their attention and they both relaxed a bit and laughed. “We’re coming for ya cousin,” Terrell joked and winked to his sister. “He’ll be alright.”
Paddy smiled, but still seemed concerned, “Hopefully nothing broken. And we don’t know what’s down there,” she sniffed the air and crinkled up her nose as finished with the rope. “Smells old. And something is rotten.”
“I’ll make sure I’ve got something to help him before I come down,” He said patting his satchel. “You ready?”
Paddy smiled, winked, and said, “See ya below, brother!” and she stepped backward and fell into the darkness below.
© 2015-2022 by Eric Huber
Header artwork by Sean Wong
Black dragon by Eric Huber. Inks by Chad Maupin.
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by Eric Huber | Mar 24, 2013 | Books, First Earth, Ruins, Science
One Tip for the Future… Sunscreen.
One reason I started the First Earth blog, was simply to keep track of things that were coming together a creating a picture in my mind. While I believe in the statistical probability of alien life, I’ve never seen hard evidence that proved it to me adequately. And the thought of how some other advanced race will someday appear and ‘save us’ (or has in the past) causes me to ask the question of the individual, “What church do/did you belong to?”
Statistically, I’ve discovered they were raised in a conservative church and, in my opinion, have traded saviors. But not always. Additionally, I have watched nearly all the Ancient Alien television shows, and throughout my life read and watched many other sources about aliens. And, as I’ve said, I have never seen any proof. What I did see was a pattern of the loss of some ancient civilization that has since disappeared. Nearly all mythology has stories of an advanced age or ‘golden age’ as well as how mankind was either created from earth, pulled from the earth, or come out from caves to be given enlightenment and/or knowledge. And setting aside aliens and literal translations of ancient texts, the pattern was one of a near “Extinction Level Event” that changed the face of the earth. An event that took thousands of years for mankind to recover from and rebuild. 
After reading a sci-fi novel titled Sunstorm by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, it all made sense. And within a short time later, I discovered, bought, and devoured Forgotten Civilization: The Role of Solar Outbursts in Our Past and Future by Dr. Robert Schoch. Being more of a creative person who sees patterns, Dr. Schoch’s book is a goldmine of theories, research, proof, and resources. He takes us on a journey through the Earth’s past and is able to show how the sun is “not-so-eternal” after all. From cave paintings to the rocks of the planet to newly found 12,000-year-old ruins, the evidence is clear that at least one ancient civilization has existed before on our planet.
When he originally dated the Sphinx at being closer to 9,000 years old, Dr. Schoch challenged the paradigms and beliefs of the age of civilization and the development of mankind. Ever since more and more evidence has proven him to be right.
Don’t be fooled, this book is not about scaring people into finding holes to go live in and prepare for the upcoming solar storm, but rather a well thought out observation of what has happened and what may still happen. I highly recommend this book. Not for the reasons I was searching for answers, but rather for the amazing research, theories, and journeys he describes. You’ll ‘visit’ the Sphinx in Egypt, Gobelki Tepe in southern Turkey, the statues of Easter Island, and time travel to various points in history across the globe. Science AND adventure! “But trust me on the sunscreen…”
by Eric Huber | Dec 14, 2011 | Books, Creativity, Life
This January 25th, 2012, at Unity of Fayetteville, I’ll be creating an Artist’s Way Creative Cluster. This 12 week process is based on Julie Cameron’s best selling The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.
For those of you unfamiliar with The Artist’s Way, it began with author Julia Cameron sharing her ideas with a few artists in her living room. Almost 4 million copies of The Artist’s Way and more than two decades of teaching her creativity tools around the world in lecture and workshop form. The book focuses on unblocking your creativity with tools, exercises, and journaling.
I have been using The Artist’s Way as part of a Graphic Design class titled Creative Identity I for the past four years at the New Design School in Fayetteville, Arkansas. While I have done the exercises along with the class each time and have had huge creative breakthroughs, I have decided to create a “Creative Cluster” which is more peer based.
