My adult ‘unschooling’ through Archeology

My adult ‘unschooling’ through Archeology
September 3, 2012 Lainie Liberti

Why archeology?

Because through archeology, I’ve been led down a rabbit hole that has blown the lid off of everything I thought I knew. And I realize how many lies I’ve been led to believe throughout my life. And I am questioning everything and exploring and expanding my understanding. Sounds familiar, right?

I am (re)educating (or unschooling) my adult self.

Why archeology? 

Because through archaeology I have a catalyst to explore deeper than I ever had a reason to explore before.

Why archeology?

Because through archaeology I no longer buy into the belief system that has been designed to keep humanity unattached, separate, disempowered and complacent.

Why archeology?

Because through archaeology I believe there is a greater (and different) story to be told. And now, changing those beliefs drive me daily. And through archaeology my world has opened up in a way I could have never imagined. I am constantly learning and am increasingly hungry to learn more. And that’s just the tip of the (unschooling) iceberg! As I support and encourage my son to pursue his passions, interests and desires, I must stand as an example and do the same. And together, we are learning, as I’ve come to realize, unschooling is not just Miro’s experience, it’s mine too. Through our travels, we’ve come across many ancient cultures, ruins and traditions, all belonging to, and telling the story of humanity from different perspectives. And for the first time, I felt as if we were part of that story too. (And if you are a reader of our site, you’ll know that there is much focus on our archeological explorations and the history we’ve uncovered and explored together along the way.

 

And now you  know why.

 

 

As we explore…

As we explore more and more, I realize there’s much missing in my understanding of human history.. What I’ve learned through my own childhood education is simply not complete. History through the eyes of the rigid academic authorities seem to tell only part the story. Through our travels, I have been inspired to re-examine what was once taught as being the unquestioned ‘truth’. Even though Pluto is no longer considered a planet, within the scientific and academic communities changes are made very slow.

So I have been inspired to (re)educate myself.

For example, I was taught to believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution. The ‘missing link’ was never found  and many scholars  are opening refuting his version of human history. Still the museum of Natural History in London still proudly displays a displays of Darwin’s evolution. The theory of evolution was sacred doctrine to me as I was growing up of a child of the 60s & 70s. And as I grew up, I settled into the belief that my future based on ‘biological doctrine’. Life was predetermined based on my biological lineage, and we were just evolving, and adapting and doing our thing.

 

Would I be the fittest? Would I survive?

 

I believe these concepts and ideas profoundly effect humanity and our state of collective consciousness. But nevertheless, these are the things I was taught in the American public school system, and who was I to challenge that? And what about the class of humans knows as the Neanderthal? We were once taught that modern humans were descended from them. Now, science tells us that modern humans do not have Neanderthal ancestors in their family tree, a new DNA study concludes. And we are led to believe that mankind was primitive, savage and nuckle dragging? We, modern people, who only started inventing anything of real significance 2000 years ago or less.

 

There are the exceptions of course like the early civilizations in Mesopotamia followed by the early Egyptian civilizations along the Nile. And there are the cultures of China and India boasting mystical traditions. But all of these were taught to be anomalies at best. The rest of the world? Primitive heathen savage, unsophisticated ‘tribes’ of course. And this is what I believed. And as an adult, I can see the bias that is built into the timeline itself. Mesopotamia and Egypt was ‘before Christ’. But the collective story is, time really started to rock and roll after ‘Christ’.

 

But something doesn’t add up.

 

According to conventional history, archeology tells us that organized ‘civilizations’ began, in some isolated cases, roughly 5,000 years ago, or approximately 3,000 years before Christ. Before that time and in most other places, humans were savages, heathens, tribes of primitives. To firm up this timeline, according to many who believe in the bible as a book of history believe the events in Genesis take place in a large period of time, ending just about 2000 before Christ when Jacob and his family moved to Egypt. Again, roughly 5,000ish years ago my friends, is where the ‘real’ human history started according to how I perceived history.

 

Um, for me, something is wrong with that.