I’ve found that most people who have gone through the 12 week process discover HOW they create and WHAT they love to create. From writing to art to music to screenplay writing, this course is not just about traditional ‘art.’ It is for those wishing to let their artistic ‘inner artist’ out onto the world. For those people told, “You’re not ‘good enough’.” For those who even help others in their creative endeavors while letting yours be stuffed and buried.
We’ll have an Introductory Class on the 25th to answer questions and do an introduction to the course which will start February 1st, 2012.
What do I need to attend and how much is it?
The class is free, but it is suggested to bring a donation for Unity of Fayetteville when you can. $5 is a usual amount, but NOT required (you can also donate more if you like).
You WILL need the book, however. It is very inexpensive with USED paperback versions starting at $4.49 on Amazon.com.
You will also need a journal of some sort.
Cameron never offered ‘certification’ for The Artist’s Way. She wanted the process to be free to everyone. As stated before, I will help get things started, facilitate when needed, and let the group become peer oriented for our Creative Cluster.
The Two Basic Tools
The Artist’s Way uses TWO basic tools: Morning Pages and the Artist Date. These two things help in the creative recovery. Learn more about these tools on her site.
Additional Class Guidelines
(From Julie Cameron’s Website)
- Use a Twelve-Week Process with a Weekly Gathering of Two to Three Hours. The morning pages and artist dates are required of everyone in the group, including facilitators. The exercises are done in order in the group, with everyone, including the facilitator, answering the questions and then sharing the answers in clusters of four, one chapter per week. Do not share your morning pages with the group or anyone else. Do not reread your morning pages until later in the course, if you are required to do so by your facilitator or your own inner guidance.
- Avoid Self-Appointed Gurus. If there is any emissary, it is the work itself, as a collective composed of all who take the course, at home or otherwise. Each person is equally a part of the collective, no one more than another. While there may be”teachers,” facilitators who are relied on during the twelve-week period to guide others down the path, such facilitators need to be prepared to share their own material and take their own creative risks. This is a dialectic rather than a monologue – an egalitarian group process rather than a hierarchical one.
- Listen. We each get what we need from the group process by sharing our own material and by listening to others. We do not need to comment on another person’s sharing in order to help that person. We must refrain from trying to”fix” someone else. Each group devises a cooperative creative “song” of artistic recovery. Each group’s song is unique to that group – like that of a pod or family of whales, initiating and echoing to establish their position. When listening, go around the circle without commenting unduly on what is heard. The circle, as a shape, is very important. We are intended to witness, not control, one another. When sharing exercises, clusters of four within the larger groups are important: five tends to become unwieldy in terms of time constraints; three doesn’t allow for enough contrasting experience. Obviously, not all groups can be divided into equal fours. Just try to do so whenever you can.
- Respect One Another. Be certain that respect and compassion are afforded equally to every member. Each person must be able to speak his own wounds and dreams. No one is to be”fixed” by another member of the group. This is a deep and powerful internal process. There is no one right way to do this. Love is important. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to one another.
- Expect Change in the Group Makeup. Many people will – some will not – fulfill the twelve-week process. There is often a rebellious or fallow period after the twelve weeks, with people returning to the disciplines later. When they do, they continue to find the process unfolding within them a year, a few years, or many years later. Many groups have a tendency to drive apart at eight to ten weeks (creative U-turns) because of the feelings of loss associated with the group’s ending. Face the truth as a group; it may help you stay together.
- Be Autonomous. You cannot control your own process, let alone anyone else’s. Know that you will feel rebellious occasionally – that you won’t want to do all of your morning pages and exercises at times in the twelve weeks. Relapse is okay. You cannot do this process perfectly, so relax, be kind to yourself, and hold on to your hat. Even when you feel nothing is happening, you will be changing at great velocity. This change is a deepening into your own intuition, your own creative self. The structure of the course is about safely getting across the bridge into new realms of creative spiritual awareness.
- Be Self-Loving. If the facilitator feels somehow “wrong” to you, change clusters or start your own. Continually seek your own inner guidance rather than outer guidance. You are seeking to form an artist-to-artist relationship with the Great Creator. Keep gurus at bay. You have your own answers within you.