 

In science (and academia slowly correct itself) changes are made to the textbooks, but many are conditioned not to care. Still engrained, is the idea, that the only relevant history is after the age of Christ, and looking earlier just doesn’t have significance.

 

And I vehemently disagree.

 

But what of all the pieces of archeological evidence that challenge the history written in the book? What about the hidden &  forbidden archeology? But what of these ancient technologies, much more advanced than I was led to believe were possible based on my perception of the people from my early school days.

 

Beyond my travels, I have explored through my own education about the great pyramid of Giza & the Great Sphinx, Stonehenge of southern England, the megalithic structures of Peru & Bolivia and the giant Maoi stone carvings of Rapi Nui (Easter Island)? And, across our globe there’s more and more that does not fit into a conventional human history timeline. There are structures build on energy grids (ley lines) across the globe connecting most of them in a way that is more than just symbolic. I wonder how the ancients could have known if they were just ‘heathen primitives‘?

 

And there are other structures built that perfectly mimic the stars above from a timetable  approximately 15,000 years before.

 

One could accurately postulate, the builders had some advanced technology that we don’t know about today.

 

What of these giant megaliths found here in Peru and Bolivia? These ancients had the ability to cut, polish and accurately fit, 100 + ton stones to form perfectly fitted walls that still stand today? How were these structures actually moved? How were these stones cut perfectly to form walls so accurate not even a human hair can fit between the blocks? What kind of technology was used? I’ve seen documentaries where building experts today cannot duplicate the structures using modern technology.

(My mind boggles.)

 

Could they be from beyond the stars?

And then there’s the enigma of the elongated skulls we learned about in Paracas, Peru. Having the opportunity to personally touch, hold and photograph 18 of these skulls, I saw subtle differences between many. Some had 3 cranial sutures, many others only had two. The thickness of some of the bone of the skulls were different. Some had square eye sockets, others round. Some had visual evidence of cranial deformation as a result of intentional skull binding, others did not. I am certainly not a scientist, but I can consider the possibility if some of those skulls weren’t of human origin, and were here on the planet living with humans over 5,000 years ago, wouldn’t that effect the human timeline? And all of the references in ancient cultures of those who came before from the stars.

 

From the Sumerians, the early Vedic, Maya, and Inca to name a few, there are countless cultures who point to visitors from the stars. From Mexico to Peru, I’ve learned from the places we’ve explored. The stories told in the stones, artifacts and buildings all have meaning.

 

Many deep meanings, and I think the problem is, we may be too closed off to absorb the stories.

 

Clues left behind offer a connection to this distant past. I’ve learned from the cultures who came before and I am learning about my humanity as a reflection. Early in our travels, I was exposed to the ruins of the Mayans, Toltecs, Aztecs and Olmecs in Mexico and Guatemala,  and later the Moche, MocheChimuIncaParacasNazca, Wari, Chincha cultures. With each new culture, I felt a deep desire within myself to learn  more.  Who was Quetzalcóatl and Viracocha?

 

Who were the people who were able to accurately measure time through ‘ages’, created by the Olmecs, but known to the Western world as the Mayan calendar? But it was deeper. Then meeting Mayan descendants and learning more through lore, I started to understand that the academic stories were not as accurate as I had once thought. If the ancestors tell a different story than the scholars do, then what is right?

 

One such story, is told by the academics, explains why the Mayan’s crossed their eyes. “Mayans believed that being cross-eyed was attractive. So they tied a bead on the front of a child’s head so it dangled between their eyes. The child would get cross-eyes by looking at the bead.”  But I was told by a descendant that their people knew that crossing one’s eyes for extended periods of time helps people move beyond the earthbound senses of sight and perception and allowed their people to see peripherally, much like the abilities of their ancestors.

Their ancestors…. Their ancestors who they believed came from the stars.

 

But stories like these told by the people about their own traditions and beliefs has more weight and value to me, than an outsider’s observations, as well-intentioned as it may be. But more important, I feel energy in these places. The energy of past cultures, connecting me to something larger.. I feel driven to understand more. I find purpose in my life through understanding the beliefs and purposes of those who’ve come before.