Link to course description: http://juliacameronlive.com/the-artists-way/
by Eric Huber | Jul 14, 2011 | Books, Creativity, Inspiration, New, Writing
I’m only beginning my creative writing career. I haven’t sold any writing, but I have been published here and there. Not to mention on my own site. Oops. I mentioned it.
I have, however, been a ‘creative’ for my entire life. Whether I was pretending to be Speed Racer and taking the Mach 5 to new speeds, playing “Lost Boys” with my best friend, Davy, as I played the smart boy and he played the strong one to get us out of a lava flow dangerously getting closer and closer, or drawing out a story for a graphic novel that I left unfinished, I’ve been ‘creating’ things my whole life.
In fact, I realized a few years ago, that I was even ‘creating’ my life.
When I was asked to extend a course in Creative Identity from one semester to a second semester at the New Design School, a graphic design school in Fayetteville, AR, I was conflicted on what direction to take. In the first course, I took the new students on an inward journey of creativity to see how they viewed themselves and the world to better communicate their commercial creative designs to come. So where could I take them in a second course?
Luckily, I’m surrounded with amazing people, including my lovely, talented, and amazing partner, Christi, who said, “Have you read Making Ideas Happen yet?” I’ll review this book in another article. But it led to the perfect foundation for the class. One aimed at teaching action.
But it was missing an element.
I went through two or three other books and finally landed on Twyla Tharp’s book, The Creative Habit: Learn it and use it for life.
While Twyla Tharp is a dancer, her life is all about creativity. And in this book she breaks down all the aspects of living a creative life, the struggles, joys, and accidents along the way.
This book brought the soul of the class to life.
The graphic design of the book also creates a vibrant, easy to read experience. But that’s a different kind of review.
I walk into a white room
The book begins…
I walk into a large white room. It’s a dance studio in midtown Manhattan. I’m wearing a sweatshirt, faded jeans, and Nike cross-trainers. The room is lined with eight-foot-high mirrors. There’s a boom box in the corner. The floor is clean, virtually spotless if you don’t count the thousands of skid marks and footprints left there by dancers rehearsing. Other than the mirrors, the boom box, the skid marks, and me, the room is empty.
As she shares her lifetime journey of dance, she takes you through stories of meeting with Billy Joel to pitch her broadway show idea Movin’ Out, through her failures, her successes, and gives you insights to how she and other creative lifestyles evolve and grow.
I was amazed at how easily her The Creative Habit book matched the content of Making Ideas Happen, by Scott Belsky, over the 12 week class. Her views on how getting “An ‘A’ in Failure” lined up perfectly with how creative professionals shouldn’t get bogged down by failing, but take time to reflect on the internal and external forces and find the lessons to be better prepared in future endeavors.
Tapping into your “Creative DNA,” “Scratching” for ideas, and, my favorite chapter, “Before You Can Think out of the Box, You Have to Start with a Box.”
Again, the parallels with Making Ideas Happen were in alignment where the topic was all about how we all are much more creative when we have a smaller canvas to work on. For example, Tharp said to watch out for people that offer you all the resources you need, no direction, and no restrictions as they are setting you up to fail. But beyond that, Tharp describes her system for creating projects. She makes a box to put all her ideas into and then begins organizing everything into an order to move forward. This is nearly identical to the Action Method described in Belsky’s book.
Tharp also gives exercises to help those interested in building a habit of creativity at the end of every chapter. Some are simple introspective exercises. Others are more time consuming and require physical activity, from stomping your foot and shouting, “BEGIN!” to taking yourself on a trip of exploration.
This book is a MUST for those who have gone through the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, as it shows a real life example of someone who has implemented living a creative life by creating a real creative habit.
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You can find all three books on Amazon.com for well under retail.
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Photo Credit via http://www.twylatharp.org/: © Richard Avedon.
by Eric Huber | Apr 12, 2011 | Books, First Earth, Myths, Symbols
Eleven thousand years ago, at the end of the last ice age, the ancient sage-scientists of a doomed advanced civilization undertook a long-term plan to deliver the wisdom required to prevent the complete destruction of our cycle of civilization.