It’s a deep desire to know, driven by passion.

 

Artist Mark Laplume of RootRaceResearch.com interprets one of the Paracas skulls from my photographs

 

And I’ve come to question the stories told in the textbooks, that paint the early cultures of the Americas as heathens and savages. I’ve come to question the timeline of humanity, even question Darwinism itself. Once that paradigm floats away, the world opens up.

 

It’s humanity. It’s our origin. It’s where we’ve come from. It’s ancient technologies. It’s the stars, it’s so much more.

And my life is insignificant in relation to the story of humanity. And I like that. It challenges my ego, but humbles my perception. It places me in a timeline which belongs to something bigger than just ‘me’. Because my daily worries are insignificant and stresses are unimportant in relation to all that has come before me and all that is still to come. Because the history of humanity is my lineage. Because I want to overcome the linear timeline we are destined to. Because there is so much more than what I see in front of me.

 

Because I want to know where we came from in order to know where we can go.

Because I am human.

Sitting on the balcony of our tiny Cusco apartment, I look across the sea of terra-cotta roofs I ask myself, why has this passion been uncovered in my life?

 

 

I admit, before we left on our travels, I had no interest in archeology. I had no draw calling me to explore ancient ruins, learn about past cultures or understand the messages left behind centuries, even millenniums ago. Nor had I any inclination those things would even relate to me, in my life.

Why archeology?

Because it’s blown my world-wide open.

And I like that.

Note:

Even though the archeology is my passion, there is no chance Miro is escaping  learning from these things too.  We have even found some commonalities in our interests, as some of the legends could fall under mythology and cryptozology, which he loves reading about. I know that we are learning together, and acknowledge my responsibility as an unschooling parent by leading through example and following my passions as well. That’s my ‘teaching’.

There may be some inaccuracies in this post, but they are not intentional. I am a life learner, a self taught student of archeology, humanity and anthropology. The more I seek answers, the more questions I have. But I am enjoying the process of expansion and my world has grown exponentially.

I hope to never stop learning & hope you take this inspired ride with me.

Some of the amazing researchers that have inspired me are: Graham Hancock, Michael Cremo, Lloyd Pye, Erich von Däniken, Klaus Dona, Zecharia Sitchin, Barbara Hand Clow, Brien Foerster, and David Hatcher Childress. There are many others I am discovering each day, so if you have recommendations for me, I welcome them.

21 Comments

  1. stefan 11 years ago

    ‘history, is just that. a word made up of two words, his and story. If we look at history, break it down we are left with his story… And how wrong has his story been?’

  2. JP Hicks 11 years ago

    Great article, Lainie. I love Graham Hancock’s work too and find the concept of an advanced ancient civilization to be highly probable.

    If it only supposedly took us 2000 years to get where we are with technology today, who’s to say there wasn’t another 2000-yr period in the millions of years of humanoid activity where they developed high technology?

    The difference, which I think is significant, is, imagine if technology was innovated from a peaceful, spiritual sense for the benefit of humanity — as opposed to what we have in the modern age where ALL technology starts off as state-funded military projects.

    Keep rocking!

  3. Stephanie 11 years ago

    Your website continues to inspire me as I prepare to travel. I think its so sad what the education system has produced in the US, especially among the poor and middle class. Its all by design though, and its all a racket. Freeing your mind is crucial. I hope to make it out of here in 1 piece by the end of 2012 and begin my own adventures (living and volunteering in central america then heading south 🙂 hopefully make it to peru). I am particularly interested in archaelogy myself and very proud of you that you pursue these interests on your own. I hope that I can do the same, no matter how difficult. It is a brave thing what you are doing with the unschooling business. Your son is incredibly lucky to have you as a mom, you are inspiring. Keep up the good work here. Hopefully one day I will have children and can follow by example.

    • Author
      Lainie Liberti 11 years ago

      Stephanie, thank you so much for your comment! I think the biggest gift we’ve received from traveling has been the realization that learning is a natural process and that freeing your mind from the programming we’ve been led to believe as ‘truths’ blows the world wide open in terms of possibilities! I appreciate you saying our journey is brave. But it truth, it is not. For us, it was the overwhelming urge to listen to our inspiration and along with that, trusting that we would always be ok. Once we started listening to our inner guidance, everything became so easy, fluid and joyful. Even learning. 🙂
      Sending you lots of love & light and I hope our paths cross when you reach South America!

  4. Daphne Patterson 10 years ago

    Wow! I can definitely relate to this post. Since moving to Cusco I have become so interested in learning as much as I can as well. It’s completely fascinating and especially because Alex, my fiancé is a tour guide from a family of Andean healers, I get to hear a LOT of stories and legend/truths? I find it fascinating to hear the different theories about why certain structures were built, HOW they were built, and for which purpose. My mind was sort of blown when we went to Ollantaytambo and I started to realize that there are massive megalithic stones just scattered all over the site, like some ancient structure exploded perhaps….that’s what it looks like to me. (And a friend of mine has a really interesting theory about the giant crystals connecting the grid and what happened when they exploded, I’ll have to tell you about it) I recently started learning more about the site of Tiahuanaco –Puma Punku in Bolivia, Alex has long been fascinated with it so I had heard of it before, but then I just learned that the stones there are diorite, which on the hardness scale is very very hard. In fact, the only stone that can cut diorite is diamond. Soooooo…. They either had diamond blades ( as we do now) which there is absolutely no evidence of….or…well, there must have been some other more advanced method of cutting these precisely cut massive interlocking ‘H’ block stones. That is craziness. And also totally awesome! We are planning on taking a trip there once I get back to Cusco, we will have to chat with you and Miro about it and see if you two might like to join us.

    Lainie I am greatly looking forward to meeting you when I get back to Cusco in August, you and Miro seem like such sweet and wonderful people!

    Thank you for this great post, there is so much yet to learn! I have to check myself sometimes because I can get just the slightest bit frustrated by the fact that no one really has the concrete answer. Haha, I want to know!!

    For example, I watched a documentary about Machu Picchu and they talked about how they dragged the stones from the on-site quarry to build this massive site. They talked about all the man power it must have taken to ‘drag’ these massive stones, and the skidding systems and pulley systems they might have used. At the end, it was presented as the most likely truth. I laughed when I realized they had not even touched on how the buildings at the TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN behind Machu Picchu ( Huayna Picchu) were built. If you’ve hiked it you know that it is a 45 minute hike straight up. So did they ‘drag’ these massive stones up there, in order to create the 5+ buildings at the top of the mountain…um, no. So the documentary didn’t bother to even go there…they did not mention that there are even buildings there. I’m wanting to look more into the theory of moving large stones through acoustics…that would make more sense than the current idea.

    Ok now I’m ranting, haha.

    Thanks so much for this great post, and I am so glad that your travels have encouraged a deeper understanding of our beautiful world. I’m so excited for all of us who travel around, because we KNOW we will continue to learn, no matter what might be expected to be swallowed as ‘truth’ in our school systems.

  5. Hi Lainie, my daughter and I have been following you and Miro’s travels with increasing curiosity. It’s great you’re so interested in archaeology, it’s a fascinating subject. I’m an anthropological linguist and I work with Zapotec-speaking communities here in Mexico. I was excited to read this post since anthropological topics interest me so much, but I was a little concerned to read the suggestions about extra-terrestrials. As you point out, it’s common for people to underestimate the technological sophistication of past cultures, and in some cases we just don’t know all the details of the technologies and methodologies they had because knowledge has been lost (which continues to happen today as the one-size-fits-all school system replaces traditional knowledge with whatever is being mandated by the power structures). But, when people suggest things like that aliens were responsible for past architectural and other achievements of indigenous cultures, it’s ultimately robbing indigenous peoples of their heritage and suggesting that their ancestors couldn’t have been advanced enough to achieve these things. I don’t think this is your intention since in other things I’ve seen you post you seem to have a great appreciation for the indigenous cultures of the Americas. Well, enjoy your time in Bolivia, we are jealous and want to follow your footsteps there someday.

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