(OPENPRESS) April 12, 2011 — As documented throughout Finishing the Mysteries of Gods and Symbols, by Seven Star Hand, ancient symbology was used to encode advanced science and profound spiritual wisdom designed to be revealed at a very specific time, far in their futures. As seen throughout the Bible, related religious canons and narratives, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the stunning works of ancient Egypt, symbols, symbolism, and symbology were an advanced philosophical technology that also served as an equally advanced encryption method.
As described in earlier articles and releases, the ancient sages and prophets used ancient symbology to encode vital details to hide them from religious leaders throughout the previous several millennia. This was done to guarantee that the truth about our existence and pivotal historical details would not remain forever buried beneath the lies and ignorance of religions and their leaders.
Humanity is now at a crux and teetering on the edge of an abyss. Failing to understand the true nature of our currently unfolding dire predicament, its hidden causes, and how to prevent the complete collapse of our civilization, would lead to a great disaster for humanity, followed by millennia of chaos and great struggles. This is precisely what occurred to the last cycle of advanced civilization, 11,000 years ago. It has taken us eleven millennia to match only some of their knowledge and accomplishments.
As related in various tales, most of the people of the last cycle of advanced civilization also grew greedy, arrogant, and complacent and ignored the warnings of their sages and scientists. Just like modern-day humanity, they arrogantly and greedily changed the environment, which eventually melted the ice caps and resulted in the rapid end of the last ice age. The echoes of their destruction are still heard in stories like “Atlantis” and the earlier Zep Tepi narratives of the ancient Egyptians. This is the true source of the Biblical tale of Noah, the great flood, and similar stories from Babylon and elsewhere.
Ancient sage-scientists built the Great Pyramid Complex and the Great Sphinx to serve as massive symbolically-encoded messages for a far future generation, hence to our failing civilization. Successive future sages followed the same ancient plans when building other monuments and authoring symbolic wisdom narratives and prophecies. These ancient pre-Egyptian sage-scientists were the precursors of later Egyptian, Nubian, Hebrew, Essene, Gnostic, Druid, and other related wisdom groups. The symbology used by them was later also used by the Hebrew prophets and sages to construct the symbolic narratives later modified and incorporated throughout the canons of all three faiths of Abraham. The symbology and key details of the prophecies incorporated into religious canons can be traced directly to this ancient group of pre-Egyptian sage-scientists.
The ancient sages and prophets undertook a massive 11,000 year-long project to deliver the wisdom necessary for us to avoid the horrible fate of their doomed civilization. Though it is far too easy to get lost in the great amount of detail, symbols, religious canons, prophecies, and other related knowledge, it is important to understand that wisdom comes through grasping the simple truths that describe, define, and quantify all of the details of the complex whole. In other words, wisdom is a definitive microcosm that gives one the ability to understand and better control the greatly expanded and complex macrocosm.
All of the great efforts of the ancient sages and prophets, throughout the past 11 millennia, have been designed to deliver a long-promised simple gem of ancient wisdom called the Doctrine of Two Spirits. It has been given numerous ancient names like [Amen]Moses’ “two tables of stone,” Thoth’s emerald tablet(s), Jacob’s Ladder, Wisdom’s Seven Pillars, the Philosopher’s Stone, the Holy Grail, the Grail Stone, etc. This ancient treasure of wisdom is now available to humanity when most needed by us, as we teeter on the brink of a disastrous collapse of global civilization.
You may read Finishing the Mysteries of Gods and Symbols, by Seven Star Hand to understand the supporting evidence and rules for the symbology. The preface titled The Doctrine of Two Spirits can be read online at Google Books. Other links to read and download the e-book are also available at SevenStarHand.org.
Science and ancient wisdom have finally come together to unlock the mysteries of the ancient past and decisively prove the truth about all religions. You may now prove it to yourself at SevenStarHand.org.
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